Maurice Broaddus's Blog, page 49

The Seduction and Toxicity of Victimhood

"I wonder if there are too many things more seductive and poisonous than grasping at victim status."

This comment was made "off the record" (read: this person knew this was a volatile conversation and wanted to tread lightly, but still wanted to have the conversation with me) as a part of my post-racial church discussion. The word victim come directly from the Latin victima, meaning "person" or "animal killed as a sacrifice", or "any sacrifice". There's a difference between being the victim...

On Setting (aka King Arthur in Indianapolis?)

I ran across a blog entry the other day which seemed to take issue with my series The Knights of Breton Court. First off, here's the book description (from the Angry Robot website): On the streets of Indianapolis, the ancient Arthurian cycle is replaying in the lives of rival street gangs. Told through the eyes of King, as he gathers like-minded friends and warriors around him to venture into the fastness of Dred, the notorious crime lord, this is a stunning mix of myth and harsh reality...

God gave us children to bring us back to earth...

So I got a package today from Angry Robot. Inside was a card that read:
First one hot off the presses? Whatever could he mean? Oh yeah ...

So yes, there was much happy dancing in the Broaddus household. But before my ego could swell to unbelievable, "I am Author" proportions, my boys came in to find out what the ruckus was about.

Reese: "What's that?"
Me: "It's my book."
Malcolm: "You wrote that?"
Me: "Yep. Here's my name and everything."
Malcolm: "You wrote that? But ... that's a real...

The Wolfman – A Review

"Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright."

The idea of a re-make of the Universal Studios classic, The Wolfman, undoubtedly sounded better in the pitch meeting than it did in execution. Updating the story for modern times, with modern effects, and positioned as an anti-Valentine's Day movie, starring two stars who are eminently watchable and elevate anything they're in, it seemed like a sure bet. ...

Heartland Truly Moving Pictures First Annual High School Film Competition

Heartland Truly Moving Pictures is proud to announce its first annual
High School Film Competition!

The Heartland High School Film Competition was established to encourage tomorrow's filmmakers to create films that explore the human journey by artistically expressing hope and respect for positive values of life and educate them about Heartland's mission.

The competition is open to all currently enrolled high school students who have not yet graduated. Film submissions will be judged on...

Vagabond Spirituality

Been reading Scot McKnight's posts on emerging adults with a bit of fascination. I was drawn to his conclusion: there's much more continuity between a teenager's faith and an emerging adult's faith than you might expect. The religious commitments of the teenage years, and one might say the intensity and genuineness and depth of those commitments, are what shapes what happens in the emerging adult years. All of which reminded me of my musings about being "spiritual teenagers" and whether o...

Letter from a Former Black Conservative

Guest blog by Anthony Broaddus

[My brother wrote an interesting piece which he's given me permission to post here. Because, you know, I hate to post anything even remotely controversial.:]

I am a conservative at heart. I voted for either a Republican or for Perot from 1988 to 2000. Since George Bush came into office, the climate in politics has gotten ugly. Bush came into office promising to be a "Uniter....not a divider". How ironic.

With Karl Rove leading the way, Bush had divided the country ...

On World Building

I am in the throes of one of my favorite parts of writing: world building. It's one of the things I love most about science fiction and fantasy writing (my second favorite thing is actually a subset of this: character building). My plate is full at the moment as I have two universes I'm building and playing in:

1. My alt-history, steampunk universe of Pimp My Airship. I am revisiting and expanding this universe because I have another short story I've been asked to write for an anthology ...

Sermon Exhaustion

I think I'm suffering from a case of sermon exhaustion. Either that or I'm simply not fed that way anymore. After 30+ years of accumulated a lot of head knowledge, I'm wondering if sermons are the best way to transform lives. Too many folks leave their weekly gathering questioning "what you get out of a sermon?" which I actually shouldn't complain too much about since just as many times the sermons are forgotten once folks are in the parking lot yelling at the jerks who just cut them off.

I...

Professional Daydreamers

It's difficult enough to explain to our spouses how going to conventions, drinking, talking, and hanging out with friends counts as work. Or how playing Scrabble on Facebook counts as networking ("honey, I swear, I'm playing with my publisher and my agent.") Now I'm trying to justify how laying in bed staring at nothing counts as work.

You see, we writers always face looming deadlines, the pressure to produce, and there's always something to be done or written. Think about it: as a friend ...