Merry Christmas and All That

I love Christmas! It has always been my favorite holiday and I love the whole season and all that it entails. I love the music and the decorations and even the cheesy holiday movies. I love the nativity scenes and the recognition by most that He is the true reason for the season. I love the Charlie Brown special and the speech by Linus that explains things in a simple and powerful way. Again, I just love Christmas.

On the other hand, the holidays can be stressful! Shopping trips to the mall will test your temperament before you even get out of the parking lot. For every smiling face, you sometimes see two angry ones, as shoppers push and shove to reach the nearest bargain item. It’s like a competitive sport for some people. Online shopping may be more convenient, but it lacks the feel of real Christmas shopping. For myself, a combination of the two works best.

This Christmas has been a season of personal challenges. Not one, but two deaths in the family occurred within a week of each other, one on my side and one on my wife’s side of the family. Funerals are difficult at the best of times even without the added stress of the holidays. A car accident derailed some travel plans and who needs the additional cost of a rental car at Christmas? But no one was hurt and cars can be repaired or replaced, so I count my blessings and say a prayer of thanks.

So, this Christmas, I hope that life treats you well, my friends. I hope that the music and the lights lead you to the baby in the manger and not distract you from Him. And as we close out another year, hold your family close and tell them you love them. God bless you and yours and Merry Christmas!

At the Drive-In: A Novel About Small Town Life

Recently I completed the first round of editing for my third novel tentatively titled At the Drive-In. Set in the fictional town of Eastlake, Texas, the book consists of a series of short stories spanning six decades. Central to the book are James and Ellie Sullivan who own and operate the drive-in which is prominently featured throughout the novel. As the local hangout, Sully’s Drive-In serves as a backdrop for stories about the local schools, churches, and citizens. Several overlapping characters appear in multiple tales that show them at different stages of their lives dealing with a variety of trying circumstances.

Cole Bradford comes to Eastlake as a young, single coach and returns later as the embattled principal of the intermediate school. Ron Copeland is the veteran administrator who has spent over half his life as the principal of Eastlake High School until he encounters a new superintendent with whom he immediately finds conflict. Evan Peters is the football coach and later Athletic Director with character issues aplenty. Cora, his wife, has her own set of problems. Christopher Manning is the pastor at the First Baptist Church, although we first meet him in Eastlake in the role of youth minister. Brent Griffen, Ty Mills, and the Holder family also live and work in the community. Come to Eastlake and spend some time enjoying the slow pace of life and getting to know the locals.

Although based on true events, these are entirely fictional tales. The characters are sometimes autobiographical, and other times based on a combination of people with whom I have worked over the years. Most of the events actually happened and often they happened to me. In all honesty, in many of the stories, I have changed the endings to reflect what should have happened instead of what did. Hindsight and all. My way of re-writing history, saying all the clever things I wish I had said at the time. I think anyone who has ever lived in a small town will appreciate these behind-the-scenes tales of comedy/drama/tragedy which shed insight into the day to day experiences of ordinary people doing their best to survive and hopefully find some love and acceptance along the way.

Random Thoughts: Collected Poems

Previously posted on December 11, 2017

One of the books I’m currently editing for publication is a collection of poems I’ve written within the last several years. Originally, I had thought to round out the collection with a set of poems from my college days with the intention of assembling approximately one hundred poems. The mysterious disappearance of the blue folder containing all of my older works has completely destroyed that entire plan. My son Scott informs me that most of the books of poetry he owns contain far less than a hundred poems, with the exception being several volumes of collected works, so maybe I’m overthinking.

In my mind, I’m still imagining a skinny paperback volume of at least a hundred pages, so maybe I can get by with eighty or so poems, some of which will need more than a single page. If I believe the critics, nobody buys poetry anyway, so I really shouldn’t be stressed about it. I may also be forced to rethink my title. In searching online, I found many books with the title Random Thoughts, and most of them were books of poetry. I guess there are a lot of poets who consider their works to be random in nature. Who would have thought?

In terms of style, most of my poems are basically free verse, although there are some rhyming poems that are more traditional. The topics are truly random. There are a number of people poems, inspired by family or friends. There are some poems about social issues and a lot of poems about situational things, just everyday life stuff. Overall, I think anyone who takes the time to read them will discover a few random thoughts that remind them of themselves. And usually that’s a good thing.

Here are a couple of poems from the collection.

Parenthood

I guess it sounds like bragging

When I talk about my kids,

But I wonder, don’t most parents

Sound the same?

With pride we list their virtues,

Cover up each tiny fault,

And polish up their halos

With acclaim.

Wedding Bells in Hell

I don’t really hate weddings,

Although I may have said so

In the past, once or twice,

Jokingly, of course.

But wearing a coat and tie

In the thousand degree

Texas summer heat

For an outdoor ceremony

In mid-afternoon

Could make one uncomfortable,

But I don’t really hate weddings.

Well, maybe just a little bit.

Walk Through Bethlehem

Previously posted on December 4, 2017

Every year my church puts together a huge event for Christmas called “A Walk Through Bethlehem.” For many years, I have participated as a member of the choir. Sometimes we are at the front, entertaining the crowds as they wait to enter our village and learn about the birth of Christ. Other years, we are at the end singing our Christmas songs while the crowds drink wassail and hot chocolate, eat cookies, and contemplate their experience. Either way, we perform our set of ten to twelve songs and do our part to make it a special and festive event.

Inside the village, Roman guards usher you along as you pay your taxes (not really), complete your census form, and then wander through the shops and tents of the common people. As you sample the food and crafts of a typical Judean village, you can warm yourself by an open fire or get close enough to pet one of several live animals. On the way out, look for a very special newborn and listen to his story. It’s a good one.

Each night, I watched a multitude of youngsters walking around showing off their brand new children’s Bibles and a variety of handcrafted items they had picked up on their walk. Everyone was smiling and I was glad to be a part of such a great Christmas tradition. By the end of the first evening, we were tired and hoarse and wondering how we were going to make it through the next two nights, but still, it’s almost Christmas and I can hardly wait!

Self-Publishing: My Story

Previously posted on  November 27, 2017

Earlier this year, I published my first novel. That is to say, I (myself) published my novel. I made no attempt to secure an agent. I sent no copies out in hopes of attracting a publishing deal. I did enough research to make an informed decision and with full confidence clicked the button that said Publish and it was done! I had become a published author.

More than a month later, I have sold very few copies, made very little money, and remain unrich and unfamous. And I am okay with that. I wanted to tell a little bit about what I’ve learned and share my thoughts about the whole self-publishing process. Consider it free advice and as with all free advice, you should probably listen and learn, but remember it is true, you generally get what you pay for. (Or as a published author ought to say, you generally get that for which you have paid.)

Let me be honest and say that I would love to see my novel be discovered and become a runaway bestseller, and if that happens, I will gladly take and keep every penny earned. On the other hand, if it never sells another copy, I still think it is a wonderful story with a positive message and I am very proud of having brought it to life. Despite having read it multiple times, there are still passages that come close to bringing me to tears. There are passages that I think are brilliant, so well written that I marvel at their source. So, I’m glad that the book has been published and if you ever come across a copy, I would highly recommend that you read it.

Now for the whole truth. I taught high school English for many years. I write well and I have a good command of the language. I did my own editing and proofreading. I hope I caught all of the mistakes and typos. One of my beta readers is another former English teacher. She also found some errors and pointed out some inconsistencies in the plot and a few poorly worded sentences and paragraphs. Two other beta readers gave me suggestions, as well. In the end, I felt the book was finished. I could have continued to make minor changes and reword certain words and phrases forever, but at some point you have to stop, so I did.

For the ebook, I used Pronoun Publishing and had a very positive experience. I am sad to know that they are closing. I am researching a few options for my next endeavor and am currently leaning toward Draft2Digital. By using an aggregator, you can easily make your book available on multiple platforms. For the paperback, I chose to go with Kindle Direct Publishing. Many people will recommend CreateSpace and one particularly obnoxious soul never fails to offer his opinion that you should never use KDP for your paperback. Because both are part of the Amazon family, they are very similar to use. Most believe that CS will eventually be closed and everyone forced to move over to KDP which admittedly still has some kinks to work out. I chose to go with the one that will be around the longest, I hope.

I ignored all the advice to pay for a professional cover designer. I wanted to do it myself. No one knows the story better. I think it turned out well. Formatting was difficult. Again, I did lots of research and hoped for the best. Until I held the first copy in my own hands, I was scared to death that it would look amateurish and I would be embarrassed beyond redemption. In the end, it came out very well and I love it. And yes, holding an actual copy does make you feel like a real author.

In Praise of NaNoWriMo

Previously posted on November 20, 2017

Let me say up front, I am a big fan of NaNoWriMo. If you are unfamiliar, it stands for the National Novel Writing Month which is November. Until a year ago, I had never heard of it myself. When my son told me about it, I was curious, but hesitant. I have always been a person who loves to write, but despite joking for years about someday retiring and writing the Great American Novel, I had serious doubts about my ability to write a novel, great or otherwise.

I write poetry. I write short stories. My one attempt at writing a (very short) young adult novel is still unfinished. I honestly feared that I did not have the right mindset to write a novel. I wasn’t sure that I could tell a long story. I was afraid that my desire to get to my really clever ending would keep me from ever being able to stretch my story to novel length. My other legitimate fear was that I couldn’t write 50,000 words in a single month. Not if they had to make sense.

But I was intrigued, so I went to the website (nanowrimo.org) and started reading. Maybe I could do this after all. I had a few weeks before it all began and I actually had an idea or two bouncing around in my head, so I did some research (on hypnosis) which led to some further research (on time travel) which led to some outlining and soon I was chomping at the bit to start writing.

I was retired, so I could not use time, or lack thereof, as an excuse, and on November 1, 2016, I started writing my first novel. My cat, Sophia and I listened to lots of classical music. (Anything with lyrics distracted me and made me want to sing along.) I kept a calendar taped to the wall by my computer, so I could keep up with my daily word count and I wrote, usually first thing in the morning. Right after my coffee, of course. Somewhere around 35,000 words, I had my first moments of panic. I was too close to the end of my story and there were too many days and too many words left to write. (The nanowrimo goal is 50,000, roughly the length of The Great Gatsby.)

I began to backtrack and added another complete subplot to the novel. A week later, I was confident that my ending and my word count would both be completed by November 30. And they were! I had written a novel and I give full credit to NaNoWriMo. 

Brothers, The Parable of the Prodigal Son

Previously posted on November 13, 2017

My second novel is a modern retelling of the story of the prodigal son from the gospel of Luke, Chapter 15. I have always loved this story and wondered how it would play out in our day and time. In particular, I believe the older brother to be a truly fascinating character. Most people focus on the prodigal and the father and it is a beautiful story of forgiveness, but I always felt sorry for the other brother and thought that in his shoes, I might be resentful as well.

The overall theme of the novel is forgiveness, extended or denied. How are we affected by our choice to forgive or to withhold forgiveness? That was the idea upon which I hoped to concentrate by examining each of the three main characters separately. The prodigal feels he has been abused in some way by his father which leads to his decision to ask for his inheritance and leave. When he is forced to return, he has to deal with several competing emotions. How does he respond to his father’s forgiveness? His brother’s refusal to forgive? And does he owe forgiveness to either of them?

The father is obviously the hero of the tale. Despite his treatment by the younger son, he chooses to forgive and by forgiving, he becomes a better man and shows what it means to be a father. The brother becomes the novel’s antagonist. His refusal to accept the return of his brother and more importantly, his refusal to forgive him, affects him as strongly, just as it has affected his father, but in a decidedly more negative manner.

I think it is an interesting new look at an old familiar tale and I think most readers will be able to connect with at least one character in the book. Hopefully they will enjoy the story! The novel is currently undergoing editing and revision and I hope to have it ready to publish by spring.

Author Q&A -The What If Project

Available at https://www.books2read.com/whatifproject

Previously posted on November 6, 2017

Q: Why did you decide to write a book?

A: My son Scott told me about NaNoWriMo, the National Novel Writing Month and I decided to challenge myself to see if I really could write a novel. I have written lots of short stories and poems over the years, but never any longer works. (My lone attempt at writing a book resulted in the unfinished young adult novel that is still waiting on me.) Because I am retired, I no longer had the excuse of not having the time, so I decided to go for it and see what happened.

Q: Did you really write the entire novel in one month?

A: I did. It actually came together really well and finished it by the end of November.

Q: Where did you get the idea for the story?

A: Two big influences were the book (and movie) Somewhere in Time by Richard Matheson and the TV show The Sopranos. I’ve always loved stories about time travel and I thought this book was great because it focused on the story and the people instead of the sci-fi aspects. Instead of some kind of time machine, you had a character who literally wills himself back in time through a form of self-hypnosis. From the TV show, I loved the scenes with the main character sitting across from his therapist, which gave me the idea for the two main characters, Jack and Dr. Melton. Beyond that, I think at one time or another most people experience at least some regret over the past, something that happened or didn’t happen, and wonder how different things might have been.

Q: How long did it take to get the book ready for publishing?

A: I spent several months editing and revising, but for the most part, the book stayed pretty close to its original form. I had some great suggestions from my beta readers, but most of the changes were adding or changing very minor details, a sentence here or there, or in one case, changing a character’s name.

Q: Why did you choose to self-publish?

A: I wanted to get the book out and maintain control over the process. I didn’t want to go through the whole rejection process and deal with all of that. I just wanted to make it available and if anyone reads it, great, and if not that’s okay, too.

Q: Who designed your cover?

A: I did. I ignored all the suggestions that you should never do your own cover and that you should pay someone to get a professional design. It’s my book and I understand it better than anyone, so I did it myself and I think it turned out great.

Q: Any last words?

A: Read the book! And if you like it, tell your friends. Honestly, I think it’s an interesting story with a positive message and hope the people who read it will enjoy it.