Dan Walsh's Blog, page 30

Fun Summer Book Updates

Hard to believe we’re almost midway through the summer. A lot has happened since my last book update in May. Starting with the success of my most recent novel, The Dance, co-authored with Gary Smalley. It made both the CBA and ECPA Bestseller lists in June, and just a few days ago it made the CBA bestseller list again for July (the ECPA list hasn’t come out yet this month). Click on the pick and it will get bigger.

Thanks to all of you who’ve bought copies and told others to. No amount of money spent on marketing or advertising can match the power of friends telling friends, “You’ve got to read this book.” It would be so wonderful if The Dance stayed on these lists until Book 2 comes out September 1st, The Promise.

More Awards for The Discovery?

My 5th novel, The Discovery, combines a love story with historical suspense. It has already received a number of acclamations and awards:

Top Pick! from RT Book Reviews Magazine (their highest review rating)
Finalist for Inspirational Book of the Year
Selah Award winner for Best Historical Fiction (rec’d perfect score from all the judges)
Over 100 5-Star reader reviews on Amazon

Well, The Discovery was just named a finalist for ACFW’s Carol Award for Best Historical Fiction. ACFW is the largest Christian fiction organization in the country, with over 2,500 members. Winners will be announced in September in Indianapolis at their banquet on the final day of the writing conference. One other note…I happen to be the only male author who made the finals this year.

Upcoming Speaking Opportunities

Some of you know, I used to be a pastor for 25 years. Far from being a reclusive writer, I enjoy being with people and public speaking. I have firmed up several speaking opportunities in the past few weeks:

Sat, July 13 at 3pm, Speaking via video-phone to the Pacific Northwest Assoc of Church Librarians
Friday, July 19th at 11:20am, speaking via speakerphone to a Book Club in Titusville.
Sat-Sunday, July 27-28th, evening and morning, speaking at the Novel Writer’s Beach Retreat, right here in Daytona.
Sun, Sept 15th, 2:15pm, speaking as part of an Author’s Panel Workshop at the ACFW conference in Indianapolis.
Mon-Thurs, Aug 4-7th (2014), final keynote speaker as well as teaching workshops at the Oregon Christian Writers Summer Conference.

Well, that’s all I can think of for now. So grateful to God for allowing me to work doing something I love.

        Related StoriesMore Book Updates for MayFun Book UpdatesResults of The Dance’s Blog Tour 

The Hard Work of Believing

“Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” (John 6:28-29, NIV)

I’ve been meditating recently on how hard it is to do nothing.

The setting of this passage is simple: Jesus had just miraculously fed thousands of people, and now they want to crown him king. The disciples may have been thrilled at this, but Jesus wasn’t. He immediately begins to adjust the attitude and expectations of the crowd.

He points out that their real motivation to make him king is the expectation that he could feed them this way from now on. He begins to teach them that the real bread they need is not the bread they typically work for, not even the manna that God gave the Israelites in Moses’ time. They need the “bread that comes down from heaven,” speaking figuratively of himself.

The passage I quoted above is where they go next. Pay attention to this, because this is where we typically go with God when we are seeking God’s blessing, whether it is financial provision, physical health, or we want God to fix something in our lives that needs fixing.

They asked Jesus what work they must do to receive this blessing from God he’s talking about. I’ve learned that all of us are hard-wired to this impulse. When we want something from God, our immediate instinct is to try and figure out what we must do to get God to act on our behalf.

Give me an assignment, a task, something I can do.

Jesus says to us the same thing he said to them: “This is the work you need to do…believe in Me.”

“What?” we say. “No, you must have misunderstood me, Lord. I already believe in you. I’m asking now for something I can do to get you to give me (or do for me) what I’m asking.”

The Lord repeats the same thing back to us. And He always will. Because for Him, THIS (that is, believing) is the starting place. For us, it’s DOING STUFF.

Putting our trust in Christ, first and foremost. Setting our entire hope on God being faithful in the matter at hand. Trusting in His wisdom, in His timing, even in the method(s) He chooses to employ to carry out His plan.

This does not come easy to us. We often interpret this as doing nothing. But it’s not. It’s actually hard work. At times, very hard. Actively putting our faith and trust in God, and waiting on Him for whatever “work” He wants us to do, whatever part we are to play, requires an enormous amount of effort.

The effort of being still. Of quieting our hurried, anxious minds and releasing those tensions to God, rather than acting upon them. It’s hard to do this.

For me, it’s sometimes the hardest work I’ve ever done.

The Fall of Adam has predisposed all of us to immediately start working to fix whatever is wrong in our lives to “sew our fig leaves together,” (especially if we know we’re responsible for the mess we’re in).

Think about it, every other world religion, throughout history or in modern times, except Christianity, has at its roots the idea of man doing things to get right with God. Even Christian-based cults have this in common. The concept of salvation by faith in something God has done for us is a completely foreign concept. We would never have thought of it.

And it’s so engrained in us–this idea of working at closing the gaps in our lives ourselves–we as Christians still go there first (sadly, sometimes only) when we are confronted with trials and problems.

But Jesus says, “This is the work I’m looking for, believe in Me.”

He may give us assignments (often He will), but He wants us to follow the same pattern He followed with His Father. Jesus constantly focused His attention on watching what the Father was doing, and listening for His instructions. His work was never a reaction to a problem, but a response to the directions and commands He received from the Father.

That’s where God wants us to put our energies, too. In that same direction.

But man…it’s hard work.

Lord, as that man in the Gospels cried out, “I believe. Lord, help me with my unbelief,” we cry out today. You are the Author and Perfecter of our faith. Even the faith we have, we’re told is a gift from you, not something we have worked up. Still, having received this gift, you call us to exercize our faith and work hard at believing in You and in Your faithfulness. Strengthen our hearts with grace to be able to do this more today, to not look at things and try to figure them all out or come up with our own solutions, but to look to you and put our faith in You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

(NOTE: To read the other posts in this devotional feature of my blog, select “Perfect Peace – Hope for the Weary Soul” in the Category section.)

 

        Related StoriesTime Gaps 

Time Gaps

How long is a minute? How many minutes are in one hour? How many hours in a single day? The answer to these questions is not a matter of opinion, right? There is only one correct answer to each question.

60 seconds, 60 minutes, 24 hours. So, the concept of Time is rooted in fact. It’s unambiguous like math. 2 + 2 will ALWAYS = 4. Right?

So how come when we’re waiting for something we really want, time ticks by so slowly? Or when we’re having a great time, time zips by in a flash? For me, every minute in a doctor’s waiting room feels like five. Or how about sitting behind a row of cars in the left turning lane at a busy intersection. Especially if you’re the car that gets stuck waiting through another round when the green arrow turns red again? Or being three cars back in a drive-through line while they fill an order for a minivan full of kids?

In much of life’s real-life experiences, time seems like a relative thing. Take for example, the biblical concept of “waiting on God.” Doesn’t it often feel like God moves much too slow? Especially when you are crying out for a difficult situation to change. Or longing for a breakthrough to come in your life, or the life of someone you love.

The Bible is filled with promises that insist God hears our prayers, loves us with an everlasting love and has absolute, sovereign power over every aspect of life. Which is one of the reasons, I think, we often struggle with God when He doesn’t do things the way we think He should, or takes way too long to get them done. At such times, we can begin to doubt God or the truthfulness of His Word.

I think the real issue, however, stems from our concept of Time. Specifically, the way we measure it compared to the language of Scripture. The real problem lies within our expectations, not that God actually moves too slow, isn’t paying attention, or lacks the power to pull off what needs to happen.

God chose to reveal Himself to those who would write the Scriptures two thousand years (or more) before the age of technology. And to generations of people who, for generations, understood a very different concept of Time than we do.

The pace of life was set and fixed by unchangeable boundaries. It was a much slower pace, an agricultural pace. Farmers didn’t sow their seed in a field and go out the next day with baskets expecting to fill them up with fruit. They didn’t stare at the ground swearing because things grew too slow. Things grew at their expected pace.

So when they read, “What a man sows, he will also reap. Sow sparingly, reap sparingly. Sow bountifully, reap bountifully,” they would instinctively understand that a long time gap existed between these two events. In reality, it would be “Sow” (insert lengthy time gap) then “Reap.”

I don’t think modern Christians get this very much. We don’t allow for the time gaps. We set our expectations, somewhat foolishly, on modern sensibilities. Which is why we’re so often frustrated, and why we suffer so much anxiety when unpleasant things happen and seem to keep on happening for much too long.

We want what we want now. We want the situation fixed now. We want the path to be clear now. We don’t want to spend any time living with uncertainty. We want clarity. We want answers. “God, you promised to make the rough places smooth and the crooked ways straight. Well, they still look pretty rough and pretty crooked to me.”

So many promises like that are in the Bible, and they are still true. But there are time gaps assumed and implied that we, because of our modern concepts of time, fail to see.

Why do these time gaps exist? What is happening during this time when it seems like nothing is happening at all? I don’t know. But I also don’t know what is happening below the ground when seeds are sown. What they do, the process they undergo day by day, which eventually results in a plant pushing forward into the sunlight, eventually maturing to the place that fruit begins to appear, and that fruit ripening to the point that we can eat it.

I suppose God is doing things like that “beneath the ground” as He works all things together for good in our lives.

How about you? Struggling with any time gap issues at the moment? Any stories to tell where God’s wisdom and faithfulness were proven right (even though it seemed He took way too long at first)?

(NOTE: To read the other posts in this devotional feature of my blog, select “Perfect Peace – Hope for the Weary Soul” in the Category section.)

        Related StoriesThe Hard Work of Believing 

More Book Updates for May

As the month of May draws to a close, want to report some nice book things that happened, starting with the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference which, sadly, I wasn’t able to attend. I learned a few weeks beforehand that both of my 2012 novels, The Discovery and The Reunion had been named finalists for the Selah Award in the Historical and Contemporary fiction categories.

The awards banquet also happened to take place on my birthday. Sadly, we weren’t able to attend this year, but they streamed it live over the internet so we watched things unfold from home. It was thrilling and totally unexpected when they announced my books had one the Selah Award in both categories! We were even more surprised a few minutes later when the host, best-selling author Eva Marie Everson, announced that a few of the winners had received perfect scores from all the judges. Then she named both of my books had made that distinguish list.

Both of these novels, The Discovery and The Reunion, are being judged right now along with hundreds of other books for another big writing contest, the Carol Awards, which will be announced this September at the ACFW conference. I will be attending that one, God willing. We should hear any day now whether either book has been named a finalist in their category.

Teaching Moments

I’ve been involved in two speaking situations this month. In our home church in the Daytona Beach area, my wife and I are leading a small group that meets in our home. We’re taking five couples through an interactive discussion using my novel, The Dance, co-authored with Gary Smalley. As we make our way through, I’m creating a study guide which we’ll make available online.

I was also asked to be part of an author’s panel at the central Florida ACFW chapter, teaching new authors about how to write an effective synopsis.

On the Radio

Just this past week, on Thursday, I was interviewed on the radio show, Amish Wisdom,hosted by best-selling Amish author (and fellow Revell author and friend), Suzanne Woods Fisher. This is a pretty popular show with thousands of listeners every week.

We talked about my new novel, The Dance, the Restoration series, and all about how this writing project with Gary Smalley began. It was lots of fun. Suzanne is a great interviewer and easy to be with.

Click Here, if you’d like to hear the interview. Just scroll to the show listed as “Thursday 30th of May 2013.”

        Related StoriesFun Book UpdatesResults of The Dance’s Blog TourThe Dance – Receiving Crazy Good Reviews 

Fun Book Updates

As the month of May begins, we’ve had some fun things happen with the books. Haven’t done a blog update for a little while. I posted most of the stuff to Facebook and Twitter, but since that information scrolls by pretty fast I’ll post it here too in case you missed it.

Probably the biggest thing is that Gary and I made the cover of Family Fiction magazine for their May/June issue. There’s also a nice feature story about us and our book, The Dance on pgs 10-13. This is a large online publication read by thousands of friction readers. Click Here to read it online.

Then some readers let me know that The Dance is now available at Sam’s stores all across the country at a pretty discounted price. Only $9.58. So I drove down to our local Sam’s in Daytona Beach and, sure enough, there it was. [image error]

It’s about the same price as Amazon and Christianbook.com, but you don’t have to pay any shipping and get it right away.

Something else happened with The Dance. In April’s issue of Book Fun Magazine, another popular online magazine, you’ll find a feature story I wrote (they actually contacted me and asked me to write it) about how my book deal with Gary came about and what it was like to work with him. If you want to read that story, Click Here, and go to pages 28-33.

Then this past week, my 3rd novel (and winner of my 3rd Carol Award), The Deepest Waters, enjoyed a surge of interest and sales on Amazon. My publisher did a 1-day special, marking it down to $1.99 on Kindle (and all Ebook editions). That day it climbed to #918 overall ranking on Amazon and #1 on Religious Historical Fiction.

But then the next day, when it was back to FULL PRICE, it did even better. It climbed to #268 overall on Kindle and #1 in Christian Fiction, ALL categories.  And it stayed high for almost a week after that. Click Here if you’d like to check it out on Amazon.

One last thing…Gary and I were interviewed for 20 minutes about The Dance by Gary’s son, Michael for his podcast. You can listen to it by navigating back to the “Books” page here, the clicking on The Dance cover. Scroll down until you see the icon that looks like an old-time radio microphone.

        Related StoriesResults of The Dance’s Blog TourThe Dance – Receiving Crazy Good ReviewsSome Fun Book Updates 

Results of The Dance’s Blog Tour

Last week, my newest novel, The Dance, co-authored with Gary Smalley went on tour…without me.

Such is the state of things in this new digital age. In mid March, my publisher sent out copies of the book to 50-60 bloggers throughout US and Canada. Most of them have already read the book and posted their reviews on their blogs. Quite a few also posted reviews on Amazon.

As of now, there are 48 customer reviews on Amazon, averaging 4.5 stars (quite a few more 5 stars than 4, too). Many have also said very encouraging things on Twitter and Facebook. Here’s a few examples of what I’ve read (if you’d like to read the full reviews, click here, and scroll down a little on the right).

Excerpts from Some of the Reviews:

“A great joint-read for married couples in their second decade and beyond…This look at contemporary marriage survival teaches and entertains. I was stunned by the power of The Dance, a relationship textbook done in a novel format…Reading The Dance encourages, nay, demands one to express their love to their spouse. A convicting relationship grabber.” — Harold “Doc” Wolf

“When a book makes me cry and I read it from cover to cover in less than 2 days — I know it is a good one and a keeper. When I opened The Dance to start reading, I was immediately drawn in…Right from the get go I was mesmerized by this story.” — Janet Sikora

“…Not only will this book entertain readers of both genders, but they will be taught powerful truths and challenged to have a better marriage at the same time. This may be just the book you have been looking for to someone who may not ever pick-up a non-fiction book, but learns well through the power of story. I highly recommend this excellent book, and award it 5 out of 5 stars.” – ChristianFictionAddiction

“These two work awesome together. Dan Walsh is an amazing storyteller and Gary Smalley is one of the best marriage counselors out there. As a team they created the best fiction book about marriage I’ve ever read and recently I’ve read quite a few. Like I said, though this book wasn’t for me (a single teen), it was still a fantastic story and that alone makes this a great book. I fully intend to read the rest of this series.” — Danyelle0423

“The Dance is excellent and portrays a perfect look at what it takes to really work at putting your marriage back together, healing the wounds, and finding love all over again…Overall, The Dance was excellent and I highly recommend it on so many levels! I CANNOT wait until Book 2 is out!” — Loren M. Mcghee

They all read like this. I’m so encouraged that we’re off to such a great start for this book and the Restoration series!

Related StoriesThe Dance – Receiving Crazy Good ReviewsRemembering Christmas Contest – Book GiveawaySome Fun Book Updates

What Have You Done For Me Lately?

Believe it or not, this post is about Thankfulness. Just how, I’ll get to in a moment.

My wife and I were watching the TV from our DVR, getting caught up on this new series on the History Channel, called The Bible. I’m grateful it’s getting such incredible ratings, trying to grade it on a curve for accuracy. I realize they are covering a lot of ground in a short time.

In watching the segment on Moses, I found myself freshly inspired about the power of God to do whatever it takes when He sets His mind on a thing. He decided to liberate Israel from four centuries of slavery. They did not and could not help on any level. He put forth a strategy that required amazing, miraculous feats of supernatural power.

When He was done, they were free.

I thought about what it must have been like for the Jews alive at that time to witness these things. I mean, think about it. Think about the violence and horror of our own Civil War, which is what it took for the South to free its slaves back in the 1800s. Big nations whose entire economy is dependent on slave labor, don’t just decide one day to let them all go free. That nation must be forced to release them.

Which is why I don’t believe the story of Moses is some wonderful myth. The facts are: the Jews were slaves to the Egyptians for 400 years. Then they were not. Then they were somehow safely across the Red Sea.

You might think a people who witness these extravagant displays of supernatural power with their own eyes would be forever grateful to the One who delivered them. And you might think they would reason, if He could do all these things then He could certainly provide for us going forward from here.

But that’s not what we see from these folks. Shortly after this, they begin to grumble and complain at Moses, and at God, with each new trial they face. We’re not talking about some minor discouragement; we’re talking about full-fledged anger and resentment. The shaking your fist in God’s face kind of anger. There is no thankfulness toward God present, no trust.

It’s almost as if they have disregarded everything God has done for them so far, and have adopted an, ”Okay, but what have you done for me lately?” attitude. As I watched this unfold, I found myself criticizing them harshly for being so ungrateful and having such a short memory span.

Then I began to reflect on my own–some even fairly recent–episodes of grumbling and complaining. I’ve been walking with the Lord consistently now since the age of 17 (I’m almost 56). Though I haven’t seen the Lord part the Red Sea, I have witnessed too many miraculous examples of God’s love and faithfulness to recount.

And yet, I can still find myself adopting this: “Okay, but what have you done for me lately?” attitude toward God. The truth is, if I would direct my mind to think about the correct answer to this question, actually give it some serious thought, I would find a long and growing list of things God has done for me. Even lately.

Which is precisely why the psalmists and even the apostles in the New Testament urge us to cultivate a thankful heart toward God. To regularly and intentionally dwell on the good things God has done. It’s not because God craves complements; it’s because the default setting for our minds, because of Adam’s Fall, is set in the wrong place.

We tend to magnify the negative, the parts left undone, the mistakes, the prayers not answered yet or not answered to our liking. But what would happen if we deliberately spent time thinking about what God has done for us lately?

So I did this.

And that exercise led me into a long list of things to be thankful for. Some big, some small. But all excellent (and recent) examples of the Father’s love. Try it some time. Tell us what you come up with.

The Dance – Receiving Crazy Good Reviews

My first novel co-authored with Gary Smalley, The Dance, is almost out (April 1st). Advanced copies were sent to a number of media outlets and already we’ve received back a number of excellent reviews.

So relieved. At this stage, it’s a little scary for an author awaiting the release of a new book, those early reviews. Especially from the bigger publications. On the whole, they’ve been pretty good to me. But still. With each book release I go through the same thing. Maybe they won’t like this one. Maybe they’ll tear it up.

I had some additional reasons to be concerned with The Dance. I still wrote the book and came up with the story, so my existing readers should recognize me. But there are definitely some new things in The Dance than in my other books. This is the first book I’ve co-authored with anyone. And it’s not just anyone, it’s Gary Smalley. His influence is definitely woven throughout the book (which is a good thing). Most of my other novels are historical or at least set back in time a bit; this one’s in the present tense. It’s not a stand-alone but the first book in a series. The Dance has a totally different cover design. What will they say?

Apparently they like it. Here are excerpts from the pre-release reviews from 4 significant publications:

“Marilyn Anderson, after 27 years of marriage, leaves her husband. ‘I’ve dropped hint after hint, clue after clue,’ she says in her note. Jim, a successful businessman, is clueless, but, once over his anger, he begins soul-searching with help from his children and retired dance instructor Audrey Windsor. Marilyn, meanwhile, finds a job and a roommate and begins dance lessons. Throw in a well-meaning uncle, their daughter Michele’s wedding, their sons’ questions, a demanding church deacon, a dashing dance instructor, and a hurricane, and readers will definitely come away satisfied and shedding tears at the end. Mixing fiction’s emotion and nonfiction’s teaching works splendidly here.” ―Publishers Weekly

“4.5 Stars/Top Pick – Walsh’s literary talents and Smalley’s relationship expertise combine in a spiritually and emotionally powerful start to the Restoration series. Walsh’s characters come to life, and important marital and life lessons are woven throughout.” —RT Book Reviews magazine

“…When a novel is in the hands of accomplished storyteller Dan Walsh and the lessons come from relationship expert Gary Smalley, the result is a story that manages to simultaneously teach and entertain. For those who prefer their counsel in non-fiction form, this book drew heavily on Smalley’s The DNA of Relationships. After reading The Dance, even fiction lovers might want to dive straight into the DNA for more details. Yes, the advice is that good—it’s even useful for single folk—but if Walsh hadn’t made us care about the characters The Dance would have been just another thinly-disguised self-help book. We do care about the characters, though…As always, Walsh paints the background with a master’s touch…The Dance is the first of a series focusing on the Anderson family. That’s good; because this Dance deserves an encore.” ― Crosswalk.com

“The Dance is well written. It features relatable characters, ones that any reader can readily identify with. The authors present believable conflicts often occurring in marriages while offering pragmatic solutions to heal long-festering wounds.  At the conclusion of The Dance, the door stands open for the reader to delve deeper into the healing process the Andersons have begun to experience…The Dance is a quick, satisfying read to whet readers’ appetites for the next installment.” — The New York Journal of Books

Next up? The Dance goes on an internet blog tour the first week of April. About 60 seasoned bloggers throughout the US and Canada are receiving copies of the book now, and will post their reviews just after it releases. Hoping they will enjoy The Dance just as much.

Related StoriesResults of The Dance’s Blog TourRemembering Christmas Contest – Book GiveawaySome Fun Book Updates

Some Fun Book Updates

Haven’t done this in a while. If you’re someone who follows me on FB a lot, some of this might feel like a rerun. Usually FB is where I toss up new things that are happening, as they are happening. But I also know, with FB or Twitter, because of the scrolling thing, if you aren’t reading it RIGHT THEN, it scrolls right on by.

I’ll put things not in order of importance, but in the order they float up to my brain.

Remembering Christmas makes CBA Bestseller List!

This was pretty exciting and unexpected.

My 4th novel, Remembering Christmas, which made the ECPA Bestseller list last year, had a re-surge of interest this holiday season in a fairly big way. It made it to #9 on their national bestseller list for February, which I’m pretty sure was a reflection of holiday sales, not how many people bought it in Feb. (Click on this Pinterest link if you’d like to see a pic of this).

I had an inkling it was doing well by how it ranked on Amazon, but Amazon ranking is not a solid indicator across the board (including other online stores, bookstores, etc.). It made it to #1 on their Christmas bestsellers list, then stayed mostly in the top 5-6 the entire time between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The surprising thing was that during this time, it was outselling Christmas books by big bestsellers like Glenn Beck, Mike Huckabee, Max Lucado, Debbie Macomber and Joel Osteen. Of course, their books in regular bookstores clobber mine.

My other Christmas novel (actually my first book), The Unfinished Gift, also stayed in the Top 10 on Amazon’s Christmas bestseller list throughout the holiday season also.

The Reunion Wins 2 Awards!

My most recent novel, The Reunion, was honored in 2 significant ways last month. It was chosen as The Book Club Networks’s (TBCN) Fiction Book of the Month and featured in the January issue of Christian Retailing magazine. I didn’t have anything to do with this. Books are nominated by readers and voted on by readers, so this was a great honor. Here’s link to a pic on Pinterest of that article in Christian Retailing.

Also, it received 5 out of 5 Stars (“near perfect”) and was nominated by Christian Manifesto, a large Christian website that reviews and critiques Christian music, movies and books, for their annual “Lime Award” for Excellence in Christian Fiction. In December, the 2012 winners were announced and The Reunion won in the Contemporary Romance category! Mega bestselling author Karen Kingsbury was mong the other nominees in my category. Here’s a link to the list of winners.

Speaking 6 Times at FL Christian Writer’s Conference

When it rains, it pours.

I spoke 3 times last November at the CLASS Christian Writer’s conference near Santa Fe. In about 2 weeks, I’ll be doubling that effort at the Florida Christian Writer’s Conference near Lake Yale, FL. I’ve been asked to share a 3-part Continuing Education fiction track, teach a fiction workshop, deliver one of the keynote messages and then share at a keynote VIP breakfast the last day of the conference. Here’s a link for more info on what I’ll be sharing.

I’m really looking forward to this. Not just at the chance to speak there, but even more so for the opportunity to listen to the incredible faculty that Directors Eva Marie Everson and Mark Hancock have put together. This is a regional writer’s conference, but you’d be hardpressed to find a better team with a deeper bench at any national conference. People like Steven James, Alton Gansky, Rachel Hauck, Deborah Raney and Sally Stuart. Not to mention a host of literary agents and editors.

If you’re a writer, or aspire to be, not just in fiction but in any area don’t miss this opportunity. Here’s a link to the main website.

Coming Soon…

We’re close to unveiling the new cover for Book 2 in the Restoration Series, The Promise, as well as the “final” title to the novel I’m working on now (my 10th).

Related StoriesResults of The Dance’s Blog TourThe Dance – Receiving Crazy Good ReviewsRemembering Christmas Contest – Book Giveaway

Was it Really Better Back Then?

 

 

[image error]

The novel I’m writing now is set in October, 1962. The working title is “Stolen Treasures.” To prepare for this, I’ve been reading and watching everything I can about life in the late 50s and early 60s. I was alive during that time but very young (born in ’57). It’s been wonderfully refreshing to remind myself about the way things were “back then.”

I’m speaking specifically of the time in American history just before the JFK assassination which, to me, was a pivotal point that changed everything. It seems like the time between WW2 and that horrible day in Dallas in 1963 was a golden era for the US in some ways, a time when life was much more simple and safe, families mostly stayed together and the air was filled with hope and the future bright.

Reading and watching all of these things about that era has mostly reinforced what I’ve remembered as a child. I was talking with Cindi recently, after watching yet another bizarre thing on the news, and said I believe that if you took someone from that time period and brought them forward to today, gave them the grand tour, they’d never believe it was possible for things to get this bad.

It’s really just been fifty years. But in these fifty years the country has changed drastically and dramatically in so many fundamental ways. Other than the wonderful new gadgets and gizmos technology has brought us and some of the amazing medical breakthroughs, it seems most of the changes have made things much worse.

I don’t think this is merely a matter of my own opinion. I think many surveys and national statistics support this observation, that we are deteriorating as a society not improving.

Having said that, I’m forced to admit another sad observation about “back then.” It wasn’t such a golden era if you were a minority or a woman. The civil rights movement that exploded in the 60s did so precisely because blacks were treated so poorly and unfairly, and had been for so long. Women also were often treated badly, sexually harassed at work, unable to get many jobs they were capable and qualified to do, often paid much less than men doing the same things. And housewives were often treated as second-class citizens by their own husbands.

Jeepers Wally, I kinda forgot about that.

So what do you think, was life in America really better back then?