Mark Joseph Young's Blog: The Ides of Mark, page 9

Holiday Season

It would be nice to blame the slowdown in publishing on the holidays, and indeed Thanksgiving and Christmas have occupied some time, but in truth it's simply that for a while there was a lot of material ready to publish and now it's mostly behind the scenes work.  I have mentioned the Patreon web log before, and should mention that it covers in close to real time not only most of what I report here, but much of what I'm doing behind the scenes and chunks of my personal life that either aid or hinder that work.

That work includes continuing to write the novels and prep them for publication, along with other articles.  Since mid-month I've published chapters 20 through 26 of In Verse Proportion , continuing the stories there, and including the first behind-the-writings look at that book as web log post #432:  Whole New Worlds .  The mark Joseph "young" web log was otherwise quiet.

RPG-ology #48:  Embraces appeared at the Christian Gamers Guild, a recovered Game Ideas Unlimited article about bringing romance into roleplaying games.  The CGG Bible Study also continued with John 15:27 through 16:10 and two Musings posts, Toddler about trust and Gesundheit about blessing people.

I keep checking for questions to answer at Goodreads, but that's been quiet, too.  I have a few things lined up for next month, so I'll see you mid-month with more.

Slowing Down

As we reach mid-November, we come to another bi-monthly web log post in The Ides of Mark, reporting on what has been published in the first half of the month. October was particularly busy, so it's not a surprise that November has, thus far, been a bit quieter. Again it should be mentioned that regular posts appear on my Patreon web log announcing new pages as they appear.

As we've noted before, we start every month with a song, this time in mark Joseph "young" web log post #428:  The Song "To the Victor" , one of the few worship songs I've composed.

The Christian Gamers Guild released a piece the next day, Faith in Play #48:  Advent , about the holiday celebrating anticipation. We also continued with chapters 14 through 19 of In Verse Proportion , telling the stories of Robert Slade, Derek Brown, and Joe Kondor.

On the subjects of the Christian Gamers Guild and things continuing, the Bible Study gave us John 15:16 through 26, and skipping a week the Musings series offered Witness about the difficulty of never giving offense.

Returning to the web log posts, I commented on one of my alma maters in #429:  Luther College of the Bible and Liberal Arts , about its legacy; gave a brief report on the New Jersey election results in, appropriately, #430:  New Jersey 2021 Tentative Election Results , and compiled that promised index of those articles which are available in translation in French, #431:  Mark Joseph Young En Français , with links to English versions where available.

I answered two author questions here at Goodreads, one about the benefits of being a writer, the other about mysteries in my own life.

Behind the scenes I put several hours into preparing some articles for publication at the Christian Gamers Guild written by other contributors, writing Con Verse Lea, rescuing some old articles to be republished in the future, and similar preparatory work, so there's more to come in the second half of the month.

A Frightening Output

I promised October would be busy, but between it all I think there was only one day on which I did not post anything. For more detail, please visit my Patreon web log, which reports new posts on a daily basis.

A good part of the output was the rest of the Exodus miniseries, which started in the first half of the month and continued with mark Joseph "young" web log posts:
-- #421:  Did Moses Write the Torah?
-- #422:  Are There Anachronisms in the Torah that Invalidate It?
-- #428:  What Kind of Infrastructure Did the Wandering Israelites Need?
-- #424:  Did the Earth Really Stop Turning?
-- #425:  Do Similarities Between the Accounts of Moses Birth and Certain Myths Make Him a Fictional Character?

Those were divided by seven new chapters of In Verse Proportion , chapters 7 through 13, with more on Joe Kondor, Robert Slade, and Derek Brown. Of course, the Bible Study also continued with John 15:5 through 15, and two more Musings posts, Directive about what God might want me to write next, and Lessons , about not learning them.

In other posts, I answered a Goodreads question about what fictional world I might like to visit, took a look at the upcoming election in web log post #427:  The New Jersey 2021 Ballot , and perhaps in celebration of today (Halloween) gave the answer to a Patreon patron's question, web log post #426:  A Christian View of Horror .  Also, the Christian Gamers Guild republished another Game Ideas Unlimited article as RPG-ology #47:  Left or Right? , one of my personal favorites.

On the subject of republished articles, the French edition of Places to Go, People to Be informed me that they had translated and republished another of my articles for a total of twenty-six.  This one has the French title Vous avez le droit de garder le silence…. I am working on a web log post that will index the entire collection to date and include the original English titles and a brief description, so watch for that.

That ends a very busy October, but I have several pieces ready to post in November and a few more in the works, so it's not slowing down quite yet. See you mid-month.

Looking Busy

That this is the eleventh bi-monthly entry in this web log means we are one entry short of half a year. In the previous entry, Before the Storm , I perhaps warned of a significant uptick in activity, and that has happened. If you wanted to read it all and have not been keeping up, as perhaps by following my Patreon blog or other social media, you have some reading ahead.

Once again we started the month with a song, with mark Joseph "young" web log post #414:  The Song "You Should Have Thanked Me" , which is a recording from a live performance complete with introduction. Then we launched the new novel, and as of yesterday have published six chapters of In Verse Proportion , featuring Joseph Wade Kondor still in the Arabian Nights world, Robert Elvis Slade back in the parakeet world millennia later, and Derek Jacob Brown becoming a command officer on a lost colony spaceship. The next day we followed it with that promised series answering the article that claimed the Israelite Exodus from Egypt reported in the Bible never happened, and this morning published the sixth of an anticipated eleven web log posts on that subject:
  -- #415:  Can the Exodus Story be True?
  -- #416:  Does Archaeological Silence Disprove the Exodus?
  -- #417:  Is the Beginning of the Exodus Account Implausible?
  -- #418:  Are There Too Many People Escaping in Exodus?
  -- #419:  When Escaping in Exodus, Did the Israelites Have Too Much Luggage?
  -- #420:  Were the Hygiene Requirements in Exodus Impossible to Observe?
The rest of that will fill much of the rest of the month.

In other news, the Christian Gamers Guild released Faith in Play #47:  Magic in the Bible , a consideration of the premise of a book I previous reviewed here on Goodreads. The Christian Gamers Guild Bible Study continued with John 14:26 through 15:4, and as of this morning three Musings posts, The Maine about our collective memory, Then Heaven about our expectations of meeting loved ones there, and Landmarks about the eventual insignificance of "signs of the times".

I found a few questions for authors here on Goodreads and answered another, about horror stories , in which I included a link to an article I wrote on that which was apparently useful enough that a French website translated it and republished it.

I don't want to minimize all of that by saying something like "that's everything", but if I missed something I'll let you know in a couple weeks.

Before the Storm

This is our tenth bi-monthly recounting of everything I've published in the past half month, following from Quiet on the Surface , and again the month has been fairly quiet in its second half.  Things have been happening outside the writing, of course--there were at least four family birthdays in the month, and with the birth of my twin grandchildren that number has increased by two and kept us busy.  But apart from that, the fact that I have published little doesn't mean I haven't been writing.  More on that below.

The Bible Study has continued, covering John 14:15-25, along with two more Musings posts, The One Percent about the definition of rich, and Labor , about whether creative endeavors qualify as work.  Elsewhere, the Christian Gamers Guild republished an old Game Ideas Unlimited article under a new title, RPG-ology #46:  Deceased , about funerals in games.

I wrapped up the support site pages for Re Verse All with character sheets for Dawn Project Prototype Unit Number Ex Dash Zero Zero, Bron, Sophia, and Johnny Angel.

A Bible question via Facebook prompted the publication of mark Joseph "young" web log post #413:  The Abomination of Desolation , explaining what that cryptic comment in the Gospels probably means, and why we should think that.

On the subject of questions about the Bible, someone sprang one on me, sending a link to an article that challenged the historicity of the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt.  The article gave ten specific objections and a bit more, and I have now drafted nine parts of a proposed eleven-part response, which I expect to finish and begin posting to the web log hopefully within the week.  Meanwhile, I have been frantically prepping chapters of In Verse Proportion to begin publication on Sunday, three chapters per week.  So the ides of October promises to have a lot of pages appearing.

And let me not forget to remember that there are regular postings on Patreon giving fairly immediate notice of new pages as they post.

Quiet on the Surface

Not that much has been published in the first half of September.  I could blame that on the fact that my son and putative daughter-in-law who live with us are expecting twins in now less than a week (C-section, so they know the day), but it has more to do with where everything was at the beginning of the month, and where it's going from here.

September did begin with the publication of another song, my deathbed song, as mark Joseph "Young" web log post #412:  The Song "When I Think" .  That was the only post to that blog.  With Re Verse All having reached its last chapter last month, support site character sheets have been filling the gap while In Verse Proportion was brought to its conclusion and prepared for publication.  Those included the Tomiko Takano Character Sheet, after Re Verse All , and shifting to support characters, James Beam's alien psionicist companion Turbirb'durpa Character Sheet, after Re Verse All .  There are a few more of those in the queue, and then the next novel will begin; writing is progressing furiously on Con Verse Lea alongside prep of the In Verse Proportion pages and behind-the-writings posts.

There was a Christian Gamers Guild article on the first Tuesday of the month, Faith in Play #46:  Undo , about forgiveness. The Chaplain's Bible Study continued with John 14:4-14 and two Musings posts, Response about grace works, and Trust , about driving home at night.

And perhaps I am burying the lead, but earlier Dimensionfold Publishing interviewed me about The Essential Guide to Time Travel, and finally yesterday I received this link to the newsletter in which it appears.

There were of course a few posts in the Patreon web log which you can access without being a patron, although of course your patronage would be appreciated.

Ends and Starts

Since our mid-month installment I finished posting Re Verse All with the final two chapters, and a final behind-the-writings look, mark Joseph "young" web log post #411:  Quest Concludes .  Then, within the past couple days, I finished drafting the next novel, In Verse Proportion, which will begin posting soon.  In the interim I am releasing character sheets detailing the skills, abilities, equipment, and other information about the core characters on the Multiverser Novel Support Pages , particularly for anyone who wants to adapt them as non-player characters in their own games.  Lauren Hastings and James Beam are already posted.  I'm doing one per week, mostly so I have time to prep the chapters of the next novel for publication.  In other completions, beginning with John 13:30 I completed the chapter and posted the recap.

Which raises things which have been started, such as the first three verses of John 14.  I was also able to turn my attention to writing Con Verse Lea, which continues the stories from the endings just published, although I had written half a chapter of it previously as a sort of place marker.

A player returned to the Multiverser online forum game, so I've given a bit of attention to that.  The Christian Gamers Guild republished an old Game Ideas Unlimited piece under the new title RPG-ology #45:  Learning , a bit nostalgic as it includes what I was watching on television around the dawn of the millennium.  There were also two Musings posts on the Chaplain's Bible Study, The Cabin about a not always entirely visible landmark on our road to work, and Manners about whether we should be polite to artificial intelligences.

Got to run; more to come.

Getting Noticed

The previous entry in this The Ides of Mark web log got a few encouraging notes on Facebook, so taking that encouragement I'm continuing with the seventh entry, covering my writing and publishing activity for the first half of August.  There is of course the routine stuff, the Bible study continuing with John 13:19-29 with a couple of Musings posts, Retakes about having the opportunity to do something over again, and Appreciation , about how we can be made happy simply by having something return to normal.  We are also nearing the end of Re Verse All , with chapters 148 through 154 hitting the web and a behind-the-writings web log post #409:  Characters Cooperate , for chapters 145 through 150.

A bit less routine, the month again began with a song, web log post #408:  The Song "Given You My Name" , written for my wife.  Also on the web log, #410:  When to Pray , discusses prayer times.

The Christian Gamers Guild released Faith in Play #45:  Special , for writers and game referees, about how individual character abilities create communities.

I have almost finished writing In Verse Proportion, which will debut in a few weeks.  I have adopted a tentative title for the book to follow, Con Verse Lea.  I've mentioned that I'm doing a read-through of my Romans commentary/study, and I am in the middle of chapter 7 at this point. I should also again mention that there is a web log at Patreon which provides updates on what I am writing and publishing on a more frequent basis.

The First Quarter

This is the sixth entry in this The Ides of Mark web log.  I still have not had any feedback on it, but new projects frequently take time.

Where should we begin?

I am continuing to make progress on In Verse Proportion, but have come to a point at which I am going to have to decide whether to make it about the same length as previous books by ending in a serious cliffhanger, or stretch it to the longest book yet.  I have also drafted a few web log posts awaiting publication for various reasons.  Tomorrow I post another song, this one a rather special song for my wife, but that's actually next month and for the next Ides post.

I continue to post Re Verse All , as chapters 142 through 147 have James Beam, Lauren Hastings, and Tomiko Takano forging a working relationship.  There was a behind-the-writings post in the middle of that, mark Joseph "young" web log post #407:  Versers Integrate , covering chapters 139 through 144.

On the subject of continuing, the Chaplain's Bible Study did so with John 13:9-18, and had three Musings posts, Steeple on whether a building fundraiser to save a church steeple is important for a church, Books on the question of whether The Essential Guide to Time Travel fits C. S. Lewis' notion of books by Christians that are not Christian books, and Deserving about miracles and how our attitude impacts their occurrence.

The Christian Gamers Guild delivered RPG-ology #44:  Left Hand , about space relations and their importance in play.  It was republishing a lost Game Ideas Unlimited article of the same name from the early aughts on Gaming Outpost.  I am still reading the Romans commentary, now in chapter 6.  Although I've fixed a few typos and tweaked a few things based on much that I've learned in the past fifteen years, it has held up better than I anticipated.

I mentioned that I was reading the paperback edition, in print, of The Essential Guide to Time Travel.  I completed that, and posted a review here at GoodReads.  There was also already a review by Ken Goudsward, who was involved in publishing the book and so had a head start on most readers.  One of the highlights of my month was that one of the clerks at my local supermarket came up to me with a copy of the book asking for an autograph.  I hope she's as excited about the book when she finishes reading it as she was when she bought it.

I also should mention that there are more frequent updates in my Patreon web log, and you do not need to be a patron to read it, although being a patron will get it delivered to your e-mail box.

There's more to come; watch for it.

Going Somewhen

I received an e-mail from Amazon suggesting that I might like a newly-published book. I commented on it to my Facebook followers, and one suggested that I might like it. I replied that there was probably nothing in it I could not have written myself. The book was, of course, my own The Essential Guide to Time Travel .

A reader reviewed it on Amazon, under the title No Time Traveler Should Leave Home Without It . I'm encouraged; that should hit my target market.

Joking aside, as of today I have started reading it. Of course I've read it; it went through several drafts for which I was the primary editor. Yesterday, though, I received a few paperback copies, and I'm going through one to see how it does in print.

However, this blog is intended to give you an overview of what I'm writing and publishing in the first half of July, and that managed to hit the shelves last month, so it's time to talk about what's new.

As I previously mentioned, each month begins with a song, and this month I dug back into my high school days and the music of The Last Psalm with web log post #404: The Song "Love's the Only Command" . The Chaplain's Bible Study continued with John 12:48 and continued through this morning with 13:8, and there was one Musings post entitled Center about whether God's plan for me is always about me.

I've continued posting Re Verse All , releasing chapters 135 through 141 and bringing Lauren Hastings, Tomiko Takano, and James Beam together on their journeys. There was a behind-the-writings peek at chapters 133 through 138, web log post #405: Versers Converge . I'm still writing In Verse Proportion, but it is approaching a climax.

My read-through edit of my Romans commentary has me in chapter 5; I haven't really tackled anything else new.

The Christian Gamers Guild published Faith in Play #44: An Alignment Grid , something of an appendix to my miniseries on alignment in which I provide examples of each of the nine squares on the alignment grid in original Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.

In the wake of the exploding situation in Great Britain over fans making racial slurs about their own athletes, I wrote web log post #406: Internet Racism , a discussion of the importance of freedom of speech, yesterday.

That appears to be a complete summary of the first half of the month, other than that I still maintain a Patreon blog that gives more detail on most of these. So I'll be back at the end of the month with the next Ides of Mark summary.