Colorado Christian Writer’s Conference – Day One Reflections

Few places I have visited are as pretty as the YMCA of the Rockies Conference Center. It is at Estes Park, Colorado. Nestled in the Rocky Mountains near the entrance to the Rocky Mountain National Park the scenery, wildlife and weather are spectacular.

Over the next four days I will work on my writing craft, spending time in prayer and worship as well as resting and relaxing. I hope to write a short daily weblog on my adventure.

The conference center was easy to find. Having never been here and not having any instructions on the registration process I looked for a building that said registration or administration. I found registration was divided into two parts. The easy part was checking into my room. The staff of the YMCA of the Rockies Conference Center has their act together. Boom, I was in and out in under five minutes. I am in room 3407 in Mt. Ypisoln Hall. I am one of the few attendees that has a private room – thank you God for presentation mode  my day job that allows me to earn enough income to afford such a luxury – several men I talked with are staying four people to a room.

Next it was time to unload my car and get setup in my accommodations. I found get email and can surf the web. my cell phone has poor reception. I have WiFi in my room and all over the campus so I get Facebook, Twitter, and email without issue.

Conference registration check-in was next. I’ll be nice. It is staffed by volunteers. They were running late in getting things setup. The conference registration materials with my paid critiques, appointments with agents and publishers/editors were not off the press. They were still being printed. I was able to get my conference badge.

I went to the first time attendee orientation. Many people arrived late, some very late. The teacher did a lot of small talk for the first half of the scheduled time. The man beside me got up and left as he felt it was a waste of his time. He should have stayed. The teacher was Liz Cowman Furman. When the last of  the stragglers arrived she shifted into presentation mode. She was wonderful. She explained how things worked, where things are, and what to expect. We had a big warning about altitude sickness and were given advice on avoiding it.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 was the scripture for the session. We were reminded God is in control. We were reminded to be in right fellowship with God. We were also reminded that if we are going to write about God, don’t write or bring the focus to yourself.

After the session I went back to registration and my packet was ready. I walked back to my room and had one of the woman editors catch up with me. She initiated the conversation. We walked up the big hill to her car which was on the pathway to my room. We small talked and got to know each other. She thanked me for not trying to pitch something to her and I thanked her for being here. She will remember me in two days when I have an appointment and in the proper setting pitch my book to her.

I am going to rest and relax now. It is 45 minutes until the evening meal. After it we have a time of worship where the focus is on the ministry of writing. After that I will attend a half hour prayer session before retiring to my room.

Read Full Post »

Colorado Christian Writers Conference and Write His Answer

I remember finding “Write His Answer” in the bookstore at the Green Lake Conference Center in Wisconsin in the early 1990s. I was amazed. It spoke to my need as a writer. I had been freelancing about 10 years at the time.

Since then I have been through the book about once a year and given a copy to over 25 Christian writer friends. It continues to be an encouragement. My original edition is marked-up, torn and tattered as well as cherished. Marlene Bagnull is the author of “Write His Answer”. She also is the director of the Colorado Christian Writer’s Conference for over a decade.

I am excited about attending the Colorado Christian Writer’s Conference. It’s been on my bucket list for nearly a decade. If you’ve been thinking of attending, this is the year to come. It will be an amazing investment in your writing ministry.

Here is an article with 7 Reasons Why You Need To Come To The Colorado Christian Writer’s Conference.

http://writehisanswer.wordpress.com/2013/05/02/7-reasons-why-you-need-to-come-to-the-colorado-christian-writers-conference/

Read Full Post »

May 1, 2013

A week has passed since my last update. That is one week, seven days, 168 hours… well you get the picture. It has been a while.

For me a week is an eternity. What have I been doing in the last week? I’ve been busy. I am writing and editing like crazy as I prepare to attend the Colorado Christian Writer’s Conference.

I have learned so much about writing a book once I got to the edit and rewrite phase. No, I’m not taken a manuscript to stick in an editor’s face. You don’t do it that way. I want to be ready when they say yes to my pitch where I can email them the book. I have appointments with five editors/publishers. That is right – five!

I took a vacation day last Friday. I was going to attend the Round-top Poetry Festival near Austin, Texas. Instead I edited and rewrote for two days.

I had a break of a few hours in the middle on Friday. I went to the dentist at my wife’s insistence.

She said, “You are off work so make good use of your time by calling the dentist to see if they can work you in today.” They could. I wasted 3 hours, but kept the wife happy. It also kept me from missing any work.

I’ve been writing hundreds of words a day, or rewriting, and I’ve been having fun. I haven’t disappeared. Yes, I’ll get back to The Martian Chronicles chapter summaries. The draft is written on each.

Well, it is my bed time.

Read Full Post »

The Martian Chronicles – Chapter Five – The Taxpayer (March 2000/2031) by Ray Bradbury

Chapter five, The Taxpayer, first appeared in The Martian Chronicles. A man insists that he has a right to get on the next rocket to Mars, because he is a taxpayer. He insists on being let on the ship so strongly because the Earth will be having a great atomic war soon, and no one wants to be around when it happens. He is not allowed on the ship and eventually gets taken away by the police.

Characters:

Pritchard – An American taxpayer.

Conflict:

The protagonist is Pritchard. He wishes to go to Mars to avoid atomic war on Earth. The antagonist is the United States government, who ignores him. The climax is when his demand to join the third expedition falls on deaf ears. The outcome is he remains on Earth.

Themes:

There are two themes. The first is escape from a horrible situation. The second is a false sense of entitlement. The phrase “I’m a taxpayer” is often used to protest perceived poor treatment at the hands of the government.

Summary:

Pritchard demands to go to Mars to avoid atomic war on Earth. His request is refused.

Notes:

The foreshadowing of an atomic war is brought to the forefront in this brief vignette. Pritchard’s desperation seems unwarranted: he may be considered a crank, someone whose dissatisfactions are out of proportion from the reality of the situation. And yet, there are subtle hints in other stories that indicate the extent of the problem: that only Americans make the voyage to Mars, indicating a strong rift in international relations; the disillusionment about humanity that Spender expresses quite fatally on the fourth expedition. In a way, Pritchard is a prophet unheeded by his people.

Read Full Post »

The Martian Chronicles – Chapter Four, The Earth Men (August 1999/2030) by Ray Bradbury

Chapter Four, The Earth Men (August 1999/2030) was first published in Thrilling Wonder Stories, August 1948.

This story tells of the “Second Expedition” to Mars. The astronauts arrive to find the Martians to be strangely unresponsive to their presence. The one exception to this is a group of Martians in a building who greet them with a parade. Several of the Martians in the building claim to be from Earth or from other planets of the solar system, and the captain slowly realizes that the Martian gift for telepathy allows others to view the hallucinations of the insane, and that they have been placed in an insane asylum.

The Martians they have met all believed that their unusual appearance was a projected hallucination. Because the “hallucinations” are so detailed and the captain refuses to admit he is not from Earth, Mr. Xxx, a psychiatrist, declares him incurable and kills him. When the “imaginary” crew does not disappear as well, Mr. Xxx shoots and kills them. Finally, as the “imaginary” rocket remains in existence, Mr. Xxx concludes that he too must be crazy and shoots himself. The ship of the Second Expedition is sold as scrap at a junkyard.

Characters:

Jonathan Williams – Captain of the second expedition from Earth to Mars.

Three unnamed Earthians – Williams’ crew.

Mrs. Ttt – Martian annoyed by arrival of Williams and his crew.

Mr. Ttt – Sends the Earthmen to Mr. Aaa.

Mr. Aaa – Sends the Earthmen to Mr. Iii.

Martian girl – Listens to the Earthmen describe their journey.

Mr. Iii – Locks the Earthmen in an insane asylum.

Mr. Xxx – “Cures” the Earthmen and himself of insanity by killing them and himself.

Mr. Uuu – Martian who claims to be from Earth.

Miss Rrr – Martian who claims to be from Earth.

Mr. Www – Martian who claims to be from Earth.

Mr. Qqq – Martian who claims to be from Earth.

Mr. Vvv – Martian who claims to be from Earth.

Conflict:

The protagonist is Jonathan Williams. He tries to make the Martians believe he and his crew are from Earth. The antagonist is The Martians. They all believe Williams is insane and his crewmen are external delusions borne of this insanity. The climax is when Jonathan Williams and his men are placed in an asylum. The outcome is when trying to cure Williams, Mr. Xxx kills Williams and his men, then kills himself when the delusion persists.

Themes:

There are two themes that create tension when they interact in this story: the ego of achievement and the limits of credibility.

The ego of achievement is embodied by the astronauts from Earth, who are not content to have completed their feat, but to be universally recognized for what they did.

The limits of credibility are embodied by the Martians, who find it preposterous and unbelievable that someone would travel from another planet to Mars. Of course, this is the same attitude Earthians have about people they encounter who make similar claims.

Summary:

Captain Jonathan Williams and his crew of three men have arrived from Earth to Mars. They arrive at the home of Mrs. Ttt and wait to meet her husband for several hours, only to then be sent to Mr. Aaa and then Mr. Iii. Along the way to Mr. Iii, they speak to a little girl who seems unimpressed by the story she hears of their travels. Finally, Mr. Iii takes them to a room where they are feted by a group of Martians – only to discover they also claim to be Earth and are actually insane asylum inmates. Williams realizes he has been declared insane: seeing the insane Martians manifest their thoughts while sleeping, he understands that his strange Earthian appearance is being dismissed as yet another insane Martian using his everyday mental abilities to do the same.

The next morning, Mr. Xxx meets with Williams to cure him of this illness: Williams takes the doctor to the Earthian spaceship but Mr. Xxx deems him incurable thanks to the extent of the delusion – three seemingly solid crewmen and a seemingly solid spacecraft. Thus, Mr. Xxx decides to kill Williams, but the delusions persist; he then shoots the other three crewmen “delusions” but the craft is still there. Deciding he himself is incurably insane, Mr. Xxx does the merciful thing and kills himself. Later, Martians find the spacecraft and, not knowing what to do with it, pass it along to a junk dealer.

Notes:

Obliquely, this story shows the hazards – and advantages – of thinking too logically, of not trusting imagination. A hazard, since the truth of the situation is never quite figured out by the Martians; but also an advantage along the lines of “ignorance is bliss” since they unwittingly fended off yet another invader from Earth. This story paves the way for both “The Third Expedition” and “The Martian”, stories that build on the abilities of Martians.

Read Full Post »

The Martian Chronicles – Chapter Three: The Summer Night (August 1999/2030) by Ray Bradbury

Chapter Three was first published as “The Spring Night” in The Arkham Sampler, Winter 1948.

This short vignette tells of Martians throughout Mars who, like Ylla in chapter two, begin subconsciously picking up stray thoughts from the humans aboard the Second Expedition’s ship. As the ship approaches their planet, the Martians begin to adopt aspects of human culture such as playing and singing American songs, without any idea where the inspirations are coming from.

Characters:

The Martians, but no specific ones.

The Earthmen.

Conflict:

The protagonist is the Martians who are receiving telepathic signals from Earthmen. The antagonist is the Earthmen who are unwittingly sending their thoughts ahead of them as they travel towards Mars. The climax of the chapter is the Martians grow disturbed by the sudden influx of alien information. Th chapter’s outcome is the Martians become uneasy and restless.

Themes:

The psychological toll of invasion and colonization.

Summary:

On a pleasant summer night, the Martians are surprised by alien thoughts from Earth, giving them insights of a culture they had never encountered before.

Notes:

In a literal foreshadowing of events to come, the psychological impact of the Earthmen’s invasion of Mars takes place before the invasion actually becomes effective.

Read Full Post »

The Martian Chronicles – Chapter One “Rocket Summer” – Ray Bradbury

Rocket Summer (January 1999/2030)

Rocket Summer was first published in Planet Stories in the Spring 1947 edition. It is the first story in “The Martian Chronicles”. The stories of the book are arranged in chronological order, starting in January 1999, with the blasting off of the first rocket. Each story forms a separate chapter of the book.

Conflict:

Let’s look at the conflict in chapter one. The protagonist is the rocket. The antagonist is winter, metaphorically set aside by the rocket’s heat. The climax of the chapter is when the rocket ascends and melts winter away. The outcome is the town is temporarily in summertime again.

Themes:

The theme in the story is the seasonal shift. It emphasizes the changes brought by technology on human life, and in turn foreshadows the theme of human life (with their technology) changing Mars and the Martians when they colonize the planet.

Summary:

“Rocket Summer” is a short vignette which describes Ohio’s winter turning briefly into summer due to the extreme heat of the rocket’s take-off, as well as the reaction of the citizens nearby.

Notes:

This vignette is very brief and intends to convey a sense of awe and wonder at what technology is capable of. Summer is symbolic of youthfulness and energy, which space travel and colonization is supposed to inspire.

Read Full Post »

The Martian Chronicles – Ray Bradbury

Preface: I own the Bantam Books paperback edition, printing number 68 in 1988. It includes the story where the blacks (African-Americans) get fed up with the south and head to Mars. Some editions have this story edited out. The removal of the story was for political correctness and to not offend some racial groups.

I first read The Martin Chronicles in the 1980’s. I continue to come back from time to time to dip (to use a Bradbury phrase) into the wonderful writing and story telling of Ray Bradbury. He set the standard high when he wrote The Martian Chronicles. The book has one of the most important set of observations about our human issues ever written in either science fiction or science fantasy form.

Introduction

The Martian Chronicles is a 1950 science fiction short story collection by Ray Bradbury that chronicles the colonization of Mars by humans fleeing from a troubled and eventually atomically devastated Earth, and the conflict between aboriginal Martians and the new colonists. The book lies somewhere between a short story collection and an episodic novel, containing stories Bradbury originally published in the late 1940s in science fiction magazines. For publication, the stories were loosely woven together with a series of short, interstitial vignettes.

Bradbury has credited Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio and John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath as influences on the structure of the book. He has called it a “half-cousin to a novel” and “a book of stories pretending to be a novel”. As such, it is similar in structure to Bradbury’s short story collection, The Illustrated Man, which also uses a thin frame story to link various unrelated short stories.

The book covers a period from 1999 through 2026. In the book, much of the human colonization of Mars brings those who want to recreate Earth against those who appreciate what is special about Mars. Therefore, exploitation versus conservation is one theme in the book. There are magnificent stories in here against racism, censorship of books, and war.

The first act (set in the period from January 1999—April 2000) details the attempts of the Earthmen to reach Mars, and the various ways in which the Martians keep them from returning. In the crucial story, “—And the Moon be Still as Bright”, it is revealed by the fourth exploratory expedition that the Martians have all but perished in a plague caused by germs brought by one of the previous expeditions.

This unexpected development sets the stage for the second act (December 2001—November 2005), in which humans from Earth colonize the deserted planet, occasionally having contact with the few surviving Martians, but for the most part preoccupied with making Mars a second Earth. However, as war on Earth threatens, most of the settlers pack up and return home. A global nuclear war ensues, cutting off contact between Mars and Earth.

The third act (December 2005—October 2026) deals with the aftermath of the war, and concludes with the prospect of the few surviving humans becoming the new Martians, a prospect already foreshadowed in “—And the Moon be Still as Bright”, and which allows the book to return to its beginning.

Near the book’s end are three stories about a variety of meanings of loneliness. They are wonderful. The first looks at men and women seeking each other out when there is no other company. The second considers the loss of a family and how to cope with that. The third looks remorsefully at the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust.

The last story in The Martian Chronicles, “The Million-Year Picnic,” makes me very melancholy. From that story, you will be able to answer “Who are the Martians?”

Do not let the fact that Bradbury mainly writes science fiction and fantasy keep you from reading this master story-teller. Read Bradbury for his great story telling, dialogue, and writing.

A 1997 edition of the book advances all the dates by 31 years (thus running from 2030 to 2057), includes “The Fire Balloons”, and replaces “Way in the Middle of the Air” (a story less topical in 1997 than in 1950) with the 1952 short story “The Wilderness”, dated Mabfby 2034 (equivalent to May 2003 in the earlier chronology).

In the days ahead I will give share a chapter by chapter summary of the book.

Read Full Post »

Chronicles, Volume One by Bob Dylan

I received this book from my son Kristopher for Christmas way back in 2004. The book is a lot like Bob Dylan … different and genius. We start in 1961. We witness some history in him signing his first record contract.

It is an odd memoir that is as inspired, impulsive, and to a degree as eccentric as Dylan’s greatest music. He never tells us what he is about.

Biography lovers will find it wanting. You get near, but not close to Dylan. He chases “rabbits”. It reminds me of someone talking in to a tape recorder and then having it transcribed – word for word.

With a title of “Chronicles, Volume One”, when will we see Volume Two? Save your money. Borrow the book from the library, unless you are a big Bob Dylan fan. Read in January 2005.

Read Full Post »

A Vision for Writing

Disclaimer: This article talks about religion in general and the Christian faith in particular. Read at your own risk … Psalm 118:17 says “I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.”

Christian Writer or Writer Who Is a Christian?
God does not call every Christian who writes to a full-time writing ministry or to write in the inspirational genre. Let’s be honest, not everyone who writes writes about God, Jesus, or Christian themes. People write about a variety of subjects. Writers write about what they know or what interests them. I know that is the way I do it. Not all Christians actively practice their faith and beliefs. Many struggle with their faith. I consider myself a writer who is a Christian not a Christian writer. My faith affects all ares of my life. It slips into my writing most of the time. Sometimes I even do it on purpose!

It’s Okay to Encourage Others Toward Trust Christ.
Psalm 118:17 is in an account where the psalmist reminds us we should conscientiously do our duty to all, and trust in God alone to accept and bless us. It says we should seek to live to declare the works of God. It’s okay for a Christian writer to encourage others to trust in Him, serve Him and live for Him. Such were the triumphs of the Son of David, in the assurance that the good pleasure of the Lord should prosper in his hand.

Commit Our Works to the Lord.
We should commit our works to the Lord. Try praying for God to give you a vision for your writing, to give you the desire to write, and to open doors of opportunity for you to write. And, if you are a Believer in Christ you can then “declare the works of the Lord.” Include your faith in your writing just like you do in your everyday life.

Do Not Hold Back
I am reminded of the late George Harrison’s autobiography “I Me Mine”. In the book he mentioned he did not hold back in promoting his Hinduism faith and the Hare Krishna movement with songs like “My Sweet Lord”. He viewed his celebrity as a way to promote his beliefs.

Include Your Faith in Your Writing
Why shouldn’t a Christian include faith in his or her writings? Again, Psalm 118:7 says “…declare the works of the Lord.” Habakkuk 2:2 declares “And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.” The key is the writer needs to write. Your faith is part of who you are.

Read Full Post »