The Master's Artist

The Author's Note

I hadn't read anything of Don Miller's since Blue Like Jazz. I knew he'd been writing, I just hadn't kept up. Then a friend recommended A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. It came in my little Amazon box yesterday and I was giddy. I don't really know why - or at least, I didn't, until I started reading...

What Good is a Book Store?

 
This morning my write-or-die chick author Rhonda McKnight and I were pub chatting, particularly about the future of bookstores. She shared her vision of what she thinks bookstores of the future would look like, which sparked a stimuating discussion that I want to continue here at The Master's Artist today. Because this issue (what good is a book store?) is one Christian bookstores isn't either having enough of or is missing the larger picture of its growing lack of relevance to the community at large.

What Good is a Book Store when...

The antidote to anxiety?

 

Now I’m not suggesting for a minute I’ve got this thing down but I have discovered a little secret in recent weeks that I’m feeling confident enough about to share.

 

Better Early Than Never

 

Writing-wise, 2009 was the toughest yet. I showed up every day and typed for a couple of hours. Some days my Muse made an appearance, most days not. I resisted the urge to talk about writer’s block because, frankly, I’d been denying its existence for years. My theory was that blocks were for building things or hiding things or cramming into a toy box and ignoring until they end up in the back of the van on the way to the new Goodwill store in the neighborhood. In short, I though it was make-believe, a plaything I could write roughshod over.

Mostly, I was wrong.

Jesus and His job completed

As an author, I experience the thrill of feeling God's pleasure as I write. But I also go through dry times, difficulties. This week has been one of those lower times. I'm thankful for dear friends and a prayer team who encourage me through. I'm thankful for Jesus who speaks words of insight into the situation.

Today driving back home after dropping my daughter off at school, I thought about Jesus, how He must've felt leaving earth after His resurrection. He left a ragtag group of men and women, terribly clay footed, on the heels of many personal betrayals. Peter denied Him three times. His disciples scattered in fear. On the road to Emmaus, two didn't recognize Him.

 

Mount Hermon Christian Writers’ Conference was something I planned to do… you know, after I moved to Hollywood, cast myself as Dolly Parton, and produced my debut film with Matthew McConaughey.

 I’d read all about M.H. Most of the authors I admired/stalked got started in this magical place. And I thought, “How nice. Maybe some day after I (a) get a life (b) get a manuscript (c) get a shorter list of lame excuses… I’ll go.”

 The truth was… I was terrified.

 Then it happened.

The Rules

Rules. Do's and don'ts. You either love or hate them. But whatever your opinion, you have to admit that rules are another great way to avoid writing. If you love rules but hate blog posts, skip to the link below for a good list. If you are interested in some serious writing-avoidance, read the post, and then click the link. I myself am in that interesting phase of not-writing-as-I-just-finished-a-manuscript-ha-ha. So I'm just enjoying looking at the rules at the moment, appreciating them for what they are. I'm in that delicious space of them not directly applying. So they can't touch me.

Epithalamion

They entered, each with her lantern ablaze, showing themselves wise and lighting the path to the place where he awaited his beloved.

Her face veiled, she came toward him, willingly, in the surrender of a bride. And as she approached, he played his guitar and sang:

Well the prophecy’s not simple, though all of it’s been said and done
Still the revelation waits to form itself within our love
And this we know, though we are yet unknown:

In our minds and in our flesh we ache
For the coming dawn, for the light of day
And the light will break us and faith will claim our lives
For when the two are one, both of them must die
For when the two are one, both are brought to light

February 2010 Wrapup

For those of you interested in what the Master's Artists are up to:

Mary Demuth: I’ll be teaching at the Hearts at Home convention in Normal, IL. I’ll also be exploring college options with my daughter later in the month. I’m thankful to be a mentor at the Head Start Mentoring clinic at Mount Hermon, and I’ll be mentoring fiction at the regular conference. Hope to see many of you there. I’ll be writing my next novel in the in between times.

Donna J. Shepherd: I'll be busy with the Greater Harvest Workshops this Saturday and praying that the weather here in Ohio cooperates. Something new is an audio version of one of my children's books, No More Gunk. I had fun recording and will record the audio for the rest of the books soon. The Oodles of Fun blog for Poodle and Doodle has been a delight to start and update. People love the puppies! In March, I plan to revamp my Devotionals by Donna site. It's time for a complete overhaul and get back to my love for writing devos.

The Facts of Life

When I meet new people and they ask me to tell them about myself I never know where to start. The truth is, it takes a lifetime to really know someone, so I’m often at a loss for how to respond. No one word or phrase, no one story can really define a person, and I know that whatever I say will only tell part of the story. Will the part that I choose cause them to want to know more or less about me? It’s impossible to tell your whole story in one sitting, so you pick and choose a few details that seem pertinent at the time and hope for the best. Meeting new people is not unlike a dance. You try out a few steps and see if you can move around one another without stepping on the other person's toes. But of course, a first dance is always awkward.

As a society we’ve come to treat relationships more like fast food. We are mostly content with drive-by, in-and-out relationships that are only mildly satisfying and never really contain any depth or staying power. If we’re not careful, Sunday mornings can become like that. We can breeze in, say hello to a few people, sing some songs together, listen to the same message and then go home. It’s not unlike the drive through. Everyone that went through that same drive through ate the same kind of cheeseburger - but that doesn’t make them friends. At best, it makes them acquaintances who generally like cheeseburgers and happen to frequent the same establishment every week.