David N. Walker's Blog, page 8

Wisdom of the Ages

1. In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress. — John Adams

2. If you don’t read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed. — Mark Twain

3. Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But then I repeat myself. — Mark Twain

4. I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. —Winston Churchill

5. A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. — George Bernard Shaw

6. A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money. — G. Gordon Liddy

7. Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner. —James Bovard, Civil Libertarian (1994)

8. Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries. — Douglas Case, Classmate of Bill Clinton at Georgetown University .

9. Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. — P.J. O’Rourke, Civil Libertarian

10. Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. — Frederic Bastiat, French economist(1801-1850)

11. Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

—Ronald Reagan (1986)

12. I don’t make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts. — Will Rogers

13. If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it’s free! — P. J. O’Rourke

14. In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other. —Voltaire (1764)

15. Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you! — Pericles (430 B.C.)

16. No man’s life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session. — Mark Twain (1866)

17. Talk is cheap, except when Congress does it. — Anonymous

18. The government is like a baby’s alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other. — Ronald Reagan

19. The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery. — Winston Churchill

20. The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin. — Mark Twain

21. The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. — Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)

22. There is no distinctly Native American criminal class, save Congress. — Mark Twain

23. What this country needs are more unemployed politicians —Edward Langley,

Artist (1928-1995)

24. A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have. — Thomas Jefferson

25. We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. — Aesop

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Writers may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Advice, Authorship, Caring, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Fancy Series, friends, Heaven Sent, Life, Life experience, Life lessons, Life truths, Life values, Mark Twain, People, Personal development, Ronald Reagan, Self-help, Will Rogers, Winston Churchill

The Declaration of Independence

In today’s world, Christians are either ignored or else called bigots or worse. When we take a stand for morality and base our stand on Biblical principles, we’re called homophobes or anti-women’s rights or other such names, depending on the issue involved. What should our reaction be to these things.

One thing we can do is point to the Declaration of Independence. This document was brought to mind by the Independence Day celebrations over the weekend. Let’s take a look at the first few sentences of this document:

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.


We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

This is the document that established the legitimacy of our nation, yet we the people—even we Christians—frequently overlook the words, or at least the meaning of the words, that make up this wonderful declaration.

In the first paragraph, it says our nation has a right to a separate and equal station (among the nations of the earth) because it is so entitled by Nature’s God. In the second paragraph, it says that all men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.

It doesn’t say by buddha or allah or any other god made up by the religions of men. It’s talking about God Almighty, who created the heavens and the earth, who created not only man but also nature. God the Father, the first person of the Trinity. That’s who entitled us to be a nation, and that’s who endowed us with these unalienable rights.

We may not be able to keep the world from mocking us. After all, the world mocked Jesus also. But we don’t have to sit still and hold our tongues or accept what they say. We don’t have to agree that it’s all just a matter of personal taste and that if it feels good, do it. We can stand proudly on our principles, knowing that they come from God through His word and that the document which established our independence gives a ringing endorsement to those principles.

What’s your reaction when the world honors the rights to an opinion for everyone except Christians?

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If you abide in Me and My word abides in you, then you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Archives Tagged: Bible, Christian, Christian Fellowship, Christianity, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Declaration of Independence, Faith, Fancy Series, Forgiveness, God, God is in control, Godly Wisdom, Grace, Heaven Sent, Holy Spirit, inspiration, Jesus, Sins, Works

July Fourth

As we celebrate our independence on Saturday, we need to stop and consider what has happened to the dream of our forefathers. Where have we come from, and where are we going.

As the men left the constitutional convention in 1787, a lady asked Benjamin Franklin what kind of government they had come up with. He replied, “We’ve given you a republic, if you can keep it.”

We’ve spent nearly 230 years now ignoring that warning. Our history has been a nearly continuous march down the road of not keeping it.

This republic our forefathers gave us was established under a written constitution with specific procedures for amending it. In their genius, these brilliant men established three separate but equal branches to serve as checks and balances one to another. They also enumerated very specific powers that belonged to the federal government.

The tenth amendment to the Constitution states: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Think on that a moment. The federal government is not to exercise any powers not specifically authorized by the Constitution. That’s a period at the end. Ipso facto. Q.E.D. The language is abundantly clear. There’s no gray area in there.

There is nothing in the Constitution authorizing the federal government to involve itself in the field of health insurance, yet a great company such as Hobby Lobby may have to go out of business to keep from being forced to provide health insurance that infringes on the religious freedom of its owners.

There’s nothing in the Constitution authorizing the federal government to redefine marriage, but state and local governments now are being forced to accept a definition of marriage that flies in the face of all of our Judeo-Christian morality.

There’s nothing in the Constitution authorizing the federal government to allow the killing of babies, born or unborn. Yet, since 1973 the law—established by the courts and not Congress or any Constitutional Convention—says it’s perfectly legal to kill them if they have not been delivered yet.

Whether or not it is right for companies to provide health insurance that includes abortions is a matter of opinion. Whether or not it’s right for marriages to take place between people of the same sex is likewise a matter of opinion. Whether a baby’s life begins when it is created or when some doctor delivers it is also a matter of opinion. You and I don’t have to agree on these things. Each of us has the right to his own opinion.

What’s not a matter of opinion is the black and white wording of the Constitution. The legitimate function of our court system is to make sure that laws passed by Congress and various state and local governments conform to the Constitution, not to override and change the meaning of the Constitution, but that’s exactly what our Supreme Court and federal appellate courts have been doing for many decades now.

I’m afraid the reality of Benjamin Franklin’s statement has settled in on us now. We had a republic, but we couldn’t keep it.

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Writers may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Archives Tagged: Advice, Authorship, Benjamin Franklin, Caring, constitution, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Fancy Series, friends, Heaven Sent, Life, Life experience, Life lessons, Life truths, Life values, People, Personal development, Self-help

Galatians 5

In the fifth chapter of Galatians, Paul deals with the problem of legalism in the church there. A lot of the recently converted Jews were telling the Galatians that they still had to live under the law, most specifically that they had to be circumcised in order to be saved. Paul speaks emphatically against any such requirement, reminding the Galatians that they were saved by grace through faith and not by living up to any legal requirements.

Then, having led them out from under the law and into the freedom of grace, he warns them against letting that freedom become license. Here’s what he says in verses 13 and 14:

13     For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

14     For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

This has been a conflict within the church ever since the first century. It seems like a large portion of the body wants to live under legalism. We build all sorts of rules and regulations—do this, don’t do that, dress this way and never dress that way, don’t drink—the list goes on and on, depending on the particular rules of whatever individual happens to be talking.

We lead people to Jesus, telling them they are saved by grace. Then, as soon as they’re born again, we start telling about all these rules. How hypocritical!

The other extreme is complete license. We receive the salvation Jesus provides, and then we decide that since we have fire insurance—knowing that our ultimate destination is heaven and not hell—we can sin all we want to. If it feels good do it. When we do that, we miss the whole point of salvation.

Yes, the ultimate result of salvation is eternity in heaven, but there is more to it than that. The moment we are saved, the Holy Spirit enters us and resides in us for the rest of our lives. He gives us the power to resist sin if we’ll allow Him to, and He also begins a work in us the moment we are saved to perfect us, to conform us to the image of Jesus. This work will not be completed in this lifetime, but the more we submit ourselves to the Holy Spirit, the closer to perfect He can make us.

Paul put the key to this in verse 16, which says:

16     But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.

We do not have the power within ourselves to overcome our flesh, our sinful nature. But the more submitted we are, the more He can lead us to overcome it. It’s not we who conquer sin. It’s the Holy Spirit in us.

What does ‘walk in the Spirit’ mean to you?

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If you abide in Me and My word abides in you, then you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Christian Thoughts Tagged: Bible, Christian, Christian Fellowship, Christianity, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Faith, Fancy Series, Forgiveness, God, God is in control, Godly Wisdom, Grace, Heaven Sent, Holy Spirit, inspiration, Jesus, Sins, Works

Dylann Roof

On Wednesday, June 17, Dylann Roof single-handedly changed history. The immediate and obvious results of his actions were the deaths of nine people and the injuries of many more. That was a horrible tragedy, and I can’t imagine that anyone would think otherwise.

Beyond the immediate tragedy, however, thousands—maybe millions—of law-abiding, patriotic citizens were deeply hurt as well. In fact, the fiber of our nation has been damaged by this act as the forces of political correctness jump on a bandwagon to change or ignore our history.

Jefferson Davis was the President of the Confederate States of America, a nation set up not to support or extend the reach of slavery but to resist the imperialist push by northern states to impose their will on southern states. States’ rights, not slavery, was the rallying cry of those southern patriots who joined the war effort to protect their rights.

That Davis was the President is an indisputable fact, just as it’s indisputable that George Washington was President of the United States. We build statues to honor such men, yet there is a major move afoot now to remove and probably destroy statues of Jefferson Davis. One such is on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin, and the political correctness police are demanding that it be removed.

The Stars and Bars was the battle flag of the Confederate Army. It is also a part of history. It’s not a symbol of wanting to return to slavery, nor has it anything to do with hating Black people. It has to do with remembering those who fought the losing battle to retain our states’ rights, which have been eroding ever since.

This flag did not shoot anyone in Charleston. Dylann Roof did that. The company that manufactured the gun he used didn’t kill anyone either. Dylann Roof did it. Pure and simple.

Let’s not allow the actions of this one horrible individual to feed the fires of gun control or to inflame hatred toward Southerners or to cause us to try to change history by pretending it didn’t exist. It did exist. Jefferson Davis did exist and has been honored by people all over the South for over 150 years now. The flag did exist and served as an honorable symbol of the struggle of honorable men.

If you don’t like Jefferson Davis, don’t honor him. If you don’t like Confederate flags, don’t fly one. But don’t make them objects of scorn and hatred and don’t deny those of us who do want to honor them the right to do so. And don’t pretend that guns or flags or statues walked into that church and shot those people.

And don’t pretend that honoring our heritage makes us some kind of racists. I have numerous friends who’s skin happens to be black or some shade of brown. I don’t have a racist bone in my body, but I do recognize historic facts, and I shouldn’t have to suffer the slurs of those who disagree with my recognition of those facts.

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Writers may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Archives Tagged: Advice, Authorship, Caring, Confederate States of America, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Dylann Roof, Fancy Series, friends, George Washington, Heaven Sent, Jefferson Davis, Life, Life experience, Life lessons, Life truths, Life values, People, Personal development, Self-help

Family

Sunday was both Father’s Day and my 22nd anniversary. Both of these events got me to thinking about family. I believe one of God’s greatest blessings is the families we are born into or acquire.

Speaking of acquired family, I hit the jackpot with my wife Sharon. She has been a source of love and support and strength from day one, and I love her more every day.

Obviously, not everyone comes from a wonderful family. Some receive little love from their families. Some are even killed by their mothers before they are born. I feel for those who are not surrounded by loving, supportive families. It was not God’s intention that any would grow up without love. It’s man’s sinful nature that allowed that situation to arise.

From my earliest memories, I felt love very strongly from my parents. I was also very fortunate to have loving grandparents and aunts and uncles. I probably don’t even begin to understand all the benefits to me from these loving people.

My sister Barb has been there ever since the day I was born. We had our own sets of friends and our own interests growing up, and I can’t say we were especially close, and geography has kept us from being close in our adult lives, but I’ve always felt a special bond with Barb. I’ve always known she cared, and that’s a tremendous source of peace and strength. And since she married Joe Estinson a few years ago, she has given me some wonderful new nieces and nephews.

It’s hard for me to talk about my daughter Lynn without getting maudlin. She’s been a special treasure every day of her life, and she’s given me a great son-in-law and three wonderful grandsons. What a source of joy, and what peace to know she’s happy and leading a fulfilled life.

One of the things my mother and aunts did for us kids was to make sure all of us cousins got to spend time together growing up, and that has been important to us. Age differences and geography have prevented me from being quite as close to some of them as I would like, but I think any of us would come running if one of us needed it.

Two of my cousins in particular—a pair of fraternal twins—are close enough to me in age and have always lived close enough that we’ve developed special bonds. As time goes on, I’ve come to think of both of them more as sisters than cousins, and their love and support has always been extremely important to me. I hope I’ve said this without hurting Jan’s or Phyllis’s or Randy’s or Mike’s feelings, because I love all of them, too. It’s just that there’s a special bond with Jane and June (and June’s husband Jerry).

God has blessed me in so many ways throughout my life—and I’m sure that includes a lot of blessings I haven’t even been aware of—but I think my family is among the greatest of his blessings, and I thank Him every day for them.

What blessings are you especially thankful for.

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If you abide in Me and My word abides in you, then you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Christian Thoughts Tagged: Bible, Christian, Christian Fellowship, Christianity, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Faith, family, Fancy Series, Forgiveness, God, God is in control, Godly Wisdom, Grace, Heaven Sent, Holy Spirit, inspiration, Jesus, Sins, Works

Facts You Need to Know

Since I never brag about my home state, you may not be aware that I’m a Texan, born and raised here. In case you have the misfortune of not being a Texan and wonder what makes us so proud of our state, here are a few random facts for you:

1. Port Arthur to El Paso: 889 miles. Port Arthur to Chicago: 770 miles

2. Brownsville to Texline (north of Amarillo): 956 miles. Texline to Canada: 960 miles

3. El Paso is closer to California than to Dallas

4. World’s first rodeo was in Pecos , TX, July 4, 1883.

5. The Flagship Hotel in Galveston is the only hotel in North America built over water. Destroyed by Hurricane Ike – 2008!

6. The Heisman Trophy was named after John William Heisman who was the first full-time coach at Rice University in Houston, Texas.

7. Brazoria County has more species of birds than any other county in North America.

8. Aransas Wildlife Refuge is the winter home of North America’s only remaining flock of whooping cranes.

9. Jalapeno jelly originated in Lake Jackson in 1978. Could have done without this one.

10. The worst natural disaster in US history was in 1900, caused by a hurricane in which over 8,000 lives were lost on Galveston Island.

11. The first word spoken from the moon, July 20, 1969, was “Houston,” but the Space Center was actually in Clear Lake City at the time.

12. The King Ranch in South Texas is larger than Rhode Island.

13. Tropical Storm Claudette brought a US rainfall record of 43″ in 24 hours in and around Alvin in July of 1979.

14. Texas is the only state to enter the US by TREATY, (known as the Constitution of 1845 by the Republic of Texas to enter the union) instead of by annexation. This allows the Texas Flag to fly at the same height as the US Flag, and Texas may choose to divide into 5 states. Don’t antagonize us!

15. A Live Oak tree near Fulton is estimated to be 1500 years old.

16. Caddo Lake is the only natural lake in the state. Also the ugliest, with lily pads and tree roots all over the place.

17. Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885. There is no period in Dr Pepper.

18. Texas has had six capital cities: Washington-on-the Brazos, Harrisburg, Galveston, Velasco, West Columbia, and Austin.

19. The Capitol Dome in Austin is the only dome in the US which is taller than the Capitol Building in Washington, DC (by 7 feet).

20. The San Jacinto Monument is the tallest free standing monument in the world, taller than the Washington Monument.

21. The name ‘Texas’ comes from the Hasini Indian word ‘tejas’ meaning “friends.” Tejas is NOT Spanish for Texas.

22. The State Mascot is the Armadillo. An interesting bit of trivia about armadillos is they always have four babies. They have one egg, which splits into four, and they either have four males or four females. You probably couldn’t have lived without that knowledge.

23. The first domed stadium in the US was the Astrodome in Houston.

24. The Beck family ranch land grant is one days ride by horse (25 miles) in each direction from the headquarters.

25. The name of the XIT ranch in Dalhart Texas stands for “Ten in Texas.” That means 10 counties in Texas!

Although not an established fact, I-35 in Austin is probably the world’s biggest parking lot. It must be, since the traffic never moves.

Do all these facts make you wish you’d been born here? We can’t change where you were born, but it’s not too late to move here. Just don’t move to Fort Worth, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, or Austin. We’ve already got way too many people in these five cities.

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Writers may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: Advice, Austin, Authorship, Caring, Dallas, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Fancy Series, Fort Worth, friends, Heaven Sent, Houston, Life, Life experience, Life lessons, Life truths, Life values, People, Personal development, San Antonio, Self-help, Texas

Receiving Love

Four or five years ago, I was sitting at Kristen Lamb’s kitchen table trying to come up with a name for this blog site. Along the way, she suggested calling it Where the Heart Is.

Since then, I’ve had two different people give the site facelifts, and that name was dropped in the process. I don’t even remember which one made the change that dropped it. Now, the masthead just says “Christian Inspirational Author” and my name. It looks spiffier now than it used to, but I miss the old name.

It was very edifying to me that Kristen recognized my heart and thought it should be the label for my blogging. I’ll never confused with James Patterson when it comes to book sales or George Clooney when it comes to looks, but if I can be recognized for my heart, that’s more important to me anyhow.

My maternal grandfather had a heart bigger than Texas. Love was his essence, and it just oozed from him. My mother inherited that trait from him, and I guess I got it from her. It’s not the result of anything I’ve done—it’s a gift from God.

Loving people is not something I set as a goal. It’s not something I worked at and strived for. It’s just part of my nature, something genetic I received from her and him. I couldn’t turn it off if I wanted to. I don’t love people in hopes of receiving something from them. I love people because God put a natural love inside me that can’t keep from showing up.

On the other hand, this love does cause me to receive from others. In Luke 6:38, Jesus said:

“Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

When this verse is taught, it is usually in the context of money. That’s fair. It does work that way, but it’s not limited to money. It can also be time, help, or anything one might give to another—including love.

As I said, I don’t give love in hopes of receiving it back, but God’s laws just make it work that way. Not everybody loves me, not even everybody who knows me. But an astounding percentage of the people I know seem to. Whether I walk into my church on Sunday morning, or go to my mother’s assisted living home, or log onto Facebook, I feel love from all sorts of people, even though I screw up as much as anyone and maybe more than most.

Recently, a great deal of love has poured out from a large number of people over my atrial fibrillation. Facebook friends, Sunday School classmates, everywhere I turn I find someone wishing me well with this condition. Many are concerned that I won’t have my cardioversion for two more weeks. This morning I was totally blown away from one of my mother’s hospice nurses offered to take off work and take me to the hospital if it would help get it done sooner. My nephew and his family were over last night, and my niece said the same thing.

Since atrial fibrillation has been part of my life, off and on, for a number of years, I don’t worry about it as much as others do. I have no energy, and I’m short of breath, but those are not life-threatening symptoms. The wait is fine with me. In fact, I set the date myself. My wife would have been glad to take off work and take me in for the procedure if I’d asked her to, but I didn’t. This way, she’ll be on her summer break, and the wait isn’t hurting me at all.

But the love I feel from people who wish me well, who want it done sooner and offer to help, is very heartwarming. It’s been a real eye-opener to see and feel it.

What unexpected outpourings of love have you received?

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If you abide in Me and My word abides in you, then you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Christian Thoughts Tagged: Bible, Christian, Christian Fellowship, Christianity, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Faith, Fancy Series, Forgiveness, God, God is in control, Godly Wisdom, Grace, Heaven Sent, Holy Spirit, inspiration, Jesus, Love, Sins, Works

Critiquing Versus Brainstorming

The first two writers’ groups I belonged to were traditional critique groups. We would bring up to five pages of text from our WIP and read those pages to the group when it was our turn. We would also print enough copies of our pages for other group members to read along and make notes to critique our work.

This system was an excellent way to get grammatical errors picked apart and to get everyone’s opinion on what a character was wearing or the decor of a room or other such extraneous matters. It was also a pretty good way to get feelings hurt when one of the critiques was a little too harsh.

What critiquing never does is develop a sense of the overall story. How do these five pages fit into a 200 page manuscript? Do they help move the overall story along? Do they develop three-dimensional characters?

After half a dozen or more years in such groups, I didn’t have a clear picture of what an antagonist was. Neither did most of the others in my group.

Thanks to my friendship with Kristen Lamb and her friendship with Bob Mayer, we put together a group for novel writers called Warrior Writers’ Boot Camp. In this group we delved into such things as what an antagonist was, the difference between conflict and just bad situations, writing log lines to guide us in developing our stories, building background bios for our important characters, and other such subjects.

We learned a lot about the nuts and bolts of putting a novel together in the years that group existed, but it finally sorta petered out. After several years of learning that two plus two makes four, it’s time to move on.

Several of us from WWBC formed a new group after that. This group was all about brainstorming. Nobody brought pages to read. No one taught how-to’s of conflict or log lines or protagonists and antagonists. We had no formal agenda. No “Next week we’re going to . . .” We just met and discussed ideas.

As more or less the leader of that group, I failed to bring in new members. I’ve never been good at promoting. Whether it’s my own books or my website or our writers’ group, I suck at promoting, and the group dwindled to the point there are now three of us left to meet, and we meet irregularly. But when one of us calls for help, the others come running.

Last week, I met with Nigel Blackwell for a brainstorming session. Rich Weatherly would have been there, but he had an important event involving a granddaughter.

I had written books 1 and 2 of a 3-book novel, and I needed help. I had two or three possibilities for my book 3 antagonist, and I couldn’t decide which one made most sense. And until I figured that out, I couldn’t build my plot for book 3.

Nigel devoted an hour of his time to discussing possibilities with me, and I began to see what I needed to do. He didn’t say “Forget these two and do this one.” But he helped me focus my thinking to the point I could see where to go.

The critique groups were not wastes of my time. I learned that there were other people out there trying to write books, too—that I wasn’t the only one. I also learned some things about writing, so I can’t call those years a loss. But if I’d never graduated to a different kind of group, I’m sure I’d never have published anything.

The WWBC definitely wasn’t a waste of time. In a couple of years there, I learned more about the craft of novel-writing than in the whole rest of my life. And getting to know people like Jillian Dodd and Kristen Lamb and Nigel Blackwell enriched my life.

But the brainstorming we’ve done for the last few years and that Nigel and Rich and I continue to do has allowed me to blossom as a writer. I’ve got two Christian non-fictions and seven novellas on the market now, and they have all been finished since we started this last group.

What kind of writers’ group do you belong to or have you belonged to? How has it helped you to develop as a writer?

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Writers may not have it all together, but together we have it all.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

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A Gift from God

When we think of gifts from God, we tend to think in terms of money or houses or cars or other such “things.” Sometimes we get beyond these things and think about the gift of health. Today, I want to discuss another kind of gift. A gift that surpasses health and financial things.

On June 21st, 25 years ago, God brought the greatest gift ever into my life. He opened a door for me to meet Sharon K. Bullis. After shaking hands at the conclusion of our first date, we soon graduated to the realization that neither of us wanted to go out with anyone else.

It took us three years to marry, because she’d been single for 17 years, and I’d had more than one marriage failure. We both wanted to take it slowly and carefully and be sure we knew what we were doing before we said, “I do.”

In a couple of weeks, we will have been married for 22 years, and there’s never been a day that I regretted taking that step. There have been misunderstandings and even arguments from time to time. What couple doesn’t have them? But we made a firm commitment never to go to sleep at night mad at each other, and we’ve kept that commitment ever since.

Every day she becomes more precious to me. Through the years, we’ve always been there to help each other in times of need. Last winter I had the opportunity to be her caregiver when she had hip surgery. At first, I had to do almost everything for her, but as she recuperated, she did more and more for herself, and I did less and less.

When the opportunity to be her caregiver arose, I was thrilled. She had already done that for me on several occasions. She sat with me through two different hospital stays with heart-related things. She got up at some horrible time of morning to take me to the hospital for a cardioversion five years ago, and she’s going to again later this month.

When the health insurance industry went south some eight years ago and I was pretty much forced to retire, she continued working part-time, even though she already had a nice pension. She wanted to be sure our income was comfortable, and we both knew I wasn’t in a position to continue making money from health insurance.

For years, we’ve been putting money into college savings accounts for our grandchildren. It’s nowhere near enough to pay for college, but it certainly helps, and once I retired, the contributions to these accounts came from her work.

I won’t continue to list one item after another, but I hope I’ve conveyed the idea that I treasure my wife. God gave us to each other, and we not only thank Him but also honor Him by honoring each other.

How do you and your spouse honor each other?

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If you abide in Me and My word abides in you, then you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.

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For more information about David N. Walker, click the “About” tab above.

For more information about his books, click on “Books” above.

Contact him at dnwalkertx (at) gmail (dot) com or tweet him at @davidnwalkertx.

Filed under: Christian Thoughts Tagged: Bible, Christian, Christian Fellowship, Christianity, David N. Walker Christian Author, David N. Walker Historical Fiction Author, Faith, Fancy Series, Forgiveness, God, God is in control, Godly Wisdom, Grace, Heaven Sent, Holy Spirit, inspiration, Jesus, Sins, Works