R.A. Nelson's Blog, page 4

Advent #3 – JOY

The third week of Advent did not begin auspiciously in the Nelson household, friends.

I wake up much earlier than the hubs, so my goal each morning is twofold: 1) silence the alarm as quickly as possible; 2) get out of the room as quietly as possible.

I’ve accomplished this so many times that, mayhap, I lulled myself into a false sense of security. (The weekend of Christmas movies, wrapping presents, fun times with friends, and eggnog cake may also have had something to do with it.)

...

Advent #2 – PEACE

Advent proceedeth apace, friends.

Last week’s post meditated on the relationship between hope and fear; this week, we are reflecting on the tension between hope and peace.

This is particularly timely for the R. A. Nelson household. You see, I am entering into the “querying process”: that ludicrously fun bit of the writing gig where you send painstakingly crafted and personalized query letters to dozens of agents.

The hope is that one (or two! Let’s dream big!) will like your...

Advent #1 – HOPE

’Tis the first week of Advent, friends!

As I shared in my first Advent post two years ago, Advent is the four-week period leading up to Christmas. It is meant to be a time to quiet one’s soul in preparation for the joy of Christmas. I have found that, especially in the midst of the holiday rush, meditating intentionally upon the wonder of all this season means has made my Christmas celebrations more meaningful.

I enjoy Christmas more when I take time – even a few minutes each day –...

Brad and Harry: A Study in Fantasy

I have recently begun my fourth readthru of the Harry Potter books.

This readthru began as a “rest” strategy – part of learning to step back, take stock, and “level up”. Not once have I regretted my decision to fling myself headfirst into Harry’s world again. In addition to the hours of deep, utterly abandoned enjoyment, this rich story has given me a few other surprising gifts:

~ For writers, these books are like a masterclass in world-building, character development, an...

The Thunderclap Series #12: Tolkien

Tolkien: the Thunderclap to end all thunderclaps.

I saved Tolkien for the last “Thunderclap” post (in this round; I may return to this series in the future) for two reasons: first, to give pride of place to my #1 thunderclap writer; second, because I wasn’t sure what to say. 

Tolkien is all over this blog already:

– In Frodo Lives: An Author’s Awakening, I described how Tolkien’s approach to writing as a Christian laid the groundwork for my own spiritual artistic vision. 

–...

The Thunderclap Series #11: Surprised by Hope

In February 2011, I met a charming young man (spoiler alert: totally married him later) who shared, among other things, my deep Christian faith and interest in theology (the study of God). Casual hallway conversations at work led to long, profound email discourse on the subject, and we quickly arrived at the point (as in all great romances) when we started lending each other books. For our first exchange, I lent him Surprised by Joy – C. S. Lewis’s spiritual autobiography and my fa...

The Critshow: Learning to Level Up

We interrupt the Thunderclap Series to bring you this
Public Service Announcement:REST MATTERS.

I have recently become a huge fan of an actual-play podcast called The Critshow. It’s hosted by one of my grad school comrades, so I knew it would be good; I just didn’t know how good, or how quickly I’d get hooked, or how durn entertaining it could be to listen to other people play a game. Not even watch – LISTEN.

Let me ’splain:

The Critshow is about three dudes fighting monst...

The Thunderclap Series #10: Harry

Oh, Harry. So much muchness. It took me a while to get on the Harry Potter train. 

There were a few reasons. One was the sudden, wild popularity. I was used to seeing my dear Redwall books on display in bookstores, gracing the front windows and dominating the Children/YA sections. I still remember passing a bookstore in the mall one day in middle school and receiving a nasty shock: my old friends Martin the Warrior and Mattimeo were nowhere to be seen; instead, the wind...

The Thunderclap Series #9: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

This week’s “ Thunderclap ” book isn’t actually a book. It’s a play:

I first encountered Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in high school. All the texts we studied in my Critical Writing class – Animal Farm, The Chosen, Brave New World, Merchant of Venice – impacted me deeply, but Woolf left the deepest mark. 

I almost didn’t finish it. We were reading it aloud in class, you see, and the content – both language and subject matter – is incredibly “mature”. It wa...

The Thunderclap Series #8: Jane Eyre

“There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.” Must have been a day sort of like today.

I quoted this in the opening chapter of Gatekeeper III: The Keeping in Anna Merritt’s list of “Great First Lines”. It is, indeed, a scorcher, for it introduces all sorts of questions the reader must go on to answer. Why couldn’t you take a walk? Do you usually take a walk? What did you do instead?

If you’ve read Jane Eyre, you know these questions prove themselves well worth i...