Into the Fire

The long and short of it is most of us have to wait for a lot of things in life. And we get impatient. At least I do.

If you're waiting to be published, you must conclude what kind of wait and what kind of publishing you want. Publishing has a lot more open doors these days with the advent of e-books. Access to getting your work digitized for e-readers takes a lot less time to produce. What's left waiting in either scenario is the ever present millstone of marketing.

What is worth waiting in line to you? What can you endure and what will you allow to stretch your patience? What can you say with a relaxed admission: "As long as it takes"?

Father, you know how impetuous I can be. So you've made me wait to slow down my approach. Thank you for not giving up on me. I know I can be a handful. You've been so gracious to me. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.  

You know me. Passionate: right or wrong. But there's more. I need purpose. I need to know there's something I can do. And it isn't just anything. It's not routine. It has to be that certain something where I know it's me who has to do it.

It took me 8 and 1/2 years to write my first monster tome. Incredibly large book about horse racing. I was full of purpose, but I'd never written a book. I had to learn the immense determination in the process of writing it. I also had a divine purpose to write that one, and after every lag in the journey, I wondered if I could do it. Could I finish it? It was definitely the divinity in the purpose that gave me the perseverance to complete that massive novel. Granted, it wouldn't be the same book if I'd written it in current times, but it has served a purpose. One I needed but even more beneficial: it has served to bless some of its readers.

Following that completion, I started a sequel, but it expanded to the size of the first one, and I quit writing it. I had a new purpose, a different book. The Famous One was written and finished in a matter of months, not years. Then I wrote three more novels in one year, all over 140K words. Then I slowed down but kept writing. Finished two more. Worked on getting TFO published.

Now it's been a long dry spell with three novels in progress, one I'm focusing on that's taking the same kind of determination as my first one. I've struggled with my purpose. I've languished with self-doubt and all those thoughts and practices which rob me of purpose. And when you hide my purpose, I'm not me.

So. Here's to being purpose-full. To doing what we're designed to do. To making sure we find that direction we set aside or misplaced. I don't know about you, but I need to be full of purpose.

Father, only you provide the inspiration and purpose. Apart from you, I can do nothing. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

If you intend to write comedic fiction, then you better make it funny. If you intend to write women's fiction, then you better make it dramatically poignant to most women. If you intend to write an espionage thriller, you had better be equipped with valid inside sources.

The point here being if you're intending to write a story, you better make it authentic. If you fail to do that within your genre of choice – or meshed genres – you will not have accomplished the primary purpose of telling the story.

What prompted this post was I needed something "lighter" after reading and meditating on Chris Kyle's American Sniper and his tragic murder. Darkness and sorrow seem to cover over the USA in recent years.

So I picked a novel I knew would not normally entice me, but I got it for my Kindle anyway because the author is a Washingtonian. While the book could be classified in the romance genre, for me it's more like chick-lit which is not by any stretch a favored genre for me. I'm over halfway done with the book, and I had to decide whether or not to continue. When I examined my reasoning, I realized the intent of the story was to take a lighter look at a conflicted relationship which, of course, the two people involved both assume could never be anything but a somewhat difficult friendship due to their history.

Both hero's and heroine's viewpoints permeate the pages with occasional humorous and awkward moments, their stubborn personalities, and their remembrances of personal pain. And, although I might have hoped for a more meaningful story because that's what I prefer, I figured out this book's intent had been accomplished. Therefore, criticizing it would be a waste of time and prove to be unfair. I think that's important when assessing what we read. Giving it a negative review when it's done what it set out to do tells readers more about the reviewer than it does the story.

It should always be about the story and how that story is told.

Figure out your intentions and then go accomplish them.

Father, thank you for helping us understand our motives and directing our steps toward accomplishing our goals. Thank you for inspiration and perseverance. Thank you for always being what we need. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.   

"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. . . .

"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."

Matthew 24:36-44 (NIV)

God, who cannot see you? Men are without excuse. Thank you for beauty amidst all the evil. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

This picture doesn't say or depict what I want to say, but I couldn't find one that did.

My friend Rick . . . We met in my first year at the University of Washington. My two friends and I used to hang out between classes in the Hub pretending or attempting to study. The lighting was dimmed, it seemed "cool", and there were these cute guys who also congregated in there. Rick was one of those guys. Long story short, over time we all met each other and became friends during that turbulent time of '66 and the summer of '67.

Rick was and still is a genius on the piano. He composed two songs that I knew of during that tumultuous time. One a tribute to our friend Ron, a drummer and photographer, and another a tribute to me. The title of Ron's was "Ronaldo's Theme", and mine was called "Gallop". How I wish I had a recording of it. I'm sure it's long gone buried under layers and layers of old memories and forgotten melodies. I loved his work.

I remember riding in Rick's old green turtle-shaped Volvo named Spencer. I could always depend on Rick for wit, humor, kindness, talent, intelligence delivered in a practical format, and basic sensibility in totally un-sensible times. From what I gather, he hasn't changed much. I haven't spoken to him in over 20 years.

My first year on the racetrack he and some of our friends came down to the racetrack to visit me at the barn where I worked. I remember a grey filly I took care of named Spotted Lady stepped on his foot. He stood there in pain, helpless, not knowing what to do. Believe me, if you've never been stepped on by a horse with shoes on, you don't want that kind of pain. He was totally brave about it. 

Just a short time ago I found Rick on Facebook and felt overjoyed because of the emotions of those old memories. I didn't know much about him other than he'd married and had a son. Things changed from that last time we'd gathered at our mutual friend's. But he still "sounded" like Rick. And though I learned we had chosen different ideologies, he would always be the same Rick to me.

He said he'd be willing to update his lifestory, but he'd been experiencing some health issues and would get back to me when he felt better. Yesterday he told me he has cancer and is undergoing different treatments for it. No one wants to hear that report.

And so I'm asking for prayer for Rick from those of you who faithfully stop by here. I know you'll pray and ask for healing. That much we can do. I thank you for honoring my friend Rick with those prayers.

Rick, I love you, my friend.  

Father, you know Rick. You know his pain. You know what a sweet spirit you gave him. You know exactly what he needs. Lord, I'm asking for a miracle. I'm asking for his healing. I'm asking because he's a friend, someone who meant a lot to me. I know he means even more to you. Please let him know how much you love him and his family, how deeply you care. Watch over him and walk him through this. I pray you would not allow him to suffer, and I pray you would provide comfort. Bless and encourage him as only you can do. I ask it all in the Name of Jesus, Amen.

How important are those first sentences to you? As a reader? As a writer? Those first paragraphs? Those first chapters?  

For me, the genre has a lot to do with the impact of a first sentence, paragraph, and chapter. I've said before, and I mean it, I'm a patient reader. I'm willing to give an author some elbow room in developing a story. I'm also a realist. If I'm not interested or my curiosity isn't piqued by the end of the first chapter or first three chapters if they're short, it might not look good for the book I'm reading.

If I've been given the opportunity to review the novel, and I selected it, I'm going to trudge through the thing regardless of my lack of interest. If I have no obligation to the book, chances are, at this time in my life, I know by then whether or not it warrants any more of my attention.

"First" sentences don't need to be acutely dynamic for me to continue. I can tell you who writes dynamite first sentences, but they're all in the suspense/thriller categories, so they want to grab the reader and shake them if possible. These authors accomplish their goals: Robert Liparulo, Steven James, James Scott Bell, Athol Dickson, and Sibella Giorello. Certainly not the only ones, but definitely good at opening stories.

How do you rate your first sentences in the novel(s) you've written? And how important is it for you to get it just right?

Father, just help me to write the way you want it, to tell the stories you have for me to tell. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.  

  

If I could write any story, it would be about ________________.

If I could meet anyone in this world today, it would be _______________.

If I could change anything about Christian literature, it would be _______________.

If I could go anywhere in the world, I'd go to _______________.

If I could buy anything, I'd buy ___________________.

Give the long or short answer(s). Up to you.

Father, help me to be content with who, what, where, and why in you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Sometimes the words don't come, the thoughts run ranpant, the rants exceed their daily quota, and the wisdom won't prevail. Sometimes I'd just as soon touch the untouchable, activate the politically incorrect, graphically describe the absurdity and depravity of  how certain instances in our country are escalating, and I want to identify the effects of trickle down evil.

Sometimes I desire to celebrate football, but I'm weary of the "pinking-out" of the sport, the ridiculous assertions of commentators who clearly have never played the game, and the often game-changing calls by referees who, by their decisions, make it look like they've been paid under the table.

Sometimes I want to light up "the church" for failing so miserably to communicate the Truth of Jesus.

Sometimes it's hard to see the beauty over the ugly, but I know it's always there.

Sometimes . . . you ever have those days?

Lord, forgive me when I get like this. Restore in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit in me. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.