"Her Black Prince" Second Draft Started

Last night, I wrote out two pages of the second draft of "Her Black Prince." I didn't get as much done as I wanted due to the holiday rush, but it was progress. I did it by hand because I was tired of staring at computer screens and it was nice to revert back to my childhood days, where everything I did was in pencil and pen.

Once I finish "Her Black Prince", I have another short story titled "Ten Thousand Suns", which I want to complete next. After that, I am going to try to get "Innocent" and "Ecgtheow's Way" published again. I am still surprised that "Daughter of the Seven Seas" got accepted before those two works. Although the former was excellent, I personally felt the latter two were better written.

I've also been working more on the backstory of "Fionnuala." Both "Her Black Prince" and "Ten Thousand Suns" resulted from excerpts that I had written to discover what happened in the lives of my characters before my novel begins. I'm almost finished, but there are about two or three more events which I need to develop before I can write another draft of the book.

That's it for now. Happy New Year!

"Her Black Prince" Outline Finished

Merry Early Christmas Everyone!

After spending the past few weeks in North Carolina, I've come back to spend Christmas and New Year's with my family. Since I've been back, I created a brief outline for "Her Black Prince", in which I added an additional character to create a greater dilemna for Magnus.

One valuable lesson I learned from writing is that it's important to throw your characters into the worst situation possible in order to generate as much intensity and excitement possible for your readers. This works not only in books, but films and even television as well. Granted, you don't want to torture your character as though they were an animal. That's not excitement. That's sadism. What you want to do is throw them into an extremely difficult scenario that will test the very core of who they are and force them to decide whether they will stand strong like men and women or fall apart like sissies. For example, a man of God lives in a hostile culture where he is given an ultimatum: give up his faith, or watch his family die. He has two choices: lose his loved ones, or lose his soul. What will he do? Will he turn his back on his savior? Will he sacrifice his family? Will he rely on God to deliver him? Will he try to handle this in his own power? Now you have intensity! Now you have excitement! Now you have a "super glue" story, one that will keep readers stuck to the edge of their seats!

Enjoy your Christmas, everyone, and be sure to remember the greatest gift that mankind ever received during this season: Jesus Christ, our Lord!

New Fionnuala Origins Story: Her Black Prince

It's been far too long since I have posted. Anyways, things are finally settling down now that I have moved to North Carolina. I've found a good church and am making friends and getting to know people, including at my local library, where I have come in so much to use the computer that the librarians are signing me in before I even reach the desk!

Anyways, as far as writing goes, I've been working on Magnus a lot more, figuring out what his life was like before "Fionnuala" begins. I've written an excerpt which I will turn into a short story titled "Her Black Prince", that takes place when he is fifteen. It will take place in the same world as "Heart of Flesh" and "Daughter of the Seven Seas", only in a different country and twenty-five years before Cassandra is born. I hope to have it ready for publishing next weekend so that I can start submitting it.

Preparing for the Month of Fionnuala

In preparation for resuming my revision of "Fionnuala", I am continuing to develop Magnus and his backstory. For inspiration for villains, I've studied the people that Joshua defeated when he and the Israelites conquered the Promised Land. Needless to say, creative liberties shall be taken to bring in the dark fantasy element. I'll be bringing in aspects from pagan cults in the ancient world to make them richer and more menacing, rather than just having a bunch of elderly men in togas randomly shooting lightning bolts for the mere sake of being evil.

Additionally, I took down notes regarding a scene regarding the most feared woman ever to debut in my series. It provided a lot of insight into her murderous hatred of Cassandra and Max, a hatred so all-consuming that she is willing to die in the process of destroying them. I'm at the point where just writing this woman's name makes me tremble! I can't wait to unleash her on my readers.

On December 1, I will write another draft of "Fionnuala." I hope to be completely finished with the novel by August of 2011, although I believe I will finish earlier as long as I work steadily.

That's it for now. Until next time, stay posted.

"Daughter of the Seven Seas" now published!

Hello everyone!

"Daughter of the Seven Seas" is now published in Mindflights online magazine! It's at the link below:

http://www.mindflights.com/item.php?sub_id=6833

I am particularly fond of the story because it is the debut of my most mysterious and intriguing character: Maxine Njalsdottir. Known simply to her friends as "Max", this beautiful, cunning, and fearsome girl with "reptilian abilities" is Cassandra's complete opposite. Cassandra is kind, forgiving, gentle and loving while Max is...not. However, just like Cassandra, there is a lot more to Max than meets the eye, and I look forward to revealing that in "Fionnuala."

In other news, I'm currently developing the backstory of a knight named Magnus, who, along with Cassandra and Max, is a major character in the novel. I will not reveal anything else because I hate giving away spoilers, but suffice it to say that the more I write about Magnus, the more awesome he becomes, and I can't wait to debut "Fionnuala" and unleash him on the public.

That's it for now. Until next time, stay posted.

Taking The High Road With "A Valiant Effort"

Shortly after completing the first draft of my Peace Corps Memoir, I was contacted by my friend, Abe, who had also served on Kosrae as a Peace Corps Volunteer. We talked over my previous title, "Island of Devils", which he felt was going too far. I took a few weeks to think it over and, after being contacted by my good Kosraean friend, Heinson, I decided that Abe was right. So I've now retitled my memoir "A Valiant Effort: How God Enabled A Peace Corps Volunteer To Give His All In The Caucasus And The Pacific." The title is a lot better and also captures the spirit I want my memoir to have.

Besides, despite my negative experience there, I did make some Kosraean friends. Heinson and Shrew are the best ones, but my vice principal also was amazing. I still remember the time when my children were getting rowdy in computer class and one of my students started blaring music from the speakers. It was right when my vice principal walked in, and I thought I was going to get my butt kicked. However, he turned and screamed at all my kids in rapid Kosraean and then turned to me, saying, in a very soft and reserved voice, that he just told them that they had to listen to me or they would lose their computer privileges, before turning around and walking out. My students were far better behaved than their American counterparts, due to the fact that Kosraean parents are actually allowed to discipline their kids without getting arrested or having them taken away by Social Services. That being said, I still had to go through some mild hazing as the new foreign teacher, but it was awesome to know that my vice principal was in my corner. In particular, I made the mistake of admitting that I had a crush on a local girl and every chance my students got, they teased me for it. It was all in good fun, though.

I finished typing up the first few chapters of "Air Wars" and hopefully will get to work on it a little bit each day. That being said, I don't have a lot of free time since I am getting used to being in a sales job again. I'm not worried because it's ADT Security; what I'm doing is the equivalent of a sales rep in the computer industry trying to sell Microsoft products. It's inevitable that someone is going to buy a system!

Anyways, "Daughter of the Seven Seas" is coming out on October 17, 2010. I'll post the link as soon as it comes out. You all will love it: it's awesome!

The Novel That Started It All

Now that I have finished writing up the first draft of "Island of Devils", I am typing up my handwritten manuscripts so that I have an electronic copy of everything I have written. The experience has taught me that secretaries are seriously underpaid. So far, I've only typed up fourteen pages of the book that first revealed the world that Cassandra lives in, which culminated in the publishing of "Heart of Flesh." I would gladly pay someone who could type over 90 wpm to do the whole thing for me if I had the extra cash on hand, since, at tops, I can only do 35 wpm. Maybe I can get one of my friends to do it in exchange for me picking up the tab at dinner or giving them a gift card to TGI Friday's. I'll just have to ask around and see.

Typing up my first sci-fi/fantasy novel brought back a lot of memories. I first started it when I was thirteen, and it was a serial in a newsletter my mom was trying to start with my brother and my friend Chris. The newsletter never really took off, but "Air Wars" (which was the first name of my series) soared. While heavily influenced by "Star Wars", it was really tongue-in-cheek and humorous, featuring people who were half an inch tall battling it out in paper airplanes, toy cars, and with superheated pins called "heatsabers." It grew into a book that had over 170 chapters and, near the end, inadvertently turned into a Christian work. I had no intention of writing Christian fantasy at first, but I read the final chapters over and liked the deeper meaning of the spiritual motifs and metaphors and added those in my later writing. I know that "Lord of the Rings" similarly did not start off as a Christian work, but was later "commandeered" by Tolkien's faith and he went back and deliberately weaved Christian symbolism into the book. I want to make it clear that I am a far cry from J.R.R. Tolkien. He was a genius who, through over fifteen years of hard work and careful revising, created one of the best literary works of all time, not to mention a linguistic mastermind. That being said, I think it's cool that Jesus decided to take over my work like he did with "Lord of the Rings" and to show me that writing to worship and honor Him would truly unleash the talent He blessed me with. It also helped that he gave me an amazing mother without whom Yangvaad and the other nations of my world would not exist.

Cassandra herself did not appear in "Air Wars." In fact, she was not supposed to be a main character in my Christian fantasy series at all. She was created simply to be the master of a young knight named Zarrah, who was far more integral to the series. I only wrote "Heart of Flesh" out of curiousity to see what Cassandra was like as a child, but she wound up becoming the main heroine of the entire series (which is no longer called "Air Wars", by the way). Although I am still taken aback at how much she changed the series, I am very happy with the direction it is going in now, and, once "Daughter of the Seven Seas" is published this month, I will focus on revising the novel which explains the origins of the greatest heroine of my world.

"Island of Devils" Draft 1 Complete, "Daughter of the Seven Seas" coming out next month!

Today I successfully completed draft one of my Peace Corps autobiography, tentatively titled "Island of Devils." I am really happy that I reached this milestone and am taking a break before typing up it and my other handwritten manuscripts.

In other news, my short story, "Daughter of the Seven Seas", is due to be published by Mindflights magazine next month. I'm not giving away any plot details, but it takes place in the same world as "Heart of Flesh" and features Cassandra again. You can read "Heart of Flesh" by clicking on it under my links.

I've also been developing one of Cassandra's classmates, who plays a major role in the two sequels to "Fionnuala." I wrote one excerpt about her in which she came across much older than I intended. She was supposed to be twelve but came across as a jaded seventeen-year-old. I went ahead and edited it and made her fourteen, but changed her voice so that she sounded younger. Not only did she really come to life, but so did her older sister, who I plan to include in the series as well.

I'm going to update this blog weekly from now on. I fell a bit behind because I started a new job and had to take care of a lot of other things in my life, but now those are settled and I'm ready to "rock out with my blog out!" Wooooo!

Stay posted.

Writing Update 7: Host Family Wars-Eclipse of the Baptist

In my Peace Corps memoir, I've reached the month of February right before In-Service Training. At this point, I already decided to leave the Congregational church to join the Baptist church. I did anticipate problems with this, since life on Kosrae revolved around the Congregational church. However, I thought it would be along the lines of not being able to see my friends as much as I wanted because they would be busy at choir practice, etc.

In reality, what I did was the equivalent of converting to Christianity in Iran.

After I became a Baptist, my host family either ignored me completely, or looked for reasons to yell at me. They were passive-aggressive to the point of not even buying toilet paper anymore, in spite of being paid by Peace Corps for that and other basic necessities (I decided to pay out-of-pocket). They accused me of being antisocial and then brushed me off whenever I tried to talk to them. One event I remember is when they screamed at me in front of Gibon, my neighbor and one of my favorite students, because I asked them not to put Chef Boyardee noodles on top of my rice. I did not see a problem with this, because my host mother had said when I moved in that all I had to do was ask and she would prepare my food "any way I liked." Of course, that was a complete lie, and gave them another excuse to yell at me. The truth finally came out when, after I was accused of avoiding them yet again, I pointed out that I couldn't do it if I tried since they were never around the house.

"Do you know why we are never around the house?" My host mother bellowed, "Because we are out doing church stuff!"

To me the entire situation was ridiculous. I did sign up to integrate into another culture, but I never agreed to give up my faith to appease my host family. In fact, I'd already decided that if I had to choose between God and Peace Corps, I was going to choose God. It was a no-brainer. God had sent His Son to die for me, and it would have been the ultimate slap-in-the-face if I caved to family pressure. Not to mention that, with their behavior, my host family wasn't making a good case for their faith.

Anyway, I was getting sick of these stupid arguments at this point and was looking forward to In-Service Training, where I would get to spend three days at Tree Lodge, my favorite hotel on the island, with hot showers and the famous "Bully Burger", a delicious tuna burger that was only $5.50 for a meal. I would also get to hang out with my best friend on the island, Richard, as well as the World Teach Volunteers and the previous class of Peace Corps Volunteers, who were awesome. Sadly, I've fallen out of touch with a lot of them due to everyone working in different parts of the world. But I did just hear back from Emily, one of my closest friends on Kosrae, and am ecstatic that she finally got a job doing medical research, something she had wanted to do for years.

In other news, I've been doing a lot of work with my church's Mobile Evangelism Unit and yesterday, my friend, Mr. Charles, and I led three teenagers to Christ. It was amazing because I had never helped anyone get saved before. I love volunteering with that unit and can't wait until the next time we go out. I also hope that my Peace Corps memoir will lead people to Christ, once they see how he helped me through that experience.

That's it for now. Until next time, stay posted.

Writing Update 6: Winter Meltdown

This past week I got to the part in my Peace Corps autobiography where my first counterpart had a meltdown in the middle of class. It was over something really silly: all I did was ask the vice principal if an activity that we were doing in class was fine. The children were getting in and out of a large box. It was totally harmless, but, coming from a country where a parent can sue the school for any number of totally harmless things, I just wanted to make sure that this was alright. The vice principal said it was okay, so I just went back to class and forgot about the whole thing. Unfortunately, the clerk gossiped to my counterpart about my conversation with the vice principal and you can guess what happened after that. Suffice it to say that I was somewhat relieved when the principal said that I could work with someone else.

Thankfully, I got to work with Pomeroy, the best teacher in the school. I transferred to his class right when he was about to go into the Civil Rights Movement, so I got to give an excellent lesson about Rosa Parks. I got him and our students to reenact the story of how she bravely refused to give up her seat to a white man, the act that kicked off the Montgomery Bus Boycott. To date, that is still my favorite class. I look forward to writing about it in the upcoming weeks, as well as my students, who were my favorite people on the island.

I still jot down ideas for my "Fionnuala" series. In particular, I write down details about Max, Cassandra's closest friend, a mysterious and beautiful assassin who, when they were children at the hellish Nineveh Academy, stuck her neck out to keep Cassandra from being killed by the gang that ran the school. I look forward to developing her more as a character once I finish my autobiography.

That's it for now. Until next time, stay posted.

Writing Update 5: Focused Intensity, Islander Style

In an effort to complete my rough draft about my Peace Corps experience before I forget everything, I've temporarily suspended my other projects. Movie reviews have been postponed until further notice and "Fionnuala" is going to be set aside until July. It's really important to me that I write everything down while I still have the particular details clearly in mind. I still remember how I chose not to do that for my Spain trip. Now all I remember are the city names and the people I traveled with. Nothing is worse than not being able to remember an awesome experience abroad and I refuse to let that happen with this experience, which was a major landmark in my life.

I've reached the point where I make it on television yet again. The first time was on Armenian TV with my Peace Corps Georgia friends while we were waiting to cross the border. I'm sure they got some sweet footage of me playing catch in no-man's land and proving that I would have been a Superbowl champion in an alternate reality. The second time was Thanksgiving Day in 2008 on Kosrae, and my family still has the DVD. Like the majority of my adventures in life, this one was completely unintentional. I just volunteered to sing with my village because it seemed fun and reminded me of when I used to impress my friends by singing "West Side Story" songs in 8th grade. I had no idea it was being televised until a few days later, when random Kosraeans started talking to me.

Kosraean: Hey, I saw you on TV, Tulensa!
(Tulensa was my Kosraean name)
Me: Huh? I was on TV?
Kosraean: Yeah, for the Thanksgiving Day event in Lelu. Kom samat ke on! (You're good at singing!)
Me: Really? I got to check that out! Kuloh ma lalap! (Thank you very much!)

After twenty conversations like that, I finally did check it out, and indeed, my handsome young face was given a great deal of screentime. I was fairly decent too, considering I was with people who'd been singing since they were two years old. It was definitely one of my better memories of Kosrae.

I hope to be finished with my rough draft by June 30th. After that, I'm going to edit "Fionnuala" so that I can return to my Peace Corps Memoir with fresh eyes.

Stay posted!

Writing Update 4: Another One Bites The Dust

This past week, I made it to page 45 of my manuscript, during which I made the tough decision to remove Xia from the book. I decided to replace her with a different prophetess because, at this point, there are already many foreigners in the region of Yangvaad that Sandra is spying in and I want some natives to provide more "local flavor" to Part I of the novel. Additionally, I realized that I need to get a firmer grasp of the leadership in the area of the country that Sandra is in, to make sure the nefarious plot of the villain retains some sense of logic. I borrowed a book on famous gardens from the library, since one of Sandra's friends is a gardener and I want to have some realistic knowledge of the subject before I put a speculative twist on it. I went with this approach due to the success I had after researching Assyrian and Viking culture to flesh-out Yangvaad, and cannot wait to see what ideas I'll come up with after reading about the most famous gardens in the world.

In my Peace Corps memoir, I'm still in basic training on Pohnpei. Things were still rather quiet and pleasant at this point, so while it's fun to relive some of the memories, it's not nearly as exciting as Kosrae was when everything went downhill. If I continue to work steadily at two pages a day, I should reach my time in Kosrae within the next couple of weeks, and describe the surreal experience of being persecuted for going to a Baptist church.

In other news, some close friends of mine had my family and I over tonight and they absolutely loved the card game that I had developed while in Armenia, which features characters from my series. I want to get that game ready to show off to toy companies once I finish "Fionnuala" because everybody who's played it absolutely loves it.

Next post-Movie Review: Sherlock Holmes

Movie Review: The Blind Side

Abstract: Michael Oher, a homeless black teen, is adopted by the Tuohy family and goes on to become a football star.

Pros:
-The acting in the movie is spectacular and the characters are well-developed. The best performances are Quinton Aaron as Michael, Sandra Bullock as Leigh Anne Tuohy, the mother who takes him in, and Jae Head as my favorite character, S.J. Tuohy, Michael's fun and energetic little brother.

-The film is an extremely accurate portrayal of the true story of the NFL star, including an investigation that occurs later in the plot that I thought was made up for dramatic effect.

-The movie includes a lot of humor with the gripping drama and uplifting message of the story, such as S.J. putting Michael through his own personal training camp.

-The Tuohy family is portrayed as selfless, loving, and genuine in their faith in Jesus. This is a refreshing change for an industry that normally depicts Christians (in particular white Southern ones) as stupid, bigoted, and racist. It's always refreshing to see a movie where the Christians are the good guys for a change.

-The use of "Ferdinand the Bull" as a motif for Michael's gentle nature was excellent, as well as the way in which Leigh Anne convinces him to be more aggressive in the field to protect his teammates.

Cons:
-There's a grammatical error in the Bible verse used in the archway of the school that completely changes its meaning. It should read "With man, this is impossible; With God, all things are possible" to be a proper quote, not "With man, this is possible, etc."
-One character says that another man is handsome in front of her husband and, prior to that, spanks a football coach. While the latter was funny and probably meant to show how much of a sports' enthusiast she was, it still came across as somewhat odd.
-One character who reaches out to help Michael early in the film simply vanishes from the movie.

Overall: Phenomenal-A touching story of what God can do through people who reach out to those who are in need.

(The image used is from moviemobsters.com. I claim no ownership whatsoever over this image.)

Writing Update 3: Filling in the Gaps

I have made a lot of progress on both "Fionnuala" and my Peace Corps memoirs. On the former I'm on page 30 of my latest edit and on the later I've made it to the part where I am welcomed by the host family I stayed with on Pohnpei, the Albert family. It's amazing how writing about an experience can bring back memories in such vivid detail. Today, in the library, I almost felt like I was back on their naas (an outdoor porch of sorts)playing on the Xbox with Alfred and Keith, listening to Kiped talk about his travels to Fiji and Japan, and eating Asipa's delicious food, as well as teaching Danya some martial arts moves. Those were good times, although sometimes I got too comfortable and fell asleep on the naas instead of on my bed.

That will be enough nostalgia for one post, haha! I noticed another issue in my "Fionnuala" manuscript. It's suffering from a major case of NEI (Not Enough Information). Basically, if you haven't read the "Heart of Flesh" short story trilogy, you won't have enough information to truly appreciate what is going on in Part I of the novel. Additionally, some events that did not occur in those stories, (but which are still important parts of the backstory) need to be added. I've made marks where I will add these things in the rewrite. Also, I will give a deeper understanding of how spellcasting works in her world so that my readers will understand just how truly powerful she is, as well as to set up some of the action sequences I will add in later parts of the book.

That's it for now. Until next time, stay posted!

Next Post: Movie Review-"The Blind Side."

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Movie Review-Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

Abstract-Percy Jackson discovers that he is the son of Poseidon, and that he has been wrongly accused of stealing Zeus' lightning bolt.

Pros:
-The story draws heavily on Greek mythology and uses it in ways that are new, exciting, and humorous. There are too many examples to list in one posting, but the best one is when the Island of the Lotus-Eaters is reinterpreted as a Hotel Casino in Las Vegas. That was the most hilarious part of the movie.

-Grover, the satyr who is Percy's best friend and "Junior Protector", is expertly played by Brandon T. Jackson, who has the best performance in the movie.

-There are excellent action sequences, in particular Percy's battle with the Minotaur and the fight against the Hydra at the Parthenon in Nashville, as well as his final showdown with the real thief.

-Some really great actors appear in smaller roles. The best of these was Uma Thurman as Medusa, who scared the living daylights out of me. Rosario Dawson was also great as Persephone, the abducted wife of Hades who, in a twist on the original tale, has numerous gentlemen "visitors" as payback (nothing happens onscreen). Pierce Brosnan does well in his role as Chiron, who disguises himself as Mr. Brunner, a teacher in a wheelchair, before revealing his true identity as the centaur who trains demigods to become heroes. Luke, played by Jake Abel as the mischievous son of Hermes, is also an interesting character, although I felt he was somewhat underutilized. Catherine Keener, though not spectacular, was decent as Sally Jackson, Percy's mother.

-The movie touches on the troubling subject of children having to grow up with absentee parents. In the film, the gods (both male and female), come to earth to have children with humans, and then must return to Olympus, forbidden to see them again, lest their feelings for their kids interfere with their heavenly responsibilities. I know a lot of people my age and younger who, because their parents sidelined them for careers, can relate to the abandonment issues Percy (played by Logan Lerman), his ally/love interest, Annabeth(played by Alexandra Daddario), and the other teenaged demigods have as a result.

-The movie is really clean. If there were any profanities, I didn't hear them. The violence was standard fantasy/adventure fare. On the raunchy side. it does not get any worse than the daughters of Aphrodite waving to Percy and Grover while wearing bikinis.

Cons:
-One minor character randomly looks into Medusa's eyes for no apparent reason.

-There are some plot holes. For example, there's no explanation for where the heroes get the money for the trek across America that they take during their quest before they enter the underworld and later go up to Mt. Olympus. Also, it's not explained how Chiron was able to change his form in the first place.

-The main characters, Percy and Annabeth, aren't given much of a personality, causing them to be eclipsed by Grover and all the vibrant secondary characters in the film. Basically, Percy is the stereotypical average-kid-turned-hero and Annabeth, the daughter of Athena, is the overdone, invincible warrior princess. I'm not going to be too harsh on the actors who played them because I really felt they weren't given much to work with.

-The special effects are sub-par in certain scenes. For example, it was obvious that Poseidon (played by Kevin McKidd) was walking beside a blue screen in the opening where he's supposed to be rising from the ocean depths. Medusa's hairdo was also poorly done CGI.

Overall rating: Phenomenal! A must see for all fantasy and adventure movie lovers, especially Greek mythology enthusiasts. If you go, stay during the credits to see a hilarious clip revealing the fate of Percy's stepdad.


(The image used in this post is from The Internet Movie Database at www.imdb.com. I claim no ownership whatsoever over this image)

Writing Update 2: The Lambert Connection

This past week, I finally finished my maps of the major setting of Part I and reread the entire manuscript. Overall, I thought it was pretty good, especially Part III, in which most of the duels and fighting takes place. The only thing that needed serious improvement besides the setting are the characters in Part II, who require a lot more development if they are to have a strong impact on Sandra.

However, before I get to that, I'm going to revise Part I. I already began to edit the first four pages and cut out some information that really isn't needed until later in the book. I also described Sandra physically, from her own perspective, and suffice it to say that the poor young lady is way too hard on herself. Additionally, I wrote a short story about an important side character, and through it, discovered their connection to Sandra's childhood hero, Lammy. Although I had to adjust her age accordly, it was a twist that not even I had expected. I think she finally gained free will, that glorious state in which a character takes control of their life and basically tells me what to write about them. I love it when that happens because that's when the story literally writes itself and I just sit back and watch as the words fly onto the page.

That's all for now. Until next week, transcend reality and find the truth!

Writing Update 1: Cartography In the Arctic

The best and worst part about being snowed-in is that you get a lot of free time on your hands. It's good because you can play video games, draw, read, or simply catch up on a lot of missed sleep. It's bad because you cannot get out due to the fact that the road is covered in enough snow and ice to sink the Titanic. Luckily, I put my time to good use by working on the setting of "Fionnuala."

Creating settings has always been one of my least favorite parts of writing. I love developing characters, weaving plots and subplots together and creating witty and spunky dialogue, but for me, describing what things look like is simply dull. After all, if there are swordfights, spellcasting duels, and death-defying escapes, who cares what the trees look like? I usually skim over those parts in the books that I read and if a book has too much description (such as "Titus Groan", in which there are basically four or five paragraphs of description per line of dialogue) I stop reading entirely. That being said, I want my readers to have a clear picture of the nation of Yangvaad, where Sandra's adventures take place, so I decided to come up with a fun way to do it: drawing! I sketched out maps of the region of the country where the story takes place and then created floor plans of the primary setting of Part I. Not only was it a great way to unwind after shoveling mountains of snow twice within a week, but it also gave me a clearer picture (only throw ripe tomatoes at me for the pun, please) of where the key events of my novel take place.

That's it for now. Until next time, transcend reality and find the truth!

The Nazarite’s Writing Creed

My first, and foremost goal as a writer is to honor God and my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in my writing. While Jesus will not randomly appear on every page, my stories will honor His principles: truth, love, justice, mercy, forgiveness, and self-sacrifice and portray the consequences that befall those who chose the darker path of deceit, lust, corruption, ruthlessness, vengeance and selfish passion. To be realistic, I will have major characters that will choose both paths, and you will not always be able to predict which character will choose to serve the Greater Good or become slaves to evil.

What you will NOT find in my stories:
-Political correctness, no matter what bill is signed into law. Worse case scenario, I'll continue writing in prison.
-Gratuitous violence, sex, and profanity. I find that frying the brains of my target audience is, at best, counterproductive.
-Knockoffs of Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, and other popular works. While these have influenced my writing, I see no need to reinvent the lightsaber, so to speak.

What you WILL find in my stories:
-Characters that reflect the struggles and triumphs of God's masterpiece, the human race!
-Tales that descend into the deepest, darkest recesses of hell and ascend to the gates of heaven beyond the sun and stars, and everywhere in between!
-A world that exists independently from earth with its own cultures, mythology, languages, empires, and ecosystems!

The Nazarite's Origins: My History in Brief

"For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines." (Judges 13:5)

In the Bible, a Nazarite was someone who took a special vow to separate themselves wholly to the service of God. One of the requirements for this vow was that they never cut their hair during their service. The most famous Nazarite was Samson, to whom the above verse refers. While I am not an Israelite with superhuman strength (and prefer to have short hair), I have separated myself unto God through accepting Jesus Christ as my personal savior.

Since I've become a Christian, God has blessed me by allowing me to study abroad in England, my favorite country in the world. After I graduated from college, I was given the honor of being a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Eastern European nation of Georgia, a country with a rich and ancient heritage that is the home of the most hospitable and loving people whom I've ever met. My service there was tragically cut short by the Russian invasion, during which I was evacuated to Armenia. While there, I was welcomed with open arms by the Armenian people as well as the local Peace Corps Volunteers and staff. It was there that I was given the opportunity to continue my service in Micronesia, where I served on the island of Kosrae. On Kosrae, God gave me the strength to refuse to attend the local, island-wide church that taught a false gospel of salvation through good deeds and church membership. He empowered me to stand up for the fact that eternal life can only be received through faith in Jesus Christ, allowing me to endure in my beliefs in spite of being ostracized, slandered, and persecuted by the community and my own host family for my decision. When my host father, a lay minister in that church, finally lost all sense of reason and threatened my life, God made sure that I was evacuated safely for the second time, after which I was allowed to complete my service early and to return to the United States.

Since I've returned, I've spent my free time returning to my favorite activity: writing! I'm currently working on a book that describes my Peace Corps experience in more detail, as well as trying to publish the sequels to my story "Heart of Flesh", which appeared in Mindflights Magazine in May of 2008. I'm also revising my novel "Fionnuala," which continues Cassandra's adventures beyond "Heart Of Flesh" and its two sequels, "Innocent" and "Ecgtheow's Way." This blog will cover the progress I'm making, along with movie and book reviews and the occasional "random thoughts" post.

Next Post: The Nazarite's Writing Creed. Discover what you will (and won't) find in my books and stories.