Brian McBride's Blog, page 3

oh by the way

One of my goals for this year is to blog a lot more. Sometimes, I can get a little stressed out about having to formulate a long, coherent, meaningful blog post. So this year, to alleviate that stress, I’m going to post whatever is on my mind to post even if it’s just a paragraph or two.

That being said, today I wanted to share about my recently published YA Contemporary novel, Love and the Sea and Everything in Between.

I wrote the first draft of this novel back in 2015 for NaNoWriMo after c...

love and the sea + quotes + commissions

1.

Hey, guys! Just your friendly reminder that my YA Contemporary novel, Love and the Sea and Everything in Between, is now available on Amazon!

[image error]

2.

Enjoy some quote graphics I’ve been designing for my book!

all i can say is wow

So, I’ve been mostly AWOL these past few days because my church had a conference going on Sunday-Tuesday. And if you’re a follower of Jesus, you know that it’s important to pull away from the world when you’re seeking to hear from and encounter the Lord. So that’s what I did. I needed to focus and allow Holy Spirit to set some things straight in my spirit and my flesh. And man is that He did.

Holy Spirit wasted no time. It was the night before the conference was scheduled to start and my fami...

escapist vs. confrontational fiction

A while ago, I realized that I basically have two mediums when it comes to writing. I grew up on fantasy like Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia and my first novel Paradox was a YA Fantasy tale. So, fantasy has a special place in my heart. It’s my origin story. Then, when I was thirteen or fourteen-years-old I read To Save a Life by Jim and Rachel Britts, a book that chronicles one young high-schooler’s struggle with his best friend’s suicide, his girlfriend’s pregnancy, his fall...

done wasting time

I recently finished the move Safely Home by Randy Alcorn, an incredible novel that chronicles the stories of two former Harvard University roommates and best friends. One a successful American businessman, the other a former professor no Christian in China, this novel follows them as Ben (the American) makes a trip to visit Quran (his old roommate) in China on behalf of his company. Ben soon realizes that Quan is not a successful and esteemed professor as he though he would be. Instead, he di...

the language of our lives

Language creates culture.

At church, something we’ve often talked about as leaders is how the way we talk and the things we talk about frame the culture and environment of our church. In fact, early one when we were relaunching our church we established a lexicon of sorts. It’s a list of words and their definitions that we felt embodied the mission and vision of who we are as a church and where we believe the Lord is taking us. So, our lexicon had words like “presence” and “servant” and “infl...

grace, judgment, & toxic social media culture

Maybe I’m the only one, but has anyone else started to notice how toxic social media sites have become? I doubt there’s a single one of us who’s never been on the receiving end of some social media “friend’s” cruelty. Whether it’s a cold-hearted comment from a distant relative about the way you look or your taste in clothes, or the polarizing biases of people who claim to be unbiased while attacking you for every view you share that is contrary to theirs. We’ve all experienced it. And I think...

writing & resting

This past Saturday, November 10th, I finished the first draft of my newest YA Contemporary novel, Every Bright and Broken Thing. I’ve been participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) for about 7 years now and I’ve managed to finish about half of those attempts. This was probably my best/most productive year ever and I want to share a few things I learned as a writer with you guys. But first, a little bit about my new novel.

[image error]

With striking and introspective dual first-person narr...

love and the sea

Today, my book is finally available for the whole world to read. It’s been an insane and winding journey, but it’s finally come to this moment. Love and the Sea and Everything in Between has been a labor of love. A lot of sweat and tears has been poured into this story. And I know it’s not perfect, but it’s mine. And I hope you’ll read it.

 

You can find it on Amazon and at your local Barnes & Noble!

[image error]

the love of god

[image error]There’s something that happens when we position ourselves inside the love of God, when we open ourselves up to the deep reality of heaven. It’s not about emotion. It’s not about goosebumps. It’s not even about happiness. The love of God is so much bigger and stronger and purer than that.

It’s a fire that comes and it consumes and refines every area of chaos and compromise, it burns away every shadowed place and lights up every dark corner of our lives. It brings illumination and revelation. I...