Waiting

At this Christmas time, as we Christians turn our eyes toward a 2,000-year-old manger, we are easily caught up in the bustle and joy of the celebration. And in many ways, that’s how it should be.

But have you ever considered what went before?

I’m not just talking about Mary’s nine-month pregnancy or the stunning announcement to Zachariah some six months before that. No, go back farther, much farther. Back to the silence. To the stillness. To the waiting.

Oh sure, things were happening then. Life probably went on pretty much like it always had after the ink had dried on the parchments of Malachi and the other prophets. Babies were born. Young people married. The elderly died. Kingdoms rose and fell. Hours simply melded into days. Days gelled into weeks. Weeks melted into years. Years fused into decades, then centuries. And the silence of God continued, promises unfulfilled.

Did some wonder what God was doing? Did they fear that His silence meant He no longer cared what happened? Did they cry out to Him, asking why He tarried so long?

Or perhaps they simply forgot. Forgot to wonder. Forgot to seek. Forgot to wait. It’s so easy to do.

But often the times when God seems most inactive are the times He is busily preparing for His greatest works. We would see that if we dared to wait! But we get impatient and distracted. Life moves on and we move on with it. How often do we, like those in the first-century, miss the spectacular acts of God simply because we did not wait?

For while God may take centuries to prepare, He moves swiftly and completely unstoppable when the time is right, like it was 2,000 years ago. In a moment, in a breath, in a heartbeat, everything changed: Jesus Christ was conceived and the silence of God ended with His Word-in-Flesh.

And in a moment, in a breath, in a heartbeat, everything could change again.

Will you be found waiting for Him?

Crash Course on Craft: Hero’s Journey Review, Part 1

The last few weeks we’ve been working through the Hero’s Journey in general terns. Now we put it all together along with what it looks like in two very different movies: Star Wars and While You Were Sleeping.

Ordinary World: The character’s “normal” world is established.
Star Wars: The evil empire controls a galaxy far, far away and Luke works the farm with his uncle and aunt.
While You Were Sleeping: Lucy is a lonely, single woman with not family. She works a train station in Chicago.

Call: An event disturbs the character’s world.
Star Wars: Luke discovers the recording of Princess Leia.
While You Were Sleeping: Lucy rescues Peter and is mistaken as his fiancé by his family.

Mentor: A secondary character offers counsel and help to the protagonist.
Star Wars: Luke’s visit to hermit, “Old Ben Kenobi.”
While You Were Sleeping: Lucy chats with her employer about what to do and Saul speaks to Lucy about the family before impromptu Christmas.

Refusal of Call: Protagonist tries to ignore the disturbance to his world.
Star Wars: Luke refuses Obi-Wan’s initial offer to travel and train with him.
While You Were Sleeping: Lucy confesses to comatose Peter her loneliness and declines the invitation for Christmas.

1st Threshold/Point of No Return: Protagonist makes a decision and sets a course of action that will forever altar life.
Star Wars: Luke return to find his family dead and decides to join Obi-Wan to train as a Jedi.
While You Were Sleeping: Lucy promises Saul to protect the family.

The Muse

Title: The Muse

Series: Stand-alone

Author: Fred Warren

Genre: Adult Magical Realism

Excerpt from Chapter 1 of The Muse:

Taron surveyed the enemy lines, row upon row of grotesque, iron-sinewed goblins rhythmically scraping swords on shields, filling the air with the soul-melting screech of metal craving bone. It was hopeless. The Alliance Army was outnumbered twenty to one in an indefensible position, their escape blocked by the sheer precipices of the Glass Mountains. He sighed. This would be the end. So much blood to be spilled today, for so little purpose.

Siri pulled up beside him, struggling to rein in her spirited chestnut mount. The horse, at least, was eager for battle, but Siri’s face was a picture of despair. She knew the odds, what the outcome must be.

“My Lord, the troops await your orders.”Taron nodded, raising his sword, Illustrion, on high as he wheeled his destrier about to face the haggard ranks of the Alliance. He opened his mouth to shout the order that would send them all to certain death.

Silence.

“My Lord?” Siri whispered, “The order?”

Silence.

Behind them, the goblin army roared and scraped, roared and scraped, roared and scraped.

“My lord! What is your order?”

The general’s mouth was a gaping cavern from which no sound emerged.

“Aaagh!” Stan shoved himself away from his desk, pounding his head in frustration. It was no use. He’d written himself into a corner—again.

A struggling novelist’s search for inspiration turns into a deadly for power.

The Craft: The Muse joins a creative premise about the sources of inspiration with a colorful cast of characters and tongue-in-cheek humor about the writing process.

I felt the pacing was a bit off, with stakes and consequences not escalating fast enough so that the beginning seemed on the slow side with a lingering feel of “So what?” But overall the story is a fun and mind-bending of tale with some unexpected twists, good character arcs, and the satisfying feel of things coming full circle.

The Content: The Muse is an intriguing look at inspiration, the hard work of creativity, and the power of the imagination, love, and sacrifice.

At the same time, I am hesitant at how some of the angelic/supernatural elements were handled. I say “hesitant” because the concepts have little biblical backing (as far as I know) for or against them. So while it’s fun to play “what if,” it still needs to be handled carefully with a good measure of discernment.

Summary: The Muse is intriguing, both in premise and content hypotheses. Those who write fiction or live with such people will find the story quite funny, and creative types, no matter the art, will most likely be fascinated by the possibilities posed. However, question marks remain, causing me to recommend a cautious approach to this book.

Rating: Craft—3, Content—3, Overall—3.2 out of 5 stars

Crash Course on Craft: The Hero’s Journey, Part 8

After a couple hundred pages and over a hundred minutes of film, the plot has at last come to a head. Commonly called the climax in English courses, our hero has now reached the do or die moment. This is the last chance to attain the dream, goal, or desire he has chased for the whole story.

Here the tensions are highest (or should be). The goal is in reach, but the greatest and worst hurdle also stands in the character’s path. That hurdle can take many forms: a last-minute complication (e.g. a storm), a moral dilemma, a human—or not-so-human—opponent (often called the villain or antagonist). But at long last, the inner and outer conflicts have culminated—ideally in the same moment and in opposition to each other.

The problem is whatever the hero chooses, something will die, for you cannot have your cake and eat it too. But a decision must be made (even if is a decision not to make a decision) and something—or someone—will be sacrifice, physically or metaphorically.

Therefore, the Hero’s Journey calls this point the Death and Resurrection. For even as the character makes a choice, the tables are turning to reward the decision made—rewards for good (ideal) and punishment for bad. And the results can range widely: from unexpected retrieval of original desire to something deemed more important (e.g. peace of mind) for rewards; death to poetic justice for punishment. The result just must match the decision made.

And so we end the story with a final glimpse of the character, often in the same setting we saw him in at the beginning and in the process of establishing a new “ordinary world” (Elixir). We savor the rewards and justices and marvel at how the characters—and we—have grown. And with a sigh of contentment we close the book and turn off the movie, the journey complete…until the next time.

The Dark Man

Title: The Dark Man

Series: None (Currently)

Author: Marc Schooley

Genre: Adult Futuristic Thriller

Excerpt from Chapter 1 of The Dark Man:

The dark man was back.

Charles Graves fidgeted at the top of the staircase, keeping a wary eye on the man while attempting to eavesdrop on the ruckus developing below. It was a delicate balancing act.

The staircase wound around a spacious entry hall furnished with marble floors, luxurious antiques, portraits, and a gold chandelier with 121 bulbs. Thirty-two gold-inlaid steps led from the base of the staircase to the top step. Wooden eagles perched every five feet along the banister. The eagles’ shadows soared across the wall opposite the banister in the light from the chandelier as if they were flying in formation.

The staircase culminated in a balcony, which fronted four rooms located above the entry hall of the Graves Mansion. One of these, the farthest from the staircase, belonged to Charles. The closest had belonged to his brother, Stephen.

Charles peeked through the woodworking adorning the balcony’s railing. A forgetful, mechanically overproduced tune from the ASL meandered through the house, droning its way to the balcony. The singer alluded to something about the brotherhood of man. Charles did not understand the phrase.

Something crashed downstairs and the music stopped. They were arguing again.

A master of disguise tries to eradicate a remnant of the church—and gets in deeper than he ever expected.

The Craft: The Dark Man lacks the polish of truly great writing, but the overall story is solid, with an intriguing twist of perspective on a common premise—the attempted eradication of the church—of Christian futuristic thrillers.

In the problem department, the beginning is slightly rough and fails to captivate as quickly desired. There are also several spots that it becomes hazy and confusing about what’s happening because of the internal dialogue. However, if the readers will slog through these points, they will discover characters larger-than-life and a plot worthy of the old Mission: Impossible shows.

The Content: The Dark Man has content that provides a fresh perspective on old spiritual truths. The human struggle with evil, especially that which resides within, and the providence of God come to the forefront in a way that allows the reader to see these things at work believably yet causing the breath to hitch in amazement.

Unfortunately, my one complaint, however, is one that screws with all the good, both in craft and content: The ending doesn’t ring quite true.

While the sacrifices made at the climax are necessary and not totally unexpected, the way the end was written made those sacrifices seem pointless, even senseless.

I understand that in real life, with our limited perspective, such things often do seem senseless and pointless. But the fact remains that God is sovereign and He wastes nothing. That is part of why we read story in the first place—to make sense of the story we are living in, to provide hope that there is a point and purpose to life.

But The Dark Man fails to sufficiently provide such hope, unintentionally leaving a bitter taste of hopelessness and defeat in the reader’s mouth. While I believe justification for the sacrifices does exist in the book (and a sequel could help clarify), those reasons have become buried and it looks like, in many ways, that evil has won in the end.

In a novel so strongly focused on the providence and power of God, that is a bitter pill to swallow indeed.

Summary: Although an exciting novel, the conclusion of The Dark Man soured much of the good that went before, at least for me. I recommend readers weigh the advantages and disadvantages carefully, taking into account personal limitations. However, many readers—both teens and adults—will no doubt find The Dark Man thrilling and a worthwhile read.

Rating: Craft—3, Content—3, Overall—3.3 out of 5 stars.

The Privilege of the Unpublished Novelist

For the past five months, I’ve been trying to work on a new project. I’ve brainstormed, plotted, sketched out characters, written chapters—and rewritten them. And every step of the way I’ve felt like my feet slogged through molasses. Like the stuff found in a pantry shelf during a Minnesota January.

So even as I’ve worked, I’ve asked a lot of questions. Why do I write? What stories are closest to my heart and why? Who are my target market?

While I don’t have all the answers yet, a few have bubbled to the top—answers that have made it clear that my current project isn’t really what I want to write. Nor does it fit the readers I find myself yearning to connect with.

What to do now? I hate the thought of completely ditching my current project, and yet isn’t this one of the privileges of an unpublished author without a contract in sight? After all, I have no one pushing me to produce a manuscript now, nor do I have any pressing deadlines.

Now is my time to play, to experiment.

And who knows? That “ditched” manuscript may find new life yet. Anything is possible, especially with God leading the way.

Crash Course on Craft: Hero’s Journey Part 7

The hero’s journey is now rapidly coming to a climax. Having faced the enemy on their own turf (the Cave), the protagonist has often obtained the prize he went in for, the prize that should guarantee the success of the original goal. Or at least so the hero thinks.

So the protagonists return “home” (The Return), often back to the ordinary world they started in. Here we get a peek at how the hero or heroine has grown and changed—or not.

However, not all is well. The prize obtained was not the ultimate goal, but the means to the goal, which often comes at a price far more than the protagonist expected. Many things still must be put to right, and defeat didn’t exactly make the enemy happy. You don’t really think he’s going to sit back and let the hero obtain the goal that easily, do you?

Sing We Now of Christmas

The angel Gabriel from heaven came to a virgin meek and mild. So in the bleak midwinter, once in royal David’s city, Mary had her baby away in a manger--because for Mary and Joseph ‘twas no place--and she sang, “Jesus, Jesus, rest your head. Lul-lay.”

This first noel, the birthday of a king, came upon a midnight clear. So while shepherds watched their flocks of friendly beasts that silent night, hark! Herald angels from the realms of glory we heard on high as lately we watched: “He is born; how great our joy! One small child—an infant holy, an infant lowly—is in the little town of Bethlehem. God rest ye merry gentlemen and glory to God on high!”

Also three kings of orient are following a star of the east, and the little drummer boy pats a pan with a fum-fum-fum. Yes, there is a song in the air...

But do you hear what I hear? I wonder as I wander: “Mary, did you know what child is this?”

This is Jesu Bambino, the Fairest Lord Jesus, a joy to the world and of the Father’s love begotten.

So good Christian men, rejoice! Come, all ye faithful! Bring a torch, Jeannette, Isabella--shine a thousand candles bright! Rise up, shepherds, and go tell it on a mountain for unto us a child is given this holy night.

(There are 49 Christmas carol allusions in this post. Can you find them all?)