Vicki V. Lucas's Blog, page 6

Meant for Evil or Good?

A gift I received for Christmas has shaped my New Year’s resolution. And no, my husband wasn’t foolish enough to buy me any sort of exercising equipment for my present. My one and only resolution for 2014 originates from a simple gold necklace.

In the flurry of Christmas, I almost missed the significance of what I had received. My husband and I were on an eight day trip which took us from Montana to Kansas with 20 plus hours in the car, 3 hours on airplanes, and 6 hours of mindless waiting in airports, and 2 winter storms.

But somehow through all of this activity, I had time to ponder the story behind this necklace. (Click here to see the store where you can purchase the necklace.) The necklace comes from Ethiopia, where women have picked up bullets that are littered around them. They melt these bullets down and refashion them into a piece of beauty.

It took awhile for this to soak into my travel-worn brain. But once it did, I can’t shake the implications this brings to me.

The first lesson I learned from this necklace is how God fashions us into something beautiful. He could regard us as garbage, used up, and hopeless. But instead He scoops us up with gentleness like a priceless treasure and ever so slowly, ever so carefully, shapes us into something beautiful. And, just like the bullets are melted down, so we go through fire to bring forth the beauty that God sees in each and every one of us.

But the second lesson is my resolution for 2014. These women in Ethiopia took something that caused great suffering and made something good out of it. Can you imagine picking up the bullet that killed your husband, child, or parents, and using it to bring value to your life? The very item that ripped their world apart now becomes the instrument of hope. Through the sales of the jewelry they can make, these women are able to provide for their remaining family. They have employment that is dignified and purposeful. They are using what was meant for evil and turning it around for good.

Sounds a bit like Joseph, doesn’t it? Despite all the heartache and pain caused by his brothers’ actions, Joseph leaned on God as he went from the favored son to the despised slave. In the end, when he faces his brothers as second only to the Pharaoh of Egypt, he says “you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.”

You meant it for evil. But God meant it for good.

Those bullets that ripped families apart were meant for evil. But just maybe if we can allow God to work in our lives, we can see that God meant it for good. Of course, we wish it never happened. But it did, and there is a better response, and a far more powerful one, than hate and more violence.

Take what was meant for evil and allow God to use it for good.

Instead of a cycle of hate, do something that brings hope. Use the evil to fashion beauty.

My resolution for 2014 is to follow the example of these women. I resolve to find a way to take what is bad in my life, find the good that God meant it to be, and bring hope to this world.

Who’s with me?

Please check out My Fight at http://www.myfight.org/ where you can purchase similar items. I am by no means connected to them and will not receive anything from their sales.

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Holiday Book Fair Blog Hop

Welcome to the Holiday Indie Book Sale, where all of your reading dreams become a reality through a special holiday shopping spree! You don’t have to look any further than these awesome books for gifts to stuff your stockings. From Black Friday through the day after Cyber Monday, fill your shelves with paperbacks!Get Toxic for 20% off here http://vickivlucas.com/books/toxic/ and don’t miss these other great deals!

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The Experiment: https://www.createspace.com/4410811

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Firmament: Radialloy: https://www.createspace.com/3816448

Firmament: In His Image: https://www.createspace.com/4480518

 Jordan Smith

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Finding the Core of Your Story: https://www.createspace.com/4064194

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What I’m Not Thankful For

My Grandpa told me that it is best to be pessimistic because you are either right or pleasantly surprised. With Thanksgiving approaching, I have decided to follow his advice and take a different approach to the season by trying to list all the things that I am not thankful for. After contemplating this for several days, I came across an incredible discovery.

I can’t think of one thing in my life that I am not thankful for. 

My sleepless nights mean that I have a healthy girl in my house. Pain and sickness mean that I am still alive and kicking. An empty bank account means that there is food on the shelves. Early mornings with my husband rushing off to work means that he has a job.

Now this is not to say that I don’t have wishes. I wish that my friends could quit struggling with cancer and other serious diseases. I wish that my dear friend and my cousin hadn’t been called home long before we were ready to say goodbye. Of course, I wish for more money, a bigger house, and less fat around my waist just like everybody does.

But in this season, I am constantly reminded that in every hardship and in every sorrow God is in control. While I may not understand why my friends were called to heaven earlier than what I feel they should have, God is putting his plan into action. I don’t know why there is suffering and pain in this world, but I know the One who loves us more than we can ever fathom.

Many of us are familiar with the song called Blessings by Laura Story. If you’re not familiar with the song, I encourage you to click this link and take a moment to listen to it.

But what I find more interesting is this short video where Laura Story talks about how the song was written.

Did you catch what she said?

“Could God actually be blessing us by not giving us what we’re praying for? There is a blessed-ness through waiting for the Lord. There’s a reliance on His word that we only know when everything else in life fades away.”

Every hardship, every loss, every sorrow, has the potential to lead us closer to God. It can show us who God is, it can bring us a deeper realization of his love, or perhaps it can give us his ultimate comfort and peace.

Is what you are dealing with today worth it if it brings you to a deeper understanding and love for God? And if so, can we be thankful for the trials in life if it leads us closer to God?

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A Child of the Light

Halloween gives me the creeps.

I realize that this is the basically the heart of Halloween, but I hate almost everything that surrounds us this time of year. I often feel like just hiding until it’s all over because nowhere is safe. Rent a movie and all you see is horror. The costume aisle in Walmart is just as terrifying. Even our local grocery store is selling horrible looking decorations. And if it’s not scary, then it’s sexy. Sometimes I don’t know what’s more horrifying – a zombie costume or a sexy witch costume for 5 year old girls.

I’m worse about it now that I have a daughter. I don’t want her to have the images of decapitated bodies, freaky ghosts, and so forth in her head. I find it fascinating the pressure of participating in Halloween now that she’s in our lives. Everyone asks what she’s going to dress up as or where she’s going to go trick and treating. (In case you don’t know, she’s 14 months old.)

It makes me cringe. I come from a family who didn’t celebrate Halloween. I never went trick or treating. Sometimes my parents would buy candy, and I would “get” to hand it out to the people who came to our door. I’ve teased my parents about that childhood scarring, but now I’m glad. It’s not like we sat at home with the lights off. We always did something fun. We made soft pretzels, a family tradition. We played games. One year we made our own seawater taffy. I mainly remember two things of that night. Everything, and I mean everything, was sticky, and I remember laughing a lot.

Perhaps one of the most horrifying and mortifying experiences of my entire life comes from Halloween. My Dad is a pastor, and he had just taken a church in a small town in the middle of South Dakota, right before Halloween. We were invited to a church “Harvest Party” on that night and were told to dress up. Eager to have some fun with the new church, my Mom, my sister, and I got a bit carried away with the costumes. I have no idea whose idea it was, but we found some black makeup paint and used it. Lots of it.

Sadly for us, the church decided not to have costumes, but no one thought to tell us that. We walked into the party, brand new to the church, with our black paint on. I still don’t know who was more shocked – us or them. The only thing I can remember about that moment was thinking my whole social life was over. And it was. It never recovered in the five years we lived there!

I know that my parents didn’t celebrate Halloween because they are sensitive to how we align ourselves as Christians. Seeing that many, if not all, Halloween traditions come from pagan and Druid beliefs, they had no wish to participate in such activities. As a Mom, I agree. I don’t see anything wrong with dressing up, but I don’t really want to celebrate something so dark with a dubious past.

Sometimes it feels like I’m the odd one when it comes to Halloween. As a nation, we spend over 5 billion dollars on it. It’s the second largest grossing holiday. Christmas is the first.

This isn’t one of those posts where I’m going to explain all the pagan traditions of Halloween. I’m not going to list Bible verse that extort you to be different from the world. If you want to research that, you will find a ton of information about the traditions of Halloween on the internet. It’s up to you decide what you want to celebrate and how much of it is right for your family.

Let me end with this thought. Two holidays loom large in our culture. Christmas and Halloween. One is very dark, filled with fear and horror. One is very light, filled with love and hope.

Perhaps you’re like me. Perhaps you hate the darkness, the evil, and the horror that surrounds us in this time. The darkness weighs you down and makes you want to hide. It’s too much, too heavy, too dark to fight.

Hold your head up high. This is just one night. The darkness and evil flees at the light. The end of the story hasn’t come yet. The night always runs when morning comes. Light wins. Love reigns over all, even over the horrors you have in your life. We can step out in boldness with no fear because there is One who loved us so much that He defeated the darkness when we could not do it ourselves. As a child of the Light, I recognize that darkness will come, evil will prowl and do its worse, but they will fail. One day, the dark will be no more. My King will destroy all evil forever.

As Halloween approaches, I pray you turn your thoughts away from the fear and evil and onto the love and hope of Christ.

 

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A New Kind of Hero

What do a marine, a runner, and a 16 year old girl have in common? No, this is not one of those dumb jokes. And yes, these are real people.

Since I write fiction, I deal with imaginary people most of the day. However, I continually amazed at what real people do. I’m flabbergasted at the stupid and rude choices people make, and I’m stunned by the wonderful deeds by everyday heroes.

And speaking of heroes, let’s see if you’ve heard of these people.

1. Ivan Fernandez

Early this year, Ivan was second in a cross-country race in Burlada, Navarre. However, as he and Abel Mutai, the man in first place, approached the finishing line, he saw his chance. Abel is from Kenya and didn’t understand the Spanish signs around him. He slowed, thinking he had crossed the finish line.

Ivan had a choice. Speed past to seize victory or point Abel to the finish line. Many people wouldn’t hesitate. It was a race. Abel made a mistake, and that was his problem.

Ivan did something unexpected. He slowed, stayed behind Abel, and guided him to the line where Abel crossed first. You can read about it here.

 2. Lance Cpl. Myles Kerr

In August of 2013, Myles Kerr also lost a race in Michigan, but he did something far more valuable. As he was running, he noticed a 9-year-old boy who was separated from his group and struggling to complete the race.

When the boy asked for help, Kerr stayed with him until he finished the race. In fact, Kerr even made sure the boy was reunited with his group at the end of the course.

Kerr finished last in his age group. In responding to tweets honoring his actions, he said, “I was just doing what any man would do, but thank you!” His story is told here.

 3. Malala Yousafzai

When she was 11, she began blogging about life under the Taliban in Pakistan and built a reputation as an advocate of education. Last year when she was 15, she got on a bus to go to school. A man stepped onto to the bus, asked which girl was her, and then shot her in the head.

She was rushed to London and began a long road to recovery but has come out of the experience stronger than ever. She’s nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

When asked what happened after she was shot, she had this to say. “Weakness, fear and hopelessness died,’ she declared. ‘Strength, power and courage was born.”

You can go here to read more about Malala.

What do a marine, a runner, and a 16 year old girl have in common?

They did what was right, even if the whole world thought it was crazy or outright dangerous. Maybe the consequences were considered, but all three made the choice to give up their goal, their prize, or their safety to stand up for that was right.

None of them thought they were doing anything terribly heroic, only doing what was right.

I write tales of regular people thrown into horrible situations where they must accomplish great feats. Yet our world is calling for a different kind of hero. We don’t need Superman or any of the Avengers to change our world to a better place.

We need the hero who does what is right in his or her everyday life. We need the kind of hero that you can be – the one who sees the needs of people around them and does something about it.

We need you to be a hero. Are you up for the task?

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Oh, Wait! – 3 Reasons for Pausing

Waiting isn’t acceptable in our culture. We don’t like it one bit. We’ve become so comfortable with fast, that we have lost all skills at pausing.

I’ve even been told that it’s not good to write sequels because people don’t want to wait for the next book. Many people recommend hanging on to all manuscripts so that you can release them quickly. And, honestly, it kills me to know that the next The Hobbit movie is finished. I hate waiting, too.

It’s that very fact that is driving me to edit the sequel to Toxic as fast as possible. I know you are there waiting to see what happens next. But as pages sit in front of me and as I continue working through the manuscript, I can’t help but be glad I’ve waited to release it. You should be glad as well.

Why? Why should we ever be glad to we have to wait?

1. Waiting is encouraged by God.

Isaiah 40:31 says, “they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” I don’t know about you, but I could really use this type of strength. Perhaps if I waited for the Lord, instead of trying to seize what I want, instead of chasing false hopes, I would find a peace in Him that I’ve never known.

Lamentations 3:25 says that “The Lord is good to those who wait for Him.”

It’s hard at times when you pray and pray, but nothing changes. I believe that waiting with a patient attitude is one of the hardest things we can do. It takes guts, determination, and faith. It’s certainly not for the weak. But keep your eyes on the rewards waiting gives you, instead of how long the delay has been. Remember that God is faithful. Then you shall soar with the eagles.

2. Waiting can bring excellence.

Every single time I work through Rancid, I make it better. I find a Biblical theme I hadn’t thought of before. I see a way to heighten the action and suspense. Sometimes I add a line that I know will make you laugh. I could have released Rancid months ago, but using the time wisely has created a far better book.

Sometimes when we are forced into waiting, we fume. We’re so caught up in how it affects us that we miss what the experience can teach us. Waiting can give us time to smooth off the rough edges, focus on improvements, and further our knowledge. Don’t waste you down time by throwing a fit. Use the time to polish up areas in your life so that when the wait is over, you will be ready for it.

3. Waiting gives others a chance to join you.

Six months ago, I contacted someone to do the cover for Rancid. I shared with her the vision I had of the cover. She said she’d get on it. I waited for five months. (She communicated with me during this time and remained very professional.) However, the cover wasn’t done.

I couldn’t have gone into a fury about this, but I didn’t because I knew Rancid needed a few more edits. I kept doing my work while I waited. Out of the blue, the designer contacted me and said she had just found an image that she was dying to use and thought it would be perfect for my cover. She worked it up and sent me a proof. The image was the very thing I wanted. The cover is perfect.

If I had decided not to wait and forced the cover to be done earlier, I would have missed out on this amazing cover. Instead, waiting gave the designer the time to find it. Just perhaps you are ready for the next step, but the person next to you isn’t. Hold your horses a bit. You will be blessed by allowing others to catch up with you.

I am almost done with Rancid. The final edits are going very well. The cover is almost completely finished as the designer is putting on the final touches. I cannot wait to share Rancid with you, but I’m going to wait until it’s the right time.

What are you waiting for? And, by the way, would you like to see the cover of Rancid?

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Rocks and Atlatls: Two More Secrets of Toxic

One of the challenges of writing Young Adult Christian fantasy is finding or creating names that fit into the story well. My previous post behind them.

I want to continue that with two more. The first one is a person by the name of Alyn. The second one is a fascinating weapon.

1. Alyn

I struggled with Alyn’s name. I wanted something different and exotic for him without being too crazy. Somewhere, and I can’t remember the source now, I saw that the name Alyn in Welsh means rock. I liked the meaning for several reasons –

The Sentinels are extremely traditional in their beliefs and stand against a culture turning away from God, much like a rock that doesn’t shift with the wind or rain.


In the Bible, Simon is one of my favorite disciples. Outspoken and bold, he normally says the wrong thing. But when he gets it right, he nails it! One of the reasons that I am fond of him is that Peter is proof of how badly we can mess up, but God is loves us and uses us in ways we can never imagine. Jesus renames him Peter, which in Greek means rock.


In fiction, one of my favorite characters is Peter in The Chronicles of Narnia. As High King, he’s come under criticism for being too perfect. In fact, he’s the one character that doesn’t make mistakes or get reprimanded by Aslan. I’ve studied the books closely and realized that he does make errors. However, whenever he sees Aslan, his first response is to take on the responsibility of whatever went wrong and say that it was his fault for not leading correctly.

Alyn is a character that we will see more of as time passes, and this history of his name is certainly one that he will live up to.

 2. A Norsaq

If you’ve read Toxic, then you know that Lizzy receives a norsaq from Alyn. But what is it?

I first came across this weapon when I started teaching English as a Second Language in Boise, Idaho. We took our students on weekly field trips, and my favorite spot was an all day trip to Celebration Park. Nestled along the Snake River south of Nampa, it contains countless petroglyphs from the Paiute Indians who wintered there and etched the pictures into lava boulders. Our tours showed us how the Indians survived, a guide through the petroglyphs, and then a chance to try our skills at atlatls. (Use this link to hear the pronunciation.)

I was fascinated by this weapon and never forgot it. When it came time to give Lizzy a weapon, I didn’t want to give her a bow. In fantasy, the guys get swords, and the girls get bows and arrows. After thinking for some time, I remembered the atlatl.

What is it? Pictures are worth a thousand words. Look on my Pinterest board called My Armoury for medieval weapons, but this picture is a great close up. (Click here to view the atlatl.) Another great picture is this one (click here to view) which shows the atlatl in action.

Now that you’ve seen it, what is it? The atlatl is the stick part while the spear part is called a dart, very similar to an arrow. The darts can be up to seven feet long. It disappeared from usage because a bow and an arrow are more compact and easier to carry.

I’m not a physics person, but they tell me that the atlatl and darts are springs that store energy. As the arm moves forward, both gather energy and spring back when released. It can easily deliver 200 times as much power and 6 times the range as a spear. It can be thrown at 100 mph and is as powerful as an arrow fired from a 60 pound compound bow. The longest distance was set by Dave Ingvall at a distance of 848.56 feet! It is so effective that it’s what they used to bring down the Wooly Mammoths. In the 16th century, the Aztecs used atlatls to beat back the Spanish since it could pass through their steel breastplates – both front and back! Now that’s a weapon to put into a girl’s hands! I used the Northern Europe word for it, norsaq, instead of atlatl to give it a bit more of a foreign feeling.

I have to admit that I’m curious. Have you ever heard or seen an atlatl?

Five Secrets of Toxic Revealed: What’s in a Name?

Are you wondering when Rancid, the sequel to Toxic, is going to be released? (If you aren’t, you should be!) I am in the middle of the final edits and waiting for the cover to be designed. I know it’s taken a long time, and I apologize for that. In the future, I am focusing on getting books out much quicker.

But for now, while you wait, I thought I’d share a few of the secrets of Toxic with you.  When I wrote it, I didn’t just pick names out of a hat. Names of people and places were carefully selected to give you clues.

While I can create plots in my mind as easily as some dribble a basketball, I have an agonizing time making up names and languages. Everything I put together looked like some baby babbling and didn’t have the feel to it that I wanted. I ended up using a mixture of Hebrew and Gaelic languages.

#1 – Eltiria

The hardest thing I had to do was to give a fantasy world a name. Thankfully, I seem to have deleted all of my first attempts, or I’d have to share with you. I remember that something like Patria was one.

I settled on Eltira for a couple of reasons. As you probably know, El comes from the Hebrew, and it means God. Tiria was a challenge. I forget, but I think I was skimming Welsh words and came across this spelling for earth. I may have just rearranged from the Spanish terra. Either way, I chose this name because it means God’s earth.

#2 – Foehn

When my Mom who found this wonderful name, I couldn’t be more pleased. In Toxic, Foehn begins his journey down the mountain and seeks out adventure. As you know, he briefly visits each of the three main characters in the beginning. As he keeps looking for what he’s searching for, he is entrapped by the antagonist.

Foehn or föhn is a German word for a type of wind that occurs on the downwind side of a mountain range. It is very similar to our Chinook winds. Since this wind comes off the mountains, I couldn’t have found a more perfect name.

#3 – Belial

This name comes from the Hebrew language. As far as I saw in my research, belial means “worthless.” One source said that is was used to refer to the good-for-nothing men – for example, men who would induce worship of other gods, men who oppose God’s anointed, and men who stir up contention. Sound like anyone you read about?

For me, it was most interesting to find this name in 2 Corinthians 6:15.  Paul asks, “What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?” Wow! (Note: The Greek spells it Beliar.)

I couldn’t have found a better name for my antagonist!

#4 – Archippi

I don’t use the term pegasus in my book because Pegasus is the name of the actual horse in the Greek legend. It’s not a term for a flying horse like it’s used today. Besides, I wanted the idea of horses with wings, but I didn’t want to connect to a Greek legend.

Taking the idea of arch as being chief (think of archenemy), I combined it with the Greek word for horse, which is hippos. In case you didn’t know, the h of Greek is silent. Together it makes a chief horse, and that is a perfect name for flying horses that can talk!

 #5 – Kai

I first thought of Kai because I love the Welsh language. Something about the name caught my eye and stuck with me. However, as I researched the name, I knew I had to use it! Here are some of the meanings that I found in different languages.

In Burmese, Kai means “strong” or “unbreakable.”
In Chinese, Kai can have several meanings, including “triumphant.”
In Japanese, Kai has a number of meanings, including restoration, recovery, ocean, or shell.
In North Germanic languages, Kai means keeper of the keys. In Germanic languages, it means safe harbor.
In Welsh, Kai is a popular name normally spelt Cai, from the Arthurian legend of Sir Kay.

But it wasn’t until I was teaching at a writing seminar that I had a lady who had spent many years in Hawaii. She shared with me that Kai in Hawaii means ocean or ocean water. God works in very interesting ways!

 There are many more meanings behind the names in Toxic. Until next time, can you guess where Alyn comes from and how it connects to my all-time favorite books?

Need a Great Book?

When I come across a great book, I want to share it with everyone I know. Today I want to tell you about Alan W. Harris and the book he wrote called The Tales of Larkin.

It is an exciting Christian adventure story about a race of inch tall people called Larkin, who live deep in the woods. The story follows Hawthorn, a young hunter from one of the Larkin clans, who is captured by the enemy Renegades while out on his first hunt. The Larkin and the Renegade hate for each other is rivaled only by their mutual fear of the many forest creatures who prey on them.

That is not so with the Makerians. Members of this mysterious race save Hawthorn’s life and introduce him to a loving Maker, who calls Hawthorn to live for a higher purpose. The Makerians seek the Maker’s will in all they do, pray about their needs, and actively love their enemies.

The story reaches its exciting climax as Hawthorn and his Makerian allies enter the Renegade stronghold in a daring rescue attempt of Hawthorn’s Larkin friends from the Renegade slave mines. With humor and fast-paced adventure, Hawthorn’s Discovery promotes good character and a vision of a culture totally dependent on and obedient to its Maker, inspiring believers to seek God more actively in prayer.

Alan W. Harris grew up in Huntsville, Alabama, and attended Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas, earning a B.S. in General Science. In 1981, he earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the Auburn University School of Veterinary Medicine.

Together with Valerie, his wife of thirty-seven years, Dr. Harris has home schooled his six children for the last twenty-three years. Soon to have a total of five grandchildren, they live in South Carolina where Alan is a full-time veterinarian.

Inspired by his love of nature, the fun of telling a good story, and his desire to draw his family closer together, Harris has completed two books in his Tales of Larkin series and is currently working on a third.

Alan and his wife love the Lord, their family, good stories, historical places, good music, and e-mails from readers.

I caught up with Alan a little while ago and asked him a few questions.

What inspired you to write The Tales of Larkin?

In the last part of my summer break in 1979, just before I was to begin my third year of veterinary medical school at Auburn University in Alabama, I was relaxing by taking a hike in the woods. I eventually came to a creek with a small three-step waterfall. As I sat there enjoying the scene, I noticed a small rectangular hole in the rock over which the uppermost fall cascaded. The hole was only about two inches tall and almost one inch wide, but there appeared to be a small cave behind it. I began to think that, if I were only an inch tall, I could go in and explore that cave. Then I thought that, if I were only an inch tall, that spider on the ground nearby would be like a huge monster, and the lizard I had seen climbing a tree a moment earlier would be like a dragon.

The more I thought about it, the more I became intrigued with trying to figure out how one-inch-tall people could survive in the woods. By the time I had made my way back home, I had a fun idea for a story. This was my first serious attempt at writing, and I soon discovered that I write like I draw – with a lot of detail. After hand-writing about fifty pages and still not getting to the essence of the story that I wanted to tell, I discovered that I had started something that I didn’t have the time to finish. So I filed my story away and almost forgot about it. I pulled it out again to read to my children when my two oldest were way too young, and after reading one page to them, they wanted to go out to play.

I didn’t think about it seriously again until several years later when we were having a family story-telling night. During a lull, my oldest daughter Lisa remembered my story and suggested that I read it. So I pulled it out again and began reading. To my surprise, they absolutely loved it and literally begged for more. I read a little to them each night until I ran out of what I had written, and the kids were upset. They wanted to know what happened next. It was their encouragement that started me writing on it again.

I didn’t want it to take away from our family time, so I only wrote on the story late in the evenings when I had free time. That is a very slow way to write a book, but at the time I was only doing it for my children. Whenever I would finish a chapter, which may have been anywhere from two weeks to three months later, we would have a special family night complete with a special meal, and then I would read the new chapter to the family. To make it more fun, I made up voices for each of the characters. It became an especially unique “Harris Family Thing” that we did for years. Even after the older kids went off to college, they made us wait until they came home to have the next Larkin Night.

When I finally finished Hawthorn’s Discovery, the kids came to me a year or two later and wanted more Larkin Nights. So I wrote a second book. I’m now half way through my third, and even though my three older kids are married with families of their own, they still want to be a part of the Larkin Nights. They’ve even come up with a plot for a fourth book when I finish the third.

 

What obstacles did you have in getting the story into book form?

The book Hawthorn’s Discovery I wrote as a hand-written manuscript for two reasons: first, I don’t type very well, and secondly, I started the story before the invention of the affordable personal computer. From the time I began the story until I finished, twenty years had passed. By then we did have a computer, and my family helped me type it in. My sweet wife Valerie agreed to edit it for me. While all that was going on, I was drawing illustrations for it. Eventually it was ready, and I began searching for a company to produce the books for me.

I think I did make a few inquiries into publishing companies, but I quickly learned that unless I was famous enough to sell hundreds of thousands of copies of my book on my name alone, I was not going to be published by them. Plus, there are a lot of biblical and spiritual references in my story that I do not want taken out by some editing department that wants to make my book more secular. So I began to pursue self-publishing.

I see you are also a veterinarian. Has being in that field helped or shaped your writing in any way?

To be honest with you, it has not had a very big impact on my writing. The medical side of my job has influenced me as I write about injuries or sicknesses of the characters in my stories. I do refer to a few animals in my stories, but usually I’m writing about insects or plants. I use more information from my undergraduate courses on botany and zoology than what I’ve learned from Veterinary Medicine. Probably the biggest impact on my writing was the hikes that my father took me on when I was young. He would point out various wild flowers and creatures we would see in the woods and always try to teach me some spiritual lesson from them about God and godly character.

What is the best aspect of being an author?

The best aspect about being an author is being able to take an idea in your mind and to communicate it to others in a way that gets them to experience it like you did. I think that’s really cool! And when you can use those creative ideas to get people to recognize how great God is and how wonderful His Son Jesus is . . . well, it doesn’t get any better than that as far as I’m concerned.

What should the readers of The Tales of Larkin know?

There are two things I’d like my readers to know:  first, in this book the first chapter is the slowest, because I have to set the stage for the story. Be patient, because the action begins to pick up in the second chapter. By the time you get to the third chapter, you better have your seatbelt buckled. To keep my kids engaged, I tried to put at least two major exiting events in each chapter. At the end of each chapter, I wanted to hear my children say, “What happens next, Dad?”  The second thing you need to know about this book is that, if you like it, you will love the second one as well.

Why is your favorite snack food, and why?

My favorite snack food is raw almonds. My wife has an old five-sided candy jar with a metal lid on the kitchen counter, and we keep it full of almonds and dried cherries. I’m a nut guy. I enjoy almost any kind of nut, and almonds are one of my favorites. It’s also my understanding that raw almonds are good for you. It’s quite common to find me around the house munching on a handful of almonds.

 

You can purchase The Tales of Larkin at Amazon or at his webpage.

A Brief Disappearance

I am so honored to have you reading my blog. I greatly enjoy writing up the posts and sharing my thoughts with you. However, I am going to disappear for a bit, but I only do this for a couple of reasons.

First of all, I am disappearing because Rancid is long overdue. Most of you know that I was planning to release it in November of 2012. That didn’t happen for a variety of reasons. As it stands right now, I am waiting for my wonderful cover designed to send me the first mock-ups, and I’m in the first rounds of edits. It’s shaping up quite nicely, and I’m excited to see the edits work out some wrinkles and improve it. I hope to have it out by the end of March. (Yes, of this year.)

I’m also working on my webpage because I have some very exciting ideas to share with you in the next coming months, but I need the webpage set up so that I can implement them. It’s nothing major, and yet even small things can take a good portion of time, especially when you don’t know what you are doing. (Did this make you curious about what’s coming next? Too bad. You’ll just have to wait.)

All of this means that I’m going to slow down on my postings. You’ll see different things here. For example, I want to highlight other self-published Christian authors with their books here to share with you great books to read and help them out a bit. Please consider their books because they are starving artists like me, and one sale can really make their day. I’ll try to post something from me every other week or so. I’ll return to my regular schedule.

I really hope and pray you understand and stick around! I’m so excited having you here. God has blessed me so much by allowing me to speak into your life. Thank you so much for your support.

I hope to talk soon, and maybe I’ll have so exciting news to share with you! See you soon!