How a Writer Beats the Coronavirus Blues

As a creative, someone who is hyper-sensitive to emotional cues, I am bombarded with this so much that I am overwhelmed. Sitting down to write about it is at once therapeutic and also necessary. I’ve decided to do a few things to get me through it, and also to help me actually get back to writing.

Writing Progress: Providence

Word count so far: 14,153. When I began this series, my intention was to tell a story that was engaging and suspenseful, a story that was written in an epic space opera backdrop, but eventually lead the reader on a journey of faith.  I think I’m getting there. The first novel, The Terminarch Plot, is completely

Thanksgiving Day Celebration

Today is the day when people in the U.S. celebrate Thanksgiving. When we get together today, I’m sure my mother is going to (as she always does) tell all of us that before we eat we must each share something we are thankful for.  This year, my mother’s house is not the center of the

Lessons in Fatherhood: 10 Reasons My Dad Was Awesome

I celebrate yet another Father’s Day without my Dad.  I thought today I would write about the ten things that made Daddy so awesome, things that I try my best to duplicate with my children, with my wife, and hopefully by doing so I can live up to the legend that was my Dad. My

Jesus and the Christian Writer

I’m a Christian writer.  In a nation that is becoming increasingly post-Christian I am proud to call myself a Christian writer.  If you do not believe that we are becoming a post-Christian nation, that there is hope for our nation to “go back to God”, then we have a long way to go, and in

What’s In a Name: The Importance of Choosing the Right Character Name

When I sat down to write the outline for This Broken Earth, I knew that I had to choose very important names for each of my characters, names whose meanings had messages all their own.  When choosing the right name for a character, consider two things: 1.  Baby Name Books – I usually browse through these

While Waiting On the Agent…I’ll Revise Again…and Again

I did it, or rather God has blessed me, and I currently have an agent trying to shop This Broken Earth to a couple of publishing houses.  I received some very good criticism from the literary agent, criticism that would make for a much better book if I were to tweak here and cut there.  My agent

6 Thoughts on Sending Query Letters

Today I wrote up a query letter as a proposal for This Broken Earth, and sent it to about 40 different literary agents to test the waters about the book and hopefully get one of those fish to bite.  I neglected to realize that most of them would be out for the holidays, and so

A New Personal Record

This last weekend I worked on my novel marathon style.  Saturday I managed to participate in the annual Norman Holiday Parade, dressing up as a special forces scout trooper and marching with my JediOKC friends.  At 1:00pm, after downing a gluten free lunch at Texadelphia, it was off to the laptop for a non-stop writing

The U.S. of After Chapter 54

Clayton All of us formed a line leadin’ to a long bridge that went out over the water and onto a large deck.  At first it didn’t resemble a ship, but when I looked closer and actually stood on the pavement I realized it was the loadin’ elevator of an aircraft carrier.  The ship was