Had to share...

The following is the transcript of a real conversation with my brother Caleb.

Caleb: "Hey Mary, you know what would be awesome?"

Me: "Yeah - a hairband with the inscription from Aragorn's hunting knife engraved on it."

Caleb: "Oh... uh, I was gonna say 'helicopter jousting'."


LOL - I love my brother.

Deadline: June 16th!

Son of the Shield is getting close, my friends. I'm very close to completing the final edit/rewrite/overhaul before it's ready to start showing to publishers. Progress is even starting to speed up, the more I get done, sort of like putting a puzzle together - the more pieces you get put in place, the easier it is to find where the remaining pieces belong.
Still, as just another way of keeping myself focused and motivated, I've decided to set a deadline for having it done. I'm the kind of person who thrives on a good challenge (part of why I love NaNoWriMo), and deadlines have helped me stay focused on projects in the past, so it ought to work now too.

I've chosen June 16th as the deadline for having Son of the Shield finished.

Why? Well, there are a couple of reasons. One, June 16th is my birthday so it's an easy date for me to remember. Two, June 16th is close enough to be a challenging deadline to meet. Three, June 16th is far enough out to be realistic and allow time for unforeseen disasters such as tornadoes (always a possibility where I live), farming troubles, work or family crises, nuclear war, civil unrest, outbreaks of the bubonic plague, etc.

So, all you noble, faithful followers who have been hearing of and waiting for Son of the Shield for so long, take heart! The time is drawing near!
But wait, there's a task for all of you as well. (You didn't think I'd let you off that easy, now, did you?)
I set a deadline for myself because I wanted to have a goal to work towards. But now that I've shared it with all of you, it's official. And I expect you to hold me to it. I am officially granting permission to each and every one of you to nag, harass, and pester me about it. I'll be posting some kind of progress update on it at least once a week... but if I don't, you may torment me about that too.
And when it's finally finished, I plan on having some fun here at the Lair to celebrate my biggest writing accomplishment so far. I don't know what it will include yet... Some behind-the-scenes looks at the writing of Son of the Shield, perhaps, or maybe even some sneak peeks?... but I guarantee it will be a lot of fun. Your dedication and nagging will not go unrewarded.  : D

And with that, I'm off to work on Son of the Shield. June 16th is only thirty-nine days away!

Here in the Power of Christ, I Stand.

This afternoon I was reading an article by Ken Ham, president of Answers in Genesis. He was speaking about the horrible trend that has swept the church and caused many professing Christians to compromise their beliefs and allow evolutionary ideas into their worldviews. Many of these people have done so because they are insecure in their faith in the authority of God's Word. They haven't been shown the evidence that supports the Genesis account of creation exactly as it is written. Somehow, they have come to believe that scientific 'evidence' outweighs the authority of Scripture, and a tragic number of Christians have stopped speaking with authority because of this. It has become very easy for the atheists and evolutionists - who are speaking authoritatively, whether they are justified in doing so or not - to drown them out.
This is an issue that is continually on my heart, so imagine how encouraging and refreshing it was when I read the following in Ken Ham's article:

"In Mark 1:22 we read that many people were astonished with Christ's teaching, for He spoke as one having authority. Today, we can speak with this same authority, because we have the Word of God! Jesus Christ, the Creator and the Word, has given us the Bible, and He told us how He created all things."

I can't tell you how refreshing it is to read that.
Don't let them intimidate you into compromising on your beliefs, my friends. If you find an evolutionist's arguments or 'evidence' intimidating or jarring to your beliefs, don't just sit there and let it gradually erode your faith away. Make war against these lies and the Liar they came from!
Do an in-depth study of the Genesis creation account - I'm talking with a concordance and everything. Look up key words and learn exactly what they mean in the original language.
Find good books, articles, documentaries, and lectures on apologetics and go through them carefully. Answers in Genesis is a great place to start. The Institute for Creation Research is another fabulous resource. Master Books has a library's worth of resources available. (And of course, I'd be more than happy to recommend some of my favorite resources with anyone who asked. ; )
Talk to your parents, a pastor, or a friend who has not allowed themselves to compromise on their faith in light of scientific 'evidence' that supports evolution. Tell them what you're going through (don't be afraid to be honest and tell them you're confused and struggling). Ask questions. Ask them to help you study the topic that is bothering you and learn the truth about it. Ask them to pray for you. Email me and ask me to pray for you - that's what Christian brothers and sisters are for.
Above all, pray for yourself and ask God to help you learn to stand on the authority of His Word. God doesn't lie, friends. He can't lie. It's completely contrary to His nature, and He wouldn't be God if it wasn't.
Even Christian creationists don't have all the answers, and many things are still mysteries to us. But we still have the words of a God who doesn't lie, and He has told us what we need to know to stand on those words.
Like the song says:

"Til He returns or calls me home, here in the Power of Christ I'll stand."

Stand strong, my friends.

I'm not dead!

My apologies for the recent absence of posts. It's been a while since I've had access to the internet. So, here's a brief update of what's going on in my life:
Turkey season. So far my dad and sister have each bagged a turkey. It was my sister's first time hunting with us, and she did a great job! Our refrigerator is already nicely crowded with fresh meat, and I'm looking forward to my hunt coming up tomorrow morning (though not looking forward so much to getting up at 4:30 AM).
Homeschooling Convention. Most of this past week has been totally wrapped around getting ready for and working at the local homeschooling convention. It went pretty well, I think, and I was able to attend several really good seminars - I even got to meet Dr. Jason Lisle in person! (For those of you who don't know, Dr. Lisle is an astrophysicist who was with Answers in Genesis for several years and is now with the Institute for Creation Research, and I've been reading his work for years.)

I was also able to meet and talk to a fellow Christian writer who has just published his first novel, which I'll be reviewing over at The Flying Librarian's Hideout in a few days, so be sure to keep an eye out for Night of the Cossack.
More along the fantasy line of things, this weekend I became acquainted with a very cool business called SturdiGuns, owned and operated by a Christian, home schooling family. I liked what I saw so much that I even brought home a piece of their merchandise:

SturdiGuns creates realistic wooden silhouettes of various types of weapons. Most of their products are guns, but they offer a few different styles of swords and battle axes as well - all at amazingly low prices! Click Here to check out their website and see for yourself. Be keeping an eye out here, too, for the sword I bought to make another appearance. I have some very cool ideas in store for it... which brings me to next order of business in this update:
Son of the Shield. We're getting close, my friends! There are still a few little gaps that need to be filled in, some scenes that need to be streamlined, and one plot point that needs to be fleshed out a little more, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it's getting closer. Finally! I'm very excited to be almost finished with the final draft so I can move on to the next step in my writing journey, which hopefully will include publishing and starting work on the sequel. Yes, there is a sequel to Son of the Shield, and I'm started to get very excited about the prospect of starting work on it. But in the meantime, I have some cool plans and ideas coming up for getting the word out about SOTS and ensuring that it receives a warm welcome into the literary world when (Lord willing) it arrives.
So, in closing, thanks for reading this update and, as always, be sure to stick around for whatever adventure is next!

Supernatural Christian Fiction - Is it Okay?

Let me start off by saying that ever since the beginning of the paranormal/supernatural fiction craze, I've been afraid that this would happen.
For some reason, Christian writers and publishers feel like we just can't let the secular publishers corner the market on paranormal/supernatural fiction. We just have to get in and get a cut of the action. So we've started seeing paranormal/supernatural titles start to drift into the Christian book market.
Now, though, the trend is even spilling over into children's fiction. This week I read a new release from Thomas Nelson Publishers, by new author Jerel Law, titled: Spirit Fighter. You can read my full review of the book by Clicking Here.
Suffice it to say I was not impressed. In fact, I was disturbed and even angered by what I read. And my review only covered a few of the issues I had with it. I could have gone on for much longer.
The thing that worries me most about this new trend in fiction is that Christians are starting to become casual and comfortable, even flippant, with the idea of spiritual warfare, and the topic is beginning to lose the sense of gravity that should accompany it.
I remember a time when spiritual warfare, angels, and demons were spoken of soberly, with seriousness and gravity - if they were spoken of at all. Very few people actually talked about such things, and those who did didn't do so often or casually.
Now, though, it's become a trendy, exciting topic that people talk about over a cup of coffee, along with the latest vampire novels. Every author puts their own twist on it; every reader has their own favorite fallen angel or half-angel character.
Now, in books like Spirit Fighter, even children's fiction has started featuring fallen angels, nephilim, guardian angels, and face-to-face battles with demons.
I'll be honest: I'm worried about the direction this trend will take people. Spiritual warfare is something we should not shove under the rug and pretend isn't there, but it isn't something we should be casual and flippant about, either. It is a very grave, serious thing, and we should not be allowing trendy fiction to make it into something we feel comfortable with. Feeling comfortable leads to dropping our guard. Dropping our guard leads to vulnerability and weakness.
Spiritual warfare is not an area where we can afford to be vulnerable and weak, my friends.

What are your thoughts on the supernatural trend coming to Christian fiction?

Good Friday and the Cross - Finding Beauty in Ugliness

We've all seen the beautiful, jeweled, stylized crosses hanging on the walls of people's homes, worn as jewelry, screen-printed on clothes and bags, and dangling from rear-view mirrors. Most of us probably even have one or two. We talk and we write and we sing about the beauty of the cross. But I have to wonder... do we ever stop to think about its ugliness?

Before it became the symbol of salvation and Christianity, before it was a jewelry item or wall decor, the cross was a torture device - the most brutal means of death a pagan empire could come up with. Like the song says, it was 'the emblem of suffering and shame', a synonym for cruel, agonizing death.
'Ugly' is an understatement.
If you think about it, the concept of sacrifice is the same way. The idea of someone completely undeserving being punished instead of someone who is deserving (and who then gets off scot-free) is, on its surface, ugly. Where is the justice in that? How can that be right?

I know what you're all probably thinking: Why am I asking you to look at the ugly side of things instead of the beautiful side? Well, I'll explain.

Beauty is only meaningful if we have something to contrast it with. What would the beauty of a summer rain mean if we hadn't seen the ugliness of parched, withering grass and dry, cracked earth? Would a beautiful, healthy baby mean as much if we had never seen a weak, diseased, deformed one?
Would summer rain and healthy babies still be beautiful? Absolutely. And we would still enjoy them. But we wouldn't appreciate their beauty half as much without something ugly to contrast it with.

Sacrifice and the cross are the same way. If Christ had snapped His fingers and poof! sin was paid for and death was vanquished, what would that mean to us? Even if He had died for us, but peacefully - in His sleep, free of any pain - what would that death mean to us?
He didn't, though. He loved us enough to embrace the ugliness of dying on a hideous, barbarian torture device, sacrificing His life for a stubborn, undeserving lot of ungrateful wretches. He knew the terrible, all-consuming power of the Father's wrath, and yet He was still willing to take it - all of it - on Himself, to save the creation He loved.
Yes, the idea that the Creator of the world had to die in order for His rebellious creation to be saved from their own selfish pride and stupidity is ugly. Sin is ugly. Death is ugly. The image of a completely innocent man dying the torturous death of a criminal is beyond ugly.
But the incredible, awesome love it took for Him to willingly do that... well, 'beautiful' doesn't even begin to describe it. And it becomes even more amazingly beautiful when we take a moment to look at the ugly side of it.

That's where the beauty of the cross comes from. That's the kind of God we serve: a God who can take a compilation of the ugliest concepts in existence and from them make the most beautiful outworking of love ever to take place.

And that's why we writers fill our stories with war, danger, disaster, trouble, and heartache rather than care-free stories of ease and pleasure. It's why happy endings are important: because as Christian writers, our stories are reflections on our King - a God who can take the biggest, ugliest disaster imaginable, and make it into something beautiful.

So this weekend, consider taking a few moments to look at the ugly side of Easter. It makes the beautiful side mean so much more.

Have a wonderful Easter, everyone. And here's a great Easter worship song to enjoy while you're at it.

The Joy of Writing God's Story

Those of you who know me personally will probably agree with me when I confess that I take myself way too seriously. It hurts to admit it, but it's a fact.
Another flaw I struggle with is getting way too focused on and wound up about minute details. Kind of like tunnel vision. Sometimes this can be a good thing, true. But when a situation calls for a look at the bigger picture, it can be a problem.

No, this isn't 'The Confessions of Mary', it's just a bit of intro into the thoughts I've been mulling over for the last day or two.
As I'm sure you can imagine, my tendency to take myself too seriously often attaches itself to my over-active attention to detail, and the results on my writing can be... oh, how shall I say it?... frustrating.
It's really nothing that extraordinary for me to find myself agonizing over the same section of a WIP for hours - occasionally days - because of some minor detail that really doesn't matter to the story, but that my sense of self-importance won't let slide.
Recent case in point: Should I, or should I not, give names to the different sectors of the capital city in Son of the Shield?
No, this decision will have no effect whatsoever on story or characters, it's just a detail that I had considered putting in to help flesh out my fantasy world. But I worried and stressed about it until it finally dawned on me: it doesn't matter! It has no effect whatsoever on the story, so why am I wasting valuable writing time stressing over it?
Naturally, my detail-obsessed, self-important side was quick to chime in. Isn't depth of detail important to creating a vivid, life-like fantasy world? After all, look at the kind of detail J.R.R. Tolkien built into Middle Earth - and The Lord of the Rings has been a best-seller for how long, now?
It was quite a heated little internal battle, let me tell you, but I eventually found the bottom line. It's this:
I am not J.R.R. Tolkien. I have not been tasked with building the next Middle Earth or writing the next international, multi-generational best seller.
I'm Mary Pursselley, and God has given me my own unique story to tell. My job is to do the very best I can in telling it... not to equal or even rival anyone else.
Somehow I don't really think God is all that interested in whether the sectors of the capital city have their own names. I get more of the impression that He just wants me to tell a great story about His grace and sovereignty.

So, I'm working on easing up a bit with the obsessive attention to detail and the exaggerated sense of my own importance. Sure, detail is important in building a fantasy world, and as a writer and a Christian I'm committed to always doing my best 'heartily, as unto the Lord'. But for now I'm putting away the microscope and working on just telling God's story, not building the next great fantasy world.
Interestingly enough, I'm having a lot more fun.

Book Review: The Man Who Created Narnia

For thirteen years now - ever since my mom handed me The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and told me to write a book report on it, I've been a diehard C.S. Lewis fan. Over the years, as writing became a bigger and bigger part of my life, Lewis became a role model for me. And as my faith has grown and deepened, my admiration for Lewis' non-fiction works has grown as well.
So, imagine my delight when I found this -


-at my local library sale.
It's definitely not the most thorough or in-depth biography I've ever read, but nonetheless I truly enjoyed it. In fact I couldn't put it down. Okay, to be completely precise, I read the entire thing in an hour and a half.
The book is written in a very laid-back style and contains numerous photographs of Lewis, his friends and family, and significant locations such as Oxford and The Kilns, throughout his life. Together, these factors made the book a very easy read and I'm sure they contributed greatly to my enjoyment of it.
A few of the subtle, passing remarks made by the author lead me to wonder whether he is a Christian or not, which, considering the subject matter, is bound to cause some skewed perspectives in a book like this, but fortunately it didn't prevent him writing an absolutely lovely overview of C.S. Lewis' life.
As a hardcore Lewis fangirl, I found that this book only whetted my appetite and has probably driven me to the brink of yet another Lewis craze (anyone up for a Narnia marathon?). For anyone wanting to do serious research on the life of one of Christianity's greatest modern minds, a world-class writer, and a founding father of the Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy genres, The Man Who Created Narnia would need to be read in concert with other, more in-depth works, but would nevertheless be an excellent volume to have on hand.
And if by some wild, evil twist of fate you know nothing about C.S. Lewis and his writings, well, this book would be an excellent place to start. Immediately... if not sooner.

Do you have a favorite biography of C.S. Lewis, or your favorite author? What's your favorite C.S. Lewis book?

Book Review: Replication {The Jason Experiment}

By Jill Williamson
Published by Zondervan

I've never won a blog book-giveaway before winning this one, and I was thrilled to receive a copy, signed by the author!

Martyr - or, J:3:3 as he's officially called - lives in a state-of-the-art facility deep under ground, safe from the toxic air of the dangerous world above. A few weeks before his eighteenth birthday, he's about to expire - his life will end, a sacrifice that will provide the much-needed antidote for the people trapped above ground in the hostile environment.

Or so he's told.

Out in that 'hostile environment' is Abby Goyer, a brainy high-schooler looking towards studying forensics in college. Her father works for a science lab in Washington D.C, and their relationship has been pretty strained since Abby's mom passed away. The strain becomes even worse when Mr. Goyer announces that they're moving to Alaska, where he's taken a job at a state-of-the-art research lab.

I have to say, I loved this book. The characters were all remarkably well-developed - even Martyr, who naturally has some peculiarities from living in an underground laboratory his whole life. The plot was straightforward and clear-cut, another plus. (I occasionally get tired of plots with so many twists and turns that by the end you can't even remember what the initial point was.) The writing was very skillful, another huge plus.
In this story, the author dealt with the highly controversial issue of cloning with skill, honesty, and grace, which I found highly refreshing. She doesn't mince words, and she calls things what they are, which I admire, but she did it all without sounding in the least 'preachy' or militant about it.
One or two things that bothered me:
First, there were several kiss scenes between teenagers. They were nothing humongous or grossly over-the-top, just straightforward kisses, but they still bothered me, since both characters were Christians.
The only other thing is a pet-peeve annoyance for me, more than anything else. The character Abby - who has studied crime for years and should know better - lets herself get pushed around very easily by a guy from her school who follows her around uninvited and even ends up forcing his way into her house. Abby isn't happy about it, but she doesn't do anything about it. There were several instances in which she should have thrown the creep out of her house at knife-point and called the cops on him, but she did nothing. It made me highly irritated at her.

Aside from those two little issues, though, I really, really enjoyed this book. I honestly couldn't put it down - and it takes a special book to captivate me that completely. I wouldn't recommend this book for younger readers, certainly. But for anyone 16 and up, this would make a fantastic read. I definitely recommend that you check it out at the first opportunity you get!

Survival Tips for Real-Life Adventurers, Part II

In Part I, at the frantic insistence of my lawyers, I presented the Department of Adventure Research's statistics on the risks of getting involved in adventures, as well as a long list of advice on how to avoid getting into them. The responses in the comment section were much as I had expected: My readers saw the advice as entertainment rather than sound counsel, and most of them expressed the desire to get involved in adventures in spite of the risks.
I expected that response because, truthfully, I feel the very same way. I would much rather go out and get myself tangled up in a delicious adventure than stay at home and be safe. That desire is what prompted me to write this post in the first place. Unfortunately, due to the undeniable risk of adventure involvement, my lawyers saw such a post as an enormous liability risk, and would not be satisfied unless I first published a post advising against adventure involvement.
So I did, and now that the old buzzards can't squawk at me over liability, we can move on to the topic we're all actually interested in: adventure itself.
I won't argue that adventures are a risky business, so for all you noble adventure-seekers out there, here are some tips for surviving one, should you be so fortunate as to get involved in it.

The first thing to remember, as I mentioned in Part I, is that real-life adventures do not come with a happy-ending guarantee like most fictional ones do. It is extremely important that all adventurers remember this, mainly to avoid becoming lax and passive mid-adventure, assuming things will eventually work out a happy ending on their own. Should you choose to step out of the central, decisive flow of action, things will definitely work out sooner or later, but their odds of working out happily will plummet.

For this reason, adventurers should work to stay as close to the central course of action as possible. Not only will this enable you to stay more in tune with the inner workings of the adventure, but also, the closer you are to the center of the adventure's workings, the more actual meat of the adventure you usually get. Also, if for any reason you end up outside the 'loop' at the heart of the adventure, there is always a chance you will be dragged back in at some point, in which case you will have a terrible amount of catching up to do if you want to be knowledgeable and effective in the rest of the adventure. During your absence from the central loop, you may have missed something vitally important - something the other adventurers involved might forget to mention (adventurers are reputed to have very finicky memories and often forget to share vital information with comrades).

Know the category, type, and genre of the adventure you are involved in. This is a very important point to remember, as each and every type of adventure comes with a unique set of risks and dangers (e.g., Jason Bourne is not likely to have to fight off a fire-breathing dragon, whereas Aragorn is not likely to be hunted by CIA assassins.). Since my field of expertise centers around the speculative genres, the advice presented in this post will focus on those genres and their related categories. (Note: if you are involved in one of these modern, action-type adventures, I advise you to locate and consult an expert in that field at once.)

Layer your clothes. With few exceptions, adventures are extremely hard on the wardrobe. And, since in real-life adventures you won't have a costume crew with 10 extra sets of each outfit for you, you'll have to deal with problems on your own. It's best to have a few layers on, preferably with something very rugged and durable as the outside layer. That way, if you get dragged behind a truck or runaway horse or tumble down a mountain, hopefully your clothes will take the brunt of the abrasions. I recommend leather for the outside layer - besides being tough and durable, it looks extremely cool (which is a must for adventurers). And, if you lose a layer or two (as happens in a very high percentage of adventures) you'll still be alright.

Ladies, whatever you do, do NOT wear high-heeled shoes at any point during the entire duration of the adventure, even if it seems to be at a lull. Without fail, the instant a heroine puts on a pair of high-heeled shoes something drastic breaks loose and she usually ends up climbing out fire escapes, or hijacking a train, or camping in the wilderness while wearing high heels. Not the place you want to find yourself, sister. In fact, if you plan on making adventure a significant part of your life, I would recommend you simply go through your closet and get rid of any high heels to begin with, to reduce your risk. Wear combat boots instead. If anyone sneers, just tell them combat boots with dresses are the latest fad in Parisian couture. Who's going to know?

Carry First-Aid supplies. For some utterly inexplicable reason, adventurers never have first-aid with them. So when someone inevitably gets hurt, they end up having to scrounge around for whatever they can find to use as a splint, bandage, sling, tourniquet, stretcher, etc. Nine times out of ten they end up using someone's shirt as a bandage or sling (another reason to layer your clothes), but you can avoid that in real-life adventures by simply having the foresight to carry actual first-aid supplies with you.

Learn how to perform First-Aid. This should go without saying, I know. But unfortunately, a surprising number of people wouldn't know how to perform first-aid, with or without supplies, if their lives depended on it (pun intended). If I catch any of you people out in the wilds of Middle Earth somewhere, scratching your head and trying to figure out how to apply a tourniquet while your comrade lies bleeding to death, I will not be happy.

Save the melodrama for some time when you're not trying to perform First-Aid. I understand, melodrama is an important part of fictional adventures, and you are more than welcome to incorporate it into your own real-life adventure as well. But First-Aid is not the time for it. We've all seen the heroine rush to the wounded hero's side to find that he's either bleeding profusely, not breathing, pulse-less, or a combination of the above. Rather than doing something constructive (like CPR) she throws herself across him and begins weeping. If he's conscious, they usually have a brief but heart-wrenchingly poignant conversation, followed immediately by his death. If I may say something frankly, it's this:
The death rate of heroes would be reduced dramatically if heroines would just learn CPR and do it rather than weeping. It's traumatic, I know. But seriously, you can tell him you love him after he's breathing on his own again.

Write EVERYTHING down. Unless you have a photographic memory, this is an extremely important tip to remember (you may even want to write it down). Documenting your adventure step-by-step and in detail (and keeping all your notes together in one place, preferably a notebook) will not only serve to make writing your autobiography much easier, but more importantly it will increase your chances of surviving the current adventure and achieving a satisfactory outcome. You've seen it as well as I: the central characters in an adventure all standing or sitting around, scratching their heads and pacing the floor; one of them usually says something to the effect of 'There has to be something we're missing!'
Well, voila! That's when you, the well-advised adventurer, whip out your notebook, flip back through the pages, and find the answer to whatever the problem is. As I mentioned before, adventurers have finicky memories, and they forget everything. So save yourself the trouble and write stuff down!

If everything seems easy, beware! Adventures almost never work out the first time you think they're going to work out, or in the way you first think they're going to work out. No matter how perfect and natural and logical everything seems, if it's easy and perfect, watch out! This is one of your most vulnerable points as an adventurer, and you are statistically more likely to experience something awful and unexpected and horrendous at this time than almost any other time in the course of an adventure.

If you meet someone of the opposite gender whom you simply cannot stand, be aware that you're probably going to fall in love with them. Sorry if I just horrified anyone, but it's just a statistical fact, and you should be informed about it. The earlier on in the adventure you meet this infuriating person, the higher your risk of falling in love with them is. Don't worry - yes, I know s/he is the most annoying and exasperating person on the planet - but s/he'll grow on you. Statistics prove it.

-----------------------------------------

These are just a few general tips to get you started in becoming a well-advised adventurer. If you should happen to find yourself involved in an adventure without further education on the subject, these bits of advice will at least increase your chances of surviving and achieving the ultimate adventurer's goal: a happy ending.
Please bear in mind that there is much, much more to adventure education than what I have included here. I heartily advise each and every one of you to continue learning and studying. With time, diligence, and experience, you may even achieve the status of Master Adventurer!