The Writer's Purpose

(Note: this post is something of a sequel post to another article I've written, We Are The Writers. If you haven't read We Are The Writers already, I'd encourage you to read it before continuing on to this post. And one more note...this post is long and fairly impassioned. Only read it if you have time to focus on it.)

So here's what I've said: writers are paradoxes. Writers are some of the most meaningful people in the world. Writers are insanely sane.

Whether or not the logic processes that I used to explain this paradox are valid or not (isn't that ironic?), I think we can all say that writers have something in them that makes them be more meaningful when writing meaningful things. I recieved mixed feelings about my last post and created something of a discussion, and I'm not surprised. It was a crazy post, after all.

I called it one of my greatest posts. But in hindsight, THIS post is the culmination of my writing on this blog. This is the heartbeat of my writer's existence.  And, like I said, this will be long.

In this post, I'll dive into something dearer and deeper to me than the awesomeness of writers: the PURPOSE of Christian writers. I have a feeling that this will be less controversial but more challenging to all of us. We Are The Writers presented ideas: The Writer's Purpose will provide direction for those idea-driven people. We Are The Writers presented philosophy: The Writer's Purpose will present theology. (And don't shy back at that word, theology. It invokes visions of fifty-pound Bibles and heavy seminary textbooks and St. Augustine. But it's important, so keep reading.)


The Purpose

What is the purpose of a Christian writer?

It's a simple question that has a simple enough answer. However, let me clarify that question: what is YOUR purpose as a Christian writer?

Like I said, the answer probably comes to mind easily.

Here's my own answer: my sole purpose as a Christian writer is to glorify God. My sole purpose in LIFE is to glorify God. After all, that's why I moved to West Africa!

But honestly, what does that mean? Someone once told me that "the glory of God" is the answer to every Sunday school question, but "the glory of God" doesn't answer this one: what does glorifying God mean?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that the way we glorify God the best is by living for Him. For example, when Jesus and, afterward, Christians, did miracles, the people glorified God. Healing people and doing Christ's work glorifies Him. Living for Him and praising Him glorifies Him. We are to live as "living sacrifices" to God, according to Romans 12.

Another passage states that whatever we do, we must do it as if we were doing it for Christ.

The way we glorify God is to impact the reader FOR CHRIST. We show that His goodness is so good that we cannot help but want it: we show that His holiness is so holy that we must throw ourselves on the ground and shout, "Woe to me!": we must show that His forgiveness is powerful and can wash the foulest clean, but that each man truly is foul and must be cleansed: we must show Him in EVERY aspect.

But I'm not saying you should write novels where all the characters get converted and the reader has a nice accept-Jesus-Christ-and-you-will-be-saved epilogue to tie it all together. Far from it. But the desire to escape cheesy writing and cliches does NOT let us escape the fact that we are still to glorify Him in WHATEVER we do.

So our purpose as writers is to glorify God. Simple enough, right?

But let me reinforce this: every book, every chapter, every WORD you write must be for the glory of God, if you are a Christian wanting to write a Christian novel. Many people have said, "Write what you're passionate about."

I'm not afraid to say it: my greatest passion in life is not writing. It isn't reading. It isn't blogging. It isn't even having good Christian fellowship or going to church.

My greatest passion in life is to see the glory of God spread to all nations and to live my life according to His purpose and FOR His GLORY, whether that be in writing or not, wherever He might call me.

Whether you write a novel or not, the decision to live solely for God will impact every single aspect of your life and fundamentally change your worldview.

If your passion is not for God, then you should not be writing a book you consider "Christian". If your passion is for a THEME, such as sacrifice, then you are off. If you hold anything besides God to be your greatest passion, then your novel will not accurately reflect the glory of God.

If you have any other motivation to write a novel than to glorify God, then you need to take a step back.

So that is our purpose, to glorify God. But what does glorifying God in writing look like?

That's what my second point is about.


The Action

These thoughts have been simmering in my head for a long time. The balance of theme and message and faith is a tricky one, but we must all choose where we will stand.

There are three ways that a Christian writer can write a book for God's glory. (The first one may be disputed, but I think it could be pulled off. I tried my best to pull it off in my novel The War Horn, actually, but in some places, it seeps into the second kind of story.)

1) First, the Story with the Theme. A theme is the most common way to express an ideal that originates from God. All three categories have a theme: but only one of them is the Story with the Theme, a story that uses theme and only theme.

What is theme? For the purpose of this post, a theme is a "good" ideal-like aspect of humanity. Forgiveness, love, and sacrifice are all powerful "themes".

The Story with the Theme uses the plot and characters to show the reader this "theme".

The most common example of The Story with the Theme is found in The Lord of the Rings. J. R. R. Tolkien hated allegory, but he did want to write books that would "cleanse" the world, in a way. He didn't want to write a novel to get a point across, but he (debatedly) wanted to write a novel with a theme to get across. (Note the difference in wording. He wrote a novel and included a theme, rather than making a theme off of which to write a novel.)

Sacrifice and heroism are two big themes in The Lord of the Rings, and, coupled with my faith, I find them quite inspiring. I, and millions of others, love Tolkien's books.

2) The Story with the Message is the second kind of story. It's a story with Christian MESSAGES, which is different than a theme. A message, for the purposes of this post, is sort of a "clearer" version of a theme. It's not necessarily black-and-white Christian, but to the one who looks for it, the parallels to Christianity are evident.

The example for this one is C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia. Many people have read them and never realized the Christian themes, but it's evident to most Christians, and certainly more evident than Tolkien's Christianity.

3) The Story with the Faith is the third kind. It's a story with an evident faith that includes in that story a message AND a theme. The "faith" in this kind is basically the worldview of the author clearly expressed in the events of the story and the characters.

The best example of this is found in Bryan Davis' writing. If you read any Christian speculative fiction, then you've undoubtedly heard of Bryan Davis. He's a Christian writer who writes his entire worldview into his books. His books always have a theme, a message, and often expresses his faith in Jesus Christ.


Where Will We Stand?

Where will you stand, writer?

To glorify God means that we will be fighting, you know. God is counter-culture, because men are sinners and He is holy. Our words may not be popular. We may be called "bigots" or "Bible-thumpers", but should that stop us?

Absolutely not!

We must stand firm. We must fight the fight of the faith, not only with the armor of God but with the words He has given us. Our words are our most powerful weapon, and we must wield them according to our King's commands.

But we have three kinds of story to balance, and to the average Christian writer, it's hard. Some of us don't want to be "preachy" and try to proselytize the audience, and yet we want to express our faith in a way that glorifies God. In many ways, we'll lean towards one or the other.

And it's hard. So, so hard. The Christian writer's job is to write in blood, for the pain and hardship of trying to make the intangible tangible is one of the most difficult jobs there is; and in the same way, we are writing with Someone's blood so that every page will reflect it.

So which way is better?

None of them are better than the other.

I think that God uses each and every style of Christian writing. And I think, in some ways, he uses others more. I've heard a story from Bryan Davis himself (I met him at a writing conference) about how his book literally saved someone's life. And for those of you who don't know it, Davis's journey to publication and his faith in his writing is truly a remarkable and Christ-filled tale.

And yet, I don't think many non-Christians will read Davis's books. They're clearly marketed for Christians, and thus are avoided, in most cases.

In the end, the decision is up to you and God.

Here's how I do it: every single novel I write, I place in God's hand. I tell Him, "This novel is Yours. Guide me as I write this." Sometimes they end up differently. The Book of Shaldu, for instance, is between The Story with the Message and The Story with the Faith (and will probably lean towards The Story with the Faith once I rewrite it), while The War Horn is mostly a Story with a Theme.

(This method also lets me pull off SOP - seat of pants - writing. But that's another subject altogether.)

And I pray that, in whatever way He might do it, that He would use my novels to further His Kingdom and glorify Him. And I pray the same for you: in whatever you might do, do it for God's glory. Wherever you stand in this journey we call writing, and wherever you might be in determining how God wants you to write, let me tell you this:

Do it for God's glory.

I have a baton in my room here in West Africa. When I graduated a missions class called Perspectives, I was handed the baton, and the baton read, "Every tribe, tongue, and nation or BUST!!!"

That's the war cry of missions. We Christian writers have our own war cry, however. "Write a story to glorify God—or BUST!"

Soli Deo gloria, blog readers.

Glory to God alone.

A Worldbuilding Fiasco

This post will be short, but I have a couple points to make about worldbuilding in a fantasy or science-fiction world.  Don't worry, more news on The War Horn will be coming soon: hold your horses and I'll get to you as soon as I can.

So I just have one question...does anyone else feel the pressure to worldbuild like nobody's business?  Like, on a "Silmarillion" scale?

That's what's been plaguing me lately.  I'm five thousand words into a document titled "A History of the Elathim".  And I'm not even halfway through with my "worldbuilding".

You see, this document basically records the history of this fantasy world, and specifically of a certain people.  To give you an idea of how massive this project is (in comparison to writing out a "quick" history), I'm writing the history of seven nations, their fall, and the rise of the three other nations (or mini-empires, more like) that took their place.  Right now, I'm done with the preliminary histories of TWO of those first seven nations.  That's what took up five thousand words.

Besides this, I've written out a royal genealogy for two of the nations (and hope to write one out for each nation), in addition to drawing out a detailed map of all seven kingdoms.  And I created a non-Roman calendar.

Seriously.

I really did think that I was just writing out a short little background on the history of this people, but it's looking like this little project will end up being more than fifteen thousand words, minimum.  One thing led to another, and I had all kinds of things to sort out.  It's actually like exploring new territory.  I've got a genealogy with 36 names on it, and each name has a story behind it.  (Resist the urge to explain, resist the urge, resist the urge...)

So that brings me back to my first question....does anyone worldbuild obsessively like I do?  I feel kind of alone here. XD If so, feel free to let us know how you do it, at least for my state of mind.

I'll leave you with an example of my madness...a quote that touches on primitive genetics.

"It seems to me to be evident that....the traits of the Elarasters are passed on from one generation to the next, like a family heirloom might; but this is contained within their blood, in packets, if you will, of information that determine the life of a man or woman....however, I estimate that it only manifests itself once in a thousand births, or less, and only among the Elathim." — Loc Shallin, "A Treatise on the Origins of the Elarasters" Printed in 829 W.C.

I have to admit, though...this worldbuilding is great fun.  XD  You ought to try it.  

Who Gets to Pre-Read?

The time came to draw names. And then I discovered that I had no hat. (Sadly, my fedora was left behind in the States.)

So I improvised and used my sister's trenchcoat pocket. What's cooler than a trenchcoat, anyway?

However, I'll belay the talk and cut to the chase:

The winners are....

LARK

FARRAH

ELDRA

CIARA

and

DAUGHTEROFLIGHT

Congratulations, winners! I'll send you The War Horn in your respective formats ASAP. Since internet is limited, however, there might be a delay. Be patient and good things will come, as the saying goes.

Remember: you need to read this within two weeks and, if you liked it, write an "endorsement" that's less than a hundred words long.

Many thanks to all who participated! If you didn't win, no worries: I'm hoping to have The War Horn available before February reaches its end. Once the cover art is finished and the pre-readers have read the book, then it's just a matter of days before The War Horn comes to a website near you.

Want to Pre-Read The War Horn? Read This Post!

There comes a time where a writer gets so familiar with his work that he can no longer detect what mistakes may remain.  You can always keep revising, but the work in question will never be perfect.  Novels that are actually published aren't perfect, they're mostly perfect.

With The War Horn, I've done all the editing that I can do.  The final revision is finished.

So what do you do?

You get pre-readers to read the work in question.

And, my blog readers, those pre-readers are you, and this work in question is The War Horn.

Yes, readers, your wildest dreams have come true. (At least, I hope that this is your wildest dream. O_o) This post is the "READ THE WAR HORN FOR FREE!" post.

This'll be very simple.  There will be five lucky people who get to pre-read The War Horn.  However, before I go on to explain how these five lucky people shall be chosen, I need you to read something.  In order to pre-read The War Horn, you need to be able and willing to do three things:

First, you need to be able to read the War Horn within two weeks, if not sooner.  The War Horn is just over 110 pages print length, a quick and easy read, so this shouldn't prove to be any trouble for you.

Second, if you have any feedback whatsoever, please send it to me.  If you see a typo or an inconsistency or a passage that just strikes you as awkward, let me know.  This is the last polish before The War Horn is put for sale, so it's important. (This doesn't mean that you should do an in-depth critique.)

Third, if you liked the book, please write a paragraph of one hundred words or less telling why you liked the book, and send it to me in an email. This will be the equivalent of an "endorsement" and will go in the front of the book, along with your name or alias.  (If you're willing, you can also put your age in the endorsement, and your blog address, if you have one, but those are both optional.)

By participating in this pre-reading contest, you agree that you are able and willing to do the above.

Now, what do the readers get out of it?  You will, of course, get to read my novel before everyone else, and get your name in the front of the book with your endorsement.  Like I said before, the endorsement bit is only if you liked the book.  In addition, I'll mention all of the pre-readers - whether or not you actually liked the book - in the acknowledgments.

Here's how you can get your name in the hat:

Comment below (or email me) and tell me you want to pre-read The War Horn.  Include your email in the comment, or, if you're not comfortable with that, send it to me in an email.  That's it.  If you want to earn an extra "entry" in the hat, you can blog about it.  Send me the URL either through a comment or an email to validate your entry.

If you have a preference for format, let me know in the comment section while you're entering.  I can send it to the winners in either .doc, .pdf, or .prc format. (PRC is Kindle's format.  If you have a Kindle, all you have to do is hook it up to the computer and copy-and-paste the file.  You can then read it on your Kindle.) If you don't specify a format, I'll send it in .doc.

The contest starts right now and will close next Friday, on the 3rd of February.  Once the contest closes, I'm going to literally draw five names out of a hat. If you win, I'll email you a copy of The War Horn in your format of choice, as well as write a short blog post announcing the winners.

Let it begin!  Allons-y!

Back—In Blue

I'm back, but not in black. I'm wearing a faded blue Kansas shirt. (Faded because my poor *snif* Kansas shirts are slowly deteriorating. That's your cue, Darth Vader: "NOOOOOOOOOO!")

And guess what? It's another update. Not quite as exciting as something like "GET A FREE COPY OF THE WAR HORN!" (although that's coming soon, muahahaha!). However, I hope it proves to be informative, if not entertaining.

Right now, I'm still hard at work with The War Horn.

You see, I lost a day this past week, and I still can't figure it out. All of a sudden, it was Friday, and I didn't even know what had happened. I seriously thought it was Thursday. So that meant that schoolwork went in Blue Overdrive mode and also produced a vial of Stop Writer's Cramp because of some weird chemical reaction. Go figure.

See, that's much more interesting than "I was busy with school so I couldn't revise", wasn't it?

However, sources tell me that I said to my parents, "The War Horn will be finished on Sunday!" so we'll see what happens. If that's true, then the "GET A FREE COPY OF THE WAR HORN" post will be coming soon to a blog near you.

For a more serious update, here's a post-within-the-post in reply to some comments made on my previous post.

Firstly, I do eat one meal a day. And now I can't think of eating three meals a day. Meh. (And, while I'm on that thought, I find it funny that people say "How can you survive on one meal a day?", because it's perfectly normal here.) It's a wonder I didn't swell up and roll around like a soccer ball. Or football, as the locals call it. I think I'll forever eat this much in times to come. In all seriousness, though, our entire family is a lot healthier than we were two months ago because of our change in diet.

However, the conditions we live in are not as healthy. It's almost crazy, what's been happening. My sister, when we first arrived, had an extremely minor case of typhoid. But that was just the beginning, and it centers mostly on our pets. Every single one of our pets has had some sort of accident or sickness that could have proven fatal, or did.

So here it is: we got a dog, it died; we got a mongoose and it temporarily paralyzed itself and couldn't walk for a week; we got two more dogs, and they both died of roundworm; we got another dog, and it got bit by a dog that might have had rabies and is now quarantined; and we got a cat that jumped off a top bunk and had a seizure so bad that we thought it was going to die. It did, however, recover, and continues to attack us in the middle of the night. (There's a reason she's named Ninja.)

That is, in brief summary, some of the weird happenings.

But I digress: back to the questions.

Concerning life-or-death situations...well, I don't think so. We've had some situations that were tense and could have been dangerous (a drunk guy yelling at us, men smoking drugs nearby, a supposed plot to steal our welder), but I have yet to have a life-or-death encounter.

Belly-laugh? Nothing that stands out, although there are little family-related jokes here and there. :) There was that one time that some children were yelling "Chinese man!" at us, peppering it with "Ching change gong gong!". One white person is the same as another, I suppose. ;)

Similarly, I was driving one time with another white person once who had lived here for quite a while, and had married a Liberian. When we passed a group of white people, he leaned out the car window and shouted "White man! White man!" in Liberian English at them. They didn't even look up.

Something that normally wouldn't happen at home? Everything. Heh, it's such a large category. We go to an outdoor market for much of our food, we walk most everywhere we go (or catch a taxi), all of the children wave at us when we pass (oftentimes saying "White man!"); the list goes on. Anything more specific? XD

Oh, and we all (probably) had worms. :P That was fun. Dewormer is cheap here, thankfully. And I think my entire family is just waiting for me to come down with malaria. The mosquitoes like me too much.

As far as I know, there are no elephants. Liberian "bush" is basically a sub-Saharan jungle. There are, however, monkeys, mongooses, genets, various kinds of birds, lizards, and other fauna.

Cassava is one of my favorite Liberian foods. It's a leafy vegetable: cut up, and put with peppers and onions and garlic, and then mixed with the meat and cooked. It has a dark green look to it and is rather oily. (In fact, the first Liberian dish that I ever had was cassava with goat. It was in America, months before I came here, and I thought it rather weird.) I have not, however, heard of it being in cake. O_o

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask! I've got a storehouse of information in my noggin. I haven't even scratched the surface of my life here. Which is why I have trouble writing coherent blog posts. ;)

As for me, folks, I think I'm going to go swimming soon. :D

Au revior!

The Reports of My Death Are Assuredly False

Well, it's been a sight longer than I expected, folks. I've so many stories to tell that it would take ages to recite them: so I'll settle for a few scattered tales to update my dear blog readers. Pre-written blog posts are great, eh?

First of all, I am alive.

Second, I'm in the midst of my final revision of the War Horn. Be prepared for a post about pre-readers soon!

Third, I'm doing One Year Adventure Novel again, with my sister. This time, it's a fantasy. I've got some epic ideas for it. Here's the preliminary synopsis:

"Elijah Finarod. Once, he was the pride of his people. Now he's imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit and haunted by the one he did. A bloody war is raging across his world, and Elijah is unexpectedly freed to seek a way to end an ancient curse, the only hope they have of stopping the war. But he's being pursued by unknown assassins and he's being hunted by his own people. Nevertheless, Elijah is determined to stop the war at any cost. For Elijah Finarod started the war, and now he was going to end it."

Fourth, I've never been so grateful for chicken and beef. For the first two weeks we were in this house, we ate fish and nothing but fish. (The fish was in the sauce over rice, of course...not fish plain. That would be a nightmare.) And did I mention that I abhor fish?

Fifth, I wrote out a genealogy of the House of Finwë from Tolkien's "The Silmarillion". Go figure. (Finwë fathered Fingolfin, who fathered Turgon, who had a daughter who was named Idril who married a mortal named Tuor, and they had a son called Eärendil and he married the half-mortal-quarter-elf-quarter-Maia Elwing and they had two sons, Elrond and Elros...) And yes, "Finarod" in the synopsis above is a nod to Tolkien's characters "Finarfin" and "Finrod".

And last, I miss all you crazy and wonderful writers. ^_^ You're all awesome.

That is all.

*ahem* Kidding! Considering the time I have with no internet to waste my time on (actually, between revisions and school being renewed once more, it's not that much), I ought to write something a bit longer, eh?

Here are a few notes that I've composed concerning life in Liberia. However, I'm not even sure what you all want to know...so shoot me a few questions in the comment section, and I'll write another blog post in response. Fair?

Concerning FOOD:

The fundamental elements of food are thus: rice, sauce, meat. The meat is in the sauce (or soup, sometimes), and it is poured over rice. That's Liberian food in essence. The sauce may include something like palm nuts, potato greens, cassava, etc. The meats include goat, beef, chicken, and fish. And maybe lamb, but I have yet to eat lamb here. And the food always has peppers in it.

My favorite is "pepper soup", followed closely by cassava. Pepper soup is, essentially, a soup with some sort of tomato sauce base, with a meat and lots of peppers in a broth; sometimes over twenty peppers in that soup alone. As I said on Facebook the other day, "IT BURNS US!" (To give you an idea of the heat of the little Liberian pepper, it is ranked the same on the "heat" scale as the habenaro pepper.)

Concerning ENVIRONMENT:

The place where we live, as I have described elsewhere, is a concrete building with tile floors, and you can only reach it by crossing a wooden monkey bridge across a freshwater lagoon. It's a moment's walk from the beach: you can look out the window and see the sea along the horizon. This means that we get a sea breeze during the day and night, which is phenomenal. The windows are always open to let in the breeze, and in the shade, it's not actually that hot. Sitting in the sun is another matter.

Right now, we're in the dry season. It hasn't really rained for weeks, and the weather is steadily, degree by degree, climbing upward. I have no idea what the temperature really is, however, save that it's somewhere over ninety every day; that was the temperature three weeks ago.

Concerning CHANGES IN LIFESTYLE:

This is a fairly big category. Below, I shall list the changes that have taken place in general life.

Firstly, we don't have running water. We have to go out and manually pump all the water we use. So that means I use a dipper, half a bucket of water, and some shampoo when I get grimy enough to take a shower. We have plans to dig a well, however, and use an electric pump to pump water to a mini water tower, which provides the pressure we need for running water.

Second, our meals have decreased. We now dine in what we think is a typical Liberian manner: one meal a day, commonly in the afternoon. If we get hungry later on in the evening, we eat a small plate of leftovers from dinner. In the mornings, we eat fruit, and, some days, popcorn.

We've also learned to conserve electricity and computer charge. Because we need our computers for school, we turn on the gas-run generator most nights, which gives us electricity to charge electronics and run certain things. We do, however, have some solar power. We recently received a fridge/freezer that runs on solar power, and half the lights in the house - one in each room - run on solar power.

Most Sundays, we've had house church instead of going to church. We dig out a few hymnbooks we brought with us from America and sing hymns, afterward praying and then studying some Scripture.

Concerning PETS:

Inevitably, we've gotten pets. You've probably already heard of our mongoose, Mae. Or Minkey, as my sister calls her. She's extremely accident-prone, so much so that she seems to be disabled. Three of her four legs don't support her very well, and we're not entirely sure why. However, she did hit her head some days earlier and it swelled up; afterwards going down again. We think this might be the issue, some sort of damage to the brain. Right now, though, she's still eating and drinking and going to the bathroom on our beds, so that's a good sign, and her legs still retain movement.

So far, we've had four dogs. The first one (whom we named "Jax mi Dog" after the "Jax mi Katt" character in Jill Williamson's epic trilogy) died after a week, contracting some sort of illness. We buried him beneath a palm tree. Several days later, we got another puppy, whom we called Pippin. He's a typical Liberian mutt. We made sure he got shots, and right now he's a troublemaker in good health.

We also got two German pointer mix puppies from an American family. Their mother is huge and scary, so we're hoping that these two puppies - "Stan" and "Valli" after two West African missionaries we knew in Kansas - will grow up likewise.

You see, dogs in Liberia are not only pets (and to Liberians, they aren't really pets at all), they're guards. They're as good or better than a security guard, especially the big dogs. I've witnessed it myself: the mother of our German pointer puppies scared the pants off of one of our Liberian friends.

And lastly, we got a grey kitten who enjoys exploring my bed and playing with my shirt while I'm trying to sleep. We mostly got her to make sure the mouse/rat population stays down. At least, that's why Mom and Dad got her.

Concerning LIFE:

Get up. Do school. Eat dinner. Revise/do OYAN. Go to bed.

That's life right now. Pretty interesting, eh?

So, how are you all doing? How's the writing? How's life in general?

And if you have any questions, ask away. I'd be happy to answer them...but don't expect to get an answer right away. I have over four hundred unread emails, and the only internet I get is from a USB internet stick that's slow as molasses. And I rarely use it, anyhow.

Farewell, write well, and stay out of the heat!

Er...cold...

Never mind.

Sand And Houses And Also Rather Important News

I felt unsatisfied with the capitalizations of this post....so I capitalized everything. ^_^

Now, down to business!  I'll keep this short.

Things have been busy in a slow kind of way.  That means I've been procrastinating up a storm, unfortunately.  However, we did sign a lease on a house - which means we're moving in tomorrow.  And as of right now, we don't have any plans for internet.

That doesn't mean I'll disappear entirely.  I'm still not sure how much I'll be on, though.  I might be gone for months.  Or I might be back in a week and say, "Hey! We got internet!  Hullo there again!"  So don't get your shirt in a knot.

However, it should mean a decrease in blogging.  I have one post I'll hopefully write before I "leave", so there.

The house we're getting is really nice, actually.  It's owned by a missionary, and we'll be leasing it from him; it has four rooms and it's really close to the beach. However, the reason that we're getting it for an affordable price (because houses of this sort, on the beach, are normally expensive) is because the only way to get to the house is to either walk to it along the beach or cross a long walking-bridge across a lagoon.  It's really picturesque, actually.

Things are also moving slowly in my revisions of The War Horn.  I cut another three hundred words of chapter one and haven't added a single word.  However...I think I'm getting close to actually rewriting the beginning.  We'll see. <_<

In short, I'm alive, I'm trying to write, and I have one more post coming up.  And I'm procrastinating.  Right now, all of the other posts I have planned - the continuation of "Ninja" and my sequel post about writers - are on hold.  Sorry about that.  Perhaps I can sit down and pre-write them when I don't have internet.

And while you're reading this, if you haven't already, check out my poll on the sidebar and the excerpt I have up on one of my pages—Prologue: Assassins.

So keep your eyes peeled.  I'll be back.

Hopefully.

A Christmas Present From Me To You

Right now, you're probably just waking up - and it's Christmas Day!  How wondrous! You probably won't even read this until Christmas is done and over, with your stomach full and presents galore seated 'round you.

However, to celebrate this time of giving and the celebration of our Lord's birth, I figured I'd give you a present. And being a writer, what more can I give you but the gift of words?

Temporarily up on my blog is a new page, titled simply "Prologue: Assassins".  This is the prologue from The Prophecy of Einarr, and it'll only be available until sometime in early January, when I'll take it down.

Merry Christmas, and try not to eat too much!

Christ is born, hallelujah!

What is the True Meaning of Christmas?

Today is Christmas Eve.

Christmas, in America, is THE most popular holiday.  Billions are spent on it.  (I'll address that later in this post.) And all sorts of people are asking - what's the true meaning of Christmas?  It's probably the most cliche seasonal question there is.  And many things have addressed it; from Charlie Brown to Santa.

"It's about presents!"

"Goodwill!"

"It's all about Christmas spirit!" (Ever heard that one before?  "There's just no Christmas spirit anymore."  That's another popular cliche.)

The cartoon Charlie Brown, oddly enough, hits the peanut on the mongoose, though. Linus stands up in A Charlie Brown Christmas and quotes the Bible, reminding everyone of the true meaning of Christmas.  Good old Linus, eh?

In our heads, we know that Christ is the meaning for Christmas.  And we even try to make everyone know that.  We post on Facebook ("Remember the CHRIST in CHRISTmas!"). We write blog posts about it.  We tell our dogs and our mongooses.

But still, even though I knew this in my head, it didn't really hit me until a little bit ago.  Up until this point, I had been saying "Merry Christmas!" and "Have a fantastic Christmas!" and all that, but I had yet to think, "Wow!  Christ is born!"

Maybe that's an advantage to being in Liberia on Christmas.  I'm missing my relatives in the U.S. right now and fondly remembering all of the Christmas traditions we used to have and will have again.  But I am (more or less) removed from tradition this Christmas.

Because sometimes tradition can keep us from things that are really important.  (Although it can be wonderful, too.)

So I guess the point of this post is this: readers, don't know it in the head and not feel it in the heart.  Remember.

Christ is born.

This miracle is proclaimed everywhere on Christmas, but somehow, it doesn't affect us.

Christ is born.

GOD came to MAN and the Word became flesh.  And dwelt among us.  How can we even begin to wrap our heads around this?  The creator of the universe, in all its terrible beauty, the God that created us became one of His created.

And when we don't remember this - when America splurges on gifts and lights and presents (that are not inherently bad...in moderation) - this is what happens.

Because last year, Americans spent $450 billion on Christmas.  Clean water for the whole world, including ever poor person on the planet, would cost about $20 billion.  And people are dying every day because they don't have clean water.

So, readers, remember.  Like Linus said, and like so many others have said, Christmas is about Christ.  It's a celebration of the miracle that happened when Christ became flesh.  Because when we truly focus on Christ, things change.  It's because we focused on Christ that we moved to Liberia in the first place, if that's any evidence to you.

Remember.

How to Meet Me in Five Easy Steps

Step One: Buy The War Horn.
Step Two: Buy the One Year Adventure Novel (OYAN) curriculum, if you don't own it already.
Step Three: Do the OYAN curriculum.
Step Four: Sign up for the OYAN Summer Workshop.
Step Five: Go to the OYAN Summer Workshop.

The reason step one is there is because The War Horn is funding my quest to go to the Workshop. ^_^  If I can somehow get two thousand dollars...I'll be there!

So!  I've got news.

First and foremost, I received an email from Amazon shortly after I published my last post on The War Horn. In short, they gave me the go-ahead for The War Horn.  (In length, they said that *I* couldn't publish it on my parents' account, but my parents could publish it on my behalf.  Which is the same thing. XD)

So I've been working on The War Horn, and I'm hoping to have my parents and also pre-readers be reading it by mid-January or sooner, so we'll see.  Right now I'm doing some research to make my historically inaccurate novel more accurate.

I have, however, come up with a few plot kinks that need working out.  Because I had received numerous critiques of my opening scene (and I rather agreed with them) I cut it and I'm working on finding another one. But it's difficult, since the novel (after the scene I cut) opens with my character waking up.  Which is not a good place to start a novel.  It's positively boring.

See, the problem with my novel is, it gets steadily better in terms of plot/excitement/stakes as the novel goes on.  If my readers stop at the first chapter, they won't realize what they're missing.  So I need to do something to really catch their attention - BUT, I *need* to start at the beginning.  Which is normal life.  So I'm going to work on two things.

1) Questions.  I'm going to raise a few questions in the first chapter and work with my monologue so that, even though the questions aren't particularly intense, they'll want to keep reading.

2) Prose.  I'm hoping to establish an easily-readable writing style that draws the reader in.  Because there's certain books you read that just draw you in if only for the writing style, right?  Mark Twain's work, for instance, is epic because he writes in such a clear voice that it's a joy to read the most boring of things.

However, I think I've pretty much gotten my research covered, so I'll be moving on from that to working on the first chapter.

So, writers, how's your writing coming along?  Written anything you're particularly proud of lately?

And, on a completely different note:

^The official trailer for "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey", coming out in December 2012.

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

2012 is far too long to wait!  I can't stand it! D:  It doesn't help that I'm rewatching Lord of the Rings, either.  This trailer is, in one word, EPIC.

What do you think of it?

Talk to you later, and remember to check out the rather important poll on my sidebar.  And thank you to those who have already voted!

Before You Get Too Excited About Santa and Christmas Presents....

...take a good long look at this post.

Ever heard that one Santa Claus song?  The really popular classic?  Santa Claus is Coming to Town. Just listen to the words.

"He sees you when you're sleeping.  He knows when you're awake.  He knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake!  He's checking his list, checking it twice, gonna find out who's naughty or nice."

Creepy, no?  I mean, seriously, the whole thing is fishy.  Are you sure that's a song?  It sounds more like a warning to me...

And then he breaks into your house.

So do the smart thing.  Do what a friend of mine suggested:

"So...when Santa 'comes down the chimmney'....light a little fire to warm the house...and our hearts!"

On a completely different (but still holiday-themed) note, I've been chuckling over this video for several days. Turn the volume all the way up and try to last to the end.  If you can't watch it to the end, I don't blame you.

Have a fantastic Christmas, and enjoy your snow!  In the meantime, I'll be sweating. ;)

The War Horn - Plans and Schemes

Of late, I've been scheming.  Plotting.

I posted about this on my other blog, but in essence, I want (very badly) to go to the 2012 OYAN Summer Workshop, which I went to this past year.  Problem is, plane tickets cost mucho money, eh?

So...I had an idea.

It was midnight.

I was staring at the ceiling.  Again.

And then I had the brilliant idea to publish The War Horn as an eBook and make thousands of dollars and be rich and have enough to go to the Workshop.

Right.

So I started on my quest - I went to CreateSpace and looked into their Kindle Publishing options.  If I would publish The War Horn, it would be self-publishing.  It's such a weird little book that no one would even touch it.  At 25,000 words, it's a short little novella, and the genre is very hard to define.  It's supposed to be somewhat historical, but, as I've said before, it fails in that respect.  It does, however, have fairly good writing quality (by my standards) and one of my greatest endings.  (I only have a half-dozen endings to choose from, anyhow. ^_^)

Turns out, Amazon has this thing called Kindle Direct Publishing.  It's really straightforward: upload your book, upload a cover, select a few options and set a price, and BOOM! you're published!  And they have a fantastic 70% royalty rate.  That's seventy cents out of every dollar. $700,000 out of every million.

Problem is, they have an 18+ age rule.

However, I'm fairly certain that I could use my parents account to publish without violating their rule, since I would have parental permission and an account for payment methods.  I emailed them about it, but the only reply I've gotten so far basically said, "We're busy right now, we'll email you later."  Except, much longer and more diplomatic.

So, what do you think?  Good idea, bad idea?

Also, I may - just maybe - be looking for people to pre-read the novel.  And critiquers.  Not before my family, of course ;) they'll read it as soon as I'm done with my own edits.

Thoughts?

Oh, and one more thing.  If I published the War Horn as an eBook, would you buy it?  Speak truthfully.  The price would be somewhere below four dollars.  I'm setting up a poll on the sidebar - take a look and vote, and/or comment below.

Until we meet again,

Review: The Land of Darkness

"It is not the land that is dangerous, Callen. The danger lies in your heart. Others have lost their lives searching for the bridge. Are you certain you are prepared to pay that price?"

Jadiel is twelve and things couldn't get much worse—or could they? Not long after her mother is killed in a tragic accident, her father, Kar'el, marries a vile and abusive woman named Huldah, but Jadiel sees how he simmers under Huldah's intoxicating enchantment. Jadiel's wicked stepmother means to get rid of Jadiel, and sends her off with a threat and an impossible task: bring back the leaves from the Eternal Tree by the next full moon or her father will die. Heartsick and hopeless, Jadiel sets out alone and afraid.

Callen, a wordworking apprentice for Jadiel's uncle in Wolcreek Vale, discovers some weathered drawings of an exquisitely detailed bridge made entirely of wood and embellished with mysterious symbols that appear to be ancient script. Obsessed with finding this bridge, he sets off seeking clues to its possible existence, unknowingly beginning a perilous and mystifying undertaking. On his journey, he rescues Jadiel from brigands and learns their quests are linked—as the elusive bridge Callen seeks is crafted from the rare tree Jadiel must find. The trail of clues leads them to the forbidden Land of Darkness, where they must face the greatest dangers of all—what lies in their hearts. (From the back cover.)

The Land of Darkness is the third book in C. S. Lakin's Gates of Heaven series: modern fairy tales with an allegorical twist.

Each of the books are different in their own ways and styles, and only loosely linked, so my review may differ from my reviews for the rest of the series.

The Wolf of Tebron (the first book) was as fairy-tale as fairy tale can be, with beautiful prose and vivid description, with a fairly slow-moving plot. The Map Across Time, in contrast, was a fast-moving, time-travel story with a fairy tale flavor and high stakes.

And the Land of Darkness is neither, unique in its own way and tied to the other books by its world and its genre.

It balances plot and fairy tale, and, unlike the others, was heavily allegorical to the point of obviousness. I'm one of those fellows who likes to dig for the meaning, and I both read and write books that have hidden meanings and good plot. The Land of Darkness, I feel, was my least favorite in the series for this reason. The plot was held together by the strength of the allegory alone, whereas the fairy-tale aspects of The Wolf of Tebron was what enabled the plot to move. But by the weight of the allegory, the plot slowly built up and then concluded itself quite nicely.

And the little strands of continuous plot that are weaving themselves through the stories (such as the Keepers) are building up to something. I can't wait to see what it is. :)

The characters, I felt, didn't quite live up to their potiential I was quite attached to Adin (the main character of The Map Across Time), actually, so even though I "liked" these new characters, I didn't quite love them. And, to be honest, Callen (one of the main characters) really annoyed me at times. But it IS really hard to write such a character. Overall, the characters had good depth, although I would have liked to have the characters of Jadiel and Callen developed a bit more. The development of the minor characters was fantastic, though.

While this book was my least favorite in the series, it's still a great book. The writing quality is top-notch, and the description is beautiful. I'm sad to say that the simple description of a cave put many of my own "scary parts" to shame.

The worldbuilding is quite good, and it would be even better if we had a map to follow, for there are a lot of different locations and references and histories that were hard to keep track of. But that's a good thing; I really enjoyed the worldbuilding.

All in all, the Land of Darkness is a good, clean read, with some rich allegory behind it. Recommended. Rated 8 out of 10. :)

(Many thanks to the author, who provided this an advance reader's copy of this book for free in exchange for a review.  I was not required to write a positive review.)

(You can also see my review of the previous book in the series here.)

Until next time,

We Are The Writers

Maybe you're looking for another funny post. Maybe there'll be a few funny bits in here, but I can't guarantee anything. This post is born from philosophical writerly musings at midnight, and who knows how it'll end up. These are the deep musings of Jake of the Sadaar, and, like a wandering pen, they might just wander into something meaningful. I'm writing as me, in a Chesterton-esque manner.

But I assure you, it's the whole and honest truth as I see it. The true form of a writer. And to those of you who actually know me and saw that video that I made with Millard, these are the words to accompany the face.

All right. So, my last two posts may have put my sanity in question. And, by the reception of the latter post, it wasn't taken seriously. That's okay; I'll write a counter post anyway.

Let me set you straight.

Fiction writing is, quite possibly, one of the most amazing careers one can take on this earth. Especially for Christian writers.

So many of us call ourselves insane, I've noticed. And, perhaps, by the rules of logic and imagination alike, I can show you the truth of this statement:

I'm convinced that those that call themselves insane (namely, Christian fiction writers) are some of the most sane people in the world.

Let's go.

1) Writers are Sane

All right; all things considered, many people would probably argue with this statement. From an outside viewpoint, Christian writers have some of the weirdest personalities and occupations in the world. Torturing characters with sadistic laughter. Making weird videos. Writing posts on philosophy to follow up a post about why you shouldn't write.

But there are so many paradoxes in the world. Christ died so that we could live. The things that make us happy make us cry. The intangible can cause tangible things.

And I have a sneaking suspicion that writers are walking paradoxes.

Forgive me, but I'm going to repeat myself and quote G. K. Chesterton.

"The poet only asks to to get his head into the heavens. It is the logician who seeks to get the heavens into his head. And it is his head that splits."

Writers and poets are very much similar. Some writers are poets; some poets are writers. We are interlinked. So, on that basis, I think it's reasonable to say that you could replace "poet" with "writer" and get the same result.

We are people of imagination: we imagine things, and write them down. We want to get our heads into the heavens.

And, conversely, those that try at logic are, very often, insane. As Chesterton said, "The madman is the man who has lost everything except his reason."

Could it be possible - dare I say it - that WE are not the people who are insane, but rather, the rest of the world is insane?

We call ourselves insane, but WE are the ones that are sane.

Another Chesterton quote: "To be sane is more dramatic than to be mad." And, are not writers dramatic? We have to be. We write romances and adventures and fantasies. Drama is an integral part of that.

Remember that post? Writing is a trap, get out? See, I thought I was losing my sanity. As I wrote more and more, I thought I was losing it.

But, as it turns out, I wasn't losing my sanity. I was losing my insanity. As soon as I reached insanity, I realized that I was the sanest I've ever been.

2) The Paradox of a Writer

Paradoxes are wonderful things. Being warm in cold weather, cool in hot weather: wouldn't that be a gift?

And, as I will show you in a moment, writers seem to be paradoxes in themselves.

We write away our insanity through the drama of the written word. And yet, the very best writers are logical AND imaginative.

For those of you who edit and revise a lot: doesn't telling just kill you? Don't weak verbs make your head hurt? Synonyms? Internal monologue? It takes a lot of mindpower to work on writing mechanics. And somehow, the writing mechanics are what make the drama of words possible.

The very thing we rebel from - I'll call it "sanity" for the sake of keeping the traditional words - is the very thing we need to convey our insanity. Or, if you'd like, we must use insanity to keep us sane.

We may use structure to make the unstructured more meaningful.

We are paradoxes. And maybe that's what makes us awesome.

3) The Meaning

All of these musings, this point is what it builds up to. We are not only insane, we're sane. And, on top of that, we use insanity to keep us sane, and thus create a paradox.

And I think this somehow unlocks something else.

Because there's another paradox I see.

As Christian writers, we are striving to make our writing beautiful. Meaningful. Christ-filled; glorifying our Lord so that all can see the light. We're pouring all of this into our writing, and I think that, in pouring out ourselves, we fill up again.

I've been musing over this a lot. Here and there, there are little things that are different. When I was younger, it was hard for me to be moved. When I heard the news that my great-grandfather had died, I didn't shed a tear. (That may sound callous, but it's not. I genuinely missed him, but I didn't cry. As it was a long while ago, I don't recall if I cried later on or not.)

And it hit me, that I can be moved. Maybe it's just because I'm growing stronger as a Christian; and I know that's a good part of it. I think, though, that part of it is being a writer.

Because my heart soars when I listen to Jon Maiocco's "Ever After" Celtic song. I want to have an adventure, to fight on the side of good, when I listen to "All The Strange, Strange Creatures" (a Doctor Who soundtrack). When I read the stirring climax of "Return of the King", I feel as if I'm riding with the Rohirrim, and my pulse accelerates.

Because we strive to move others, perhaps it gives us a greater opportunity to be moved. When we strive to make a reader cry, maybe it lets us cry ourselves.

To let a reader live a rich life through a novel is to make life all the richer.

And that's why a writer's life is so brilliant and colorful. We're not afraid to laugh and do silly things; but we're not afraid to be passionate about things, either. We pray for one another and we debate one another: we write alone and war together.

And, out of it all, are forged friendships as strong as steel, and truly meaningful novels that set out to change the world.

(Thank you very much to G. K. Chesterton for his writing style and some of the material in this post, even though he's dead; and a huge thank-you to Pathfinder, who talked with me late into the Liberian night and gave me much of the inspiration for this post.)

So, to sum it up:

Writers are awesome. Period. Exclamation point. More specifically, you guys are awesome.

Over and out.

Blog Revamp

Hey all!  After more than a year of having the same-old, same-old, I've finally revamped my blog.  And when I update my blog, I REALLY update it.  If you take a look around, I've redone the size of the blog, the style, and added a header.  I also updated my pages, and added new ones.  Read around; you may find some of it to your liking.

So, what do you think?  Is the layout good?  Is the header good?  Does the blog in general look good in new clothes?

Let me know what you think of the change.  And stay on the lookout for my blog post on writers; it's scheduled to post tomorrow at noon CST.  I consider it to be one of the best posts I've ever written.

Over and out,

Review: The Errant King

"Deep in the caves of the distant Hinderlands, an ancient menace stirs. Townsfolk shudder at violent memories of The Red Queen and even dare to whisper the name Raudrim. At the same time, word comes to Alastair that Cythraul has at last resurfaced, seeking a devastating weapon in the ruins of Grayvalon. Blood-soaked clues lead Alastair into a confrontation from which only one warrior will return alive. Meanwhile in Anglinore, young Lochlan Stormgarden, the new High King of Myriad, leaves the pomp and politics of the throne once too often. While blending in with the people of his kingdom, Loch suddenly realizes that he's put them all at risk. The fate of his new found love Arianna, his best friend Telwyn, his family, and indeed the world of Myriad all depend on the decisions of the errant king." (From Amazon.com)

I was ecstatic when I received Wayne Thomas Batson's newest book, The Errant King. Just in time, too; and it had an incredible cover that taunted me all through NaNoWriMo. As soon as I could, I pulled it out of my backpack and devoured it. In some ways, it fulfilled my expectations: in others, not so much.

The prose, as always, was fast-paced and easy to read. The book immediately dived into the questions that Sword in the Stars (the previous book) had left, and definitely hooked the reader into reading more.

The quotes at the beginning of the chapter were delightful, and helped give detail to the world. The world-building in general was some of the best that Batson has done. Really great stuff.

And this book also saw the return of Alastair Coldhollow, who is one of my favorite characters of all time. I loved the scenes with him: such a wonderful, conflicted character. I can't begin to describe how awesome the Iceman is. :) And his scene near the end with Telwyn was just...fantastic. I love it.

The plot was fast-moving, definitely one of Batson's best. It began with two subplots: that of Lochlan and Arianna. It introduced some great characters, such as Millard the Mark (named after a friend of mine: loved that he was a fairly major character!), and, later on, Frank.

However, it's not all sunshine. There were several aspects that disappointed me in this book: one of which was a slightly suggestive scene. It wasn't much more than a gal cozying up to Lochlan, and him basically shoving her away (not really, but that's the gist of it), but I really wish Batson hadn't included that. Up until now, I had regarded Batson as one of the cleanest authors in Christian speculative fiction, certainly much cleaner than Ted Dekker. And while I still think of him in that way, I'm a little disappointed in him for having such a scene in one of his novels.

The aspect of romance in this novel was also very disappointing (to say the least), almost enough by itself for me to drop a rating a whole star. In essence, two characters fall in love in a week. That whole area of the novel was damaged because of the unrealistic romance. That destroyed my "illusion of reality" that I had in the Errant King, and it irritated me.

The character of Frank is also a strange one. In one way, it's really interesting and rather funny, and in others, kind of just....weird. It's like putting something from a magical fairy tale in a brick-and-mortar epic fantasy novel.

And a few things towards the end—a "weird" thing here, a slightly unrealistic scene there—felt odd to me, as if the author hadn't had enough time to really polish his novel and rewrite the scenes that needed it. Or maybe that's just me.

The end of the novel, however, left many questions and a great sense of anticipation for the next book. And since it's supposed to be a seven-book series, I predict much epicness to come.

In short, The Errant King a really good book; a quick, fun read with some really beautiful moments, and a bit disappointing in some areas. Very much recommended: rated 8.5 out of 10.

(And, on another note, don't you love scheduled posts?  I have posts scheduled for the next few days, thus, my sudden blogging-spree.  My post about writing should be up tomorrow, and I think it's one of the best posts I've ever written.  Wait in suspense until then. ;))

Why You Should Be A Writer

You still there?

You know that post I wrote before? Well, it's hard to explain, but one way or another it found its way to my blog.

In The Silver Chair (one of C. S. Lewis' Narnia books), a person has a moment like that. He says that, when he's tied to the Silver Chair, he'll say all sorts of things that they (the protagonists) shouldn't believe.

Well, it's sort of like that. I'm tied in a metaphorical Silver Chair right now, and I must have tied the bonds rather tight. But I assure you, I'm in my right mind. And writing's not all that bad. It's actually pretty amazing.

You see, I was spouting those things off BEFORE I tied myself to the chair. And now I'm in my right mind.

So will you let me go now? Please?

Maybe?

I'll write a counter post, I promise. Just to let you know that I'm "sane" again.

So...uh, I'm still tied here. Hold on, wait! Where are you going? I'm tied to a—chair!

Hello?

Why You Shouldn't Be A Writer

I suppose there's only one place to begin to talk about writing: how terrible it is.

Because really, if you're considering writing as a "hobby", or maybe you're a new writer trying a hand at things, stop where you are. Drop your pen or your computer or whatever. And run. Do as much as you can to get away from it, because once it has you, it'll never let you go.

It's ruined my life. It'll ruin yours.

You know those ridiculous medicines that have a list of side effects as long as the Mississippi River? Writing is one of them. It's almost a kind of dope. And the list of side effects includes:

Dreaminess, lack of attentiveness, obsessive bouts of staring at a blank computer screen, possible stress symptoms, cramped fingers, headaches, nausea (from the chocolate), lack of sleep, trouble sleeping, long showers, possible back problems, eye deterioration, possible social issues, and it's very possible to catch a psychological disease only known by its acronym: NaNoWriMo.

So get away while you still can. Never, ever write. Why? Why even ask? Why would you ask "Why not?" before jumping off a cliff or running to hug some random lion or throwing yourself into the penguin pool at the zoo? Writing will ruin your life, I assure you.

I've lost DAYS of my life because of writing. No doubt I'll die at the age of twenty, blind as a bat, without the hearing benefits, because I've blown out my ears with soundtracks.

It's an addiction. You need to get away from it. I'm already mired, there's no hope for me. I'll probably end my days with a pen in my hand, head on a computer keyboard.

Just keep going, they'll tell you. Voices of friends, bah! I can tell you which shoulder the voice is coming from, and it isn't the angelic one.

Just keep writing, you're doing fine, you'll end up fine, you'll love it. That's the sick thing, you end up loving the very thing that has you enslaved. I can still see through it, but I'm slowly going down. My day is approaching, the day when I won't have this mental clarity. I'll be a speculative-fiction-writing zombie from the movies. Night of the Living Writer. It's a scary thought.

You see me as Dr. Jekyll, but Mr. Hyde is on his way.

You'll be stuck to your couch, your wrists superglued to the computer so that you'll never get away. Heed my warning. You're still young and innocent, you can get away.

It reminds me of that Doctor Who episode. But those stupid people were like me. They went in when the walls had GET OUT scribbled all over them. Silly people. But now I'm mired: my head is above water, but I'm about to go under and be reborn as some dripping, sadistic writer.

Please, blog readers, I beg you. There might be hope for you.

GET OUT.

Ninja: a Tale (Part II)

With deep questions like "Where have my socks gone?", humor to flavor the pot, and epicness like you've never seen it before...sneakiness and also certain dark-clothed characters are back in the next installment of Ninja: a Tale.  Part Two.

(If you haven't read the first part of Ninja, you can find it here.)

So, without further ado, I present to you:

A Tale

(Part II)

In Which I Become a Ninja and Wear a Fedora

"So," I said, walking behind Baldersot. "Can I come with you?"

He didn't look back. "Why?"

"Because..." I hesitated for a moment. "Because I'm nice?"

Baldersot snorted, stopping and looking back at me. The cloth around his head wiggled again. "And what will you do if I say no?"

I grinned. "I'll follow you anyway."

"Fair enough!" Baldersot resumed walking, adjusting his fez. "Come along, and try not to lag behind. The caterpillars will get you otherwise."

I followed him down the brick road.

It was a half-hour before I spotted anything. Far ahead of us was a bump. And the bump grew bigger, like an itchy mosquito bite (or not), and soon became the figure of a large stonewalled city, with a single spire jutting out over the walls, glaring down the brick road.

"Oh, katana," Baldersot said. He stopped and dropped his bag. "They're on blue alert."

"And blue alert is?" I questioned. I peered down the road. Two blue flags hung on either side of the gate.

"It's an acronym," Baldersot said. "And blue's a good color."

"Never mind the acronym," I said. "What does it mean?"

"No non-ninja people allowed." Baldersot opened up his bag. "The Reds are coming, so we'd better get inside. Or become jelly."

"But I thought you said...?"

"I have an extra pair of ninclothes. They'll have to do." Baldersot tossed a wad of black clothing at me. "Put 'em on over your clothes."

I started putting on the clothes. "So you just carry extra clothing around? To change into?"

"According to the Official Ninja Handbook," Baldersot said, "it's one of the essential things to have if you ever encounter someone who needs to be ninjatized or if you have an emergency."

I poked my head through the top of a dark, rough shirt. "What sort of essential things?"

"Instant coffee, a battle and/or cooking pan," Baldersot recited, digging through his bag, "three socks, a stick of dynamite, and a spoon. Except, I misplaced the spoon. A caterpillar ate it."

"Socks?" I had heard some weird things in my life, but...

"Yup," he said. "Three left socks. 'Cause sometimes, creatures steal your socks, but only the left ones. So I have a stock of 'em locked up in a metal can." He took out a can and opened it, peering inside. "Oh, blast it. They're gone.  I'll have to restock in Sneaking."

I finished putting on my clothes and sized myself up. Not bad. Except, it seemed to be missing something.

"Here," Baldersot said. He threw a long piece of black cloth at me. I caught it. "That's to wrap around your head."

Oh. I tried wrapping it around my face, but it unraveled itself.

Baldersot made a face. "Oh, never mind, let me do it. We ninja have special schools for this sort of thing. And I got an A+ in Head Wrapping Class." He wrapped it tightly around my head, until my entire head was covered, except for my eyes and the very top of my head. The cloth was thin enough to breathe through, thankfully.

"And, to finish it off," Baldersot said, taking out a pair of black gloves and a hat, and handing the gloves to me, "The touches of an artist."

I put on the gloves. They appeared to be some sort of black leather. They were a little rubbery on the inside, which would be good in case I had to climb a wall. Or a pole. But they looked cool, anyway.

"And last," Baldersot said, "the hat!" He gave me the hat he had pulled out of his bag. I looked it over.

A black fedora. Epic. I had left mine at home, something I did far too often.

I put it on and struck a ninjalike pose, imagining myself wielding a deadly ninja pole or a double-edged sword. "How do I look?"

"Like an Elf pretending to be a ninja," Baldersot said. "And Elves don't understand the delicacies of ninja grammar.  Or why we wear black. But if you don't do anything but walk and talk, you'll do. Try not to stare too much, and always say 'I ate too much pineapple today' if people talk to you."   He turned back to the road, putting his bag over his shoulder. "All right, onwards we go!"

"Allons-y!" I said.

Concerning Chesterton and The Prophecies

Well!  It's been an interesting few days.  How's it all going for you?

Currently, I've just finished reading two books by Chesterton, and I've also been musing about my writings.  Shall I begin?

First things first.  Chesterton is amazing.  I've just finished rereading Orthodoxy, and now that I'm a bit older, more intellectual, and not skim-reading it, it's really a treat of paradox and imagination.  Here's a few quotes that I found particularly meaningful and/or funny.  (Feel free to skip ahead to the writing.  Few share my love for Chesterton XD and I completely understand.)

"The word 'good' has many meanings.  For example, if a man were to shoot his grandmother at a range of five hundred yards, I should call him a good shot, but not necessarily a good man." (G. K. Chesterton)

"Actors who can't act believe in themselves; and debtors who won't pay.  It would be much truer to say that a man will certainly fail, if he believes in himself." (G. K. Chesterton)

"The poet only asks to to get his head into the heavens.  It is the logician who seeks to get the heavens into his head.  And it is his head that splits." (G. K. Chesterton)

"A madman is not a man who has lost his reason.  The madman is the man who has lost everything except his reason." (G. K. Chesterton)

"The commonest kind of trouble is that it is nearly reasonable, but not quite." (G. K. Chesterton)

"To be sane is more dramatic to be mad." (G. K. Chesterton)

"Seriousness is not a virtue." (G. K. Chesterton) 

"For the only courage worth calling courage must necessarily mean that the soul passes a breaking point - and does not break." (G. K. Chesterton)

"There was some one thing that was too great for God to show us when He walked upon our earth; and I have sometimes fancied it was His mirth."  (G. K. Chesterton)

Also, the honorable Whisper the Spy introduced me to another of G. K. Chesterton's books, this one fiction: a tale known as The Man Who Was Thursday (A Nightmare).  It's a fantastic story of spies and plots and humor and philosophy and....weirdness.  The end is so deep/weird that I didn't really get it. XD  But the first three-fourths were fantastic.  Here's one quote I found rather humorous:

"What are we going to do?" asked the Professor.

"At this moment," said Syme, with a scientific detachment, "I think we are going to smash into a lamppost."

Now, on to writing!

A few nights ago, I decided (on a whim) to look at some books.  Only, these weren't ordinary books.  These were the books about which I had told my sisters, "I will never look at them again."

In other words, my first three novels.  Some of Ye Olde People can remember the days when I wrote those: the days when my writing was young, my technique inexperienced, and my plot a terrible mess.  Thankfully, I've improved.

But, back to the story.

I broke my own promise and took a look at the books.  (It was a nightmare, I assure you.)  One thing led to another, and I decided to count up all of the words I had written in my entire life.

Of course, I didn't have "all of the words I had written in my entire life" on this computer, so I sufficed to count up MOST of the words.  It includes all six of my novels, my poems, and my short stories.  However, it doesn't include the stories I had written on other computers and the handwritten tales of my childhood.

So, in total, I've written

284,712

words

in the last few years.  Which means that I've probably written over 300,000 in my life.  Over 200,000 words of that is in completed novels.

Much more than I expected.  It's no one million, but it's almost a third of the way there.  (They say it takes a million words to write a great novel.  Or a publishable one.  Whatever the quote was. >_>)

In the past few weeks, I've also determined that, after I finish the Prophecy of Einarr, I want to go straight ahead and write the last book in the series, instead of continuing with my rewrite of the Book of Shaldu.  So many things changed in the Prophecy of Einarr that need to be included and forshadowed in the Book of Shaldu; so I want to knock out two birds with one stone and make sure that, if any more plot twists come along, I don't have ANOTHER rewrite to do.  I'll also have a better perspective of what the Book of Shaldu needs to be like after I actually finish the series. 

And once I finish the series AND the rewrite, I'll revise all three books.  And after that...who knows.  But "after that" is a long time coming.  I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

How are your writings going, folks?  Good?  Bad?  If you're not a writer (and even if you are), have you read any good books lately?

If you aren't a writer or a reader, how in the world did you find my blog? ;)

And also, if you wanted me to write a blog post about one writing topic, what would it be?