DISQUS

Love Rosencrantz & Guildenstern! (I really need to find a copy of that flick, and add it to my library, instead of just telling everyone they need to watch it.)

The thing about Truth is that it remains true, whether we believe it or not. Facts may change, details may blur or come into focus, but Truth -- that less-than-concrete thing that is as solid as rock -- will remain. In that, there's comfort and a place to stand.

Keanan Brand's last blog post..Space Pirates, episode 4

Great!

I grew up with the high-sounding, almost-too-holy prayers pronounced from pulpits and congregants, and have little patience for prayers that don't get to the point. Yes, we have a sample prayer from Christ Himself, but that doesn't mean we approach God with a formula or an agenda. Who do we think we're kidding? He knows everything before we think or speak it; He's just waiting for us to talk to Him.

Keanan Brand's last blog post..Home!

One might say I've been on a sort of retreat for almost two years now.

It's a long story, and the short version leaves out all the pertinent details, but when the church I was attending closed (I'm still fuzzy on those details), I didn't go out looking for a new one to attend. Dissatisfied with "churchy" language and answers, a friend and I started an almost-weekly Bible study/discussion/prayer meeting.

Someday, I'll return to an organized church setting, and even now I still attend occasional services with friends or family, but what seemed like a desert has now become a garden, and I've learned as much from the quiet acts of worship and practical living-out of my faith as I ever did from the frenzy of church activities and socializing.

Keanan Brand's last blog post..Back to the Beginning

Poetry may be useless on some level, but necessary. Sometimes we write drivel, but sometimes poetry condenses thought and emotion to its essence, and therefore makes it powerful.

I was asked recently by a fellow writer to pass along a few things I've learned. One of those things is that daydreaming is a good thing. So is yardwork and hiking and long drives to nowhere. Activities that engage the body only seemingly disengage the mind; sometimes, my mind is free to wander the world of my story even as my arms and legs are pushing the lawnmower around the backyard. That may not be fun to most people, but (shrug) I make no claim on sanity.

Just finished reading the interview. Cool! Can't wait to see Caspian.

That Screwtape thing is going to be a touchy project. It's probably one of the last books I'd try putting on the screen because it's difficult, but difficult does not mean impossible.

I hear about this high-concept business at nearly every writing conference or seminar or class I've attended. I understand what is meant--I think--but shouldn't any good story make the stakes matter, grand-scale or personal?

If the stakes matter to the characters, if the outcome matters to the reader, then the author has done his or her job.

Maybe this is what I'm saying: If I don't care whether or not the universe explodes, then the stakes aren't high enough. The author hasn't done his job and made me care.

This sounds like my kind of book! Thanks for the review. I'm always on the lookout for intelligent representations of faith, and for well-written fiction.