“The first draft of anything is shit.” –Ernest Hemingway I’m nearing the completion of the first draft of my first chapter on my latest book. And the more I write on it, the more unhappy I am with it. One of my father’s sayings was: “You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s … More Ugly Baby
My wife, Shelly, and I have been going through the Bible this year. We have an app that reads it a few chapters aloud each day. Then we listen to a quick commentary that helps us make sense of what we have just heard. Right now, we are entering the book of I Samuel. They … More A Writer in the Wilderness
Life has its ups and downs. Writing does too. I’ve learned not to sit by the mailbox, waiting to hear from the editor as to whether they plan on publishing my story, or proceeding with my book idea. I have enough story ideas to keep me going until I am pushing up daisies. And I … More Hits and Misses
I’m currently working on my 29th book and, well, not my first novel, but it’s far from my first. I’ve been writing a long time and even though I haven’t gotten rich off it, there are many who know me because of my writing. Once I had my university president tell me that someone stopped … More How to Build A Novel
Hey there. I haven’t been posting like I used to, mainly because I am retired now. But let it be known that I’m not dead yet. I’m still writing books, teaching an occasional class, and babysitting our three-year-old grandson a great deal. I was just mowing the backyard, which is where I do most of … More Right brain vs. left brain writing
There are some writers who believe you have to write every day. If you don’t, you’re not a writer. I know: I heard that a lot in my early years writing. And it depressed me because I’m not that type of writer. I can’t sit down and just start writing if I don’t have a … More Between Projects: When I’m Not Writing
This morning I read through the last few chapters of my latest book project. What at one time was a pipe dream, then a half-cocked dream, then a cobbled-together concept, then an ugly step-child is now almost ready to meet the world. Funny how that works. Sometimes it doesn’t, but boy, when it does, I … More The Miracle of Creation
I’m sitting here in my easy chair, nursing my wounds after a tree got back at me yesterday for cutting off one of its branches. I thought I had positioned myself safely, but when the branch broke free, it smacked me square in the face and broke my nose. I ended up going into the … More A Little Cake, A Little Humble Pie
Writing is a solitary pastime, or so I’ve been told. You spend a lot of time staring at either a blank page or a blinking cursor, wishing words onto a page. “Writing is easy,” said journalist Red Smith in 1949. “All you do is open a vein and bleed.” From my experience, writing can be … More Why You Should Never Write Alone
The hard thing about writing Christian novels–and this is a self-imposed standard, mind you–is that for the novel to be good, it has to (1) have a good story, and (2) have a spiritual message. That’s not always easy to manage, and one finds many Christian novels out there that are good in one or … More Shuffling the Cards
The Great Adventure 