Blog on the Lillypad
Saturday, September 04, 2004
 | Secret Radio in production
SECRET RADIO should be available soon in printed form: a single-volume, softbound edition, 7.5x9.25 inches, about 380 pages, that will sell for $24.99. As Christmas approaches, I hope readers will order one or two copies to give as gifts or keep for their own libraries. |
Clever readers may figure out how to order the book now in the internet inventory, but I am holding back ordering information because I have to check a proof copy. So if you have seen the book's order page and want to order a copy, it's still wisest to wait for another week. I will check the final product and make sure there are no print errors. As soon as I verify that it's in good shape, I'll post the ordering information. I'm just waiting for the proof copy to arrive.
Friday, September 03, 2004
 | From a Reader of VALKYRIES:
"I was very taken by Valkyries. As a matter of fact I read both [volumes] in 2 days. My wife...has been reading Vol 1...and is about 300 pages into it. Thank you for your work. It is so refreshing to find some contemporary fiction that has content and good theology and is therefore worth reading. As I noted earlier, when we are done reading them I will be passing the books on to the teenage daughters of some good friends of ours." |
For readers who are not familiar with VALKYRIES, the ad spaces for both volumes follow:
| VALKYRIES: Some Through the Fire by Jeri Massi.
Tracey Jacamuzzi, an eighth grader in the local Catholic school, wanders into a tent meeting and hears the Gospel. After she comes to Christ, she is sent away to a boarding scool by her abusive father. At the school, Tracey is initiated with a brutal hazing from a ring of school bullies known as the "Deep Six." But as she continues to resist them, she is befriended by the school's star basketball player, Liz Lukas, who warns Tracey not to preach religion at her. Liz teaches Tracey to play basketball, and Tracey---still strugglng to understand why God has done these things to her---finds herself a rising star on the basketball team. Peopled with real and believable characters, VALKYRIES presents no cliches and no easy answers. The characters are complex and realistic, and the issues of faith and grace that Tracey confronts speak to all Christians about their own doubts and struggles. In Volume One, Valkyries: Some Through the Fire, the story sets up the most pressing questions that all Christians must address about why God brings tragedy and suffering into their lives. At the same time, the book provides a fast-paced, lively story that rings with both sorrow and hilarity. |
| VALKYRIES: All Through the Blood by Jeri Massi.
The second novel in the series continues Tracey's journey in her faith. Though beset by her own failings and often doubting the goodness of God, Tracey continues to rise as a star basketball player. With the addition of new friends to the team, Tracey finds a nitch for herself. But the struggle of her faith continues as she encounters the divorce of her parents and the death of a friend. Now under the guidance of a Christian Evangelical woman who is a graduate of the school, Tracey bgins to find the answers for which she has searched. As she begins to understand the Grace of God, her own life changes. The pace of the book picks up even greater speed as the team prepares for the championships. Established characters leave the story and new characters enter. As it continues with both stark drama and vivid comedy, the narrative of Valkyries: All Through the Blood pulls the reader into a true account of Grace at work in us. Told in a transparent, honest and direct style that mirrors the hard driving action of a basketball game, this book depicts the real victory of God's Grace in justifying and sanctifying sinners. |
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
 | Catching Up with the Mail
Ramping up my new Apple Computer has taken up a lot of time (and I'm still not finished!) lately, and so I've put that on hold until the three new book releases are ready. I just got some words of praise from Don Elbourne on the first section of 31 Days of Grace, and I've signed on two new test readers to give me comments and suggestions. 31 Days of Grace is a daily devotional/workbook designed to help believers learn and appreciate the depth of the doctrine of reconciliation with God in Christ. So many preachers rely on manipulating people by guilt and shame, and so many people are scarred by abusive churches that a better understanding of the righteousness we have in Christ will help them. |
I have a few new e-mail friends who are communicating with me from different churches. One of them observes that Fundamentalism is dying, and recent efforts at reforming it or rebuilding it are too little, too late. Probably. But, he and I agree, God's people are not dying out. I've mentioned this before: human beings like to define themselves by names, and then they have to defend those names. Over time, the names by which they have defined themselves become as important as the reason they took the name in the first place. So when Christians call themselves Fundamentalists to define themselves as separate from liberals, well and good. But when we start to defend the term Fundamentalist for its own sake, because that is what we are, then the crucial issue of Christ becomes secondary to what we have defined for ourselves.
Let Fundamentalism pass so long as God's people still cling to Christ in righteousness and truth. After all, a large portion of Fundamentalism is so ignorant of Scripture and so disobedient to it that the name itself is a deception. But those of us who are His and are under the watch and care of Christ still hear our Master's voice. We don't need the titles we define for ourselves.
Another e-mail friend writes to encourage me:
I only found your blog a few days ago. I have truly appreciated it. I especially like the Secret Radio story. I am anxious to read more as it gets posted. Your writing style is sweet. I wish I had your command of the language....I was aware of the existence of places like HAC [Hyles-Anderson College] but we are not in their circle. So the details of the events were news to me but not surprising. Thanks very much for the organized way you lay out the information.
And another fellow and his wife who have done some work for Moody Press and have also written some thought-provoking and scholarly articles are planning on making their way down to North Carolina in November. We are trying to get our schedules reconciled so that we can meet for dinner or lunch.
On the flip side, I got a letter today from an IFBx who is a pastor, sending me a URL for a small and unknown Baptist web board, warning me not to advertise SECRET RADIO there. What do these guys do, sit up at night worrying about SECRET RADIO? What scares them so much? I guess you'll have to read SECRET RADIO to find out, but once again I am left puzzled by the sheer obsessiveness of these people.
Sunday, August 29, 2004
 | Writing and Designing
I've spent most of the weekend editing Jeff Smith's excellent book, HUBRIS, touching up Secret Radio, and writing new pages for a new devotional, 31 Days of Grace. I have all of these in production for publication through Cafepress, a self-publishing web shop that brings do-it-yourself right to the margin of being affordable. It's still not as inexpensive as I would like, but they do pretty good work for a lot less than such work used to cost. I've also been designing the web front bookstore that I plan to open by October 1. |
