Every once in a while, a friend contacts me and tells me about a promising young man or woman who shows extraordinary writing talent. The young person would like to connect with me and get advice about being a professional novelist. At first, I must admit, I sort of chuckle and shake my head. I’d like that advice too. I’ve published only two novels so far—that certainly doesn’t make me a publishing expert. In many ways I still feel like I’m learning as I go in this sometimes baffling industry. I hope the advice is both encouraging and realistic. Of course, making a career of novel writing is certainly possible; best-selling authors like John Grisham are able to pull it off. But remember, they are John Grisham—and most of us are not. Few novelist get to sign million-dollar book contracts. What am I saying? When you’re a child, it’s easy to…
A while back, several fans responded to a query on my Facebook author page about what I should write about at my blog. One response was: What do you like to read? Who are your favorite authors? Narrowing down the list is very difficult, because I frankly love to read so much (from suspense fiction to history to devotional books to young adult novels). But in my estimation a few novels/authors stand above the rest. Keep in mind that I’m starting with childhood and that I had a very active imagination then (still do). Today I want to talk about the highly underrated five-book series, The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander (published in the 1960s). The five books are The Book of Three, The Black Cauldron (Newberry Award Honor Book), The Castle of Llyr, Taran Wanderer, and The High King (Newberry Award Winner). Before there was The Hobbit. Before there was The Lord of…
In Part 1, we looked at the word like and how Facebook, in particular, has influenced our view of it. We discussed that though approval is indeed part of life, we have a problem when we put too much emphasis on what others think of us. Ultimately, our main concern should be making God happy. Petals Scattered in the Wind There’s another problem in this whole business of “likes”—the pressure to approve of things we don’t know well enough to assess. On several occasions, I’ve received Facebook or Twitter requests (maybe you have too) to “like” a certain business or author I’ve never even heard of. Sometimes there’s even an incentive: “Like my author page and be entered in a drawing for a free Alaskan cruise.” Of course, there’s nothing evil about offering an incentive, but each time I’ve found myself thinking, How can I “like” a business that’s three…
If you’re anybody on Facebook, certainly you’ve seen that little word—like—that can say so much. It can boost a businesswoman’s confidence when she sees how many Facebook friends like her photography, or it can provide affirmation to a nervous high school senior who has finally make her college choice. In many ways, though, I wish the folks over at Facebook had found a word other than “like.” Just the feel of the word throws me into a time warp back to sixth grade, when dog-eared notes were passed between classes (and sometimes during class). “Mandy Alexander likes Jerry Turley. XOXOXO. Mandy and Jerry sittin’ in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g . . .” There’s also something shallow (and a bit narcissistic) about the thrill we feel when we see how many others approve of something we said or the photos we posted or the YouTube video we linked to. This concept of…
