My Inner Author

I have not kept it a secret, nor have I broadcast into the world my ongoing attempt to write a novel.  I have actually had 4-5 ideas for stories/books/novels and I am still sitting on them.  The one which seemed most persistent in my thoughts has been the one I am going on my 20th month of working on.  I have read a few books on writing and from time to time I have hit walls.  The outline covers beginning to end, but at times I am still struggling with the parts in between.  I simply thought I would share a chapter and see what the feedback was.  This particular chapter provides a more detailed introduction to one of my main characters in the story.  This book is Science Fiction.  The events here take place on another planet called Vasparia.  A world similar to Earth, a bit more technologically developed.    Also, I would be tempted to say be kind, but in all honesty, I want real feedback.  I am happy with this.  I am sur...

"Sports should be about kids and their passion, not about parents and their goals. We love our kids so much, we want to map out their futures for them so early. For so many, a college (athletic) scholarship is their definition of success. That’s sick thinking, and unfortunately, it’s contagious.” - Mike Matheny, Manager St. Louis Cardinals He is so right.  I see kids being pushed and pushed.  Some kids playing a sport year round.   Some parents are behaving like a mix between prison inmates and wardens in a prison; yelling at their kids, the refs, even coaches at sports played by children, even as young as 6-8 years of age.   It’s a game.   It’s supposed to be a game.   It is not for a parent’s self-esteem or narcissism.   It isn’t the child’s responsibility to fulfill the parent’s lost dreams.   Yet sadly in so many cases, this is exactly what is happening. We are taking the recreation out of it.   It is supposed to be something f...

Like many, I truly enjoy the words of encouragement, great quotes, scripture, interesting tidbits of history, and pictures of my friends and their families online. What I find much more troubling and much more aggravating (and much more prevalent these past few years), is how dismissive and condescending so many people are online when a person shares an honest belief, thought, philosophy or viewpoint which is not shared by all their friends. Politics and Religion are the gr eatest examples of this.  It takes a good bit of faith these days to post your beliefs for all the world of Facebook (or another online forum) to see. It may not quite be the same level of trust and intimacy of sharing your birthday suit with someone, but sharing your deeply held personal beliefs and convictions is indeed inviting people to see your inner most self. Sadly so many take the opportunity to repay that level of authenticity, honesty and openness by shredding people's souls and que...

Have you ever sat and wondered, how did I get here?   I am not referring to the walking you did, to reach the chair where you sat, and then the mouse you clicked (or phone button you pushed) to get to this page.   But rather, what are some of life's seemingly little random events, each of which happened to go (and quite honestly, had to go) a certain way, in a certain order, all to arrive at this exact moment in your life.   I imagine very few take the time to ponder these deep questions.   Maybe philosophy majors or deep spiritual thinkers might, but rarely I imagine does the everyday man or woman seriously give 1 minute of thought to such a question.   Well, this week will mark my 25th wedding anniversary to my soul mate, my best friend, my better half, and the owner of the beautiful face I get to awaken beside every morning; my wife, Donna.   Indeed the "silver" anniversary marks the passage of some significant time. Yet, despite the passage of ...

I never met, nor knew Stuart Scott personally. Like many sports fans, I came to know him through his various ESPN gigs and his more 'hip' style of commentary and reporting ("Boo-yah" and "As cool as the other side of the pillow" are classics which everyone knows). Making a connection with someone through a TV screen is a difficult task for even accomplished actors, and yet Stuart found a way to connect with millions. So, like many today, it made my heart heavy this morning to hear of his demise in his 3-round fight with cancer. Just like Jimmy Valvano, Stuart brought a graceful elegance combined with an absolutely fierce determination to beat back the insidious disease taking his life slowly from him. Those souls are rare. Sure there are thousands who fight just as hard, I am not seeking to in any way diminish their efforts, but rarely does someone get a public platform to share their fight with the world, and in turn inspire many hundre...

This week, some friends of mine have had some rather unpleasant interactions online when discussing and debating matters of faith.   Rather than simply post links to all the various articles, posts, replies, comments on posts, etc. and rehash the topics on my Facebook page, I prefer to take a moment and write here about the part of this I find most troubling and which causes me the most sadness about the culture in which we Christians live: the vicious tenacity with which some Christians attack other Christians. To begin, let's just agree there are issues of faith which various denominations within the Christian faith believe differently (massive understatement).   Some of these issues are actually relatively minor, some of them are much more central to the core beliefs of what each denomination considers essential to being a Christian, and part of their particular faith.   None of us is immune from occasionally thinking one group or another has lost their w...

Yesterday I had the privilege of watching the Monty Python troupe perform together live for the last time.   The show broadcast live from the O2 theater in London featured the group doing their old classics as well as a few updated skits.   The 10 shows which ran over the past 2 weeks sold out in 44 seconds when the tickets went on sale.  Wow.   The show was a nice homage to their past and a reminder of what they have meant to comedy these past 45 years.   Stephen Frye, Warwick Davis, the Top Gear guys, Mike Myers, Brian Cox (physicist) and Stephen Hawking were also in the show.   In the theater of roughly 200 seats, I do believe I qualified as one of the youngest audience members.   Perhaps 10, at most 20 people could have been younger.   I guess sadly the younger generations have not learned to appreciate the more cerebral British style humor they helped usher into the mainstream during their run. Anyhow, in honor of their fare...