I stumbled onto this free podcasting service after reading Internet Marketing Today. So I thought I’d sign up and see how it works.
Entries from December 2006 ↓
Trying My Hand at Podcasting
December 30th, 2006 — podcast, poetry, publishing
Another Free Chapter in Christian Fantasy Book
December 29th, 2006 — fantasy, parables, speculative fiction, writing
I just posted chapter 7 over at Entire Book in a Blog. If you haven’t read any of it yet, start with chapters 1 and 2. You need to read both chapters. Don’t make me do the puppy dog eyes thing. Just try them.
Behind the Curtain of Bestseller Lists
December 28th, 2006 — CBA, christianity, editing, publishing, writing
Update 12-28: Michael Hyatt posted a follow-up article on his blog with the Thomas Nelson Top 100.
Michael Hyatt, the president and CEO of Thomas Nelson isn’t exactly Toto, and the American publishing business certainly isn’t Oz. But his blog does a great job of pulling back the curtain to demystify the Christian publishing world.
I need to come clean about what I’m doing in this blog post. Partially, it is just a summary and reorganization of some things Michael Hyatt says. But I also want to respond to his comments debunking bestseller lists. From the New York Times list to the USA Today list to Evangelical Christian Publisher Association’s list, he explains what book markets they include and what book markets they don’t.
President Ford on What Lasts Forever
December 27th, 2006 — christianity, faith and work, laity
Today, in honor of President Ford, I went through our old audio archives here at the H. E. Butt Foundation to review some speeches he gave with us. The search started after my daily dose of Scot McKnight. I wanted to comment and throw in another cool President Ford quote–and I knew we had these speeches that few people have heard. For example, in the late 1970s at the Congress of the Laity, President Ford spoke about issues of faith and work.
Betty and I have discovered personally that the things of this world which we consider important are fleeting. A man can hold high office, command great powers, be hailed as the leader of the world. But when his time in office is over, he must be prepared—mentally, emotionally, spiritually—to relinquish that power and prestige and acclaim and focus on what lasts forever.
Does Fantasy “Tinker with Contemptible Imitations of God’s Power”?
December 26th, 2006 — christianity, faith, fantasy, parables, writing
If you haven’t read George Barna’s research summary for the year, he has some interesting conclusions. And by interesting, I mean wacky.*
Take this one: New Research Explores Teenage Views and Behavior Regarding the Supernatural.Reminds me of my old days at the Church of Christ. In mid 1980s, I suffered through a series on defeating Satan. They told us we were surrounded by Satan. Papa Smurf? SATANIC. Alf? SATANIC. Heavy Metal Christian Music? SATANIC! We spent months learning the list of infected cultural icons.
Continue reading →
A Few Good Words about Christmas
December 22nd, 2006 — christianity, faith, faith and work, poetry
So Christ has come. That’s what Christmas is all about, right? What happens after he comes, though? How are we supposed to respond?
The magi responded by going to find him. If you haven’t read T. S. Eliot’s “Journey of the Magi,” go read it. It’s short and highly accessible on a first read. (For those interested in poetry, this is a dramatic monologue. Robert Browning has many poems like this and they are great for studying voice. You can read more analysis here.)
Christians believe that seeking Christ is the journey of our lives. I’m a Christian, and I believe this. Like the Magi say, it is a hard journey. It is a journey of birth, but also a journey of death.
Wash Away Writer’s Block with SOAP - Subject
December 21st, 2006 — editing, subject, writing
It’s a simple acronym: SOAP.
Subject, Occassion, Audience, Purpose
But it revolutionized the way I write and the way I edit because it begins in the place that gives most writers trouble.
When we have ideas, they are gifts from God. They are manna. They are quail. They words from the muse.
When we don’t have ideas, we call it writer’s block.
The Kingdom of Heaven Is Like a Journal
December 16th, 2006 — faith, faith and work, kingdom, parables, responses
This in response to Ted Gossard over on the Jesus community.
The Kingdom of Heaven is like a journal that a man kept for many months and set down on the trunk of his car to help his father bring in firewood.
The journal was filled with his poems, notes, thoughts, stories, letters from his children, artwork they had drawn together, pictures they had scribbled on notecards taped lovingly next to scribbled lists of words that rhyme. But he forgot to go back to the garage after carrying the wood. And instead his wife drove to the bank.
So he searched and searched, retracing her route, finding scattered pieces of paper that he recognized as ones he’d intended to tape down later. But no journal.
Archives
December 15th, 2006 — uncategorized
Do not edit this page
Inside Editing
December 15th, 2006 — editing
I can’t speak for every editor, but I can speak from my experience. And I’ll tell you what I’ve heard about the experiences of other editors who work in a different context from me.
It took me awhile to be comfortable with my new professional identity. But now I shout it from the rooftops of the world. It has become my barbaric yawp.
