Some years back, I heard a priceless saying: We're as apt to have a paperless office as we are to have a paperless bathroom.
No matter how the publishing industry changes, I can't believe "real" books will ever go away, even if the general public goes for the technologically enhanced versions like hogs after slop.
Over the years, I've heard older folks talk about the effectiveness of radio drama because the listeners had to put the pieces together in their heads to visualize what was actually taking place. And don't "real" books make the reader do the same thing, but in a more refined way?
I believe there'll always be some of us around who don't want to be spoonfed slop. (Now how would you present that image visually on a multi-media device?) Let us have it on paper where we can read the first page, recognize it as slop, and put it back on the shelf.
Long may we read--really read!
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
If I Should Lose My Mind, Lord, What a Tale My Thoughts Could Tell...
I remember only one thing about my paternal grandfather. He visited once in my parents' home when he was in his eighties and pretty far along in his dotage. I'd never been around him that much, so I didn't know what to think of him, anyhow. And I didn't know what was normal for him.
We were sitting in the breakfast nook, and he had a bowl of cereal and a glass of orange juice at his place at the table. I couldn't believe it when he picked up his juice and poured it on the cereal.Total shock. I'd never seen anyone do anything like that before, and I almost recall my parents taking me aside and telling me just to ignore him.
Ignore, I could handle. Forget, I've not been able to do.
That incident happened more than fifty-five years ago, when I was a very young child. No one has to remind me of it. I remember it more clearly than most of my other childhood memories.
I love being in my sixties. Even though my body is starting to slow down and wear out and I sometimes struggle to remember simple facts and familiar names.
But at least I'm still drinking orange juice out of a glass and pouring milk on my cereal. I hope and pray the time will never come when I do otherwise.
But if it does, I pray I won't notice it. And that I won't startle some poor young boy the way my grandfather startled me.
I hope to be remembered for what I do before I reach that point.
We were sitting in the breakfast nook, and he had a bowl of cereal and a glass of orange juice at his place at the table. I couldn't believe it when he picked up his juice and poured it on the cereal.Total shock. I'd never seen anyone do anything like that before, and I almost recall my parents taking me aside and telling me just to ignore him.
Ignore, I could handle. Forget, I've not been able to do.
That incident happened more than fifty-five years ago, when I was a very young child. No one has to remind me of it. I remember it more clearly than most of my other childhood memories.
I love being in my sixties. Even though my body is starting to slow down and wear out and I sometimes struggle to remember simple facts and familiar names.
But at least I'm still drinking orange juice out of a glass and pouring milk on my cereal. I hope and pray the time will never come when I do otherwise.
But if it does, I pray I won't notice it. And that I won't startle some poor young boy the way my grandfather startled me.
I hope to be remembered for what I do before I reach that point.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Why "with Warmth & Whimsy"?
What does a guy like me plan to do with a blog he’s named after his authorial tagline—Writing Christian fiction with warmth & whimsy? What is his purpose? What does he hope to accomplish? Is he jumping on the blog bandwagon just to prove he can, or is there more to it than that?
Let’s start with the blog title. Unless I’ve been deluding myself for the past sixty-three years, warmth and whimsy are two exceedingly important facets of my personality. While some people might think those two qualities are mutually exclusive, I see them as the two sides of the unique coin God created me to be.
That’s why I've chosen that tagline for my writing. I cannot write novels about subjects I’m not serious about. Or ones that I don’t feel good about. I must care about my lead characters and their problems, no matter how mixed up or offbeat, and I must inspire my readers to love and care about them, too.
But I also have a sense of humor. A strange one at times, I admit. But it’s just as much a part of my writing voice as of my personality. No matter how serious a situation is, something to smile at is seldom far away. I find that to be true in real life as well.
Some of my books are more amusing than others, and—honestly—some are probably too offbeat to ever be published. But I had fun writing them, I've learned a great deal from writing them, and I pray I’ve honored God in writing them.
So warmth & whimsy represents the serious and the frivalous. The sad and the happy. The despair and the hope. Because my life is based on my relationship with God through faith in his son, Jesus Christ, perhaps a more complete tagline would be with warmth, whimsy, & light.
I live in God’s light, and I want others to see and live in His light, too.
Visit my website
Let’s start with the blog title. Unless I’ve been deluding myself for the past sixty-three years, warmth and whimsy are two exceedingly important facets of my personality. While some people might think those two qualities are mutually exclusive, I see them as the two sides of the unique coin God created me to be.
That’s why I've chosen that tagline for my writing. I cannot write novels about subjects I’m not serious about. Or ones that I don’t feel good about. I must care about my lead characters and their problems, no matter how mixed up or offbeat, and I must inspire my readers to love and care about them, too.
But I also have a sense of humor. A strange one at times, I admit. But it’s just as much a part of my writing voice as of my personality. No matter how serious a situation is, something to smile at is seldom far away. I find that to be true in real life as well.
Some of my books are more amusing than others, and—honestly—some are probably too offbeat to ever be published. But I had fun writing them, I've learned a great deal from writing them, and I pray I’ve honored God in writing them.
So warmth & whimsy represents the serious and the frivalous. The sad and the happy. The despair and the hope. Because my life is based on my relationship with God through faith in his son, Jesus Christ, perhaps a more complete tagline would be with warmth, whimsy, & light.
I live in God’s light, and I want others to see and live in His light, too.
Visit my website
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