Mark Joseph Young's Blog: The Ides of Mark, page 5

Not Much Is A Lot

I feel like the second half of August did not offer much, despite the fact that I was constantly busy.  Eric R. Ashley and I continue our collaboration on the forthcoming Multiverser:  The Thirteenth Story, and I completed setup of the html pages and behind-the-writings posts for A Dozen Verses, and have started on the character sheets for the support site for that.  Meanwhile, I continue posting the tenth novel, In Version , with chapters 33 through 39 extending the stories of Joseph Kondor, James Beam, Robert Slade, and Derek Brown, and a behind-the-writings post, mark Joseph "young" web log post #480:  Versers Think , covering chapters 25 through 36.

The Christian Gamers Guild's Chaplain's Bible Study continued with Mark 6:31 through 42, and the Prayers miniseries gave us Compassion and Servant .  Meanwhile, I continue setting up An Analytical Commentary on The Book of First Corinthians.

Otherwise, I will refer you to my social media accounts and particularly Patreon to keep up to date, and to PayPal.me as an alternative means of supporting my efforts.

Thank you for reading.

A Full Deck with a Joker

This is the fifty-third bi-monthly entry into The Ides of Mark, reporting the first half of August, 2023.

As usual, we start every month with a song (which echoes a song itself), this time in mark Joseph "young" web log post #479:  The Song "They That Trust" .

The first of the month was also the first Tuesday of the month, and so the Christian Gamers Guild published Faith in Play #69:  Steeple , with a bit of history about their origins and how their purpose informs our lives today.  Fourteen days later was thus the third Tuesday, today, and so today sees the release of RPG-ology #69:  Distracted about incorporating distractions in games.  The CGG also hosts the Chaplain's Bible Study, which this month continued with Mark 6:20 through 30, and with two more entries in the new Prayer miniseries, Eyes about benefiting from my reading and World about guidance. Behind the scenes I've cued up both article series through December and have drafts of the January entries, and I'm doing setup on the anticipated publication of An Analytical Commentary on The Book of First Corinthians.

On the fiction side, we saw the posting of In Version chapters 26 through 32 in which Derek Brown, Joe Kondor, and Bob Slade continue trying to figure out the intentions of the aliens orbiting the planet they're visiting, and James Beam is dealing with zombies and marriage problems.  Eric Ashley and I continue to write Multiverser:  The Thirteenth Story while I'm still doing setup on A Dozen Verses.

I feel like I'm missing something, but don't know what, so all I can say is you can keep up with things through social media and particularly Patreon where you can but do not have to support my efforts, and you can support me without keeping up on things through PayPal.me.

I expect to be back at the end of the month.

Interruptions

The middle of the month was marked by the passing of an old friend who held a significant place in my life.  I met him in college back in 1973, and he joined The Last Psalm as our drummer for the next couple years, then played again in a band called Jacob's Well in which I had also been invited to play.  We lost touch for several decades, although occasionally I heard news through my parents who lived near him and with whom he sometimes kept in touch.  Then we reconnected through the Internet, and I managed to visit him once when he moved to a new address.  He played Multiverser on the Gaming Outpost forum briefly, and when he requested it I created the Johnny Angel character as his persona in Re Verse All , as a mentor for Tomiko Takano.  He was looking forward to returning in a future book, and indeed we were writing the story in which he was scheduled to return when we got the news.  He also would ask occasional theology questions which led to web log posts.  He is already missed.

Looking at what went to press in the latter half of the month, the Christian Gamers Guild delivered RPG-ology #68:  Expertise , which was a new article (not a recovered one).  The Chaplain's Bible Study continued the regular study with Mark 6:8 through 19, and since I had not had a Musings entry for a while I shifted to a new subject, Prayers, sharing specific items on my prayer list, and why they're there.  It began with Praying , what I pray about prayer when I start to pray, followed by Holy Spirit , something we should all pray.

On a related subject, I drafted Faith in Play and RPG-ology articles for December, but have them still on my drive for a few reasons, one of which is that the administrative side of the site was down for a few days while the webmaster moved it to a new server.

Meanwhile, In Version continued with chapters 19 through 25, including Bob Slade, Joe Kondor, James Beam, and Derek Brown.  I'm working on setup for the book after next, A Dozen Verses, and Eric Ashley and I are writing Multiverser:  The Thirteenth Story.  The last week of those new chapters were slightly delayed due to web hosting issues, but I managed to get them all in and follow them with the behind-the-writings web log post #478:  Character Conflicts , covering the second dozen chapters.

I think the only other thing on the list is that I continue working on An Analytical Commentary on The Book of First Corinthians.  You can keep up to date through my social media accounts and particularly Patreon where you can optionally help support these efforts, which you can also do through PayPal.me.

My thanks.

Slow Starts

On the first of the month the database on the mark Joseph "young" web log developed a glitch, and thus posting there was delayed while the tech team at my hosting service resolved the problem.  Thus the first item published this month is the thirteenth chapter of the tenth Multiverser novel In Version , with subsequent chapters running through chapter 18 this past week, featuring Joe Kondor, Derek Brown, James Beam, and Bob Slade.

Web log post #477:  The Song "Step by Step" actually appeared later that evening; it is the longest and most operatic song in the collection, an extended picture of Jesus' crucifixion.  The next day it was joined by Faith in Play #68:  Prayer at the Christian Gamers Guild, about the issue of whether players should speak the prayers their characters pray in their games.

The Guild also hosts the Chaplain's Bible Study, which in the first half of the month covered Mark 5:41 through 6:7, including the Recap of chapter 5.

Meanwhile, off camera I have continued setting up An Analytical Commentary on The Book of First Corinthians for print publication, and A Dozen Verses for the web.  I wrote a December entry for the Faith in Play series and rescued another lost Game Ideas Unlimited article for RPG-ology, so I'm covered through the end of the year.  I've begun picking up the pace a bit in writing Multiverser:  A Dozen Verses, and my collaborator on that, Eric R. Ashley has also returned his attention to that.

Otherwise, all that remains is for me to suggest you can keep more current by following me on social media and particularly Patreon, where you can also support me, and you can support me without being burdened with more updates on PayPal.me.

After the Con

I did make it to AnimeNEXT, but due to complications with medical supplies I arrived late and was forced to leave early, driving home in the wee hours of the morning of Father's Day.  Still, I ran what I perhaps immodestly would call an excellent Multiverser game for three new players, who all enjoyed it thoroughly.

Let's start with the Christian Gamers Guild.  Another Game Ideas Unlimited article was recovered as RPG-ology #67:  Map , exploring how to make our adventure worlds more three-dimensional.  The Chaplain's Bible Study continued with Mark 5:31 through 40, and although the Musings posts have been on hiatus lately, the study was supplemented with mark Joseph "young" web log post #475:  The Mother of Jairus Daughter , examining the connection between the story of Jesus healing the dying daughter of a synagogue leader and the healing of the woman with the blood flow that is tucked in the middle of it.

On the subject of web log posts, earlier this morning I posted #476:  Versers Deduce , the first behind-the-writings look at In Version , the tenth Multiverser novel, covering the first twelve chapters; chapters 6 through 12 were also posted during this time.  I'm continuing to do setup and character sheet updates for A Dozen Verses, and have begun poking at getting the writing started on Multiverser:  The Thirteenth Story.  I'm also doing setup and editing for An Analytical Commentary on The Book of First Corinthians, first sequel to the Romans book.

Have I missed anything?  There's a new recipe for an onion cheeseburger macaroni at Instagram.  Otherwise, you can keep up to date through my social media sites and particularly the Patreon blog where you can but don't have to support me, and you can support me through PayPal.me without the burden of more blogs to read.

Thank you.

Heading Out

One of the advantages of not having a particularly popular Goodreads blog is that no one called me on my math error last month.  As soon as I saw it, coming here to write the forty-ninth entry, I realized it had to be wrong.

Hopefully I won't make any similarly egregious errors today, but there are no promises, because I'm a bit pressed for time.  Tomorrow, June 16, 2023, I expect to head to AnimeNEXT, where they are going to feed and house me for about forty-eight hours and let me show my books in exchange for running some Multiverser games.

Speaking of Multiverser, I continued posting the character papers updated to the end of Con Verse Lea to the support site, covering James Beam's remaining associates Bron, Sophia, and Ashleigh, and began posting chapters of In Version , which brings the return of Bob Slade, Joe Kondor, and Derek Brown.  Six chapters are already up, two for each of them, with more to come.

Stepping back to the beginning of the month, we again opened with a song, in mark Joseph "young" web log post #473:  The Song "In the Light of His Love" , possibly the earliest song I'm still singing and certainly one of the shortest.  Then a time travel fan dropped me a message pointing me to a blurb about a television series which intrigued him, and based on the blurb I published #474:  Preliminary Temporal Thoughts on Paper Girls .  That same day the Christian Gamers Guild released Faith in Play #67:  Stance , addressing issues of player agency, although perhaps not those which inspired the question.

The Christian Gamers Guild also continues to sponsor the Chaplain's Bible Study, continuing with Mark 5:20 through 30.  I did receive copies of An Analytical Commentary on the Book of Romans , and have been editing and formatting the first sequel on First Corinthians.  I finished setup and editing In Version and started on A Dozen Verses, although between the backlog on my setup work and the lead we have on material waiting to be published, my collaborator Eric R. Ashley and I have done very little on the next books.

I finished editing that novel my friend asked me to peruse, and was added to the list of people receiving advance copies for review, so I wrote one about Evolution:  Book 1 in the #BeautyAndTheBell Saga .  It's quite a bit outside my normal fare, but was rather well done.

I posted a couple more recipes to my Instragram account.  Otherwise, you can keep up-to-date on what I'm doing through social media and especially Patreon where you can support my efforts, which you can also do through PayPal.me.

Three Years

This is the forty-eighth entry in The Ides of Mark, which being published bi-monthly (in the sense of twice a month, not every other month) means that it completes three years.

It's actually a bit longer than that, because we had a month of technical difficulties in which we were almost completely off-line, but this is a milestone nonetheless.  Meanwhile, I'm not sure what to tell first.

It appears that the first thing to go public was RPG-ology #66:  Identity , which was a recovering of Game Ideas Unlimited:  Flirting, an exploration of who we are by testing who we might be.  The Christian Gamers Guild, which published this, also has the continuing Bible Study, giving us Mark 5:8 through 19 in the latter half of the month.  I've continued writing future articles for the site, which will be released over the course of the rest of the year.

An Analytical Commentary on The Book of Romans hit a few formatting snags on its way to press which set it back far enough that I haven't actually received my copy yet.  However, I'm very pleased with what I've seen so far, and it's available through Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats.  My work on the sequel, covering I Corinthians, was stalled, but has resumed.

We also came to the end of Con Verse Lea with chapters 82 through 85 finishing stories for James Beam and Tomiko Takano, followed by a behind-the-writings mark Joseph "young" web log post #472:  Versers Vanish .  We've been following it up with support site entries, character sheets for Lauren Hastings, James Beam, Tomiko Takano, Turbirb'durpa, and Dawn.  There are still a few more characters to post, and then next week will see the beginning of the next novel, In Version.

My collaborator Eric R. Ashley and I hit a bit of a disagreement over the eleventh novel, Con Version, the details of which will appear in the behind the writings posts for that book, but which has been resolved such that I have a fair amount of rewriting to do--not a lot in any one place, but quite a few places that have to be tracked down and altered.

Meanwhile, a friend asked me to do a quick read-through edit of her forthcoming book, and after I agreed she decided to pay me for my efforts, so I've been making my way through that.  I'll be sure to announce it when it is released.  I've poked a bit at the thirteenth and fourteenth novels, but haven't had a lot of time for them.

I am hoping to be at AnimeNEXT on the 16th, health permitting.  Otherwise, you can keep up with posts through my social media sites and support me through Patreon and PayPal.me.

Beginnings of Ends

A lot of things are approaching milestones, hidden yet from view but coming into focus.

An Analytical Commentary on The Book of Romans has been submitted to the publisher, with a foreword by Christian Gamers Guild President the Reverend Rodney Barnes.  I'm afraid it's massive and going to be expensive, but it provides what I perhaps immodestly think is a comprehensive analysis of Paul's comprehensive presentation of his message.  I have begun work on the next volume of the series, covering First Corinthians.

On a related subject, I have become aware that there is a relatively new but fully accredited Bible college not far from here, and I have some hope that I can persuade them to add me to the faculty.  The commentary should help in that regard.

Also in the background, I have finished setting up all the chapters and behind-the-writings posts for the eleventh Multiverser novel, Con Version, the second one written in collaboration with Eric R. Ashley.  As mentioned, I have a massive amount of support material to prepare for this, since not only is it the longest novel to date sporting three viewpoint characters and one companion, its gather world is filled with people and places who will be returning in Multiverser:  The Thirteenth Story, so I'm building information pages including character sheets for that.  As to publication, I've published chapters 76 through 81 of Con Verse Lea , the ninth novel, with two of its viewpoint characters coming to the end of a world in the past few days, and will be finishing that book before I return here at the end of the month.  It will be followed probably early next month by the tenth book, In Version.

I have things out of sequence here, because I skipped the publication of mark Joseph "young" web log post #471:  The Song "Walkin'" , an upbeat multiple-vocals piece with a strange history.  The day after that the Christian Gamers Guild released Faith in Play #66:  Promises , about personal integrity.  The Chaplain's Bible Study, meanwhile, continued the Gospels with Mark 4:38 through 5:7, plus Musings:  Same about being different.

Otherwise, I made a few dinners and posted pictures and recipes to Instagram, including steak sandwhiches, Hamburger Helper stroganoff, and boneless chicken thighs.  And just looking at the pictures is making me hungry.

That leaves only mention that you can keep current on all this through my various social media sites, and particularly Patreon through which you can support these efforts.  Support is also welcome through PayPal.me.  And Lord willing I will be back to recap the rest of the month as it ends.

Passing Time

Most of the work this month was behind the scenes.  I put together another article in the Faith in Play and RPG-ology series, and continued setting up the Romans analytical commentary and Con Version for publication.

The commentary is approaching readiness, as I am nearing the end of the penultimate chapter. No one has volunteered to write the foreword for it, but when I start work on the final chapter I'll start asking individuals.  Con Version is taking a long time for several reasons.  It is the longest novel to date, with significantly more chapters than any previous book and the penchant of my collaborator Eric R. Ashey to write long chapters.  Also, one of the worlds in this eleventh book is returning in the thirteenth, which means I feel it necessary to take detailed notes on the people and places in it.  So it's slow going.

I haven't completely ignored future novels, but have only written a couple chapters and even just parts of chapters for Multiverser:  The Thirteeth Story and Verse a Tile, mostly to get the reader oriented to where and when things are beginning.

But a number of things have gone to press, so there are a few things to read.

RPG-ology #65:  Dog recovered a lost Game Ideas Unlimited article exploring animal intelligence as a step toward understanding alien intelligence.

Con Verse Lea continued with chapters 69 through 75 covering stories of Tomiko Takano, James Beam, and Lauren Hastings.

I posted the details (including recipes) for two dinners on Instagram, one something from the internet billed as Amish chicken, and the other a minor variation on my spaghetti.

The Chaplain's Bible Study continued with Mark 4:27 through 37, and Musings:  Justice about the danger of wanting it.

As always, you can keep up to date by following me on social media and particularly Patreon, where you have the option of supporting my work, which you can also do through PayPal.me.

Turning Twelve

I suppose the big news for the opening half of April is that Eric R. Ashley and I have finished the full draft of the twelfth Multiverser novel, A Dozen Verses.  We've already begun preliminary work on both Multiverser:  The Thirteenth Story and Verse a Tile, but we're taking it slowly at the moment since I'm still publishing Con Verse Lea , having added chapters 64 through 68 covering the stories of James Beam, Lauren Hastings, and Tomiko Takano, along with mark Joseph "young" web log post #470:  Verser Turnings , a behind-the-writings look at chapters 52 through 68.  That's the ninth book, with the tenth ready to go and the eleventh currently being set up.

Of course, the month opened with the forty-sixth published song, #468:  The Song "Present Your Bodies" .  There was another web log post about a week later, answering a question about the differences between Calvinists, Pentecostals, and Charismatics, perhaps poorly entitled #469:  Church History .

While we're on that subject, the Christian Gamers Guild released Faith in Play #65:  Family , a testimonial to the value of playing role playing games with your children.  Meanwhile, the Chaplain's Bible Study continued with Mark 4:17 through 26, supplemented by Musings:  Joking about the devil, and Musings:  Church about whether to leave one.  I am also nearing the end of the editing for the Romans analytical commentary.

Easter dinner pictures and recipes are posted to Instagram.

That just leaves me to remind you that you can keep more up to date through social media and particularly Patreon, where you can support me, which you can also do through PayPal.me.