4 things

A friend of mine tagged me for this via e-mail and so I thought I'd post my answers here, too. I'm not going to tag anybody because most everyone I know has been meme'd to death, but you're welcome to have fun with this if you so choose.

How well do you know me??

For instance, did you know...

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. nurse's aide
2. laundry/housekeeping aide in a nursing home
3. newspaper reporter/copyeditor
4. college instructor

Four movies I would watch over and over:
1. Tootsie
2. About a Boy
3. The Goodbye Girl
4. While You Were Sleeping

Four places I have lived:
1. Bowen, Ill.
2. Linton, Ind.
3. Lincoln, Ill.
4. Clifton, Kan.

Four TV shows I love to watch:
1. House
2. Numbers
3. WKRP in Cincinnati (I know it's old, but it's my favorite)
4. 60 Minutes

Four places I have been on vacation:
1. Nashville, Tenn. (quite a few times to visit relatives)
2. San Antonio, Texas (twice -- World's Fair in 1968 and last year for a convention)
3. Dale Hollow Lake, Ky.
4. Chicago, Ill. (both when I was a kid and as an adult)

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Pizza
2. Lasagna
3. Meat loaf
4. Fajitas

Four places I would rather be right now:
(not sure I'd rather be anywhere but here, but here's four places I'd love to visit)
1. London
2. San Francisco
3. Washington, D.C.
4. Someplace with a beach

Friday stuff

It's a beautiful day here. I hope you're having a lovely day where you are, too. Just a couple of notes today:

A correction: Kathleen Popa's To Dance in the Desert will be published by RiverOak in 2007. You can still read the first chapter here. It's a lovely story and I'm looking forward to when it comes out.

If you are interested in journalism, if a free press matters to you, you may want to spend some time reading Jay Rosen's blog, PressThink. Rosen is a professor who has been observing journalism culture and related issues for a long time. He's an original and articulate thinker and you'll come away with a lot to think about, whether you agree with him or not. I first became familiar with him when I was a grad student and read some of his writing about public (or civic) journalism. I got to hear him speak a couple of times at journalism education conferences and was impressed. His posts are usually pretty long, but interesting and worth your time.

I guess that's all, folks. Have a great weekend.

I ran over a goat because the voices told me to

Pick the month you were born with:

January--I danced with
Febuary--I loved
March--I choked on
April--I licked
May-- I kicked
June--I murdered
July--I sang to
August--I had lunch with
September--I ran over
October--I smoked
November--I yelled at
December--I kissed


Pick the day (number) you were born on:

1-------a cat
2-------a monster
3-------a phone
4-------a fork
5-------a gangster
6-------a mexican
7-------a llama
8-------a banana
9-------myself
10-------my neighbor
11-------an ipod
12-------my dog
13-------chuck norris
14-------a stuffed animal
15-------a goat
16-------a pickle
17-------your mom
18-------a spoon
19-------my best friends boyfriend
20-------a football player
21-------a permanent marker
22-------my boyfriends tounge
23-------a noodle
24-------my girlfriend
25-------a baseball bat
26-------my sister
27-------a cd
28-------my science teacher
29-------a thorn bush
30-------my cell phone
31-------A homeless guy


Pick the color of shirt you are wearing:

White------Because I'm sexy
Black-------Because I'm a ninja who wants Taco Johns
Pink--------Because that's how I roll.
Red---------Because I love her/him
Blue--------Because the voices told me to
Green------Because I hate myself.
Purple------because im an ass
Gray--------Because I was drunk as hell
Yellow------Because someone offered me 1,000,000 dollars
Orange----Because I hate my family.
Other-------Because im NOT homosexual.

Then post your answer as your subject.

(Thanks to Megan for this very strange, but amusing, exercise.)

Remember

Do you remember what day this is? I remember. You can also visit the Oklahoma City National Memorial Web site.

I want to be like David Crowder

OK, that sounds rather strange coming from a middle-aged woman, but in a way, it's true, and here's why. When I listen to the David Crowder Band's most recent album, A Collision, I am in awe of the way he has blended different musical styles into one coherent whole. Instead of being locked into one musical style, he has borrowed and adapted from a whole range that includes blue grass, rock, a bit of ska and some techno-pop. And it's not just a mish-mash of styles; the style of each song is an integral part of the song itself. I can't imagine a song like "Foreverandever Etc." in any style other than sort of a ska/punk fusion. And "I Saw the Light" could only be bluegrass. The whole album works as a unit that is greater than the sum of its parts. (It's a truly excellent album!)

What does that have to do with me, a middle-aged female writer? I want to resist pigeonholing. I want to be a writer -- I am a writer -- who writes a story in whatever way is best to tell that story. So some stories are cozy small-town mysteries but others are grittier crime stories, and some stories are not genre specific. Right now I'm working on a fantasy story for this contest. The story is called The Dragon in the Basement and it's fun to write.

But I am beginning to notice something about my stories. I tend to gravitate toward tales of outsiders (believe me, a guy with a dragon in his basement feels pretty much out of the mainstream). So I think there's a common thread or theme to my writing (in a general way).

I don't know if this is a viable option for someone who wants to be published. It seems that most writers become pretty firmly entrenched in a genre and don't break out of it until they become very famous and wealthy. But I think that I should tell a story the way it needs to be told, not mold it to fit some notion of what "type" of writer I am. Thus, I find David Crowder to be an inspiration.

"Dancing" through a chapter

Kathleen Popa is blogging the first chapter of her novel To Dance in the Desert. It will be published next year by WaterBrook (I think), but she's giving us a sneak peak this week -- it's delightful.

Peterson on perseverance

This is a good quote from Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction (ch. 11, Psalm 129, pp. 128-129):

The central reality is the personal, unalterable, persevering commitment that God makes to us. Perseverance is not the result of our determination, it is the result of God's faithfulness. We survive in the way of faith not because we have extraordinary stamina but because God is righteous. Christian discipleship is a process of paying more and more attention to God's righteousness and less and less attention to our own; finding the meaning of our lives not by probing our moods and motives and morals but by believing in God's will and purposes; making a map of the faithfulness of God, not charting the rise and fall of our enthusiasms. It is out of such a reality that we acquire perseverance.

I read this last night and it just jumped out of me. It's not about us, it's about God. I found the idea of making a map of God's faithfulness resonated especially with me.

Psalm 129 is one of the Psalms of Ascents -- the psalmist says the wicked have afflicted him from his youth, but the Lord is faithful. It's good to remember, to focus on God's faithfulness instead of myself.

Story at Flashing in the Gutters

I wrote a short story and submitted it to Flashing the Gutters and it's posted! It's called Thy Brother's Life and it's sort of a be-careful-what-you-wish-for story. One of the things I've observed about noir and hardboiled fiction -- you don't see too many stories by women in that genre. Interesting. But sometimes I want to tell a story that's a little darker -- sometimes, as Switchfoot says, "the shadows prove the sunshine." Not that I'm claiming this story is resonating with great themes or anything, but I think it has its moments. Let me know what you think. You can leave comments on the story or here.

Friday links

Here's a couple of new places I've found to read some good stories:
Flashing in the Gutters is a place for flash fiction (the editor limits stories to 700 words). This is one by Mark Bertrand that I liked. I'm itching to try to write something for it.
Communique is an online literary and arts journal for Christian writers and artists. It's been around a while, but I've just discovered it (thanks to Dave). Check it out.

Have a blessed Easter weekend.

Reading notes and a bit of a rant

Where did the week go? This is what happens when one is sick on Monday and comes to work still feeling yucky on Tuesday. So I have tons to do at work -- but I did anyway! But I thought I'd write about what I read over the weekend: Thud! by Terry Pratchett. As always, Pratchett tells an entertaining story and skewers EVERYTHING imaginable -- from PDA's to children's literature -- and gives you something to think about in the process. He slips the occasional deep thought in unobtrusively while you're laughing.

But ... Yes I have a couple of issues with this book. It needed another proofreading -- there are too many typos for a major publisher to be able to get away with. For any publisher to get away with, for that matter. I understand how hard it is to catch every single mistake in something the size of a novel, but it became annoying. I can't just read past misspelled words or other typographical errors.

My other complaint is Pratchett's choice of pronouns. Specifically, throwing subject/pronoun agreement out the window and using they or their in place of he or his or him as a generic singular pronoun. (To me this isn't a feminist issue, it's a grammar issue.) I know this is how we often talk, and it's becoming more common in writing, but it still feels wrong and it trips me up everytime. Terry Pratchett is a good writer who makes effective use of wordplay of all sorts. His grammar is usually impeccable, in a very British way of course. Which all makes this usage seem even more wrong. (And I don't recall that I've ever noticed it in his writing before, but it's been quite a while since I read one of his books.) There are plenty of ways to write a sentence so that you don't get trapped into this kind of usage. I wish he, or his editor, had made use of them.

Friday reading

I've been busy this week, but not with blogging. I don't have much in the way of original thoughts today, but I did find some good reading elsewhere. Here's a list.

Jordon Cooper posted yesterday about the unproductive way we frame debate as Us vs. Them.
In a similar vein, Lisa Sampson linked to this article about the "separation of church and hate" on the BreakPoint Web site. It's all very thought-provoking and interesting.

Jordon also linked to this brief review of a book by Eugene Peterson that sounds like something I want to read. The book is called Eat this Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading. I also want to read another book by Peterson, Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places.

Speaking of reading, Mark has posted his thoughts about the differences in how men and women read novels and what that means for us as writers. Good stuff, professor.

Congrats 'Cats!

The K-State women's basketball team won the WNIT championship in front of a sell-out crowd Friday night. Yay!

Things you don't want to hear your children say when you return from a retreat

I went to our church's women's retreat Friday night and Saturday -- it was wonderful and I came away refreshed and blessed. Good thing. I got home Saturday afternoon and walked in the house. Sam and Tim and one of their friends were in the living room. The following exchange ensued:

Me: Where's Dad?
Tim: Oh, he's at the hospital with Joel.
Me: At the hospital with Joel! But the car's outside.
Tim: He rode in the ambulance with Joel.
Me: In the ambulance!!!

At this point, Sam intervened and started from the beginning since he thought I was getting a little excited. I thought I was handling it pretty well, but I'll admit I was showing some anxiety. Apparently, Joel had experienced some pretty bad back pain throughout the day and had been wearing Bob's back support (the kind people who have to do a lot of heavy lifting wear). Then he took it off. And then at some point he passed out right in front of the front door and couldn't get up. So they called 911. They had to take the front door off the hinges because Joel was right in front of it. He's a big kid.

It hadn't been very long, so I went up the hospital and got there before they took Joel for x-rays. It's a little weird seeing your kid laying on a back board. But he seemed to be doing pretty well. After the x-rays and blood work, the doctor still wasn't sure why he passed out, but could find nothing wrong in the tests. He said Joel probably had been having back spasms and the pain, or maybe taking the back brace off (sudden rush of blood from the upper to lower body), could have had something to do with blacking out. He prescribed a muscle relaxer and sent us home. Joel's doing a lot better -- the muscle relaxer seems to help -- but he's still having some pain. Prayers would be appreciated.

And if anyone related to me is reading this and gets concerned, it's OK. I should have called, but really Joel is doing fine and the excitement of it all has passed.

Thinking

(With apologies to Mark and Mike)

All he requested was a bag of Cozy burgers. Some people meet their literary muses in a Paris cafe, others in a Waffle House or roadside greasy spoon. Mine asks me to meet him at rest stop on I-70 with an aromatic bag of sandwiches from a famous Salina, Kan., burger joint. It seemed a simple enough request.

Hank joined me at the designated picnic table, at the aforementioned designated rest stop -- I judged from the box of chocolates he carried that he'd made a stop at the nearby Russell Stover factory outlet.

"So I'm a little curious about this, not having met anyone like you before," I said.

"It's simple, you just tell me what's on your mind, I eat my Cozy burger and we'll call it even. At least you didn't call me out in the middle of the night."

"That happens a lot?"

"It happens to my brother, Hugh, in Tennessee."

"I see. You wouldn't also be related to some guy in Paris named Hughes, would you?"

"Cousin," Hank said, around a mouthful of burger. "Haven't seen him in years."

"So is literary muse sort of the family business?"

"In a way, yeah. But what's your problem? I'm eating the burger, but you're not telling me about your writing."

"See, that's just it. There's not much to tell. I'll write a story that I think is pretty good, but then I read something by someone else and realize what I've written is just so much dreck. So I'll think about it a while and try to write some more, but I don't seem to make much progress."

"You have a critique group?"

"Well, sure, a great bunch of folks, but they're all better writers than me, and way better critiquers than me, too. I don't think I contribute much."

He wiped his mouth with a paper towel and reached for his second burger. "Man, it's been ages since I've had a Cozy burger. Thanks for bringing these."

"Sure, no problem. But what about me? I hate to be whiny, but I thought you were supposed to help me figure out how to be a better writer."

"That's not what I said. I said you bring the burgers and I'd listen. That's what I'm doing. I never said anything about giving you advice."

Oh great, I'd made an unnecessary trip to Salina and met a total stranger along the highway for nothing. I suppose my frustration showed on my face because Hank stopped in mid-bite.

"OK. I've got one one thing to say about what you've been telling me. You think too much."

"Huh?"

"That's your problem. You think too much. And you compare yourself to others too much, but that's just a little bonus advice 'cause the burgers are good. You need to concentrate on not thinking too much."

"But that's how I write. I think about the story and I think about the characters and then I write. If I don't think it through, then it would really be dreck."

"I'm not saying you shouldn't think about the story, but you also over-analyze everything. What about the best story you ever wrote -- how did you feel when you were writing it?"

"Pretty good. It flowed, it almost wrote itself. But I thought about it, too."

"Sure, but I'll bet you mostly just sat your butt in the chair and wrote it."

"Well, yeah."

"So there you have it."

He crumpled up the empty paper bag into a ball and threw it into the trash can.

"It's time for me to hit the road again. Thanks for the burgers," he said. He headed for a somewhat battered motor home. The back of it was plastered with bumper stickers from places like Wall Drug, Boot Hill, Pike's Peak and the Museum of Independent Telephony.

"Hey," I called after him. "You forgot your chocolates!"

"Just keep 'em and enjoy. You know about life and chocolate, I'm sure."

Sure, whatever. But maybe Hank has a point. But I'll try not to think too much about it.

A little basketball glory here

The K-State women's basketball team will play Marquette in the WNIT championship game right here in Bramlage Coliseum. The game is at 7 p.m. Friday. Go Cats!

I love college basketball ...

Because a team that no one ever paid much attention to, George Mason, beat the team many people thought could win it all, Connecticut. It may seem like a fluke, but I'm inclined to agree with Gregg Doyel, of CBS Sportsline.com -- this is a really good basketball team. The Patriots played solid fundamental basketball and won. I was really impressed with LSU, too, and I would love to see a George Mason-LSU championship game.

Write to your strengths

I've been pretty frustrated with my writing lately. This is easy to do because I keep encountering examples of writing that is so much beyond mine that I wonder why I even try. For example, Mary DeMuth's post at The Master's Artist on Tuesday, and the ensuing comments were wonderful, lyrical, evocative writing. I realized that sometimes I may think the muse is dancing within, but what it looks like on the outside is ungainly and ineffective.

But dwelling on the negative is not usually productive, or at least not very healthy. I want to learn and that involves accepting criticism, and I can do that. But another part of growing as a writer is learning to build on your strengths.

So what are your strengths? Have you ever sat down and figured out what it is you do really well? I feel like I'm getting a sense of some areas where I'm stronger than others. I think I write dialogue better than description -- I hear my characters better than I see them. So maybe I should find ways to make my dialogue snap and crackle, which would help make the characters more vivid, too. See, that's what I mean about building on strengths. (Of course, I want to work on improving descriptions, too.)

I hope I'm wrong

This news suggests to me that K-State is taking the win-at-all-costs approach to college basketball. I cannot imagine a bigger contrast to Jim Wooldridge!

Catching up

I'm back. Not that I really went away, just stayed home and took care of Bob and watched lots of basketball. And wondered why I even cheer for KU after watching them play like a bunch of freshmen against Bradley Friday night. Oh, wait, they are a bunch of freshmen! Bradley looked really good, though, and I'm glad they've advanced to the Sweet 16. And so has Wichita State! Cool. Of course, my bracket is shot all to pieces, but I did actually have Wichita State making it to the Sweet 16.

Besides basketball, I worked on writing. I'm seriously working on Secrets in Connors Grove once again and I've been revising a new short story and trying to figure out where I should submit it.

I've done a little catching up on blog-reading, too. Deborah's post at The Master's Artist yesterday caught my attention. She's writing about really knowing the Bible and how our understanding of the Bible should inform our writing and our reading. It's a good post and very thought-provoking.

And it's posts like this and this that keep me reading Jordon Cooper. He consistently pulls together comments and ideas that challenge me to really think about what I believe, to recognize the complexity of many issues and not just accept things at face value.

Anniversary and praise

Today I spent my blogging anniversary at the surgical center where my husband had shoulder surgery. The surgery went well and I'm just taking a few minutes to check e-mail and stuff while he snoozes through basketball games (and my bracket's already wrong because Oklahoma and Pacific lost). But he's going home in a little while.

And yes, I've been blogging for one year now. My first entry was nothing to shake a stick at so I won't bother with a link. But it's been fun and I think I've learned a lot about writing in the last year. Blogging helped me find some writing buddies and Faith in Fiction and Infuze magazine. So I'll keep on posting the random thought about life, writing, faith, grammar and the joys of really loud music.

Usage pet peeve

Here's a language irritant: the use of the word "tract" when the word "track" is meant. I see this when someone is writing or talking about a course of action, or a plan of study, such as with career development.

These words do not mean the same thing. Track can mean a course of action; a way of proceeding. Tract means an indefinite extent or expanse, or it can refer to a major passage in the body, such as the digestive tract. It also refers to a pamphlet or treatise, such as a religious tract.

So, obviously, when one is talking about developing a selection of continuing education courses or following a particular career path, the word to choose is "track," as in "My daughter is on the college prep track at her high school," or "He's following the 'How to be a Better Communicator' track of career development courses."

Let the sunshine in ...

Once in a while the journalist resurfaces. This week is Sunshine Week, a week that encourages open government. This isn't just a journalism issue, though. This is a citizen issue. So what's it all about? From the Web site:

Approaching its 40th birthday, the Freedom of Information Act is looking more than a little worn around the edges. In fact, what it needs is a week of good, solid sunshine, and Sunshine Week 2006, March 12-18, is just the ticket.

The current administration has been characterized by open government observers—both conservatives and liberals—as one of the most secretive in recent history; a stance adopted even before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Sunshine Week is not about journalists, it's not about partisan politics, it's about the public and the importance of protecting and promoting open government. Sunshine Week is not about protecting journalists' rights, it's about the right of all citizens to know what their government is doing—and why.

I recently reread All the President's Men and found it disturbing to see the parallels between the Nixon administration and the current administration, particularly in the attitude of being above the law, an attitude that the ends justify the means. When citizens work to help keep government open, though, egregious abuses can be avoided and our country is healthier.

The Web site more information about open government and Freedom of Information.

Read River Rising

This is one of those books that I can whole-heartedly recommend. River Rising is an excellent book, and I don't usually care much for historical fiction. Athol Dickson touches on some deep themes -- race, faith and redemption -- but it's integral to the story, which moves along pretty well. It's a well-crafted novel and I'm glad I bought it because I know I'll want to read it again.

Mark rants a bit today against novels that aren't so well-crafted -- you can read about it at The Master's Artist.

So have a good weekend. I plan to spend mine watching basketball!

Basketball rant

We will take this break from your regularly scheduled programming so I can bemoan the state of K-State basketball. I love college basketball and this is my favorite time of the year. Sunday night will find me watching the NCAA selection show. I will fill out a bracket (which will most likely be horribly wrong, but it's still fun). I will watch lots of basketball games, even involving schools I know nothing about. I will cheer and yell at the TV and get excited and my children will give me strange looks.

But the Kansas State Wildcats won't be in the NCAA tournament, and next year they'll have a new coach. Yep. After K-State lost to Texas Tech in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament yesterday, Coach Jim Wooldridge got the ax. The AP story makes it pretty plain -- if the Cats can't make the NCAA tournament, then they need a new coach. Wooldridge came to Manhattan six years ago and took over a pretty miserable program. He's built and developed the team to the point where they're actually competitive and they beat the Kansas Jayhawks in Allen Fieldhouse this year. That's amazing! But they've lost a lot of close games, especially in the Big 12, and the powers that be decided it was time for a change. That chafes me -- I'm not so naive to think that winning doesn't matter, but it's not the only thing. Conducting yourself with class and integrity, both on and off the court, also matters. Building respect for a program by doing things right matters. Becoming competitive in a very tough league matters. I think Coach Wooldridge has done all those things. So I'm sorry to see him go and I'm sorry our university seems to think that winning matters more than anything else.

Light blogging

The next week or so will be pretty light, blogging-wise. Just thought I'd warn you. (Not that there's all that many who read it, but ...) I have a lot to do at work and my husband will be having shoulder surgery a week from today. So he has an appointment tomorrow that I'm going to with him so I'll know what to expect.

I'm still reading River Rising -- good stuff. And I'm writing again after not pushing very hard at it for a few weeks.

And here's a link to a neat interview with a rock icon: Christian Music Today talked to Kerry Livgren recently and it's good stuff. And for those of you who have no idea who Kerry Livgren is, read the interview.

What I'm reading

I started reading River Rising, by Athol Dickson, last night. Wow! This is an excellent book. I'll probably write a longer post about this book after I finish it, but I wanted to share some initial impressions.

I wasn't sure what to expect -- I'd read enough about it to know that it's set in Louisiana at the time of the 1927 Mississippi River flood and that it dealt with race issues.

And it is all those things, but this is storytelling that goes deep. I have to admit as I started reading that I wondered if it would be a book that lived up to the hype. Dickson's prose isn't as lyrical as Marilynn Robinson's (but whose is?) or Lief Enger's. If fact, it seemed a little detached -- he uses an omniscient narrative voice, so I didn't feel like I was in the characters' heads.

But that narrative technique serves the story well, because as the story delves deeper into the mysteries that surround Hale Poser (the main character) and the little community of Pilotville, the narration zooms in closer to the characters. It turns out to be effective -- I couldn't put the book down last night and kept reading way past my usual lights-out time.

This is a Christian novel, published by Bethany House, but if you've avoided Christian fiction for a long time, you should make an exception for River Rising. Faith is integral to the story -- not tacked on to make an evangelistic point. Its expressions (and lack of expressions) arise from who the characters are.

I'm about halfway through (I told you I read late last night and it's not really dense prose) and I'm not going to give anything away, but I will say there are twists and turns in this story I did not see coming. And there's darkness, too, befitting a story set in the swamps of the Mississippi Delta. But there's also hope. I have no idea how it's going to end -- something I haven't been able to say about a book for a long time -- but I can't wait to finish it.

Lessons on story from Serenity

I've finally seen Serenity and I really enjoyed it. It's a good story, with engaging characters in a fully-realized universe. It's not perfect -- it feels a bit more like a two-hour TV episode than a Movie. But it's a lot better than most TV episodes, so maybe I'm just being picky.

But I couldn't help but compare it with Star Wars Episode III, which I saw a while back. (I saw neither in the theater, so the viewing experience was similar.)

I think Serenity is a superior movie. But why? It was made for a fraction of the cost of Star Wars, there are no big stars -- but none of those things guarantee a good movie (Heaven's Gate, Ishtar, anyone?).

For me, it boils dow to the underlying foundation of the two movies. For Star Wars, the people seem to be there to move the plot along; in Serenity, the plot moves the people along. The result is a story that resonates at the heart level. Sure, it's exciting and the special effects are impressive -- but those things don't get in the way of the story.

I'm becoming a Joss Whedon fan -- after all, the guy's ability to tell a story got me hooked on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I don't even like vampire stories. Serenity really puts his story-telling skills on display. Even though I didn't watch Firefly much when it was on TV, I had no trouble becoming absorbed in the world of the story and got a handle on the characters quickly. I loved the opening sequences, the sharp and witty dialogue, the seamless effects, the grittiness of the world. It's all good. And I was reminded a bit of an earlier movie-going experience, when I was sucked into a galaxy long ago and far away.

Almost 30 years ago, I sat in a movie theater, transfixed by the adventures of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo and the droids. But the most recent episodes of the series have become more sterile, even as the digital wizardry became more dazzling. Friday night I sat on my couch with my sons, laughing and cheering and holding my breath as the crew of the Serenity crashed on planets, got in bar fights and dodged reavers. And when it was over, I wanted more. I would love to be able to tell a story so well that when my readers finished one, they'd want more.

Here's a great interview

Max Hsu (of Superchick) has posted an interview with Infuze founder and novelist Robin Parrish -- a fascinating look into a truly creative mind. Robin describes how his creative process and tells how he founded Infuze. Cool stuff.

Need a little romance?

Then here's a book you might enjoy. Brenda Coulter's inspirational romance A Family Forever is available now from Steeple Hill. Even if, like me, you're not much of a romance reader, the book has some things going for it -- a willingness to let the characters be human and deal with struggles in their faith, and a depiction of faith that is well-integrated with the story. Want to know more? Visit Brenda's blog, No Rules, Just Write, which I enjoy for her breezy, witty style.

So which superhero are you?

Your results:
You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man 75% Superman 70% Robin 67% Green Lantern 45% Wonder Woman 42% Supergirl 42% Batman 40% Hulk 40% Iron Man 35% Catwoman 30% The Flash 20%

You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

I'm such a sucker for quizzes.

New column

I've posted my March Notes from the Windowsill column. It's called Spirit and Truth, and if it sounds familiar, it's a slight reworking of a post I did a few weeks ago.

'Sneak Peaks' and other stories

A few weeks ago, I received my very own autographed copy of Forgiving Solomon Long, which I won in a contest at Novel Journey way back in January. And included in the package was a short story/excerpt from Chris Well's forthcoming novel, Deliver Us from Evelyn. "The Golden Age" was a delightful story featuring Charlie Pasch and came complete with a comic-book style cover drawn by Chris's wife, Erica. Very cool. And now, you can enjoy the same sneak peak because it's available for download at Infuze. Deliver Us from Evelyn will be arriving in bookstores in March, and this story should whet your appetite.

I got an e-mail today from Randy Mortenson, the author of Landon Snow and the Auctor's Riddle, which was on the blog tour back in November. The second book in the series, Landon Snow and the Shadows of Malus Quidam, also comes out next month and Randy says he likes this one even better. Randy is the featured author on the Barbour Books Web site this month (lower right corner), so you can find out more about him there. Or can check it out at Amazon or Christian Book Distributors.

One more thing -- one of the conversion stories was selected for publication by the New Pantagruel and it's online now. T.S. Beckett's With Every Head Bowed was chosen from the finalists Dave Long submitted to the arts editor and it's truly a distinctive story -- strong voice and an interesting take on conversion. Congratulations!

An anniversary worth noting

On this day in 1455, Johann Gutenberg began printing his Bible. The improved means of printing fostered a lot of changes and contributed to the Reformation. Thanks Mr. Gutenberg.

Writing tips galore

OK, maybe that's hyperbole, but I came across some good essays about writing today, so I'll share.

The Preacher talks about his own writing from time to time and today's entry is especially good: Comedy and Horror. (That could apply to what most of us write before it's edited.)

Jordon's blog directed me to this essay at whatever about writing, aimed at non-writers, but very good for writers, too, especially the admonition to clarity. Most of us get tangled up in our ideas and words and then our readers get tangled up too. I see regular examples of this in administrative writing and the effect is mind-numbing. Simplicity is good.

Jeanne Damoff's post today at The Master's Artist is about having fun with words and she gives examples. Check the comments for more fun (and forgive my poetic fumblings).

The Cult of Personality -- Evangelical Style

I've been thinking about our tendency in the church to pay special attention to certain people because they're famous. You know the kind of people I mean -- they've written best-selling books, or recorded hit songs, or preach or teach at a mega-church and speak at national conferences. We equate this national spotlight with something that makes these people more worthy of our attention.

Of course, I have to admit that I certainly wouldn't complain if people knew who I was because of the stories I've written. And there's nothing inherently wrong with becoming famous -- it often happens in unexpected ways to people who weren't seeking fame in the first place. But it seems to me that we don't question this culture of celebrity that we've fostered in the church. We flock to conferences, we buy books written by well-known people, we buy CDs by our favorite groups.

The danger I fear, though, is that we start to assume, wrongly, that our "ordinary" brothers and sisters in Christ have nothing to teach us. We turn our critical ears away from our home church's worship leaders.

Paul chastises the Corinthian Christians for placing too much importance on the human teachers they learned from. It's good to remember that God uses all kinds of people to get his message across. Some of them are well-known, but most are not.

It's never too early to drop birthday hints

Here's something I would love to have: the two-disc special edition DVD of All the President's Men. It's available now. (A few years ago Bob Woodward gave a Landon Lecture and those of us in the School of Journalism got to meet him -- it was very interesting.)

Pointing one more out of the nest

My son Tim is a senior in high school this year, and he's interested in computer science. This is the boy who took other people's discarded computer parts and built a computer out of them -- one that worked pretty well. (He's also incredibly lucky -- he's won three TV's!) So today we're doing this. Of course, we would get the coldest day of the winter to be walking around campus. Fun times.

A matter of taste or something else?

Dave wrote about something interesting today at Faith in Fiction: the challenge of describing a book. He suggests that literary fiction is harder to describe, or at least to narrow down, than general or genre fiction. Read the whole post to get his point, which is a good one. Of course, I have trouble describing my novel, but I don't think it's because it's literary -- I'm not going to blame my own muddled themes on some pretension of being great art.

But as I read this I started thinking about music (one thing leads to another, you know). A lot of music that I like is hard to classify as any one particular genre. Case in point: at the moment the song I'm listening to is Low Spark of High-heeled Boys, by Traffic. Great song, not exactly rock, not exactly jazz. Most of my favorite songs blend disparate elements into a pleasing whole (at least it is for me). This is the music I come back to over and over again. (OK, Kickstart My Heart is pure straight-up rock and roll, but the exception proves the rule, right?) I like music that has a lot going on, which holds up better to repeated listenings.

Sometimes I want to write stories that are like my favorite music. Whether I'll attain that goal or not is another question.

Knocking down grammatical towers

I've become a fairly regular reader of John McIntyre's blog, You Don't Say. He's the assistant managing editor for the copy desk at the Baltimore Sun and his musings on grammar and usage are pithy and interesting. So this post caught my attention: Not a dime's worth of difference. Using more than instead of over, and such as instead of like, was pretty firmly ingrained. But he makes a good point about getting over these editorial tics in the interest of better editing.

Respect and tolerance

Mark Bertrand has been posting on this theme some lately and I really like what he says today about how we develop real tolerance.

Contact, not isolation, leads to tolerance. If our goal is to be a society that tolerates a variety of religious expressions, then we have to respect the free practice of other religions -- including their attempts to proselytize -- in the public square. That doesn't mean instituting a state religion. In fact, it's the only thing that can prevent such an institution. A vacuum is easy to fill, but occupied territory isn't.

It reminds me of what my media law professor said several years ago about free speech -- the fringes define what is acceptable for most of us. If we aren't willing to allow free expression for ideas we vehemently disagree with, or even find repugnant, we may find our own rights limited. In other words, what goes around, comes around, folks.

Discovering things that have been around a while

Thanks to a friend's kindness, I've discovered The Choir. Oh my goodness, where have these guys been all my life?! Awesome musicianship, excellent lyrics, infectious and inventive tunes -- they're the whole package. I wish I'd found them sooner -- they've been around about 20 years. But there were many many years when I had absolutely no budget for new music and I was dependent on the radio. Not a good way to find new stuff, believe me.

Then yesterday, our pastor used a good quote from a book in his sermon and I remembered that I had the book, but had never read it. The book: A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, by Eugene Peterson. I picked up a copy of it at a garage sale a few years ago, but never got around to reading it. So last night I found it and started reading it and am thinking I should have read it a lot sooner. The book was written in 1980, but it seems even more relevant today, with it's call to patience on the Christian journey. This is an excellent, challenging meditation on the Psalms of Ascents (Psalms 120-134), not a Christian self-help book. What I've read so far reminds me that there is joy in walking with God, but no promises of ease and comfort. But when troubles come, and they will, I have the assurance of knowing my God is with me. Peterson is a good writer, and a sound scholar, and this book is worth your time.

It's about time

Buck O'Neil is up for the Baseball Hall of Fame. The panel decides later this month and I hope they vote him in.

A couple of things

I'm rather snowed under at work, with a big project deadline looming and several others needing attention, as well. And I'm still writing my next Adam Caldwell story -- I had some good ideas for it and am trying to get it done when I have a few spare moments at lunch time or at home. All this to say that my blogging time is limited.

But I still try to ready my favorites and today I liked something Jordon said about churches and accentuating the positive:

I wish there was more local church weblogs. Telling stories and posting some pictures of the church in action, discussion in community, and just showing what communities of Christ followers are actually doing in the world, rather than ranting about it. ... Stories are so important and need to be told. I don't think that our ranting about what is wrong will change that much but telling stories of hope, joy, and engagement in our communities just may.

What he says makes a lot of sense to me. It's too easy to focus on the negative, which often leads to a sense of helplessness.

My hierarchy of sports

Yesterday on the way home from church I said to my husband that when we got home KU would probably be playing basketball on TV. I said this with a tone of eager expectation. Bob replied that there would also be golf on TV, as if that was something to look forward to. This led to a brief discussion (because it's a short drive from church) about sports I do, and do not, look forward to watching. College basketball is a sport I will anticipate watching, even plan to watch. (I go a little nuts during the NCAA tournament.)

Golf is not a sport that I ever plan on watching, which is not to say that I never watch it. I do, sort of. But I don't usually stay riveted to the TV. I get up and put clothes in the washer, go out to the kitchen, cook something, come back and watch a little, take the clothes out of the washer and put them in the dryer, watch a little more golf, take a nap, watch more golf -- and realize I haven't really missed a whole lot. So golf is not high on my hierarchy of sports.

I will anticipate watching football, too, especially if it's the Chiefs, or the Super Bowl. I was the only woman at our small group's Super Bowl party last night who actually watched the game. I even got a little excited, but that's me.

So, yesterday ended up being a very good sports day for me: KU beat Oklahoma, overcoming a 16-point deficit; the Steelers won the Super Bowl, which I was very happy about; and I did watch a little golf and saw a kid named J.B. Holmes get his first PGA tour win in an impressive fashion.

Spirit and Truth

John 4:23-24
"But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (ESV)

I've been quiet lately, at least on the blog, but I've been thinking. Over the last few months, I've come to wonder more and more about the the tension between reason and faith, the contrast of our American self-sufficiency with total reliance on God, the balance of the mystical with the rational. And it seems that I'm not the only one. I've been reading a lot of things lately that address these issues. But two things in particular lately have helped me clarify my thoughts.

I re-read Chaim Potok's books The Chosen and The Promise last week. If you've never read these two novels, set during the period at the end of WWII through the early 1950s in the Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods of Brooklyn, I recommend them. The novels follow two boys, who grow to manhood -- Reuven Malter and Danny Saunders. Reuven is an Orthodox Jew and the son of a scholar in textual criticism. Reuven and his father are devout, obedient, observant Jews. Danny Saunders, however, is the son of a Hasidic rebbe and meant to follow in his father's footsteps as the leader of their community. They are more orthodox than the Orthodox and suspicious of anyone who doesn't subscribe to their version of Jewish fundamentalism. But Danny is also a genius and his intense curiosity and intellect lead him to the writings of Freud and others his father would not approve of.

I first read these books when I was in college, but in re-reading them something new really jumped out at me. One of the themes of these novels revolves around the contrast between scholarship and mysticism, between science and faith. For many of the characters, those are concepts not easily reconciled, and Potok doesn't give the reader any easy answers. I think he leans toward the faith end, but he also doesn't shrink from showing the narrow-mindedness of both sides. When I finished, though, I came away with a sense that we've left something behind in our embrace of all things rational. There are mysteries of God that cannot be explained by our modern scientific method.

I've been reading some things by Donald Miller, too: Blue Like Jazz and Searching for God Knows What. He makes some good points about a a relational approach to understanding the Gospel. I'm not suggesting one build one's theology around the writings of Donald Miller, but he looks at faith in a different way and it can quite illuminating. Here's something from Searching for God Knows What that jumped out at me:

"When the church began to doubt its own integrity after the Darwinian attack on Genesis 1 and 2, we began to answer science, not by appealing to something greater, the realm of beauty and art and spirituality, but by attempting to translate spiritual realities through scientific equations, thus justifying ourselves to culture, as if culture had some kind of authority to redeem us in the first place."

He goes on to talk about how relationships -- with each other and with God -- can't be translated into bullet points or formulas. He suggests we have become too results-oriented. We ask "How can God help me get what I want?" instead of "Who is God and how can I know Him?"

Before I go on, let me make it clear that I'm not suggesting some sort of relativistic, mushy, it-doesn't-matter-what-you-believe-as-long-as-you-believe-something approach to faith. I'm pretty orthodox in my doctrine and I believe we are called to apply our minds as well as our hearts to understanding what God wants of us. But we're missing an important aspect of understanding God when we try to boil the Gospel down to a few steps to be followed by rote.

The scripture I quote above I think addresses this balance between mystery and reason. We are to worship in spirit -- with our hearts -- and in truth -- with our minds. I don't think it's an impossible balance.

And what does this have to do with writing? I think it has a lot. Dave Long has been discussing the conversion stories at Faith in Fiction this week and his posts and the comments are well worth your time. The discussion board is interesting too.

I'm still chewing over these ideas and what they might look like in my writing, but it's exciting to know I'm not the only one.

Here's my Super Bowl pick

When I was laying out sports pages all the time, I learned to like football better. I even wrote a column about it. So I pay more attention to the game now and I'm feeling a little torn about who to root for. Mike Holmgren is a Covenanter and an all-around decent guy. There's been some good coverage of his wife's trip to Africa and the role faith plays in their lives. (Brad linked to a couple of good stories here and here.) But I like the Steelers, too, maybe because I've seen more of their games, but I like their approach and determination. And Troy Polomalu is just awesome. So I'm hoping the Steelers win, but I won't be terribly upset if they lose. How's that for wishy-washiness?

(By the way, if you read my column, I comment about quarterbacks having short names. That obviously won't fly this year since I can't even spell Ben's and Matt's last names and it's a wonder the uniform makers get them on the back of their jerseys. I'm still rooting for Ben.)

Blog Tour

This month's entry in the Christian Fiction Blog Tour is Marilynn Griffith's Pink. I have to admit I haven't had a chance to read it, but here's a bit about it about from Marilynn's Web site:

High fashion meets romance in the Big Apple for a fresh, funky designer!

"...Pink exposes a basic truth: when we hide our true selves from others because we don't want to get hurt, we get hurt anyway--and others do too..."--Neta Jackson, author, The Yada Yada Prayer Group

If you want to know some more, Chris Well has been posting an interview with Marilynn this week. More bloggers are talking about it, too, so follow the links at the blog alliance, too.

Reading progress

I decided this year to follow a read-the-Bible-in-a-year plan. It's had its ups and downs. Or rather, I should say I've had my ups and downs. I've read a lot of the Bible, but not systematically and so I really want to do this. (I've never spent much time in the OT, especially.) But I'm not very consistent. I tried getting up about 30 minutes earlier than I used to -- that was not a successful idea. I'm not a morning person and I already have to get up about 5:30 a.m. But I like the concept, at least, of starting the day out with the Word. I could read in the evening, but my evenings tend to fill up, too -- but I know that shouldn't be an excuse.

So what to do? I think I've found a solution. As I've mentioned before, I ride a van with a bunch of other people to work, and I'm on the van for almost an hour every morning. I can't read while I ride, so I listen to music on my iPod. I usually listen to some kind of Christian music to help me start the day with a better spirit. So I decided I should find a Bible podcast. I didn't want one with a lot of extra commentary, just the Bible, and I think I've found one that I like. The Daily Audio Bible podcast is presented each day by a Nashville producer and artist named Brian Hardin. He has a pleasant reading voice and he's following a one-year-Bible plan. My only complaint is that he doesn't stick to one version. He uses a different version each week. Last week, when I started, he was using The Message, which I consider more for devotional purposes than serious study. But if I want to dig deeper in the day's passages, I can always look them up in something else later. The main thing is, this is good way to spend some time with God's Word. To help with the alternating versions issue, I've subscribed to the RSS feed for the ESV One-Year Bible. So we'll see how this goes. I'll post my progress from time to time.

True Friendship

I've posted my February Notes from the Windowsill column on my writing blog. It's called True Friendship. In it, I refer to a certain chicken-cutting-up episode that for some reason has remained vivid in my mind, as well as my friend Rebecca's. Perhaps it was the fact that we had never actually cut up a chicken before. Rebecca's mother was giving piano lessons that afternoon, which is why we were given the task of cutting up the chicken in the first place. I'm pretty sure we interrupted her at several points because we couldn't figure out how to cut certain parts. We did that job, but I think we came out with one or two pieces never before seen in a cut-up chicken. At any rate, it was quite a hilarious experience all around.

What optimism is and isn't

Here's a thought: Optimism untempered by a realistic view of the world leads to disappointment, or even disaster.

Having said that, I'm generally an optimist, but one who has experienced some of the pitfalls inherent in that outlook. But I still try to have a positive approach to things and I'm pretty resilient, I think. But I had lunch with a friend a few days ago and it's got me thinking about the difference between being optimistic, being realistic and being negative.

My friend wanted to share an idea with me -- it's an idea for a project that we both have talked about in the past but never saw a way to do. But as she described her new approach to this idea, I found myself trying to inject a bit of realistic thinking into the discussion. I suggested things we might want to research, approaches we might consider. Mostly, I was thinking aloud. But my friend felt I was being negative -- apparently she had expected me to express whole-hearted enthusiasm for the idea and I wasn't fulfilling her expectations. I thought about it and apologized for coming across as negative, because that wasn't my intent. But if I'm going to be involved in something that will require a lot of time and possibly some money, I want to be sure it's done right. I will admit right here that I'm not much of a risk taker, so I'm sure that colors my outlook.

I know my friend pretty well and I know why this possible project means so much more to her. I also know her well enough to understand some of the life experiences that have shaped her way of thinking. She's more likely to see things as either-or, black-and-white, whereas I see more shades of gray, more in-between options. I've always been this way and sometimes I wish I wasn't. But I don't think it's being negative to disagree with someone or to suggest that more research is needed. I don't think it's crushing someone's dream to suggest some realistic thinking. In fact, the best way to make a dream come true is to have a plan. I'm not saying my friend doesn't have a plan, but I don't think it's very well thought out yet.

So what do you think? When someone brings you an idea that you know needs to be fleshed out in more detail, a dream that one will have to hurdle many obstacles to achieve, is it being negative to point those things out? I'm not talking about saying something like "Boy that will never work. What a stupid idea." That's obviously negative. What I mean is something more along the lines of "Maybe we ought to talk to some people who've done this sort of thing before." or "Other similar ventures have not been able to turn a profit. I'm just not sure it's realistic to expect much."

I'm interested in what other people think about this.

Despite the pig, I have good taste

OK, one more quiz and then I promise, I'll quit for today. But this is a really, really cool car!

I'm a Mercedes SLK!

You appreciate the finer things in life. You have a split personality - wild or conservative, depending on your mood. Wherever you go, you like to travel first class. Luxury, style, and fun - who could ask for more?

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

This is fun. (link via Jordon)

I don't think Pachelbel would mind

A friend sent me this link to an awesome guitar rendition of the Canon in D. I wish the video was a better quality, but the sound is great.

Who I am, porcinely speaking

So, I've discovered that how you draw a pig says something about your personality. Don't believe me? Check this out. I am not an artist, I know. But apparently my pig is a fairly accurate representation of how I see the world. Interesting. (Thanks, Michelle, for the link.)

A good book and some randomness

First, let me point you to a book that's released today: Building the Christian Family You Never Had, by Mary E. DeMuth. Mary is one of the Master's Artists and lives in France, where she and her husband are missionaries. I was blessed to grow up in a Christian family, but that's not true for many people. So how can you break the patterns of the past and be the start of a Christian heritage for your children? That's what this book addresses. I haven't read it yet, but it looks good. I know from reading Mary's blog that she writes with a wonderful honesty. You can find out more about Mary and her writing and her family at her blog.

Next, the randomness.

Know what this day is? The day the first Apple Macintosh went on sale! I'm certainly glad about that.

Foxtrot is having some fun this week with the whole Million Little Pieces fiction/memoir concept. Bill Amend has addressed some timely topics lately -- very funny stuff.

A few encouraging words

As one who struggles with self-doubt and angst over her writing, I found this post from Storytellers Unplugged most heartening. While I want to aim for excellence, I need to quit dithering and just write, write and write some more. If you're the same way (and admit it, you are), you might find encouragement in Richard Steinberg's words, too and find, as I did, some good practical advice, as well.

What I've been up to

I've had a busy few days, so here's a little catch-up:

Friday evening and Saturday we had a worship seminar at church led by Jonathan Dow of Aldersgate Renewal Ministries. We had folks from several area churches and it was an excellent weekend. (Aldersgate is affiliated with the United Methodist church, by the way.) He led us in a lot of worship and modeled the things he was teaching. He got into some of the nuts and bolts of worship leading, but a lot of the weekend was devoted to the foundation and heart of worship -- the Biblical underpinnings and having your heart right with God before you ever get up in front of the congregation. It was excellent.

I spent some time with my husband. (Always a good thing.) We went out to eat for our anniversary Saturday night, then to his company Christmas party Sunday evening (yes, I know it's a month late, but it was a free dinner, so I won't complain). And we watched the Steelers trounce the Broncos Sunday afternoon. Very good game, though maybe a little less exciting than the Steelers/Colts game the week before. But the two teams I wanted are in the Super Bowl. Now I have to decide who I'm going to cheer for. This is a bit of a dilemma, you see. Because I like the Steelers, but Mike Holmgren (coach of the Seahawks) is a Covenanter. I think I'll have to give this some thought.

Yesterday, the President (yes, that President), spoke here for a Landon Lecture and I attended. Let's just say I have mixed feelings about some of this administration's policies, but I'm not going to pass up the chance to hear a President speak -- it's history. So I went and it was interesting. It's always interesting to watch the people at something like this, and it was even more so yesterday because of all the media and the state and local officials who were there. The speech was OK, though he didn't say anything especially new or unexpected. I will express one thought I've had about the speech, and then I'm done -- when politicians make repeated use of a word, the purpose often seems to be to divert one's attention from a condition that is just the opposite. We heard the word "liberty" a lot yesterday. Just something to think about.

Breathtaking

May I direct you to a beautiful picture here? The photographer gives you the option of changing backgrounds -- try it, it's like looking through a window into a winter-clad forest.

Mom, I love that shirt!

One spring day in 1976 I walked out of my dorm and stopped to talk to a guy sitting on a picnic table. It was a nice Sunday afternoon and we ended up talking for a couple of hours. I think that evening we went with a bunch of friends to our favorite pizza place downtown. (It was not a date, we just had mutual friends.) And everytime I turned around during the next couple of weeks, there was that guy. No, he wasn't stalking me. I just think God was doing his little thing and making sure we had chances to get to know each other better. So we did. And by the time I went home for the summer, I knew I was going to miss this guy. I still think my father was a little alarmed when I introduced him to Bob, who was 25 the day I left for the summer. I was still 18. But how could my parents object? He was a seminary student!

By Christmas we were engaged, and on Jan. 21, 1978, we were married in my parents' church, with my Dad and Uncle Tom sharing the officiating duties. It was a very fun wedding — not elaborate or expensive, but we were surrounded by our friends and family and a good time was had by all. Our pianist drove with us back to Lincoln; we left her at her dorm and we honeymooned in our apartment. We went to church the next day and people were a little surprised to see us, but it seemed like a good way to start out. And after church we went to the grocery store. And more friends were surprised to see us there, but we needed groceries and we had wedding money.

Much of our married life has been like that -- a mix of practicality and whimsy. We lived in an apartment where we named the rooms after places in The Lord of the Rings. The bathroom was called Mordor, just so we could say "I'm going to Mordor."

Here's a picture from 1979 -- it's at my parents' house and I suppose Julia was a baby, but she's not in the picture. (Our first child was born 11 months and 1 day after we got married.)


And now we come to the title of this post: My sister-in-law found this picture at my parents' and gave it to me at the 50th anniversary party. My immediate response was "Oh, I loved that shirt!" When I showed it to Julia and later to Megan, they both said the same thing, "Mom, I love that shirt. Do you still have it?" Sorry, no. But it was a great shirt, wasn't it?

Tomorrow Bob and I will celebrate 28 years together. Those thin young people in the picture didn't know what was coming, but they were committed to one another and to God, whatever the future held. It hasn't been perfect, but it's been a joy and we're closer now than ever. So happy anniversary to us.

Story snippet: "Take me out"

I've been writing another Adam Caldwell story (the main character from In Transit) and I thought I'd post a scene. Adam is working on a story about Darren Rucker, a minor league baseball player accused of killing his girlfriend. In this scene, Adam encounters O'Malley and Robinson, a couple of cops who are generally bad news:

(Later on Sunday afternoon, when Adam comes back from Rev. Wilson's:)

I reached the third floor of my building and stopped short. The door to my apartment was slightly ajar and I heard voices. I approached the door carefully and realized the TV was on. I knew I hadn't left the TV on and I never leave my door unlocked.

I shoved the door open with my hand and stared into my living room: O'Malley and Robinson were sitting on my couch, drinking my beer and watching a ball game on my TV.

"Good afternoon, officers. Why don't you come right in and make yourselves at home?" I said. The cops weren't alarmed or apologetic.

"Don't mind if we do. Huh, huh." Robinson said, with a sort of gorilla chuckle. The man's enough to make you believe in evolution.

"You got some new stuff, didn't ya?" Robinson pointed at the TV and patted the couch.

O'Malley smacked Robinson's shoulder, "Shut up!"

I didn't comment on it, but I made a mental note -- this confirmed my suspicion that the two had been responsible for the trashing of my apartment a few months ago, when I was covering the immigrant smuggling story.

"I don't suppose you're here to admire my décor. What do you want? And how did you get in here, anyway?"

"The super let us in," O'Malley said.

"Just like that."

"Yeah, just like that. He has a healthy respect for the law, unlike someone else in this room."

"You shouldn't let him talk about you like that, Robinson."

Robinson was paying more attention to the ball game, though. "Huh? Hey, look, Sammy Sosa's comin' up to bat."

"Shut it off you doofus. We've got business to attend to here," O'Malley said, standing up. "We hear you talked to our boy last night."

I knew who O'Malley meant, but I made him tell me.

"I talk to lots of people, all the time. You got someone specific in mind?"

"You always have to be cute, don't you. I'm talkin' about Rucker and you know it."

"Well, yeah, I interviewed him after the ball game. So?"

"So I want your notes."

"No. You can't have them."

I braced myself for what I was sure would come next. I never get away with saying "no" to those two without some painful physical consequences.

But I think my abrupt answer surprised O'Malley because he just stared at me.

"And why not? You know we'll get them sooner or later."

"Not without a subpoena, and maybe not even then. A reporter's notes are protected under Nebraska's shield law."

Maybe O'Malley knew more about the law than I thought, or maybe he had another plan for getting my notes. He motioned to Robinson, who hadn't turned the game off.

"Come on, let's go." Then he pointed his thick finger at me. "I'll get those notes, one way or another. And you can do this" he made a rude gesture "with your subpoena."

"Hey, Sammy just hit a home run!" Robinson sat up and waved his can of beer around, sloshing some out on my coffee table. O'Malley grabbed his partner under the armpit and heaved him up off the couch.

"I told you to turn that off. Let's go! You can watch the game somewhere else."

They left, Robinson grumbling all the way out the door.

I got a rag to wipe up the spilled beer and then sat on the couch, staring at the TV but not really seeing the game. There wasn't anything incriminating in my notes -- all Darren and I talked about was baseball -- but I wasn't going to tell the cops that, at least not when they think they can just park themselves in my apartment and demand my notes. It was a matter of principal. The problems was, it's those matters of principal that keep getting my apartment trashed. I decided to lock my notes and computer up at The Observer office, just to be safe.

Feel free to leave impressions or whatever in the comments.

Things I realized this weekend

I didn't do much exciting this weekend, but here's a few observations:

The song "We Win" from the David Crowder* Band's new album (A Collision) is best listened to at a very loud volume while you're driving down the highway at 65 mph. And you should definitely sing along. The song makes me want to jump up and down, but obviously that would not be a good thing to do while I'm behind the wheel of a car going 65 mph. Anyway, excellent song on an excellent album.

If you want to convince your children of your insanity, ask them to help you out by enacting a scene from your work in progress. Last night I was writing a scene with a bit of action and I wondered if that would actually work. So I went downstairs and asked Tim and Joel to help me out. They were a bit skeptical at first, and Joel wasn't real thrilled being asked to portray the doofus cop part, but they helped me and it worked. (They successfully demonstrated that one guy could heave a larger guy off a couch, if you're interested.)

Grown-up children are still your children and the urge to smooth things out for them never really goes away. But it's probably better if you don't.

And to think I wanted to be an archeologist ..

You scored as English. You should be an English major! Your passion lies in writing and expressing yourself creatively, and you hate it when you are inhibited from doing so. Pursue that interest of yours! English 100% Journalism 92% Linguistics 75% Psychology 58% Sociology 58% Mathematics 58% Theater 58% Dance 50% Philosophy 42% Anthropology 42% Biology 33% Art 25% Engineering 25% Chemistry 17% What is your Perfect Major? (PLEASE RATE ME!!<3) created with QuizFarm.com (Thanks to Randall for the link.)

Friday musings

It's Friday and my mind is jumping from one thing to another, none of which have anything to do with what I'm supposed to be doing. But if you want to enlighten yourself, here's some links:

I heard a good piece on NPR this morning about the whole "Million Little Pieces" issue. I happen to think that creative nonfiction should be truthful, by the way. Once you start being less than honest, it's hard to know where to stop. There's some good discussion of this issue at Faith in Fiction (message board), too.

Mick Silva has an excellent post up about cultural relevance. And Mark takes up the subject here, too. I'm still sorting out my thoughts, but as I commented on Mark's post, too many people who want to tranform the culture seem to think there's some perfect formula for doing so. But Rom. 12:1-2 tells us that we must be transformed by the renewing of our minds (in Christ). Transformation comes from the inside, through the work of the Holy Spirit. We can't impose transformation on others.

Infuze's Best of 2005 is now available. Alas, my story isn't in it, but you'll find lots of even better stories. Your fingers should run, not walk, to the Infuze store to order your copy.

Reality check

For those of us who aspire to publication, today's Non Sequitur is required reading.

The Master's Men

When I turned on my computer this morning, this picture was in the little picture frame widget I have.

This was at my parent's 5oth anniversary and the men in the picture are my brothers, cousins and uncle. Tim and Jim, my brothers, are the guys on either end. In between are Tom, Kerry and their dad, my Uncle Tom. When we were all in college in the mid-70s, early 80s, Uncle Tom was a music professor at the small Christian college we attended and he directed a men's chorus called ... The Master's Men. I think maybe Tim (the oldest) and Kerry (the youngest) weren't in it at the same time, but they were all in Master's Men at some point. So they sang a song at the anniversary party and it was just beautiful.

So I just thought I'd put this up for fun, and to honor some guys who truly are the Master's men, in every way.

This does not surprise me

what decade does your personality live in?


quiz brought to you by lady interference, ltd


Listen, I was a just a little young to be a flower child, but I wished I wasn't. (I turned 12 in 1969, do the math.)
(found the link at Lisa Samson's Author Intrusion)

Rich and complex and loud

So part of my Christmas present from Megan was an iTunes gift card and last week I got the new Switchfoot album, "Nothing is Sound." This is one awesome album -- I can see why many critics ranked it among the best of the year. And as I've been listening to it, I'm reminded of U2. Not so much the sound, but in the depth of the lyrics and the musical complexity. These are great songs.

A couple more good links

Gordon Atkinson (Real Live Preacher) weighs in on The Book of Daniel (the TV show, not the OT book) at Salon. What he has to say about some Christians' reaction to the show is more interesting than the show.

And the waiter has a good story today about a marriage -- Treasure. (Note: The language, as usual, is PG-13 or so.)

The perfect antidote for a gray winter day

Randall Friesen is posting 9 days of summer at his photoblog, drycold. He's up to number 5 now of absolutely gorgeous pictures of flowers. Go feast your eyes. (To see the ones he's already posted, just click on the Before link.)

Good words

Here's a little item for you grammar geeks out there: John McIntyre, assistant managing editor fo the copy desk at the Baltimore Sun, has a blog, You Don't Say. It's pretty good.

And for a few more good words, visit The Master's Artist for Mark Bertrand's weekly post. He has some good things to say about understanding yourself as a writer and starting from where you're at.

Have a good weekend!

One more book I'm looking forward to

Actually, there are lots of books I want to read, but here's the final installment about books that are coming out this year that I know I want to read.

The first novel by Robin Parrish, editor of Infuze, is coming out this summer from Bethany House. Though I haven't seen any of the story yet, his editor is pretty impressed.

I love Infuze and I love suspense, so Relentless is going on my list, too.

By the way, Robin blogs about his novel here. It's a nice peek into the process.

Thank God for poets

The words of David Crowder, a psalmist for the 21st Century:

I need words, as wide as sky
I need a language large as this longing inside.
And I need a voice, bigger than mine
And I need a song to sing you, that I've got to find
I need you ...
To be here now ...
To hear me now ...

I'm never exactly on the cutting edge of things, so I've only just discovered the David Crowder Band (thanks, Megan, for leaving cd's at home). So I started listening to Can You Hear Us a couple of days ago and was simply blown away. I've been preparing for a Bible study in the Psalms and am coming to understand the role this book can play in our lives. (I'll be using Praying the Psalms, a study by Eugene Peterson) They help us express emotions and responses to God in ways that prose simply can't do. That's what the songs on this cd do for me, too. This is music that's not easy to categorize. It's worship music, but not like any other worship music. I like it.

I was thinking about this cd and about the conversion stories Dave's been posting, which are also hard to categorize, and I'm reminded that our God is vast and complex and hard to categorize. So why should we think that our offerings to him should be simplistic and formulaic. This is not to say that there's something wrong with a simply-told story -- look at the parables. But it's important to remember that God is not of our creation -- we are his creation and we're pretty complex ourselves. The most satisfying stories somehow express that complexity.

Still, sometimes our language seems to fall short (at least mine does). And that brings me back to David Crowder (and many other poets). I'm not a poet, myself, but I'm thankful for them.

Books I'm looking forward two, part 2

First a little update on yesterday's post: I got an e-mail from Gina this morning that said I'm one of the lucky winners of an autographed copy of Forgiving Solomon Long. Whoo-hoo! I hardly ever win anything, so this is cool. (My son Tim is the one who wins stuff in our family -- he has actually won two, yes two, TVs. And he's still in high school. Long story, lucky kid.)

Now on to today's subject, which happens to be Waking Lazarus, by first-time novelist T.L. Hines. Tony is letting his (future) readers in on the book publishing process with his innovative Web site, The Other Side. You can sign up and participate in forums, contests and walk with Tony along the road to publication. He calls it an "open source approach." I call it cool. When I signed up, I got a preview of the opening chapters and I was really impressed. Tony is a good writer -- what I read was suspenseful and a little spooky, but not too spooky (I have a low heebie-jeebie threshold, believe me).

So what's it about? Here's the synopsis from Tony's site:

Jude Allman has died three times. Jude Allman has returned to life three times. His three Near-Death Experiences (NDEs) have made him a cult celebrity: he has a bestselling autobiography, talk show appearances, even a TV Movie of the Week.

But the bright spotlight of fame has also made him increasingly paranoid--paranoid enough to change his identity and hide in Montana. Six years after his disappearance, a stranger shows up on Jude’s doorstep with a startling claim. She tells him he is a prophet of God, a modern Moses.

But Jude doesn't feel like a prophet. He feels his own paranoia deepening, and he's having blackouts while children around him become an abductor’s prey. Yet he soon discovers he has the key to stopping the kidnapper--hidden inside the past he's tried so hard to forget.

Can he unravel the mysteries of his own deaths and find the missing children?

Think it sounds intriguing? So do I. So I'm looking forward to this book, which will come out this summer.

Here's some good stories

Later today, I'll post the next book I'm looking forward to, but in the meantime, I want to remind you that Dave Long has been posting some of the conversion stories (from the contest last fall) at Faith in Fiction. He started last week and he's continuing this week. Some of the stories are finalists, but he's thrown in a few extras for good measure, and they're all excellent -- well-written, engaging and highly original. I find myself thinking "I am not worthy," when I consider my own feeble effort. Mike Snyder's story "All Healed Up" is the most recent addition to the list and it's one of my favorites. So go catch up on your reading.

Added later: Robin Parrish has posted a look at what was learned in 2005, at least in regard to faith and creativity. It's great. And when I read it in light of the stories Dave's been posting, I can't help but feel optimistic about the prospects for truly innovative, original, ground-breaking storytelling that shines God's light in a most excellent way.

Books I'm looking forward to

One of the neat things about this blogging thing is that my reading horizons have broadened. Not only do I hear about new books pretty regularly, I even hear about some books before they're published. And there are some books that are coming out this year that I know I want to read. Here's the first one on my list.

I loved Forgiving Solomon Long, Chris Well's debut novel. It was fresh, fast-paced and funny. So I'm really looking forward to Deliver us from Evelyn. Like Solomon Long, it's set in Kansas City and some of the same characters are back. Here's how the publisher (Harvest House) describes the story:

... Chris Well’s second nail–biter revolves around Evelyn Blake, heartless media/publishing mogul. The inconvenience she suffers when her billionaire husband mysteriously disappears is multiplied when nearly everybody starts inquiring, “Where is Blake?”...

Detectives Tom Griggs and Charlie Pasch are feeling the heat from on high to get this thing solved.

Revenge–focused mobster Viktor Zhukov has figured out Blake was tied in with a rival gang’s ambush.

Rev. Damascus Rhodes (his current alias) figures a man of the cloth can properly console the grieving Mrs. Blake.

By the end of this high–speed thriller, some characters find unexpected redemption...and more than a few are begging, Deliver us from Evelyn..

If you want to know more about Chris, he has an excellent blog, and this week he's being interviewed by Gina Holmes at Novel Journey. You might even win an autographed copy of Forgiving Solomon Long and get a sneak peak at Deliver us from Evelyn if you leave a comment.

Tomorrow and Thursday I'll highlight two more novels I'm looking forward to, both by first-time novelists.