A quick post here for Writing Wednesday. I’ve got a question for any of you that use some sort of e-reader (Kindle, Nook, iPad, or other).
Have you found many formatting problems? If so, do they affect your enjoyment in reading?
I’m reading a book originally published in 2006 on my Nook. There are a lot of little formatting errors that have started to really distract me. Some of the goofs affect the gap that comes up when the author changes POV characters. It has left me going back on occasion to see which character is speaking, because I missed the change.
I’m wondering if the problem stems from a book from this author’s catalog being quickly converted to be purchased on an e-reader. I haven’t noticed such a problem on recently released books.
Any Kindle readers out there – have you noticed a similar problem?
Just trying to get a handle on whether this is a common issue or not, and people’s feelings on it. If this were a frequent problem, I wouldn’t keep buying e-books. So far this book is the worst I’ve experienced, but I’ve seen other problems before.
Any other thoughts on e-readers? Please share. We can complain together. —
Seems to be an annual thing – a monkey wrench in the blogging plans for posting every week. Well, at least this time I’m pretty sure I have a good reason. There’s a little story involved so pull up a chair if you’re so inclined. Otherwise, we’ll be back to regularly scheduled mayhem next week.
It’s supposed to be Writing Wednesday here. To tie it in, I’ll say now that I’m glad I didn’t try to do NaNoWriMo. But the story starts before this decision.
It has been a year for strange occurrences. From meeting in a traditional church setting to spending Sunday nights in a park, to my first writer’s conference, 2012 has been a different beast.
The good news is, the Lord is in control and He guides His people.
We’ll pick up in the summer when my wife and I are trying to plan for a trip to Disneyland we’ve been wanting to do for a while. As a homeschooling family, we have freedom to do it at alternate times when the crowds aren’t as big. We considered the second week of September, after Labor Day and the final big push for the summer crowd. I sat at the computer to look for places and crunch numbers, but nothing ever seemed right. In Christian circles we’d say I didn’t have peace about it.
We decided to postpone Disney until the spring. It would probably be too much since I was going to Dallas later in the month for the conference anyway.
It didn’t hurt that we hadn’t spent that money when our sewer backed up in the basement while I was gone.
That was fun to come home to, a dug up front lawn and displaced basement. My wife was a real trooper dealing with it while I was hanging out with writers. Not fun, but it would have been much worse if we’d spent a few thousand dollars a couple of weeks prior. It worked out.
Now we’re heading toward November. One of our family’s favorite artists is TobyMac. Even my four year old loves him. And the Winter Jam tour was bringing him and several other acts to Boise. Sounds like a good time for a weekend road trip. I got the time off from work and everything.
Then my wife and I talked about the details. It was going to conflict with some other events. We could do it, but it would be tough. The concert didn’t require tickets purchased ahead of time, so we scrapped the plans. Again, it wasn’t only the schedule – we didn’t have peace about it. It wasn’t what we were supposed to do.
I also thought about participating in NaNo this year. I haven’t had good luck with it before, but on October 30th I wondered if it would be a good idea to get something out there. I did a trial on Halloween, writing 600 words of gutter trash and realizing (hopefully for good) that NaNo just doesn’t work for me. Anyway – I decided against that too.
Both of these lost opportunities turned out to be a good thing.
You know how there are always contests where people win trips and crazy things. Do you ever hear of anyone winning those? Not me…
Until November 1st.
When I got a call at lunch while at work, I didn’t expect the following:
“Do you remember the Facebook contest you entered to win tickets to the Boise State/Hawaii game on Oahu? Because you won. You and a guest will be going to Honolulu next week. What do you have to say?”
My response: I guess I need a babysitter!
We actually won a trip to Hawaii! It does happen. (Now everyone is flocking to Facebook to like every contest they can find. Who knows, it could happen to you?)
These are little things in the scheme of life – not going to a concert or postponing a vacation. Why would God be speaking to us about such things?
He cares about His people. He cares about the little things. He speaks to His children today. He knows the future.
I’m thankful that we didn’t go to Disneyland. I want the experience with my family, but September would have been a disaster. It was bad enough as it was, but we had the money cushion to deal with it.
I’m thankful we didn’t go to Winter Jam. A bunch of our friends went and had a blast. I’m sorry my kids missed out. But…I think I’ll take a once in a lifetime trip to Hawaii over that.
I know there are people out there still recovering from Superstorm Sandy or going through other horrible things in life. Why is God doing these little things for me when others have such huge issues in front of them?
I don’t fully know. We all have our storms in life. I’ve had mine. So has my wife. There are seasons to everything. I know Jesus weeps with those who have lost much and wants them to turn to Him. He brings blessings to the believer and the non-believer. Storms can hit the righteous and the wicked.
As we head into the Thanksgiving holiday, I’m thankful that my God is holy, wise, and loves me enough to give me a nudge in the right direction when I can’t see the pothole or pot of gold just around the bend.
Seems to be an annual thing – a monkey wrench in the blogging plans for posting every week. Well, at least this time I’m pretty sure I have a good reason. There’s a little story involved so pull up a chair if you’re so inclined. Otherwise, we’ll be back to regularly scheduled mayhem next week.
It’s supposed to be Writing Wednesday here. To tie it in, I’ll say now that I’m glad I didn’t try to do NaNoWriMo. But the story starts before this decision.
It has been a year for strange occurrences. From meeting in a traditional church setting to spending Sunday nights in a park, to my first writer’s conference, 2012 has been a different beast.
The good news is, the Lord is in control and He guides His people.
We’ll pick up in the summer when my wife and I are trying to plan for a trip to Disneyland we’ve been wanting to do for a while. As a homeschooling family, we have freedom to do it at alternate times when the crowds aren’t as big. We considered the second week of September, after Labor Day and the final big push for the summer crowd. I sat at the computer to look for places and crunch numbers, but nothing ever seemed right. In Christian circles we’d say I didn’t have peace about it.
We decided to postpone Disney until the spring. It would probably be too much since I was going to Dallas later in the month for the conference anyway.
It didn’t hurt that we hadn’t spent that money when our sewer backed up in the basement while I was gone.
That was fun to come home to, a dug up front lawn and displaced basement. My wife was a real trooper dealing with it while I was hanging out with writers. Not fun, but it would have been much worse if we’d spent a few thousand dollars a couple of weeks prior. It worked out.
Now we’re heading toward November. One of our family’s favorite artists is TobyMac. Even my four year old loves him. And the Winter Jam tour was bringing him and several other acts to Boise. Sounds like a good time for a weekend road trip. I got the time off from work and everything.
Then my wife and I talked about the details. It was going to conflict with some other events. We could do it, but it would be tough. The concert didn’t require tickets purchased ahead of time, so we scrapped the plans. Again, it wasn’t only the schedule – we didn’t have peace about it. It wasn’t what we were supposed to do.
I also thought about participating in NaNo this year. I haven’t had good luck with it before, but on October 30th I wondered if it would be a good idea to get something out there. I did a trial on Halloween, writing 600 words of gutter trash and realizing (hopefully for good) that NaNo just doesn’t work for me. Anyway – I decided against that too.
Both of these lost opportunities turned out to be a good thing.
You know how there are always contests where people win trips and crazy things. Do you ever hear of anyone winning those? Not me…
Until November 1st.
When I got a call at lunch while at work, I didn’t expect the following:
“Do you remember the Facebook contest you entered to win tickets to the Boise State/Hawaii game on Oahu? Because you won. You and a guest will be going to Honolulu next week. What do you have to say?”
My response: I guess I need a babysitter!
We actually won a trip to Hawaii! It does happen. (Now everyone is flocking to Facebook to like every contest they can find. Who knows, it could happen to you?)
These are little things in the scheme of life – not going to a concert or postponing a vacation. Why would God be speaking to us about such things?
He cares about His people. He cares about the little things. He speaks to His children today. He knows the future.
I’m thankful that we didn’t go to Disneyland. I want the experience with my family, but September would have been a disaster. It was bad enough as it was, but we had the money cushion to deal with it.
I’m thankful we didn’t go to Winter Jam. A bunch of our friends went and had a blast. I’m sorry my kids missed out. But…I think I’ll take a once in a lifetime trip to Hawaii over that.
I know there are people out there still recovering from Superstorm Sandy or going through other horrible things in life. Why is God doing these little things for me when others have such huge issues in front of them?
I don’t fully know. We all have our storms in life. I’ve had mine. So has my wife. There are seasons to everything. I know Jesus weeps with those who have lost much and wants them to turn to Him. He brings blessings to the believer and the non-believer. Storms can hit the righteous and the wicked.
As we head into the Thanksgiving holiday, I’m thankful that my God is holy, wise, and loves me enough to give me a nudge in the right direction when I can’t see the pothole or pot of gold just around the bend.
There’s something we’ve missed out on in modern church culture.
We don’t eat together very often.
I’ve always gone to small churches. It is easy to eat together. For a long time it was a once a month ritual. Then some people got tired of it and we backed off, but then I realized it made a difference in our fellowship. I don’t know how a mega-church could consider doing it – probably isn’t feasible.
Which is too bad, considering the Bible assumes food and fellowship as part of the regular meeting of the saints, if you read Acts, Galatians, and 1st Corinthians. I’ll come back to this point in a minute.
Having said that, we had another interesting night for our Church in the Park (that is now indoors for the season).
I was responsible for sharing and I was having trouble. I couldn’t zero in on anything in particular to talk about. I’ve wanted to talk about what it means to be a disciple, but that didn’t stick. I looked at some other verses to discuss and couldn’t really get a sense of what I should share. Finally I went ready to talk about three different passages of Scripture. And if all else failed, we’d pray for the election.
Well, one of our regulars asked if there was something in the Bible that could help him with some conflict in relationships.
Okay then. Scrap my other three plans. I guess we’re talking about turning the other cheek and walking in the opposite spirit!
We had a good discussion. I shared a couple of pertinent passages out of Matthew 5 and Romans 12. The group shared their thoughts and from their experiences. There was no clear answer but we were able to address a need and pray for it among each other. I was very blessed that my lack of direction helped me stay open to what the Spirit needed to do. That isn’t easy to do in a regular church service. Thankfully, our situation allows for a more organic response. It was special to see our little group be the body to each other.
Oh, so back to the sloppy joes. One of the guys mentioned as a joke that a lot of conflict can be resolved if there were only sloppy joes involved. I couldn’t help but laugh at that. I think there’s truth though. I wonder if eating together drops our defenses a little bit. It is one thing to mingle in the foyer and make small talk. When we dine and share our food together, it is more inviting to open up to your brother or sister.
Let’s be open to what the Spirit wants us to do. Having sloppy joes couldn’t hurt.
We challenged our foe. We braved conditions, kept persevering, and kept fighting. In the end we had to capitulate.
Idaho weather won.
Our Outreach Saga has managed to meet in the park since we started the first weekend in June. Every Sunday we showed up at the park. Those of you who know Idaho’s climate realize this is a minor miracle. Since it has snowed in Idaho in June before (not just the mountains either), I am fairly shocked and pleasantly surprised! We had a couple of windy days, the occasional cold day, but we never had to move our cancel for the weather.
Until now.
This weekend we finally moved indoors. Ironically the weather wasn’t too bad and we could have stayed out one more time. Daylight Savings ends next week though, so it seemed time to pack it inside.
This will change our dynamics. We have had people come and go with the freedom of the open park. We always eat together and then spend some time in worship, Bible study, and discussion. A majority ate and left. That was okay. We never wanted to hold them hostage to something in order to get a meal. I’ve been of the mindset that they will stay when they are ready to hear what we have to say.
Yesterday actually went well. None of us had any idea of what to expect. We are blessed to be meeting at a counseling center less than two blocks from the park, but we didn’t know if people would trudge down a little farther, if convenience was a big issue.
We had a good turnout. Some kids came and were fed and had a safe place to hang out for two hours. Many adults came for a meal. We didn’t have many stay for our Bible discussion, but we got to minister specifically to those who did.
This adventure has been mind-blowing for all of us involved. At the start of the year I would have never imagined doing an outreach like it. Now I can’t imagine what I would be doing otherwise.
If you’ve been following this, please pray for us as we transition into the winter and being indoors. We will have more of a challenge engaging the kids/keeping them busy. Our sense is that winter will allow some more in-reach, whereas the summer in the park lent itself to outreach and a wider net.
Who knows? This has been an unpredictable journey so far. Why start predicting now? —
In Which The End Game Becomes Visible, If Only For A Moment.
The CSFF Tour is wrapping up our feature of The Spirit Well, the third book in the Bright Empires series by Stephen Lawhead.
This mind-bending series is a fascinating mash-up of quantum physics, historical mystery, and pre-Starbucks coffee culture with an Indiana Jones twist. Lawhead is a gifted writer and this ambitious five book set challenges his readers with a forth and back approach as the characters wind through multiple dimensions stretching from Macau to ancient Egypt to modern day London and even the Stone Age.
This is all well and good, but if this is the Christian Sci-Fi and Fantasy tour, where is the Christian part?
There have been praying monks and characters who mention God, but there is also a mysterious well with resurrection-like power and the pesky dimension-hopping that seems to contradict things we know. Why is this series published by a Christian publishing house?
The Spirit Well gives us our first substantial insight into the spiritual underpinnings of the series on pages 304-305. Cassandra Clarke is a young paleontologist who was swept up by this dimensional traveling to 1930’s Damascus and has met up with two strange people from the Zetetic Society. She is being asked to join this group in their quest to encourage the “transformation of the universe.” The society members are afraid that reaching a special landmark called the Omega Point will be thwarted by the enemies of good unless the Society can succeed.
The skeptical scientist points out a fallacy at this:
“So,” concluded Cass, “Almighty God is not strong enough alone to bring about His purpose for the universe. He needs you and your society to make it happen; otherwise it has all been for nothing. Is that what you’re saying?”
That isn’t the end of it. Cassandra voices a reasonable doubt at what she’s being told. Still, her experience of traveling through time and space has changed her paradigm already. The beauty of what has happened so far in the Bright Empires series is brought out by the elderly Mrs. Peelstick in response:
“…God has always worked through the small, the insignificant, the powerless – it seems to be sewn into the very fabric of the universe…
…Over and over again, we see that when anyone willingly gives whatever resources they have to Him – whether it is nothing more than five smooth stones gathered from a dry streambed or five little loaves of bread and two dried sprats – then God’s greater purpose can proceed…
…And one poor, wandering country preacher – homeless, penniless, friendless, and despised by all but a handful of no-account fishermen and a few women – gave himself so fully to God that the combined might of the two most powerful forces in his world – the Roman empire and the religious authorities – could not stop him.”
One simple speech, expertly seated in the mid-point of the series, anchors this tale in the ways of the Almighty God. Stephen Lawhead has been writing at a high level for many years. He didn’t reveal the spiritual underpinnings right away. The wait made it more poignant when it finally came. Patience is a powerful weapon for the author.
We may want to rush to make it known that our work points to Jesus. I think it is better when it is placed in the proper context. After 2.75 of the series, we finally see the glow of the Light of the world. It is not dwelled upon. The characters move on. But the wait is worth it. The impact left me with a highly satisfied feeling, seeing an image in the tapestry pop out after it was just out of view the whole time.
Sure, the dimensional aspect is not in our usual understanding – but this is speculative fiction after all.
There’s something to perseverance, both in writing and in reading. Lawhead stated he’s waited 15 years to write this book, and just now feels he can do it justice. I’m thankful that an enjoyable yarn has such a careful craftsman at the helm.
Yesterday I did a quick overview of the first two books in the series, but if I was really walking in the spirit of this series, I might well do things out of order.
Why is that?
The whole series focuses on the idea of the multiverse (called in the books the Omniverse) – an infinite number of alternate dimensions out there. Imagine a world where the Nazis invaded North America, or one where the wheel wasn’t invented. The characters in this series don’t go in the past per se, they jump to different dimensions. In the first book a ley traveler stops the Great London Fire in the 1600s by waking the baker who inadvertantly started it.
With that as a background, shall we begin?
A detailed synopsis is impossible without giving away fun things from the first two books. The main protagonist Kit is stranded in Stone Age times, which doesn’t seem to bother him all that much. His girlfriend Mina is busy mastering ley traveling and avoiding the machinations of the ruthless Lord Burleigh. A new character, paleontologist Cassandra Clarke, goes from a modern-day dig in the Arizona desert to 1930’s Damascus and becomes a popular woman with a group that looks to play an important role in the rest of the series.
The centerpiece of the books are the Skin Map, the tattooed skin of one Arthur Flinders-Petrie. This gentleman was the leading expert in ley travel and kept a unique code on his chest to help him navagate the complicated waters. The Spirit Well delves into the unpleasant business of how Arthur became separated from his map, while other characters both fair and foul seek the Skin Map for their own purposes.
Lawhead has attempted a complicated story, a tale only a master at his craft could accomplish. Thankfully, the author is such a master. The book gives a handy list of important characters followed by a short recap of the events so far. He then introduces the new character Cassandra to be his launch point into book 3.
One must pay attention and hang on tight, as the book does not proceed in a truly linear fashion. If you’re dealing with the multiverse, why should you? It weaves back and forth through many characters and locales in pushing the plot forward (for the most part). For readers of the series, there are points that explain questions from the first two books, which just whets the appetite for more.
There is action and excitement at times, but other moments are chances to admire Lawhead’s gift for bringing the reader into the varied settings. He is a world traveler and excellent researcher, so the details are expressive and inviting. I want to visit Damascus after reading the book (though perhaps not right now).
The story winds its journey like a lazy river. There are moments of rapids and white water, other times with beautiful scenery to enjoy, and occasions where it seems to wind back on itself. Still, the tale flows toward an ending that looks to be a revelation.
I really enjoyed the first book, but felt the second book had a slight letdown. The Spirit Well wins deeper affection from me. I am frustrated that I’ll be waiting another two years for the final resolution, but the Bright Empires journey is quite worth it.
So this is one man’s opinion. Becky Miller keeps a list of all of the tour participants, and there is more information there. Jim Armstrong picked up the book fresh without reading the others, and shares his thoughts on a complicated book viewed with new eyes.
I’ll be talking more about the faith element of the book tomorrow – this is a Christian tour after all. How can a book of multiple dimensions be considered Christian fiction? —
Oh, I did receive a free copy in exchange for a fair review – nothing else. —
Welcome to the October 2012 CSFF Tour, featuring the best Christian Sci-fi and Fantasy reads available.
This month is a treat because we get to feature one of the greatest speculative fiction writers out there: Stephen Lawhead. His prolific work has been published and re-released and he keeps on stretching his boundaries and using new concepts to fuel his latest work, the Bright Empires series and the third in the five volume tale, The Spirit Well.
The enjoyable part of following a series on the tour is getting to read each one and not losing track of them. The difficulty becomes remembering all that happens and writing about it coherently, but I shall persevere and attept to set the record straight.
In the first book, The Skin Map, a rather ordinary Brit named Kit Livingstone got an unexpected visit from an older chap – who happened to be his great-grandfather. The man was quite spry for someone who should be dead.
It turns out that Kit’s family has the ability to travel via ley lines, special energy forces that were marked by primitive populations through mounds, lines, and other features that have long baffled modern research. These portals open to alternate dimensions, into the very Omniverse. Pretty handy overall.
The Skin Map introduces the quest for, you guessed it, the skin map, a series of tattoos on the skin of the most prolific ley traveler that could show the way to the fabled Spirit Well. Kit chases it and his girlfriend Mina (whom he accidentally lost while ley leaping, but ended up landing on her feet anyway). As any good quest should, he has a villian after him in the form of the evil Lord Burleigh, who has a group of thugs called Burley men trailing the hapless Kit.
In the second book The Bone Housethe adventure continues as Kit escapes death thanks to his resourceful Mina, the man behind the Skin Map (literally) plots the rescue of his beloved wife, and more is revealed about the origin of Lord Burleigh. Through twists and turns in time and space, we end up with Kit at the very edge of the mysterious Spirit Well.
Thus begins book three, which continues the tale. And this blog will continue to discuss tomorrow. If you’re waiting for more, please check out my fellow travelers below as we explore the labyrinthine Skin Map and see if we can do better than Kit. Or you can check out my prior posts on The Skin Map and The Bone Houseto get more in-depth on the previous books.
For today’s Mission Monday, I have brain cramps from a long weekend. However, music is powerful and this video and the lyrics explain the heart of the Father and a missional outlook better than I can.
Courtesy of the newly reformed Audio Adrenaline with the spectacular Kevin Max on vocals, this song instantly became my new favorite of the year. Please check it out. I love the purple and the association with royalty as a thread through the video.
Last week Rachelle Garnder posted about the need for authors to have a platform, the hot topic of 2012. The first commenter was none other than James Scott Bell, author and writing teacher and a man on the forefront of the churning waters of the changing publishing seas.
He opined that writers should focus on writing to build their quality, publishing short stories and books. He suggested that blogging was the biggest time-suck for authors, especially unpublished ones. The return on blogging was perhaps there in 2007, but not in 2012.
Another well-known writing blogger, Jody Hedlund, answered with a post on this issue. She took a more measured approach to blogging, relating side benefits that can come from blogging: networking with other writers, finding a voice, and learning about the industry. She couldn’t point to her blog being a major reason behind her success, but felt it did play a role.
The irony of this discussion being played out on blogs is not lost on me.
Bell answered back on Jody’s blog, conceding that there are ancillary reasons for keeping up a blog. He held to his main point about a blog being a poor option in creaing a platform. He noted that Rachelle and Jody have created strong platforms through their blogs, but that is a rare position to create a new blog that really puts someone’s name out there.
I’d have to agree with Jim. I’ve been blogging since 2006. The advice at the time was to start blogging and build a base that would end up following you into publishing.
Well, I’ve been pretty consistent through the years. I wish I could say I’ve created a large tribe that would spread my message hither and yon. Alas, that’s not the case. I did have Anne Rice comment on a blog post once. Whoo-hoo!
So if I was only doing this to build a platform, it hasn’t played out very well.
The thing is, I also agree with Jody. Blogging has done a lot for me even if it isn’t counted by numbers.
Through blogging I’ve been introduced to several people online that have continued to encourage and challenge me in my writing life. It has kept me disciplined in writing regularly, even when my fiction writing sat idle for a couple of months at a time. I’ve reviewed a lot of books through here, so it has fed my reading habit. I would suggest it helped open some other doors, like writing a column for the local paper.
I’ve seen some friends develop a platform through their blogs. Mike Duran started around the same time. He’s managed to build a healthy community of commenters that make it an intelligent site to follow. Becky Miller is a go-to person in the realm of Christian speculative fiction since she works tirelessly to promote it. Jordyn Redwood found a niche by answering medical questions on her blog, which plays into her primary job as an ER nurse and her medical suspense. These folks have managed to build something special.
But the common thread here is that I’ve interacted with each of them through the years because I have a blog.
If I were talking to a brand new writer, I probably would point them to Jim’s advice about putting their effort into fiction that they can start to get out there. I’ve been doing this too long to quit, although I’ve tried to do a two posts a week schedule this year to stay consistant but not as pressured as when I tried to do 3-4 a week.
Most of my opinions are similar to the comment threads of the blog posts by Rachelle and Jody. If you’re interested in the discussion, check those out.
As someone who has done the blogging thing for a while, I couldn’t resist throwing out my experience. If I had to do it over again, I wish I had spent a little less time blogging and more time on writing, but I don’t think I’d say I wouldn’t blog at all.
What say you? What value does blogging have for a fiction author over other writers or professionals? Do you lean toward Jim or Jody? —
