Northern Adams's Blog, page 2
December 29, 2012
Recommended Podcast: All Saints Homilies
I call these podcasts 'sermons on demand,' and have spent many days with the TV off and just listening to one podcast after another until the sun went down. I'd like to recommend one--"The Qualities of Christian Love."
Anyone who has ever attempted to speak or act against evil has no doubt been accused of not being a good Christian. Christians must stop allowing themselves to be defined by those who do evil. Those people live solely for themselves and as wholly physical beings with only physical urges that must be met, and so they will invariably define Christian love--of which they know nothing--as being something which gets out of their way. The only way to do that is to tolerate sin. Christians are compelled by doctrine and faith to not tolerate sin.
"Christian love has a whole bunch of contours and many different colors. It's not all one thing. It certainly does not mean that we love everyone the same. I was taught that as a child and it's really bogus. The people who taught me religion (when I was young) did not know theology. When I started reading theology, I found that virtually no theologians hold that view, that you're to love everyone equally. Because if we did, we would not be morally discerning."
Morally discerning. I heard Fr Reardon say that, and it's what I always meant when I said "a society's moral code is evident in the things it shuns." In the name of 'tolerance,' we shun nothing .
Father Patrick Henry Reardon explains The Qualities of Christian Love, All Saints Homilies, originally broadcast July 04, 2010.
Christians have no moral compulsion to tolerate sin or get out of its way.
Now, when you're done listening to that podcast, listen to this one, also by Father Patrick Henry Reardon:
The Church: An Audacious Group of Roof Climbers
This guy is just amazing.
Anyone who has ever attempted to speak or act against evil has no doubt been accused of not being a good Christian. Christians must stop allowing themselves to be defined by those who do evil. Those people live solely for themselves and as wholly physical beings with only physical urges that must be met, and so they will invariably define Christian love--of which they know nothing--as being something which gets out of their way. The only way to do that is to tolerate sin. Christians are compelled by doctrine and faith to not tolerate sin.
"Christian love has a whole bunch of contours and many different colors. It's not all one thing. It certainly does not mean that we love everyone the same. I was taught that as a child and it's really bogus. The people who taught me religion (when I was young) did not know theology. When I started reading theology, I found that virtually no theologians hold that view, that you're to love everyone equally. Because if we did, we would not be morally discerning."
Morally discerning. I heard Fr Reardon say that, and it's what I always meant when I said "a society's moral code is evident in the things it shuns." In the name of 'tolerance,' we shun nothing .
Father Patrick Henry Reardon explains The Qualities of Christian Love, All Saints Homilies, originally broadcast July 04, 2010.
Christians have no moral compulsion to tolerate sin or get out of its way.
Now, when you're done listening to that podcast, listen to this one, also by Father Patrick Henry Reardon:
The Church: An Audacious Group of Roof Climbers
This guy is just amazing.
December 23, 2012
Crisis Online Magazine
2012, Another Ordinary Year in America
It is very difficult in the current highly political atmosphere of this country to somehow stay focused on children's fiction alone, and I hope you'll forgive me when I kinda step off that subject from time to time in order to comment on something else.
And I can't swear that all these things don't have everything to do with what we write for our children. We can't just be trying to come up with new ways to brandish swords, ride unicorns into the night sky, and slay dragons.
Every writer for children has an inescapable responsibility. Every story written for children--particularly children of faith--carries a message whether we endeavor to send one or not. That's just the way children read books--they look for the underlying message, whether consciously or subconsciously, and take that message, whether good, bad, or ugly, and carry it with them. That equals a responsibility for every single children's writer that we cannot shirk. It's laid upon our backs whether we want it or not.
Aesop realized, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay before the times of the iphone and the internet, that each and every story written for children must contain a moral. Not just tell a fun story--it must also teach something. I hold myself to that standard. Even more than that, I see no reason why each story must only contain one moral. Can be more than one, no?
So anything that has to do with the erosion of morals and faith should be an appropriate topic on a blog written by one who is trying to write Christian stories for children. I must be afforded the occasional rant. It is who I am. It is what I do.
Many days, I find myself unable to write and unable to focus and unable to simply calm down. It's nearly impossible, even when one 'has people.' Try doing it with no support system whatsoever. There are those out there struggling with depression (and what I have, I would call about 50 miles south and 45 miles west of simple 'depression') who have a support system. They have husbands, children, friends, coworkers--even if those people don't leave themselves open for that--being there for you when you need to talk--there are people who are at least physically there for them when they're struggling. They don't struggle alone.
As Mickey in my story says: "That's what friends are for." When you need to be mad, they let you be mad. When you need to be sad, they let you be sad. When you need to cry or rage or storm the tower, they're there for you. Try going through this alone.
Try being this guy...
...all alone on that bridge, absolutely terrified. Try being this guy with no people.
I googled many different words and phrases, looking for images that most closely reflected what a 'nervous breakdown' might look like. This is the best I could find. Most days, I feel like I'm not just in the matrix, but the only one even aware of the matrix. Like I'm the only one who sees the elephant in the room. That's terrifying.
Our society is both morally and sexually deranged. It is also socially deranged. We're disconnected. We're fractured. How we interact on the internet mirrors all too accurately how we interact now in real life: we treat friends like strangers and strangers like friends. If you need comfort or support, well you need to go to a total stranger and pay them to listen to you. We have "people for that sort of thing." "Come back when you're happy."
We're now a culture of people incapable of emotional depth and moral response. That's not terrifying???
So I came across that blog, above, through another blog--Orthodixie, easily my favorite program on Ancient Faith radio. And I read that blog post at Crisis Magazine, and was again out on that bridge unable to escape my own terror. I turn to the person next to me. "Don't you see that?!"
And they look around, expression unchanged and not the least bit alarmed, and say "What? See what?"
You've gotta be kidding.
It is very difficult in the current highly political atmosphere of this country to somehow stay focused on children's fiction alone, and I hope you'll forgive me when I kinda step off that subject from time to time in order to comment on something else.
And I can't swear that all these things don't have everything to do with what we write for our children. We can't just be trying to come up with new ways to brandish swords, ride unicorns into the night sky, and slay dragons.
Every writer for children has an inescapable responsibility. Every story written for children--particularly children of faith--carries a message whether we endeavor to send one or not. That's just the way children read books--they look for the underlying message, whether consciously or subconsciously, and take that message, whether good, bad, or ugly, and carry it with them. That equals a responsibility for every single children's writer that we cannot shirk. It's laid upon our backs whether we want it or not.
Aesop realized, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay before the times of the iphone and the internet, that each and every story written for children must contain a moral. Not just tell a fun story--it must also teach something. I hold myself to that standard. Even more than that, I see no reason why each story must only contain one moral. Can be more than one, no?
So anything that has to do with the erosion of morals and faith should be an appropriate topic on a blog written by one who is trying to write Christian stories for children. I must be afforded the occasional rant. It is who I am. It is what I do.
Many days, I find myself unable to write and unable to focus and unable to simply calm down. It's nearly impossible, even when one 'has people.' Try doing it with no support system whatsoever. There are those out there struggling with depression (and what I have, I would call about 50 miles south and 45 miles west of simple 'depression') who have a support system. They have husbands, children, friends, coworkers--even if those people don't leave themselves open for that--being there for you when you need to talk--there are people who are at least physically there for them when they're struggling. They don't struggle alone.
As Mickey in my story says: "That's what friends are for." When you need to be mad, they let you be mad. When you need to be sad, they let you be sad. When you need to cry or rage or storm the tower, they're there for you. Try going through this alone.
Try being this guy...
...all alone on that bridge, absolutely terrified. Try being this guy with no people.
I googled many different words and phrases, looking for images that most closely reflected what a 'nervous breakdown' might look like. This is the best I could find. Most days, I feel like I'm not just in the matrix, but the only one even aware of the matrix. Like I'm the only one who sees the elephant in the room. That's terrifying.
Our society is both morally and sexually deranged. It is also socially deranged. We're disconnected. We're fractured. How we interact on the internet mirrors all too accurately how we interact now in real life: we treat friends like strangers and strangers like friends. If you need comfort or support, well you need to go to a total stranger and pay them to listen to you. We have "people for that sort of thing." "Come back when you're happy."
We're now a culture of people incapable of emotional depth and moral response. That's not terrifying???
So I came across that blog, above, through another blog--Orthodixie, easily my favorite program on Ancient Faith radio. And I read that blog post at Crisis Magazine, and was again out on that bridge unable to escape my own terror. I turn to the person next to me. "Don't you see that?!"
And they look around, expression unchanged and not the least bit alarmed, and say "What? See what?"
You've gotta be kidding.
December 22, 2012
Adam Thought He Was Safe
First, I want to say that I do not imply or intend to imply that either of these people (Frs Josiah Trenham and Patrick Henry Reardon) share my opinions on any issue discussed here or elsewhere on this blog.
I'm listening to two incredible podcasts. First, Fr. Josiah Trenham speaks in a sermon influenced by the recent tragedy in Connecticut.
He touches at one point on the event of Adam in the Garden at the time of The Fall. When confronted, Adam points to Eve. "She did it, your honor, not me." Is he wrong? No, he isn't. He lifted no hands in the actual act. Eve is the one who physically disobeyed God. She's the one who picked from the forbidden tree, analogies notwithstanding. She's the one who ate 'the fruit.' Adam did nothing and said nothing. Therefore, he's blameless, right?
Then why was Adam also cast out?
It is just as Dietrich Bonhoeffer said: "Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act."
So Adam is standing there, throwing Eve under the bus. "I didn't do it. I didn't say a thing."
And God casting him out just as he cast out Eve is to say "And that's exactly why you are also and equally culpable."
Bet Adam's still scratching his head over that one.
My 'dark night of the soul' is tied to this issue. I don't want to get into divisiveness and derision--my denomination against all others. That, like tic-tac-toe, is an un-win-able game. But there are many newer denominations out there taking this CYOA approach. As it was explained to me, this is "my part in the war." That very same approach got Adam evicted from the Garden--silence and inaction.
This is what it looks like to stand back and 'let the monsters get us.' These evils will consume others. That is the evil of silence and inaction. This is why silence and inaction render you equally culpable.
So many churches are all but unwilling to speak out against any moral wrong except abortion. This is folly. Abortion is a symptom--and only one of many--of a far greater disease. You have to treat the disease. Catholics call abortion 'the culture of death.' I beg to differ. It is 'the culture of death' which is the disease, and abortion is just one of the symptoms.
I love this term, but believe that, as it is being applied, it is being defined far too narrowly to properly or accurately or fully identify it. It's like saying the disease of leprosy can best be described as a rash. Abortion is not the disease. It is just one of the symptoms. Symptoms do not appear until there is enough internal damage. Read that again. Symptoms do not appear until there is enough internal damage.
I will post later on this subject alone--abortion and 'the culture of death'--so will not go into great detail on it here, but to address this issue alone to the neglect of all others, specifically all those other issues for which abortion is only one symptom, is to me nothing short of silence and inaction in the face of moral crisis and evil itself.
Next, the other podcast, Fr Patrick Henry Reardon is just nothing short of amazing. Every single sermon, he says things with such poignancy, timeliness, and truth. I am fast-becoming convinced he is incapable of anything but absolute brilliance.
(Here's an exceptionally good sermon on Virgin Mary)
Ever go through a site of quotations and just read through them, one by one, and experience that sensation when you read just one that hits so close to home? "Yes, this is true." "Yes, I see this, now, everywhere." Fr Reardon's podcast is no different.
"Rationalizing an infidelity." Aaron justifies giving in to people's wants as an excuse for enabling sin and disobedience. The people wanted an idol to worship so he helped them do that.
Aaron "does not love the people enough to resist them." (Obama just did that exact same thing --allowing what was nothing short of the overthrow of the federal government by Washington and Colorado. We're not properly identifying evil. Any evil that presents a face which does not match the face of evil as we decide it should be, will be an evil who easily gets in the door. Then we wonder how it go there. How did it get inside the perimeter? How did it get under the wire and inside the security net? This is another trigger issue for me, and I will dedicate a blog post to it later on.)
Fr. Reardon mentions the "tension between wisdom and the fool," and how this is a constant theme throughout the Bible.
And he notices that people who have (and have had) very rough lives tend to be compulsive.
There are many days where I allow hour after hour after hour, until the sun has gone down, to pass with that stupid television set off, and just these podcasts playing one after another. It is to quiet my mind and my nerves, and try to get centered before the work week begins again.
I'm listening to two incredible podcasts. First, Fr. Josiah Trenham speaks in a sermon influenced by the recent tragedy in Connecticut.
He touches at one point on the event of Adam in the Garden at the time of The Fall. When confronted, Adam points to Eve. "She did it, your honor, not me." Is he wrong? No, he isn't. He lifted no hands in the actual act. Eve is the one who physically disobeyed God. She's the one who picked from the forbidden tree, analogies notwithstanding. She's the one who ate 'the fruit.' Adam did nothing and said nothing. Therefore, he's blameless, right?
Then why was Adam also cast out?
It is just as Dietrich Bonhoeffer said: "Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act."
So Adam is standing there, throwing Eve under the bus. "I didn't do it. I didn't say a thing."
And God casting him out just as he cast out Eve is to say "And that's exactly why you are also and equally culpable."
Bet Adam's still scratching his head over that one.
My 'dark night of the soul' is tied to this issue. I don't want to get into divisiveness and derision--my denomination against all others. That, like tic-tac-toe, is an un-win-able game. But there are many newer denominations out there taking this CYOA approach. As it was explained to me, this is "my part in the war." That very same approach got Adam evicted from the Garden--silence and inaction.
This is what it looks like to stand back and 'let the monsters get us.' These evils will consume others. That is the evil of silence and inaction. This is why silence and inaction render you equally culpable.
So many churches are all but unwilling to speak out against any moral wrong except abortion. This is folly. Abortion is a symptom--and only one of many--of a far greater disease. You have to treat the disease. Catholics call abortion 'the culture of death.' I beg to differ. It is 'the culture of death' which is the disease, and abortion is just one of the symptoms.
I love this term, but believe that, as it is being applied, it is being defined far too narrowly to properly or accurately or fully identify it. It's like saying the disease of leprosy can best be described as a rash. Abortion is not the disease. It is just one of the symptoms. Symptoms do not appear until there is enough internal damage. Read that again. Symptoms do not appear until there is enough internal damage.
I will post later on this subject alone--abortion and 'the culture of death'--so will not go into great detail on it here, but to address this issue alone to the neglect of all others, specifically all those other issues for which abortion is only one symptom, is to me nothing short of silence and inaction in the face of moral crisis and evil itself.
Next, the other podcast, Fr Patrick Henry Reardon is just nothing short of amazing. Every single sermon, he says things with such poignancy, timeliness, and truth. I am fast-becoming convinced he is incapable of anything but absolute brilliance.
(Here's an exceptionally good sermon on Virgin Mary)
Ever go through a site of quotations and just read through them, one by one, and experience that sensation when you read just one that hits so close to home? "Yes, this is true." "Yes, I see this, now, everywhere." Fr Reardon's podcast is no different.
"Rationalizing an infidelity." Aaron justifies giving in to people's wants as an excuse for enabling sin and disobedience. The people wanted an idol to worship so he helped them do that.
Aaron "does not love the people enough to resist them." (Obama just did that exact same thing --allowing what was nothing short of the overthrow of the federal government by Washington and Colorado. We're not properly identifying evil. Any evil that presents a face which does not match the face of evil as we decide it should be, will be an evil who easily gets in the door. Then we wonder how it go there. How did it get inside the perimeter? How did it get under the wire and inside the security net? This is another trigger issue for me, and I will dedicate a blog post to it later on.)
Fr. Reardon mentions the "tension between wisdom and the fool," and how this is a constant theme throughout the Bible.
And he notices that people who have (and have had) very rough lives tend to be compulsive.
There are many days where I allow hour after hour after hour, until the sun has gone down, to pass with that stupid television set off, and just these podcasts playing one after another. It is to quiet my mind and my nerves, and try to get centered before the work week begins again.
December 14, 2012
From the "Questionable Christian Content" Files: Banshees
There are a few things in my book that, as a work of Christian fiction geared for kids, I fully expect to take criticism for. The first being the Banshee of Leeds Hurst Castle.
By including the element of a ghost in my story, am I saying there are any such things as ghosts?
Of course not. Read the book. I would also have to be saying that there are gargoyles who can speak, think, and move around, just like people. I would also have to be saying that a grudge is a small venomous animal that can be held. I would also have to be saying that portals exist, and that one could travel to the dark, creepy underworld simply by standing in an antique chest. I would also have to be saying that Shenanigans are green, furry creatures, usually small, that go pinging around in the trees, and that lawyers in Wiggle Pointe do not wear shoes. Have we gotten a bead on what fantasy is, yet?
We need to get a much firmer grasp of what fantasy is, and Christians who think that other Christians don't read ghost stories are fooling themselves. Christians read Harry Potter. Even Christians that formerly denounced--unread--the entire series came to love the books after having read just one of them. Why? Harry Potter is not unchristian. The list of moral lessons taught in all seven of those books is longer than my arm.
Not a single Christian child raised in the church, raised in a home that kept moral order and a moral code, that believed in God and God's teachings ever finished any Harry Potter book believing in magic. It was only those whose grasp of reality and sanity were already being held together with bandaids and bailing wire who ran off into the woods believing they could turn rodents into goblets by waving a stick in the air.
It's not the 'what,' but the 'how.' The banshee in my story teaches a very solid lesson in Christianity. If the message is good and pure, then a banshee is as valid a vehicle in Christian fantasy as any other .
Would anyone read my book and then think for one second that I believe in living gargoyles? Then why would anyone think that I 1) believe in ghosts, or 2) am trying to suggest the ridiculous notion that ghosts exist? Wouldn't either you or I have to be bananas, crackers, and nuts?
The banshee, as it turns out, was never to be hated and was only once to be feared.
This is FANTASY. It's the lesson taught, not the tools used. As fantasy, it is reasonable and logical to presume that imaginary elements would be not only present but rife in the story, and like it or not, all kids are drawn to fantasy. Have been since the beginning of time. And it's increasing. We, as writers of Christian fiction, can either write stories to sate those interests while promoting God and His teachings, or we can reject them out of hand, and continue to lose our own children to the world and its 'culture of death' by the literal thousands.
1) Read the book
2) Form an opinion
In that order.
What binds the banshee to earth (to the world and the worldly), keeping herself away from the son she loves and God Himself?
Worry
Anguish
Hate
Need for revenge
Sorrow
Despair
Doubt
Torment
Rage/anger
"Sorrow and torment wore deep on her face like callouses."
Will not all of these things--each and every one--bind you to earth, keeping you away from God? His message? His love? You bet your butt, they will.
Constantine tells the story of the banshee--how the castle was overrun, and her son Euric was found in the moat. Constantine tells the kids how she got this way--why Pandora never left the castle, even as it is now, more than a hundred and fifty years after the attack, now lying in ruins in the middle of Bedlam Gulch.
"That's horrible," said Fidget. She looked out into the trees, this time not with fear or disdain, but with empathy and sorrow."
What finally releases the banshee, allowing her to go 'home,' as she finally floats upward?
The letting go of everything that appears on the list above. This final release is symbolically shown as the antagonist (no villain is 100% evil, which is why we fail to see true evil time and time and time again) turns lose seemingly millions of fireflies. Yes, the antagonist does a good deed. Pandora's son, Euric, used to venture outside the bailey--the castle walls--to catch lightning bugs. As the Stormy Petrel--the antagonist--releases the fireflies, it dawns on the kids why Pandora has been in self-imposed exile in the gulch for going on two centuries.
"Euric's fireflies. Even I can see what's going on now," said Mickey. "How come Pandora never figured it out?"
Constantine shrugged. "She wasn't trying to figure it out."
See list above!
The lightning bugs began swarming around Pandora. She stretched her arms out wide, closed her eyes sweetly, and relented. They carried her gently upward in a spiraling cloud of brilliance and light.
"So all she ever had to do was follow the fireflies?" asked Fidget.
"She wasn't looking for fireflies," said Grigori.
See list above!
Mickey stood gazing at Pandora as she floated steadily upward until finally she disappeared altogether, and all the lightning bugs darted and danced, and merged with the stars in the sky.
See list above again--are these not the very things all Christians must let go of in order to get closer to God? To find peace?
Solid Christian lesson. Solid. Bullet-proof. And it's all taught with a ghost. Whether we face reality or not, it won't change the fact that all children, including Christian children, are hungry for fantasy.
We can either take them there, without losing them in the dark recesses that swallow them up in secular fiction--particularly fantasy that is written for children--or we can keep watching these same children leave the church for worldly things. If we're lucky, some of them will come back to the church, but in what condition? Beaten, battered, and broken.
How about we just work all the harder to not lose them in the first place? There's nothing out there. Nothing. Not in that world. Fantasy, in and of itself, is not an evil thing. How often did Jesus Himself use fantasy in parable?
At this time of year, do you--as a Christian sitting around your television set with your Christian family--watch A Christmas Carol? Was that story even written as Christian fiction? And yet Christians watch it--it's back-in-the-day black and white entertainment considered wholesome, and it's absolutely dripping with morality and the Christian worldview. Maybe you left the room at all the wrong times, but check it out: there's not just one ghost in that story. There are three.
It's a Wonderful Life. Ever watched that movie? Another Christmas film--we eat it up. TV stations run that movie, some as a marathon, at this time of year. Is Jimmy Stewart's character in that film not every bit of a ghost, walking around disembodied, watching how life would have unfolded in his small hometown had he never lived?
I know another Christian fantasy story that features a witch--The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. Geebs, it's even in the title: witch. Another taboo in Christian fiction, and here's CS Lewis himself using a witch in one of his stories. Anyone out there know of any Christian fantasy using ghosts in their stories to good ends? It's like anything else--it can be used for good or evil.
Ghosts are a valid vehicle for teaching Christian lessons to children in a fantasy setting. It's valid. It's legitimate. Look at the message, not the messenger.
By including the element of a ghost in my story, am I saying there are any such things as ghosts?
Of course not. Read the book. I would also have to be saying that there are gargoyles who can speak, think, and move around, just like people. I would also have to be saying that a grudge is a small venomous animal that can be held. I would also have to be saying that portals exist, and that one could travel to the dark, creepy underworld simply by standing in an antique chest. I would also have to be saying that Shenanigans are green, furry creatures, usually small, that go pinging around in the trees, and that lawyers in Wiggle Pointe do not wear shoes. Have we gotten a bead on what fantasy is, yet?
We need to get a much firmer grasp of what fantasy is, and Christians who think that other Christians don't read ghost stories are fooling themselves. Christians read Harry Potter. Even Christians that formerly denounced--unread--the entire series came to love the books after having read just one of them. Why? Harry Potter is not unchristian. The list of moral lessons taught in all seven of those books is longer than my arm.
Not a single Christian child raised in the church, raised in a home that kept moral order and a moral code, that believed in God and God's teachings ever finished any Harry Potter book believing in magic. It was only those whose grasp of reality and sanity were already being held together with bandaids and bailing wire who ran off into the woods believing they could turn rodents into goblets by waving a stick in the air.
It's not the 'what,' but the 'how.' The banshee in my story teaches a very solid lesson in Christianity. If the message is good and pure, then a banshee is as valid a vehicle in Christian fantasy as any other .
Would anyone read my book and then think for one second that I believe in living gargoyles? Then why would anyone think that I 1) believe in ghosts, or 2) am trying to suggest the ridiculous notion that ghosts exist? Wouldn't either you or I have to be bananas, crackers, and nuts?
The banshee, as it turns out, was never to be hated and was only once to be feared.
This is FANTASY. It's the lesson taught, not the tools used. As fantasy, it is reasonable and logical to presume that imaginary elements would be not only present but rife in the story, and like it or not, all kids are drawn to fantasy. Have been since the beginning of time. And it's increasing. We, as writers of Christian fiction, can either write stories to sate those interests while promoting God and His teachings, or we can reject them out of hand, and continue to lose our own children to the world and its 'culture of death' by the literal thousands.
1) Read the book
2) Form an opinion
In that order.
What binds the banshee to earth (to the world and the worldly), keeping herself away from the son she loves and God Himself?
Worry
Anguish
Hate
Need for revenge
Sorrow
Despair
Doubt
Torment
Rage/anger
"Sorrow and torment wore deep on her face like callouses."
Will not all of these things--each and every one--bind you to earth, keeping you away from God? His message? His love? You bet your butt, they will.
Constantine tells the story of the banshee--how the castle was overrun, and her son Euric was found in the moat. Constantine tells the kids how she got this way--why Pandora never left the castle, even as it is now, more than a hundred and fifty years after the attack, now lying in ruins in the middle of Bedlam Gulch.
"That's horrible," said Fidget. She looked out into the trees, this time not with fear or disdain, but with empathy and sorrow."
What finally releases the banshee, allowing her to go 'home,' as she finally floats upward?
The letting go of everything that appears on the list above. This final release is symbolically shown as the antagonist (no villain is 100% evil, which is why we fail to see true evil time and time and time again) turns lose seemingly millions of fireflies. Yes, the antagonist does a good deed. Pandora's son, Euric, used to venture outside the bailey--the castle walls--to catch lightning bugs. As the Stormy Petrel--the antagonist--releases the fireflies, it dawns on the kids why Pandora has been in self-imposed exile in the gulch for going on two centuries.
"Euric's fireflies. Even I can see what's going on now," said Mickey. "How come Pandora never figured it out?"
Constantine shrugged. "She wasn't trying to figure it out."
See list above!
The lightning bugs began swarming around Pandora. She stretched her arms out wide, closed her eyes sweetly, and relented. They carried her gently upward in a spiraling cloud of brilliance and light.
"So all she ever had to do was follow the fireflies?" asked Fidget.
"She wasn't looking for fireflies," said Grigori.
See list above!
Mickey stood gazing at Pandora as she floated steadily upward until finally she disappeared altogether, and all the lightning bugs darted and danced, and merged with the stars in the sky.
See list above again--are these not the very things all Christians must let go of in order to get closer to God? To find peace?
Solid Christian lesson. Solid. Bullet-proof. And it's all taught with a ghost. Whether we face reality or not, it won't change the fact that all children, including Christian children, are hungry for fantasy.
We can either take them there, without losing them in the dark recesses that swallow them up in secular fiction--particularly fantasy that is written for children--or we can keep watching these same children leave the church for worldly things. If we're lucky, some of them will come back to the church, but in what condition? Beaten, battered, and broken.
How about we just work all the harder to not lose them in the first place? There's nothing out there. Nothing. Not in that world. Fantasy, in and of itself, is not an evil thing. How often did Jesus Himself use fantasy in parable?
At this time of year, do you--as a Christian sitting around your television set with your Christian family--watch A Christmas Carol? Was that story even written as Christian fiction? And yet Christians watch it--it's back-in-the-day black and white entertainment considered wholesome, and it's absolutely dripping with morality and the Christian worldview. Maybe you left the room at all the wrong times, but check it out: there's not just one ghost in that story. There are three.
It's a Wonderful Life. Ever watched that movie? Another Christmas film--we eat it up. TV stations run that movie, some as a marathon, at this time of year. Is Jimmy Stewart's character in that film not every bit of a ghost, walking around disembodied, watching how life would have unfolded in his small hometown had he never lived?
I know another Christian fantasy story that features a witch--The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. Geebs, it's even in the title: witch. Another taboo in Christian fiction, and here's CS Lewis himself using a witch in one of his stories. Anyone out there know of any Christian fantasy using ghosts in their stories to good ends? It's like anything else--it can be used for good or evil.
Ghosts are a valid vehicle for teaching Christian lessons to children in a fantasy setting. It's valid. It's legitimate. Look at the message, not the messenger.
December 12, 2012
Orthodixie
I've been in quite a sour mood lately, and I'm trying to get back to where I once was--in somewhat good humor at least most of the time. Well, today I had to call off work due to breathing problems. The asthma's been in overdrive all week, and it's not exactly hay fever season so I have no idea why it's kicking up on me.
Anyway, I took the day off, settled in at the computer, and never bothered to put in a movie. Instead, I decided to listen to podcasts all day. The Anchor is a great online radio station--make sure you check that one out--but I usually have to relaunch the popup player after every show, and sometimes even in the middle of a show. No idea why it dies out on me, but it's not their site. It's my computer and its dwindling capabilities.
Ancient Faith always plays for me until I close the window, so that's where I've been going lately, and I'm absolutely addicted to one of the shows: Orthodixie. Hilarious. Absolutely hilarious. So I've been on an Orthodixie marathon all day long. It's Father Joseph Huneycutt, a priest of the Eastern Orthodox Christian Church. He's had me in tears too many times to count. I just had to give this guy a shout-out.
This one originally broadcast September 12, 2011 is particularly hilarious. If you can listen to this one without busting your slats, check yourself for a pulse.
Anyway, I took the day off, settled in at the computer, and never bothered to put in a movie. Instead, I decided to listen to podcasts all day. The Anchor is a great online radio station--make sure you check that one out--but I usually have to relaunch the popup player after every show, and sometimes even in the middle of a show. No idea why it dies out on me, but it's not their site. It's my computer and its dwindling capabilities.
Ancient Faith always plays for me until I close the window, so that's where I've been going lately, and I'm absolutely addicted to one of the shows: Orthodixie. Hilarious. Absolutely hilarious. So I've been on an Orthodixie marathon all day long. It's Father Joseph Huneycutt, a priest of the Eastern Orthodox Christian Church. He's had me in tears too many times to count. I just had to give this guy a shout-out.
This one originally broadcast September 12, 2011 is particularly hilarious. If you can listen to this one without busting your slats, check yourself for a pulse.
December 4, 2012
Goodreads...Bad site
Goodreads gets an 'F.'
I'm extremely upset right now, and that in and of itself is reason enough to put off writing this post, but I'm absolutely fuming. Apparently, Goodreads is nothing more than a craigslist for book readers and writers. They have no filtering options for people whose lives mean more than just sleeping around, getting drunk, and getting high. You can go in there having written a story for christian children and have listings for erotica titles (nothing but literary pornography by, for, and about people with pointless, empty lives) show up all over your home page. Can't flag them, report them, or filter them out. You're just sitting there staring at that garbage.
I tried to search groups to join. I'm new, and trying to get some use out of this site. Just trying to get out there and get in the mix. Well, the purpose of setting up groups under different headings is so that when someone has specific interests, they don't have to sift through literally thousands of different groups. Well, what is the purpose of having different groups if Goodreads doesn't maintain the integrity of those groups? If you can set up a group for a pornographic book and list that group under the Christian heading, then what exactly is the point of having different groups?
I went into the Christian groups heading, and there's a group for Fifty Shades of Grey. That's pornography. Sex in any kind of public medium is not intimacy--it's pornography. Sorry, but we're not supposed to be spectators to sex. We're a voyeuristic society, and any forum where sex is for viewing, a woman's worth drops to absolute zero--we're nothing but a toilet there. I'm female. My life has purpose and worth. I'm not here for amusement, abuse, or entertainment.
I've about had it with the 14-year-old eye-rollers who think it's funny to take their pee pee stories and their filth and their worthless deviance, and shove it in everyone's faces and down everyone's throats. Why is that group in the Christian category? It's not bad enough I have F, F, F in listings that come up on the screen when I try to go to my home page or elsewhere on this site. I can't filter that. But you mean I can't even go to a category for groups or giveaways, and only find books that actually fit those categories that I chose to look in? No way to report or flag or filter.
This sick, filthy garbage has to be everywhere? Really?
Goodreads gets an 'F.' They just don't care. Women get abused on sites like that. Sex everywhere, of every imaginable kind--deviance galore? If it's shoved in Christians' faces, kids have no shot. It's just got to be absolutely everywhere? Goodreads is about to go.
I'm extremely upset right now, and that in and of itself is reason enough to put off writing this post, but I'm absolutely fuming. Apparently, Goodreads is nothing more than a craigslist for book readers and writers. They have no filtering options for people whose lives mean more than just sleeping around, getting drunk, and getting high. You can go in there having written a story for christian children and have listings for erotica titles (nothing but literary pornography by, for, and about people with pointless, empty lives) show up all over your home page. Can't flag them, report them, or filter them out. You're just sitting there staring at that garbage.
I tried to search groups to join. I'm new, and trying to get some use out of this site. Just trying to get out there and get in the mix. Well, the purpose of setting up groups under different headings is so that when someone has specific interests, they don't have to sift through literally thousands of different groups. Well, what is the purpose of having different groups if Goodreads doesn't maintain the integrity of those groups? If you can set up a group for a pornographic book and list that group under the Christian heading, then what exactly is the point of having different groups?
I went into the Christian groups heading, and there's a group for Fifty Shades of Grey. That's pornography. Sex in any kind of public medium is not intimacy--it's pornography. Sorry, but we're not supposed to be spectators to sex. We're a voyeuristic society, and any forum where sex is for viewing, a woman's worth drops to absolute zero--we're nothing but a toilet there. I'm female. My life has purpose and worth. I'm not here for amusement, abuse, or entertainment.
I've about had it with the 14-year-old eye-rollers who think it's funny to take their pee pee stories and their filth and their worthless deviance, and shove it in everyone's faces and down everyone's throats. Why is that group in the Christian category? It's not bad enough I have F, F, F in listings that come up on the screen when I try to go to my home page or elsewhere on this site. I can't filter that. But you mean I can't even go to a category for groups or giveaways, and only find books that actually fit those categories that I chose to look in? No way to report or flag or filter.
This sick, filthy garbage has to be everywhere? Really?
Goodreads gets an 'F.' They just don't care. Women get abused on sites like that. Sex everywhere, of every imaginable kind--deviance galore? If it's shoved in Christians' faces, kids have no shot. It's just got to be absolutely everywhere? Goodreads is about to go.
November 25, 2012
Goodreads Giveaway
Not sure why the code they give me doesn't display properly as widget code, but the giveaway on my book is up and will be running through the end of January, 2013. Check it out. If you're on Goodreads, enter to win a free copy.
Amazon...sucks.
"Look Inside" has been quite a hair-pulling experience. First, it seemed like forever before the feature began working on Amazon.
Flaw #1: Takes 6 - 8 weeks before it appears on your title's listing on the website.
Why so long? So much occurs in a split second over the internet--why so long to put up a preview on a site where they have the pdf of your entire manuscript? Their FAQs say 7 - 10 days. The emails I got back from support said 6 - 8 weeks. Amazon said CreateSpace was holding things up. CreateSpace said Amazon owns the feature so they're the holdup. Hmmm. So you sit there between the rock and the hard place, completely powerless and waiting for the preview to show up on your listing. I was rapt with anticipation. Well, be careful what you wish for.
It's all very confusing because, even though Amazon owns CreateSpace--which should mean they're the same company--you have to check between four different accounts in order to exercise any kind of 'dashboard' control: Amazon, Author Central, CreateSpace, and Look Inside. I go to my Amazon account and don't see my book--in that account, I'm just another shopper. Maddening.
Flaw #2: Several different accounts to keep up with, though all four are the same company.
Yeah. Shoot me. I hate to grouse. This is my first book and my first experience with all of this, and they don't appear to make any real effort to make it user-friendly. When I sign into Amazon, I should see my book--anything I own, buy, or sell on that site. I had to explain to the support person who responded to one of my many queries what 'dashboard' control was. Are you serious?
On CreateSpace, there is an option in the pulldown menu that is specifically labeled 'dashboard.' Join Goodreads--you can go to your dashboard. I don't think I've ever joined any discussion forum on any site on the web, ever, that didn't give you a dashboard. Start a blog on any site--they'll give you a dashboard. And I was asked what dashboard control was, by someone supposedly in tech support. Um...
Having to keep track of four different accounts might not be a big deal...until you need to fix something, change something, add something, or delete something. And ta-da, that's what dashboard control is. For 'ease of use,' Amazon gets a 2 out of a maximum rating of 10.
Flaw #3: Built-in spoilers.
Big, big flaw. Huge flaw. I cringed as soon as I went to the Amazon site to my title's listing, saw that the "Look Inside" feature was up and running, and took it for a test drive. First, shoppers can't see beyond page 6. I start numbering pages in my book with page 1 of chapter 1. I'm not going to number the dedications page or a prologue if I had one, or the table of contents. Sorry, that would be knuckle-headed. Some books don't physically number those pages either but they account for them. You know that's the case when you open the book and the first page of the first chapter is numbered '12.' I hate that, but it's beside the point.
So I flip through to the actual story--what anyone thinking of buying the book would be interested in to the exclusion of everything else (and why not? That's where they're going to judge whether the story is exciting or boring, or the writing is good or bad, correct?) And surprise, the preview stops at page 6. In my book, that's not even through the first chapter. I'm a completely unknown writer and this is my debut title. Six pages just isn't going to cut it.
Second, my ending was up and viewable by the public. Maybe I'm from the moon or something, but that's a spoiler, right? This would be an issue for any work of fiction, wouldn't it?
Non-fiction is safe. What's at the end of a non-fiction book? Addendum? Bibliography? Appendix? Even if part of the ending was featured, would 'spoiler' ever been an issue? It's non-fiction. Okay, say they put up a preview that shows the ending of a book about the Titanic. Hmm. Okay, at the risk of ruining it for someone out there, uh, the boat sinks. Sorry.
How about a cook book? Listen, if you're okay with me peeking at your county fair award-winning recipe for boysenberry pie that appears in the front of your book, then I'm sure you won't get your bloomers in a twist if I also get a look at your recipe for hunter stew that appears all the way in the back. Again, a preview of the end of a non-fiction book is rarely, if ever, an issue.
Well, in fiction, a preview that includes back-matter is nothing short of a spoiler. When was the last time you walked into a Wal-mart to the book section, flipped to the end of a book to see who the killer was, and then put it back down? Who does this? Nobody. "Hmm, yep, the butler did it. Don't need to read this one."
It's inane, if you ask me. A preview on a fiction book should be 100% front -loaded. Being able to see the back cover is fine, and that's not part of the preview anyway. My title's front and back cover were already viewable before the "Look Inside" feature was even up and running--it's an image file. So for what logical purpose would 'the powers that be' over at Amazon make the ending of my or anyone else's fictional book part of the preview?
From a few online dictionaries:
Spoil ' er noun
1. a person or thing that spoils, as in the person or publication that reveals a plot twist or resolution from a book or movie
2. a remark which reveals important plot elements from books or movies, thus denying the reader or viewer the proper suspense from reading the book or watching the movie
3. when someone reveals a previously unknown aspect or resolution from a book or movie which you would have rather learned on your own
4. a published piece of information that divulges a surprise such as a plot twist in a book or movie
Previews such as those available in features similar to Amazon's "Look Inside" should be 100% front-loaded on all fiction titles.
Flaw #4: Writers who write the books that are being previewed have absolutely no say in how much or what part of the book is preview-able
Set maximums--that's fine. There will be the occasional overzealous writer who wants to make their whole book preview-able. So set a maximum. However, the writer should be able to determine what is viewable. Problems such as these would not arise if the writer was given the control of what and how much is included in a preview. And yet, it's random. Why? There are apps in beta testing that work better than the "Look Inside" feature. Amazon, work on the program before you offer it as a feature. Before.
And when I say it's glitchy, I'm not the only one having issues. But where you really run into trouble is when you find that you hate the thing and decide you want out. It takes days, even weeks to get it back off of there, and this process is aggravated by the fact that you have four separate accounts rather than just one. Good luck finding any 'opt out' option. It's like you've been inducted into the cabal. Here's a guy who couldn't find it either. And another one. And Amazon will tell you that revealing your book's ending by way of this glitchy feature isn't copyright infringement. I beg to differ.
So you email support. You get an automated response saying they received your inquiry and will respond within 2 days. Back and forth and back and forth, and finally, it comes down. Then, mysteriously, a week or so later, it's back up again. And the process starts all over again. Read the comments posted on that first article--you get in and can't get back out again. Amazon needs to show more respect to the people who are writing all the books selling through their website.
But like so many things nowadays, the grousing of customers means nothing to 'the powers that be,' and it's a 'shut up and smile' kind of a thing.
Want a preview? Check out the tabs at the top of this blog. I give you six chapters to chew on. You can't get that at Amazon. You've never heard of me. I'm an unknown writer and this is a debut book. Six chapters, I give you. Given the circumstances, do you deserve any less?
Flaw #1: Takes 6 - 8 weeks before it appears on your title's listing on the website.
Why so long? So much occurs in a split second over the internet--why so long to put up a preview on a site where they have the pdf of your entire manuscript? Their FAQs say 7 - 10 days. The emails I got back from support said 6 - 8 weeks. Amazon said CreateSpace was holding things up. CreateSpace said Amazon owns the feature so they're the holdup. Hmmm. So you sit there between the rock and the hard place, completely powerless and waiting for the preview to show up on your listing. I was rapt with anticipation. Well, be careful what you wish for.
It's all very confusing because, even though Amazon owns CreateSpace--which should mean they're the same company--you have to check between four different accounts in order to exercise any kind of 'dashboard' control: Amazon, Author Central, CreateSpace, and Look Inside. I go to my Amazon account and don't see my book--in that account, I'm just another shopper. Maddening.
Flaw #2: Several different accounts to keep up with, though all four are the same company.
Yeah. Shoot me. I hate to grouse. This is my first book and my first experience with all of this, and they don't appear to make any real effort to make it user-friendly. When I sign into Amazon, I should see my book--anything I own, buy, or sell on that site. I had to explain to the support person who responded to one of my many queries what 'dashboard' control was. Are you serious?
On CreateSpace, there is an option in the pulldown menu that is specifically labeled 'dashboard.' Join Goodreads--you can go to your dashboard. I don't think I've ever joined any discussion forum on any site on the web, ever, that didn't give you a dashboard. Start a blog on any site--they'll give you a dashboard. And I was asked what dashboard control was, by someone supposedly in tech support. Um...
Having to keep track of four different accounts might not be a big deal...until you need to fix something, change something, add something, or delete something. And ta-da, that's what dashboard control is. For 'ease of use,' Amazon gets a 2 out of a maximum rating of 10.
Flaw #3: Built-in spoilers.
Big, big flaw. Huge flaw. I cringed as soon as I went to the Amazon site to my title's listing, saw that the "Look Inside" feature was up and running, and took it for a test drive. First, shoppers can't see beyond page 6. I start numbering pages in my book with page 1 of chapter 1. I'm not going to number the dedications page or a prologue if I had one, or the table of contents. Sorry, that would be knuckle-headed. Some books don't physically number those pages either but they account for them. You know that's the case when you open the book and the first page of the first chapter is numbered '12.' I hate that, but it's beside the point.
So I flip through to the actual story--what anyone thinking of buying the book would be interested in to the exclusion of everything else (and why not? That's where they're going to judge whether the story is exciting or boring, or the writing is good or bad, correct?) And surprise, the preview stops at page 6. In my book, that's not even through the first chapter. I'm a completely unknown writer and this is my debut title. Six pages just isn't going to cut it.
Second, my ending was up and viewable by the public. Maybe I'm from the moon or something, but that's a spoiler, right? This would be an issue for any work of fiction, wouldn't it?
Non-fiction is safe. What's at the end of a non-fiction book? Addendum? Bibliography? Appendix? Even if part of the ending was featured, would 'spoiler' ever been an issue? It's non-fiction. Okay, say they put up a preview that shows the ending of a book about the Titanic. Hmm. Okay, at the risk of ruining it for someone out there, uh, the boat sinks. Sorry.
How about a cook book? Listen, if you're okay with me peeking at your county fair award-winning recipe for boysenberry pie that appears in the front of your book, then I'm sure you won't get your bloomers in a twist if I also get a look at your recipe for hunter stew that appears all the way in the back. Again, a preview of the end of a non-fiction book is rarely, if ever, an issue.
Well, in fiction, a preview that includes back-matter is nothing short of a spoiler. When was the last time you walked into a Wal-mart to the book section, flipped to the end of a book to see who the killer was, and then put it back down? Who does this? Nobody. "Hmm, yep, the butler did it. Don't need to read this one."
It's inane, if you ask me. A preview on a fiction book should be 100% front -loaded. Being able to see the back cover is fine, and that's not part of the preview anyway. My title's front and back cover were already viewable before the "Look Inside" feature was even up and running--it's an image file. So for what logical purpose would 'the powers that be' over at Amazon make the ending of my or anyone else's fictional book part of the preview?
From a few online dictionaries:
Spoil ' er noun
1. a person or thing that spoils, as in the person or publication that reveals a plot twist or resolution from a book or movie
2. a remark which reveals important plot elements from books or movies, thus denying the reader or viewer the proper suspense from reading the book or watching the movie
3. when someone reveals a previously unknown aspect or resolution from a book or movie which you would have rather learned on your own
4. a published piece of information that divulges a surprise such as a plot twist in a book or movie
Previews such as those available in features similar to Amazon's "Look Inside" should be 100% front-loaded on all fiction titles.
Flaw #4: Writers who write the books that are being previewed have absolutely no say in how much or what part of the book is preview-able
Set maximums--that's fine. There will be the occasional overzealous writer who wants to make their whole book preview-able. So set a maximum. However, the writer should be able to determine what is viewable. Problems such as these would not arise if the writer was given the control of what and how much is included in a preview. And yet, it's random. Why? There are apps in beta testing that work better than the "Look Inside" feature. Amazon, work on the program before you offer it as a feature. Before.
And when I say it's glitchy, I'm not the only one having issues. But where you really run into trouble is when you find that you hate the thing and decide you want out. It takes days, even weeks to get it back off of there, and this process is aggravated by the fact that you have four separate accounts rather than just one. Good luck finding any 'opt out' option. It's like you've been inducted into the cabal. Here's a guy who couldn't find it either. And another one. And Amazon will tell you that revealing your book's ending by way of this glitchy feature isn't copyright infringement. I beg to differ.
So you email support. You get an automated response saying they received your inquiry and will respond within 2 days. Back and forth and back and forth, and finally, it comes down. Then, mysteriously, a week or so later, it's back up again. And the process starts all over again. Read the comments posted on that first article--you get in and can't get back out again. Amazon needs to show more respect to the people who are writing all the books selling through their website.
But like so many things nowadays, the grousing of customers means nothing to 'the powers that be,' and it's a 'shut up and smile' kind of a thing.
Want a preview? Check out the tabs at the top of this blog. I give you six chapters to chew on. You can't get that at Amazon. You've never heard of me. I'm an unknown writer and this is a debut book. Six chapters, I give you. Given the circumstances, do you deserve any less?
November 23, 2012
Okay, this seems to be working...
Snapshots of the pdf file seem to be working. It's not perfect, but it's the best so far. Now that I've gotten all the chapters up, I've deleted the "Look Inside" tab, as it's no longer necessary. You can see the chapter titles for the whole book in the 'Contents' tab, and then read chapters 1 - 6 at your discretion by clicking on the tabs (above) for each chapter you want to see.
I had to make 'snapshots' of each individual page, so you'll notice that each page appears as an image. As you view the images, you may also notice that there appears to be a wider margin on one side of each page than there is on the other, and that it shifts back and forth from one page to another.
This is not an error.
It is because these are the images from the publisher's print file. The side of each page that has the wider margin is the side/edge of that page that is seated in the printed book's spine.
When you're in the tab for the chapter you're reading, click on the first page. That will open up another window with a large image of the first page in that chapter, and you'll notice small icons along the bottom. These icons are for all the other pages in that chapter. When you finish reading one page, you can then go to the next page by clicking on the next icon along the bottom.
The resolution in the printed book is nice and sharp and crisp, as would naturally be the case. The resolution in the images is a little less sharp, but basically, you're reading the actual book.
Let's see how this goes. Like I said, it's worked the best of all the methods I've tried so far.
I had to make 'snapshots' of each individual page, so you'll notice that each page appears as an image. As you view the images, you may also notice that there appears to be a wider margin on one side of each page than there is on the other, and that it shifts back and forth from one page to another.
This is not an error.
It is because these are the images from the publisher's print file. The side of each page that has the wider margin is the side/edge of that page that is seated in the printed book's spine.
When you're in the tab for the chapter you're reading, click on the first page. That will open up another window with a large image of the first page in that chapter, and you'll notice small icons along the bottom. These icons are for all the other pages in that chapter. When you finish reading one page, you can then go to the next page by clicking on the next icon along the bottom.
The resolution in the printed book is nice and sharp and crisp, as would naturally be the case. The resolution in the images is a little less sharp, but basically, you're reading the actual book.
Let's see how this goes. Like I said, it's worked the best of all the methods I've tried so far.
November 3, 2012
Amazon Author Page
Got my 'author page' set up on Amazon. I'm still trying to figure all this out. I'm approaching 50. I remember 8-tracks and bell-bottoms and cassette players. I remember record albums. I think I do pretty good with the whole internet, computer, social networking thing for an old woman.
Oh yeah, please go buy my book. :D
Oh yeah, please go buy my book. :D
