When Designing a Setting, Use the Kitchen Sink

Last night I wrote over 1500 words on my latest WIP, and that was just backstory.  I have only crafted three characters, one fully crafted and the other two somewhat realized.  Mostly I’ve been working on the setting since it is realized completely from my own imagination. As I follow in the footsteps of J.R.R.

On Being a Christian Novelist

We have a local store in nearby Norman, Oklahoma called Mardel’s Christian Office Supply, and in this store there is a rather large book selection of novelists of all types of genres within the Christian evangelical market.  Not only do they have my favorite novelist and apologist (C. S. Lewis), but they also have books by

A Question About Samwise Gamgee…and Tolkien’s Answer

Over at Noel Campbell’s blog, he has posited an interesting question about Samwise Gamgee from Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.  The question was quite good, and caused me to peruse Tolkien’s letters for the answer. The question is this: Who would history say destroyed the ring if Samwise had told the story?  To quote Mr. Campbell:

It’s A Writer’s Job To Be Rejected

If you write much and submit often, you probably have a drawer full or a room full of rejection notices. Today’s post is to encourage you a little by pulling together a few famous rejection notices… not that the rejection notices are famous, but that people who were rejected. Here they are: Ernest Hemingway –

Tolkien on Allegory

For years we have heard the story that J.R.R. Tolkien, creator of Middle Earth, never intended for any of his books to be allegory at all even though the Christian community rallies around him as a writer of Christian fiction.  It is true that we can see many images of Christ in the characters of

R is for Retrospective

It’s been almost a year and a half since I started blogging, and even though it has had its ups and downs, here lately I’m seeing my numbers drop off slowly and steadily.  It makes me wonder if this blogging thing is really all it’s cracked up to be. I won’t quit.  No way.  I

Tolkien on Inspiration

Today’s post is fortuitous in that Tolkien is again in the news.  Yesterday NPR ran a story about an ancient Roman ring that may have been the inspiration for The One Ring in Tolkien’s Middle Earth epic.  You can find “The Vyne” here, but the summary of the story is that Tolkien was brought in

Real Locations in Fictional Stories

My current WIP is set in Noble, Oklahoma, and since I am very familiar with this small town I am able to easily write about the sights and sounds of the town without much trouble or much research.  Research for me basically falls to interviewing local police about procedures in various situations that might arise

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

Today’s Birthday Gift Was Amazing!

Today I turned 42 years old, and jokingly I tell my friends that I am now the meaning of life, the universe and everything.  As we get older, birthdays invariably run together, and we only celebrate the decades.  I remember as a child I anxiously awaited my birthday because there would probably be a party