Into the Fire
Passionate thoughts about the world of writing and the Power of God
Category: Uncategorized
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Contempt. The third definition in my dictionary reads: Open disrespect or willful disobedience of the authority of the court of law or a legislative body. Okay. Contemptible is a strong word and not a valid application to my conduct, but I thought it worked well as a title. I think it’s important…
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Writing inserts us into decisions we can’t always make. Purpose poses problems perpetuated by restless reasoning and inconclusive ideas and intellectual idioms. The ordinary versus the extraordinary gnaws at our perceptions of value and forces us into thoughts of what really produces importance. Suddenly our work seems shoddy, ill-conceived, meaningless and ridiculous. Why…
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Aahhh, Valentine’s Day. A day many men dread. And on which many more women become disappointed. Why? Because the expression of love sometimes has little to do with the depth of the emotion of love. And these are the two areas of love which are featured on Valentine’s Day. There’s nothing “wrong” with…
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"A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. All men will know you are my disciples if you love one another." John 13:34-35 (NIV)
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It's time again for the annual "Stella Awards". For those unfamiliar with these awards, they are named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled hot coffee on herself and successfully sued the McDonald's in New Mexico where she purchased coffee. You remember: she took the lid off the coffee and put it between her knees while she was…
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Who wants to read erotica? Apparently there is a significant audience for this infamous genre with some literary agents professing a “love” for it. Hmmm. Well, I don’t—want to read it or write it. However, I do want to include sexuality in the relationship quandary. How could I not? Can we be real…
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It’s easy in the sense of putting words on a page to write sexual scenes. For Christians it’s loathsome because so much of what’s put on pages of literature can be obscene, defiling what God intended for good. Sexuality is not broadcast in Christian fiction. It’s not the focal point of romance novels nor…
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Visiting the physical attributes of people, and consequently fictional characters, I’ve concluded there are two primary categories for description which can be conveyed in stories in innumerable ways through the selected words of their authors. These categories fall under beautiful/handsome, or lack thereof, and sex appeal. By sex appeal I mean the person…
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My writing friend, who shall remain nameless at this time, brought up an interesting point about Christian novels. She suggested that the protagonists and/or heroines seemed to be drop dead gorgeous—in other words, “the beautiful people”. To quote her: “What message does it send to the reader when your characters are model perfect?…
Into the Fire 