by Jason Joyner | Oct 3, 2006 | Blog, Uncategorized
If you were asked to name one of the great Christian thinkers in the 20th century, one name that should be at the top of the list is Francis Schaeffer. I really can’t think of anyone who did more to promote a complete Christian/Biblical worldview for all of life. Actually, Schaeffer considered himself an evangelist, with a heart for reaching the jaded college students of Europe. However, reaching that particular group meant having a complete, comprehensive worldview.
I would recommend any of his works. There is a classic “trilogy” of his works: The God Who Is There, Escape from Reason, and He Is There and He Is Not Silent. These books give a solid basis for understanding his theology and some of the basic principles he draws from. Then you can get the complete works of Francis Schaeffer as well – 5 volumes of deep digging; plenty of jewels here to uncover.
In Volume 2 there is a small little book called Art and the Bible. It is only 38 pages long, but it gives a great defense of art in the Christian life.
I will confess that I am not a great one for what may be called “high art”: painting, poetry, sculpture, or classical music. I can appreciate classical music better than an abstract painting, to be sure, and I do enjoy these forms. However, I am more interested in what Schaeffer terms “popular art”: the novel, movies, popular music, and theatre. There could definitely be a debate about comic books and video games being included here nowadays!
As this blog focuses on fiction, I want to bring what Schaeffer has to say about art to bear on the craft of writing. I think an initial point to make here is that there is a sense out “there” (that nebulous there) in evangelical circles that time is short, and that we shouldn’t be wasting our time with fictitious worlds when there is so much going on in the real world. What would Schaeffer say to this? I’ll talk about this more next time.
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And as I mentioned last week, to encourage comments I have a little contest planned. I don’t know how long this discussion will go, but whoever leaves a comment anytime during this discussion will be eligible to win a copy of Deliver Me from Evelyn, the latest novel from Chris Well. Chris has a quirky, unique style that will draw you in and keep you guessing! So leave those comments people, and you may be the winner!
by Jason Joyner | Oct 3, 2006 | Blog, Uncategorized
If you were asked to name one of the great Christian thinkers in the 20th century, one name that should be at the top of the list is Francis Schaeffer. I really can’t think of anyone who did more to promote a complete Christian/Biblical worldview for all of life. Actually, Schaeffer considered himself an evangelist, with a heart for reaching the jaded college students of Europe. However, reaching that particular group meant having a complete, comprehensive worldview.
I would recommend any of his works. There is a classic “trilogy” of his works: The God Who Is There, Escape from Reason, and He Is There and He Is Not Silent. These books give a solid basis for understanding his theology and some of the basic principles he draws from. Then you can get the complete works of Francis Schaeffer as well – 5 volumes of deep digging; plenty of jewels here to uncover.
In Volume 2 there is a small little book called Art and the Bible. It is only 38 pages long, but it gives a great defense of art in the Christian life.
I will confess that I am not a great one for what may be called “high art”: painting, poetry, sculpture, or classical music. I can appreciate classical music better than an abstract painting, to be sure, and I do enjoy these forms. However, I am more interested in what Schaeffer terms “popular art”: the novel, movies, popular music, and theatre. There could definitely be a debate about comic books and video games being included here nowadays!
As this blog focuses on fiction, I want to bring what Schaeffer has to say about art to bear on the craft of writing. I think an initial point to make here is that there is a sense out “there” (that nebulous there) in evangelical circles that time is short, and that we shouldn’t be wasting our time with fictitious worlds when there is so much going on in the real world. What would Schaeffer say to this? I’ll talk about this more next time.
————————
And as I mentioned last week, to encourage comments I have a little contest planned. I don’t know how long this discussion will go, but whoever leaves a comment anytime during this discussion will be eligible to win a copy of Deliver Me from Evelyn, the latest novel from Chris Well. Chris has a quirky, unique style that will draw you in and keep you guessing! So leave those comments people, and you may be the winner!
by Jason Joyner | Sep 29, 2006 | Blog, Uncategorized
Being a proud original member of Violet Dawn so I could read the story and audition for Pastor Hank Detcher, one of the side characters in the book. I read the book several months ago, but I wanted to wait for the blog tour to talk about it in depth.
“Paige Williams harbored a restless kinship with the living dead.”
With that line, the adventure in Kanner Lake begins. I remember Brandilyn sharing that line on her blog one day, and I thought “What on earth could she be planning?”
Never doubt the possibilities when it comes to a Brandilyn Collins book.
Hot tubs are supposed to be sanctuary from the weariness of the world. As Paige slips into her rental’s hot tub in the middle of the night, all she is thinking about is getting some rest. But as tendrils of hair wrap around her, she leaps out of the tub, since she is sharing it with a dead body.
The book takes place over the next 14 hours, as Paige frantically tries to deal with her situation. She is concerned with survival. The real murderer is concerned with death. Sheriff Vince Edwards works on finding the truth in the midst of his own trials. Leslie Brymes, young hot shot reporter for the local paper is looking for the big scoop to advance her career.
Brandilyn’s tagline is “Don’t forget to b r e a t h e…” and this book doesn’t disappoint. The opening chapter grabs you, and the final chapter ties the opening round of the Kanner Lake series with a satisfying close – see if you can find the significance of the final words. The suspense keeps you turning the pages, wanting to see what happened next. I remember reading outside of my work on nice spring days, cursing that lunch was over so that I couldn’t keep reading.
Besides the twists and turns of suspense that keeps you guessing, the characterization mostly puts you in the place of Paige, Leslie, and Bailey nicely. I felt that Sheriff Edwards major character point was forced in the midst of the action. Otherwise, the characters have good motivation by what they do, and it spills over into the side details about them. Leslie Brymes “in-your-face” nature is shown not only by her determination to get the story, but her bright green VW bug with a pink daisy on it!
Overall Violet Dawn is a wonderful book. It is a good read with interesting pacing and plot, and you have to read it to see fully what I’m saying. So check it out, and tell Brandilyn that Pastor Hank sent you 😉
————————–
I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I was going to do a little series out of Francis Schaeffer’s book Art and the Bible. The various blog tours I’m involved in changed schedules up some, and it threw me off. Next week I plan on starting this. And I have a little something for those who read this series. Leave a comment anytime throughout the Art and the Bible discussion, and I’ll send you a free book! More details coming…
by Jason Joyner | Sep 29, 2006 | Blog, Uncategorized
Being a proud original member of Violet Dawn so I could read the story and audition for Pastor Hank Detcher, one of the side characters in the book. I read the book several months ago, but I wanted to wait for the blog tour to talk about it in depth.
“Paige Williams harbored a restless kinship with the living dead.”
With that line, the adventure in Kanner Lake begins. I remember Brandilyn sharing that line on her blog one day, and I thought “What on earth could she be planning?”
Never doubt the possibilities when it comes to a Brandilyn Collins book.
Hot tubs are supposed to be sanctuary from the weariness of the world. As Paige slips into her rental’s hot tub in the middle of the night, all she is thinking about is getting some rest. But as tendrils of hair wrap around her, she leaps out of the tub, since she is sharing it with a dead body.
The book takes place over the next 14 hours, as Paige frantically tries to deal with her situation. She is concerned with survival. The real murderer is concerned with death. Sheriff Vince Edwards works on finding the truth in the midst of his own trials. Leslie Brymes, young hot shot reporter for the local paper is looking for the big scoop to advance her career.
Brandilyn’s tagline is “Don’t forget to b r e a t h e…” and this book doesn’t disappoint. The opening chapter grabs you, and the final chapter ties the opening round of the Kanner Lake series with a satisfying close – see if you can find the significance of the final words. The suspense keeps you turning the pages, wanting to see what happened next. I remember reading outside of my work on nice spring days, cursing that lunch was over so that I couldn’t keep reading.
Besides the twists and turns of suspense that keeps you guessing, the characterization mostly puts you in the place of Paige, Leslie, and Bailey nicely. I felt that Sheriff Edwards major character point was forced in the midst of the action. Otherwise, the characters have good motivation by what they do, and it spills over into the side details about them. Leslie Brymes “in-your-face” nature is shown not only by her determination to get the story, but her bright green VW bug with a pink daisy on it!
Overall Violet Dawn is a wonderful book. It is a good read with interesting pacing and plot, and you have to read it to see fully what I’m saying. So check it out, and tell Brandilyn that Pastor Hank sent you 😉
————————–
I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I was going to do a little series out of Francis Schaeffer’s book Art and the Bible. The various blog tours I’m involved in changed schedules up some, and it threw me off. Next week I plan on starting this. And I have a little something for those who read this series. Leave a comment anytime throughout the Art and the Bible discussion, and I’ll send you a free book! More details coming…
by Jason Joyner | Sep 28, 2006 | Blog, Uncategorized
No, Brandilyn Collins is not a new author to CBA. She has written numerous best-selling novels in the past, as well as a book for writers called Getting into Character. Violet Dawn, the subject of the current blour (BC speak for “blog tour), is only the latest.
I wanted to talk about her blog, and why I think it is one of the best on the web. I’ve been coming to it daily for well over a year now, and it is a major reason why I now have a ubiquitous blog (but don’t blame BC, it was MY idea).
She exploded on the blog scene on 2/7/05 with the post Why Christian Suspense? She explains her desire to share about Christian suspense and forensics. However, over time I believe her blog title, Forensics and Faith, suggests a limit that isn’t really there. There is so much more than forensics, but the name is out there and changing it now would be upsetting to many of us BG’s (bloggees – BC’s term for those who read blogs.)
One of the best things about her blog is her “Never Ending Saga”, or NES (there used to be a page devoted just to Brandilyn’s invented acronyms and words). Starting on 2/24/05, she takes us on the fascinating journey of her road to publication. The NES was definitely an appropriate title, as she talked about it (with a couple of interruptions) through 6/6/05! You may think that 3 1/2 months is an awful long time to talk about oneself, but this whole tale is VERY interesting for anyone wanting to pursue writing and getting published. We not only learned about the process of writing, getting an agent, and contracts, but Brandilyn would routinely leave us hanging in her story, and we would be tortured all weekend waiting to hear the next part of her saga. We learned the importance of keeping readers interested throughout this story as well.
Since then, she has taken us through many aspects of writing fiction. One brave BG offered up an action scene, which BC took us through step by step in an edit to see if we could punch it up. It was even a collaborative process, with BG’s commenting after each post. (See starting 6/10/05) She also discusses point of view (POV), plotting twists, and backstory. All of these are listed on the left side of the blog, for easy reference.
Not only is Brandilyn a great author, she is a wonderful fiction teacher. I know she just returned from a writing conference, and she does an excellent job live. But the blog has been a fantastic tool for me in learning more about fiction, not just in what she says, but how she says it.
Now I continue to be challenged in my writing through posting for the Scenes and Beans blog. And you can too! The initial group of bloggers for the Scenes and Beans runs through December. Starting January 2007, any reader wants to submit a post for a character can audition. If chosen, their tale will be posted and they will receive an autographed copy of Violet Dawn. More details are here.
So be sure to check out her blog. And check back tomorrow for my review of Violet Dawn, in which we discuss hot tubs and VW bugs…
by Jason Joyner | Sep 28, 2006 | Blog, Uncategorized
No, Brandilyn Collins is not a new author to CBA. She has written numerous best-selling novels in the past, as well as a book for writers called Getting into Character. Violet Dawn, the subject of the current blour (BC speak for “blog tour), is only the latest.
I wanted to talk about her blog, and why I think it is one of the best on the web. I’ve been coming to it daily for well over a year now, and it is a major reason why I now have a ubiquitous blog (but don’t blame BC, it was MY idea).
She exploded on the blog scene on 2/7/05 with the post Why Christian Suspense? She explains her desire to share about Christian suspense and forensics. However, over time I believe her blog title, Forensics and Faith, suggests a limit that isn’t really there. There is so much more than forensics, but the name is out there and changing it now would be upsetting to many of us BG’s (bloggees – BC’s term for those who read blogs.)
One of the best things about her blog is her “Never Ending Saga”, or NES (there used to be a page devoted just to Brandilyn’s invented acronyms and words). Starting on 2/24/05, she takes us on the fascinating journey of her road to publication. The NES was definitely an appropriate title, as she talked about it (with a couple of interruptions) through 6/6/05! You may think that 3 1/2 months is an awful long time to talk about oneself, but this whole tale is VERY interesting for anyone wanting to pursue writing and getting published. We not only learned about the process of writing, getting an agent, and contracts, but Brandilyn would routinely leave us hanging in her story, and we would be tortured all weekend waiting to hear the next part of her saga. We learned the importance of keeping readers interested throughout this story as well.
Since then, she has taken us through many aspects of writing fiction. One brave BG offered up an action scene, which BC took us through step by step in an edit to see if we could punch it up. It was even a collaborative process, with BG’s commenting after each post. (See starting 6/10/05) She also discusses point of view (POV), plotting twists, and backstory. All of these are listed on the left side of the blog, for easy reference.
Not only is Brandilyn a great author, she is a wonderful fiction teacher. I know she just returned from a writing conference, and she does an excellent job live. But the blog has been a fantastic tool for me in learning more about fiction, not just in what she says, but how she says it.
Now I continue to be challenged in my writing through posting for the Scenes and Beans blog. And you can too! The initial group of bloggers for the Scenes and Beans runs through December. Starting January 2007, any reader wants to submit a post for a character can audition. If chosen, their tale will be posted and they will receive an autographed copy of Violet Dawn. More details are here.
So be sure to check out her blog. And check back tomorrow for my review of Violet Dawn, in which we discuss hot tubs and VW bugs…
