The Year of the Bear

Today we’re looking at ten really good books, and why I like them. Some inspire my writing, some are just inspirational, and some are just fun (see esp. Number 10). Maybe you’ve read some – you definitely should. Enjoy!

I had wanted to save this post for around this time of year, because I knew I would have a newborn (he's actually almost a month old now) and my schedule would be even more hectic than it was - on top of having one course in a Master's program and looking down the throat of a second (course starts Oct. 1). And I wondered what my schedule by this point would actually look like. See, I like to be the guy that thwarts everyone's excuse. When you say: "I can't, because..." I want to be able to say: "I still do." Not to rub it in your face or make me seem better than you, but because I think we are each far more capable than we give ourselves credit for. Part of this blog is not to only tell the story of my year, but hopefully to inspire you to your best year - this year, and every year after. But to have our best year, sometimes we need to stare straight into the face of our adversity or our circumstances and say: "we still can."

Fantasy is definitely one of those genres that doesn't have a lot of credibility outside of its own sphere. For most of the world around us, they wonder why we waste our time. Fantasy is at turns an escape, demonic, frivolous, immature, nerdy...but most certainly not  literary, and not worth any real consideration. For those of us who write it, though, we can't imagine writing anything else. So if you're an "outsider" and looking maybe to come inside, here's 5 reasons to write fantasy -- which, oftentimes, will be enough reason to read it too.

When I started out as a writer in 1994, I was too young to care what I was getting myself into. Probably a lot of you are the same way. I'm not sure how many people hit their 20s, 30s, or 40s and suddenly think "hmmm, I think I'll be a writer." There may be some. For this post, though, I'm going to hand out some advice for people who are starting out calling  themselves writers -- who are starting to take that title more seriously, and what they can expect along the way.

Wonder Boys, 2001 I have heard of authors - and other creative types - who can't stand the question: "so, what's your inspiration?" Granted, maybe when you're famous or if you are über-creative, you get asked this question SO much, and you can't quite grasp at an answer, that it drives you mad. Fortunately for you all, I am neither famous nor über-creative (but I have fun). And I love answering this question.

Image by AlectorFencer I checked what today's topic was supposed to be, and let out a loud "hmmm." This one's a doozy, folks. Grab a tea or coffee and settle in. Let me tell you a little story.

Back again for some bonus material! On Twitter this week we talked about where our worlds came from, and I remembered I had written this ages ago, as a sort of creation story for my world. Forgive me: it rhymes.

Day One, here it is! In all it’s glory, 10 things you probably didn’t know about By Ways Unseen.

Things will be getting a little bit back to normal around here, starting tomorrow: By Ways Unseen is out and available for purchase; blog tour is over; there's balloons and cake crumbs, and the last person is by the door saying good-byes and making sure their child doesn't run off and get lost. It's been great fun, and I thank everybody for coming. But there's no rest, to paraphrase, for the writer.  

This week I'm over at Avid Reader giving an interview -- so help support other awesome blogs and check it out ! And don't forget to pick up your own copy of By Ways Unseen here! I'll be back next week with a regularly scheduled post, so it should be fun! See you then!

Good Saturday!! Today I'm guest posting over at This and That Book Blog on the hardest part of character development. So check it out here , and don't forget to keep checking it out to help support authors! Don't forget By Ways Unseen is available for purchase, and I'm in the middle of a two-week blog tour. So I'll be back to normal posts on July 28 -- next week is an interview with The Avid Reader. So come join me on tour!

Inspired by Olivia Cornwell on Twitter (@livvycornwell), and in honor of my book  By Ways Unseen  coming out on Amazon this Thursday, July 12 - first published story - I thought I would share with you the first story I ever wrote. Ever. It's called "Four Leaf Clover." I've fixed the typos, but that's it. I promise I've gotten better since 1994 (I was 8).

I'll be honest: I went back and forth about self-publishing for a long time. For most of the time, I felt like it was the cheap way out -- that if my book was actually good, it would be traditionally published, with the prestige of an actual House behind it, chock full of editors, marketing types, and an agent telling  me -- and the rest of the world -- that it was good. Oh, and in case you missed it, By Ways Unseen  is coming out on July 12 on Amazon, through CreateSpace and Kindle.

Three of the Fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5), those are. Why am I writing about them? Well, I shot my mouth off on Twitter and said: "Oh, I have a blog! You should, you know, read what I wrote a few months ago!" I also said somewhere else that this is my website -- which will bring a lot of the same thing: people showing up expecting stuff. So, I wanted to take a moment, and reiterate what my hope is for this blog: this is a place for writers and people who are alive to find Love, Joy, and Patience. And hopefully all the others, too.

As some of you may have heard, I'm self-publishing my fantasy novel this year - in a couple months, actually (website and all that jazz coming soon). It's been an incredible month, this past April, so let me tell you a bit about it.

"Writing is like meditation or going into an ESP trance, or prayer. Like dreaming. You are tapping into your unconscious. To be fully conscious and alert, with life banging and popping and cuckooing all around, you are not going to find your way to your subconscious, which is a place of complete submission." Carolyn Chute. Um. Okay.

"I can't write five words but that I change seven." Dorothy Parker. The theme of this day is editing, revising, rewriting...but what caught my eye the most was Amy Peters' comment on perhaps why people dislike editing so much. She said: "Perhaps, they flash back to childhood days when having to rewrite a paper at school was taken as bad news. ...As Parker describes it rewriting and editing is an opportunity to improve and express your ideas." [Emphasis mine.]

"Writing is a way of talking without being interrupted." Jules Renard. This may seem like a very self-important thing to say - that we, as writers, should not be interrupted and you common folk  don't know your place well enough to sit quietly and listen. But sometimes, I've spent so long thinking through an idea that, when I'm done, I just want to get it out. Interrupt me, and the idea is off the rails chasing down the various rabbit trails conversation invariably builds. And that's with ideas that will take maybe five minutes to disclose. A novel? Yeah, might need to let me just go with that one.

Amy Peters is trying to get me all political, now. And I'm not going to do it. Well, maybe a little bit. For some, freedom means minimum government regulation; people are basically good until given power and authority, which then corrupts. For others, freedom means minimum societal regulation; a person is basically good, and democratic government brings out the best ideas - but society is corrupt and oppressive, hindering the individual from achieving their dreams. That's the political aspect. Jesus Christ says the natural man is corrupt and oppressive, and only through the renewing of our minds and reliance on God do we find freedom.

"Confronted by an absolutely infuriating review, it is sometimes helpful for the victim to do a little personal research on the critic. Is there any truth to the rumor that he had no formal education beyond the age of eleven? Was he ever arrested for burglary?" Jean Kerr. We all have little ways of consoling ourselves when things don't go exactly as planned. Sometimes we convince ourselves that whatever happened is actually better. Other times, we externalize so that the bad result is someone else's (or some other thing's) fault. Sometimes we live on the hope that we'll try again and succeed, or the failure was not as dismal as it first appears. Sometimes, though, we retaliate, shut down, give up, walk away. Very rarely are these good responses.