Brandon Andress's Blog, page 7
December 29, 2021
Free Preview: What Can’t Be Hidden- Prologue
The forest canopy covered everything below it in darkness. All that was visible were contours and edges, grays and black. From underneath, it was midnight. From above, the sun had reached its highest point of the day.
With eyes for anything unusual, Pali and Machi regularly scouted the woods on the west side of the island beyond the edge of Patrida. The brothers walked in faint shadows as they surveyed the diverse terrain populated with dense black pine. Like every other day for Pali and Mach...
September 20, 2021
The Way It Ought To Be
It is time to offer a different narrative than constant outrage and antagonism. We need something life-giving. Something that works for a better humanity. Something that heals our deep divisions.
The Way It Ought To Be podcast journeys through the cultural mud-slinging of our day and explores an entirely different way to live and relate to others- through the peaceable and other-oriented way of Jesus.
Join Paul Dazet and me on this ten episode conversation in which we offer an alternative ...
September 11, 2021
My Prayer for Today
If there is a prayer that I have today, on this day, it is this.
That we would see each other as human beings, each with immeasurable worth. We may wear different labels and have varying beliefs, but we share the same blood. And what makes us fully human and fully alive in this life is not the ways in which we divide by nationality, by race, or by religion, but in the ways we see beauty and value in our diversity, our ethnicity, and our cultures. While we stand against the evils of extremism t...
September 7, 2021
What Can’t Be Hidden- A Novel
Buy Now: Indie Bound / BN / Amazon / BAM / Kobo / Viewpoint / Target / BookShop.orgDear friends, My new novel What Can’t Be Hidden comes out today!
It is a Dystopian Psychological Thriller and I can’t wait for you to read it! Watch the trailer and read the synopsis below.What Can’t Be Hidden Trailer
When a stranger is captured in the nearby forest of the isolated and restrictive community of Patrida, a dark, hidden secret is revealed-the Patridian people discover that there are others ...
August 21, 2021
What Can’t Be Hidden- Q&A #2
Title- What Can’t Be Hidden
Genre- Fantasy / Dystopian / Allegory
Q: What is the reading level of What Can’t Be Hidden?
A: 10th grade reading level
Q: Have there been any early highlights of the book even though it’s not out yet?
A: The publisher used an Artificial Intelligence program to “read” and “evaluate” my book compared to other books in its genre. It got an overall higher score than The Hunger Games!
Q: Are you sick of reading the manuscript?
A: Not at all! In fact, ...
August 20, 2021
What Can’t Be Hidden- Q&A
Title- What Can’t Be Hidden
Genre- Fantasy / Dystopian / Allegory
Q: Is it a Christian book?
A: No
Q: How long did it take to write it?
A: I started in June of 2019 and finished it in August 2020.
Q: Why did you write a fiction book?
A: I got weary of writing nonfiction. I wanted to find a creative way to speak to people.
Q: What topics does the book address?
A: How we see others and our limitations in dealing with the “other.” The book is also a critique of our under...
June 2, 2021
One New Humanity
I remember sitting in an undergrad philosophy class at Hanover College in which the professor, discussing the limitations, nuances, and intricacies of human language, explained to us that while we English speakers have one word for the frozen precipitation that falls from the sky, snow, the Inuit people have over 50 words to describe every variation and type of snow.
I have to admit at being amazed at such detail of observation and nuance of experience.
There is a real beauty in being able to us...
May 12, 2021
Big Things Happening!
I wrote a novel!
It is my first fiction work. Honestly, I never thought I would say that. I have always been a nonfiction guy. But in my humble, meager opinion, it is my best writing to date.
I started working on it in June of 2019 and I poured every ounce of my heart and soul into it. I mean everything. I was so obsessed with writing it that I would wake up at 4am every morning to start writing. After easily thousands of hours working on it, What Can’t Be Hidden will launch in less than...
March 22, 2021
The Only Way Out Of This Mess
Those of you who know me only from the words on this page would probably be surprised that I am way more introverted than extroverted. I prefer alone time and quiet gatherings to large. I would rather have a deep conversation with someone I know than mixing it up with surface-level chit-chat. And I get a little awkward and fumble over my words when talking to people I don’t know.
Unfortunately I am often mistakenly perceived as disinterested or aloof when, in reality, I am just very uncomfort...
January 9, 2021
Why I Don’t Want America to Come Back to God
I write this in an attempt at promoting a culture of dialogue and civility, even though both are in short supply these days. It seems as if most people have their heels dug in and their minds made up on every issue already, so what’s the point of attempting dialogue? It’s a great question that deserves a serious answer in a time when most people talk passed each other, only thinking about what can be said next to win the argument, rather than taking the more humble and disciplined postures of li...
