*Don’t forget your free bonus at the end of this letter! Dear Family and Friends, Christmas is a precious reminder. Just as Jesus came as a baby, He’ll surely come again. We just don’t know when. So may the Lord find us busy living for Him while on earth. We had another busy year. Our girls, Laura (11) and Julia (8), have grown several inches and increased in their knowledge of God and life through church, family life, and homeschool. This year we’ve gone with math DVDs for Laura, since that’s not a favorite area for either parent. Both girls excel in piano. This fall they began horseback-riding lessons to feed their horse fixation. They also enjoy trying to keep up with our blue-ticked beagle, Patches. Kim stayed busy as general secretary for Shalom Ministries, based in Brooklyn, New York. She was key in organizing several Holy Land trips—and all…
Read more
A Discussion about My Next Novel, The Tenth Plague Putting my finger on where exactly the original idea for my upcoming novel, The Tenth Plague, came from is difficult because the novel began forming in my mind probably five or six years ago. The idea for the main plot, of course, emerged from Revelation 22:18-19. In those verses God proclaims a curse on anyone who adds to or takes away from His Word. Given the state of our times and the church today, that seems like a relevant theme. In some quarters of Christianity at large, some can’t even agree on what truth is anymore. One day when I read those verses again, they grabbed me like never before. My imagination began playing the what-if game, and the story began taking shape in my mind. I envisioned someone turning on a bathroom faucet and blood gushing out. I consulted several theologian friends for their thoughts,…
Read more
Note: Previously published as a guest post at Thoughts of a Sojourner My Unconventional Path to Publication My boss sank into a chair across from my desk, hung his head, and delivered news no employee wants to hear. “We’re making cutbacks here at the college, and I’m afraid”—he took a deep breath and let it out—”your position is being eliminated.” A two-by-four to the side of the head couldn’t have jolted me more. What!? They’re cutting my job? It was January 13, 2006, and I was sitting in my office (see photo) at Northland Baptist Bible College (now Northland International University), where I’d been serving as an editor since 1995. With a BA in print journalism, I was in charge of editing and writing content for all sorts of campus publications: promotional brochures, a magazine, the academic catalog, the yearbook, even the website. And now, in five months, I’d no longer…
Read more
See Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, and Part 9. #10: If a publisher accepts my novel, they’ll just make a few changes and print it. Acceptance of a novel for publication means a publisher is happy with the heart—the essence—of the overall story and believes that publication of said story shows strong potential for bringing in a good financial return. But that doesn’t mean the novel is perfect. Not by a long stretch. Rare is a manuscript that doesn’t need some level of work. That’s what the revision stage is for. Revisions? Say what? The newbie says in a timid voice, “But I thought . . . well . . . I guess I thought the publisher would . . . well, you know . . . just have the manuscript proofread and then print it.” Uh no. Before publication, manuscripts can go through quite a bit of…
Read more
