by Jason Joyner | Nov 29, 2007 | Blog, fiction, writing craft
On this tour for Stephen Lawhead, I was thinking that I may have come across as a little hard on his books. I mentioned that he was streaky, and listed a few books that came across as disappointments for me. After thinking about this, that may be a little unfair. I’ve enjoyed other books of his so much, if others didn’t hit that standard, then that’s when I felt they didn’t measure up.
I was reading Stephen Lawhead before I really understood about “Christian fiction.” Getting into the first two books of the Song of Albion series was a wonderful fictive journey. Yes, I didn’t find the last book of that trilogy as catchy, but the end of it was such a wonderful payoff. There was a thread he’d woven through the whole series that I would’ve missed had I not persevered until the end. It still rates up in the two top “Wow!” moments I’ve had when reading books.
His historical fiction novel Byzantium was another greatly enjoyable book. It was entertaining, but it also illuminated a time in history that I had never known about before. Anyone with a love of Celtic and Middle Age history should pick up that book.
So yes, I still hold that some books of his are better than others. When is this not going to be the case with an author? It may hit Mr. Lawhead because so many times he writes series, so it is more noticeable. I just didn’t want the wrong impression. Stephen Lawhead is one of the top craftsmen in Christian fiction (and historical fantasy fiction in general). Don’t miss out on his work.
by Jason Joyner | Nov 29, 2007 | Blog, fiction, writing craft
On this tour for Stephen Lawhead, I was thinking that I may have come across as a little hard on his books. I mentioned that he was streaky, and listed a few books that came across as disappointments for me. After thinking about this, that may be a little unfair. I’ve enjoyed other books of his so much, if others didn’t hit that standard, then that’s when I felt they didn’t measure up.
I was reading Stephen Lawhead before I really understood about “Christian fiction.” Getting into the first two books of the Song of Albion series was a wonderful fictive journey. Yes, I didn’t find the last book of that trilogy as catchy, but the end of it was such a wonderful payoff. There was a thread he’d woven through the whole series that I would’ve missed had I not persevered until the end. It still rates up in the two top “Wow!” moments I’ve had when reading books.
His historical fiction novel Byzantium was another greatly enjoyable book. It was entertaining, but it also illuminated a time in history that I had never known about before. Anyone with a love of Celtic and Middle Age history should pick up that book.
So yes, I still hold that some books of his are better than others. When is this not going to be the case with an author? It may hit Mr. Lawhead because so many times he writes series, so it is more noticeable. I just didn’t want the wrong impression. Stephen Lawhead is one of the top craftsmen in Christian fiction (and historical fantasy fiction in general). Don’t miss out on his work.
by Jason Joyner | Nov 13, 2007 | Blog, fiction, miscellaneous, writing craft
Okay, so how dated does the title make me?
Anyway, I’m sure most of my writing buddies out there know about NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. The goal of writing a 50,000 word novel in 30 days must seem like self-flagellation to some people. I don’t think I could ever do it.
However, I did, for some strange reason unknown to me now, sign up for it two years ago. Because of that I am still listed as a NaNo participant for Idaho. So before November 1st, I got an email discussing a write-in being held in Idaho Falls. I considered going, and when I mentioned it to my wife that I was thinking about it, she announced, “Great! I can go shopping while you’re doing that.”
Not quite the response I was anticipating.
I ended up going to the write-in the first Saturday in November at a little coffeeshop called The Villa. Nice place with good atmosphere. When I first arrived there were a couple of ladies in line for coffee with obvious notebook bags. Holding my trusty writing folder, I found that they were there to NaNo. We ordered and adjourned to a separate room to don our quills and write away.
I was the only guy initially, but soon a couple of other brave masculine souls showed up. We had nice introductions. “Hi, I’m Jason, and I write action/suspense. Who are you, and what do you write?” I was the lone computer-less person, although another gal had problems with her connection and had to switch to old-fashioned paper.
We had a good time connecting with other crazy writer-type people. We decided to meet again the following Saturday. There was a little attrition, which should be expected. Gained another guy (yeah guys!) and got some more writing done. I’m not going to vouch for the quality of writing, but there is official ink on paper documented.
I’m not officially trying to do the whole NaNo 50,000 word thing. It has just been nice for a little accountability to sit down and write with like-minded folks. Also, shutting off the internal editor and just doing it is another benefit. I know there’s a lot of crap in what I wrote, but it also is helping me plot and see how the scenes should go.
Anyway, that’s my writing life the last few weeks. I’m grateful for the camaraderie and accountability. So if any of you haven’t been writing lately, close the web browser now, and open up your file and WRITE!
by Jason Joyner | Nov 13, 2007 | Blog, fiction, miscellaneous, writing craft
Okay, so how dated does the title make me?
Anyway, I’m sure most of my writing buddies out there know about NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. The goal of writing a 50,000 word novel in 30 days must seem like self-flagellation to some people. I don’t think I could ever do it.
However, I did, for some strange reason unknown to me now, sign up for it two years ago. Because of that I am still listed as a NaNo participant for Idaho. So before November 1st, I got an email discussing a write-in being held in Idaho Falls. I considered going, and when I mentioned it to my wife that I was thinking about it, she announced, “Great! I can go shopping while you’re doing that.”
Not quite the response I was anticipating.
I ended up going to the write-in the first Saturday in November at a little coffeeshop called The Villa. Nice place with good atmosphere. When I first arrived there were a couple of ladies in line for coffee with obvious notebook bags. Holding my trusty writing folder, I found that they were there to NaNo. We ordered and adjourned to a separate room to don our quills and write away.
I was the only guy initially, but soon a couple of other brave masculine souls showed up. We had nice introductions. “Hi, I’m Jason, and I write action/suspense. Who are you, and what do you write?” I was the lone computer-less person, although another gal had problems with her connection and had to switch to old-fashioned paper.
We had a good time connecting with other crazy writer-type people. We decided to meet again the following Saturday. There was a little attrition, which should be expected. Gained another guy (yeah guys!) and got some more writing done. I’m not going to vouch for the quality of writing, but there is official ink on paper documented.
I’m not officially trying to do the whole NaNo 50,000 word thing. It has just been nice for a little accountability to sit down and write with like-minded folks. Also, shutting off the internal editor and just doing it is another benefit. I know there’s a lot of crap in what I wrote, but it also is helping me plot and see how the scenes should go.
Anyway, that’s my writing life the last few weeks. I’m grateful for the camaraderie and accountability. So if any of you haven’t been writing lately, close the web browser now, and open up your file and WRITE!
by Jason Joyner | Nov 7, 2007 | Biblical worldview, Blog, writing craft
I tried to shoe-horn these quotes into my discussion on violence, but they didn’t really fit. Still, they are thought provoking, which may be dangerous around these parts (watch yourself Mark).
From Mike Duran’s interview of Coach Culbetson of Coach’s Midnight Diner and Relief:
It seems to me that dedication to things of God is a dedication to reality, regardless of what that reality is. So, our publishing efforts reflect that value. My wife Kimberly and I have walked some tough roads, and we’ve found out that life isn’t always what we thought it was, or should be. So our goal is to allow authors to write with an abandon to reality, either directly in creative nonfiction or symbolically in fiction and poetry. When the authors of the Bible wrote their stuff, they weren’t abashed to talk about anything. Sex, violence, unresolved conflict and issues, tough calls, they’re all in there. We like to skip a lot of that because it’s not pretty, isn’t safe for our 6-year-old, or doesn’t jive with the picket fence world that we’d all prefer. But if it’s good enough for God to let into His book, we figure it’s good enough to let into ours.
This is from an article on Breakpoint discussing Russell Kirk, a Catholic thinker who writes ghostly tales:
“Alarming though (I hope) readers may find these tales,” Kirk writes, “I did not write them to impose meaningless terror upon the innocent . . . what I have attempted, rather, are experiments in the moral imagination. . . . All important literature has some ethical end; and the tale of the preternatural—as written by George Macdonald, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and other masters—can be an instrument for the recovery of moral order.”
by Jason Joyner | Nov 7, 2007 | Biblical worldview, Blog, writing craft
I tried to shoe-horn these quotes into my discussion on violence, but they didn’t really fit. Still, they are thought provoking, which may be dangerous around these parts (watch yourself Mark).
From Mike Duran’s interview of Coach Culbetson of Coach’s Midnight Diner and Relief:
It seems to me that dedication to things of God is a dedication to reality, regardless of what that reality is. So, our publishing efforts reflect that value. My wife Kimberly and I have walked some tough roads, and we’ve found out that life isn’t always what we thought it was, or should be. So our goal is to allow authors to write with an abandon to reality, either directly in creative nonfiction or symbolically in fiction and poetry. When the authors of the Bible wrote their stuff, they weren’t abashed to talk about anything. Sex, violence, unresolved conflict and issues, tough calls, they’re all in there. We like to skip a lot of that because it’s not pretty, isn’t safe for our 6-year-old, or doesn’t jive with the picket fence world that we’d all prefer. But if it’s good enough for God to let into His book, we figure it’s good enough to let into ours.
This is from an article on Breakpoint discussing Russell Kirk, a Catholic thinker who writes ghostly tales:
“Alarming though (I hope) readers may find these tales,” Kirk writes, “I did not write them to impose meaningless terror upon the innocent . . . what I have attempted, rather, are experiments in the moral imagination. . . . All important literature has some ethical end; and the tale of the preternatural—as written by George Macdonald, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and other masters—can be an instrument for the recovery of moral order.”
