One month to go!

That's right, friends, my deadline for finishing Son of the Shield is exactly one month from today!

Will I make it?

Interview with Sarah Holman of Homeschool Authors

 Ladies and gentlemen, I'm honored to have a special guest here at the Lair with me today. Sarah Holman, in addition to being a Christian, homeschooled writer, is also the founder of Homeschool Authors, a blog dedicated to featuring and promoting - you guessed it - homeschooled authors and their books. She has most graciously consented to an interview, so please make her feel welcome!
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Hello, Sarah, and welcome to the Writer’s Lair! Could you start off by telling us a bit about yourself?

Thank you for having me! I am a Christ Follower first and foremost.  Following Christ has led me to some wonderful and exciting places in my 22 years on this earth and I try to share some of my adventures on my blog (http://destinyofone.blogspot.com/). I have two amazing parents, six awesome siblings, and two adorable nieces.

Writing is my passion. I spend many hours every week in front of my computer writing and editing books.  Currently I have two book published with the third one to be published soon.

When not writing I can be found at my job at my Representatives office, reading, chatting with friends, and hanging out with my siblings.

What gave you the idea to start Homeschool Authors, and how did you get started?

Remember how I said that God has led me on many adventures?  Well Homeschool Authors was a God inspired idea.  As a self-published writer, I am always looking for ways to market my book.  One day I did a search, trying to find a list of books by homeschool authors to put me book on.  I couldn’t find such a list, so I did what every good homeschooler would do in that situation, I did it myself.

I already knew about six or seven authors so I put them on the list.  After that I started asking the authors I knew if they would be willing to do an interview.  I was amazed at how quickly the list grew and how many authors were eager to be interviewed.

What was the biggest challenge you faced?

Finding the time to keep up with the demand.  I get between five and ten e-mails a week for Homeschool authors all of which I have to respond to.  I am so pleased with how many authors want to be interviewed, have their books reviewed, and the be added to the list.  However, at times it can be overwhelming.

What is the most rewarding moment you’ve had as a result of starting Homeschool Authors?

You asking for an interview? *Wink* Seriously, I think the most rewarding part has been to connect with the writers.  I have met so many wonderful men and women through e-mails, each of them with stories to tell.  Their enthusiasm for Homeschool Authors, and bursting desire to tell stories is both rewarding inspiring to me.  Their appreciation and friendship are all the reward I need

The book standard requirements at Homeschool Authors are pretty high (and there’s NOTHING wrong with that!). Is it ever difficult to find books that come up to par?

My personal reading standards are very high and sometimes it does feel like I can’t find a book.  However, through Homeschool authors, I have found some wonderful authors (Elisabeth Allen, Molly Evangeline and Rachel Coker, just to name a few) that also have high standards in their books.

One thing I do understand though is that different people have different likes and dislikes.  Although I don’t like fantasy and dark books, I don’t think they are evil so I list those. I think that if people with high standards would look harder for good books and connect with others that share their standards; they would be surprised at how many good books they would find.

There seems to be a strong sense of community and support among homeschooled authors. What are your thoughts on the reason(s) behind that?

Isn’t amazing?  I have had some people buy my book just because I was a fellow homeschool author.  I think that it is because homeschoolers have a sense of community wherever they find themselves.

I have been to many political conventions and every time I have met homeschool students and graduates.  We may have many differences and we may not be great friends, but we will stick together because we have something in common.

The last few years have seen a big influx of homeschooled writers into the literary world. What do you think the reasons behind this are?

The number one reason is that there are more homeschoolers.  Homeschooling is not only becoming more accepted, but as more and more homeschoolers graduate, they are shining a good light on homeschoolers in general.  Publishers are finding that homeschoolers have a lot of talent and have an eager community of readers waiting.

I think another reason is that self-publishing is easier and not as frowned upon as it used to be.  Many homeschool authors can test their literary wings by publishing a book.  It costs them nothing, so they have nothing to lose, except for their pride if it fails.

Also, homeschoolers tend to have higher/different standards then non-homeschoolers. Many Homeschoolers start writing because they see a need and want to fill it.

Do you have any thoughts on the future of this trend?

I hope it continues!  I not only hope we get more homeschool authors.  I hope we start forming communities like Homeschool Authors to help each other get better.

Writing and publishing both come with a lot of challenges, and the literary world can be a tough place for anyone to break into. Do you think there is a unique set of challenges facing homeschooled writers, or are the struggles pretty much the same across the board?

 I think homeschoolers actually have an advantage; an eager homeschool community.  If we can get the word out about sites like homeschool authors, and about the authors themselves, I think that they will go far.  The biggest obstacle to homeschool authors doing well is the same as any author, getting the word out.  Anyone can help overcome this! Your readers can buy homeschool authored books and post reviews, tell their friends, host interviews and giveaways, anything they can think of to get word out. 

What advice would you give a homeschooled writer who was just getting started?

Get a team of readers/editors to help you and be ready to accept criticism.  I know it can be hard, especially at first but it helps make your book better. People say my books keep getting better, and I tell them it is because I listen to those around me. Don’t have any friends willing to read your book?  Get plugged into the online writing community.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Authors; published or not published I urge you to join the Homeschool Authors Yahoo! Group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/homeschoolauthors/).

For readers; support homeschool authors by buying their books and leaving feedback on sites like Amazon and Goodreads.

Bloggers; help us spread the word by adding the Homeschool Authors button to your blog.

Thanks so much for taking time to share with us, Sarah. You have a great ministry going at Homeschool Authors, and I hope to see it continuing to thrive!

Thank you for having me Mary!  I look forward to the day I can add your name and books to the Homeschool Authors list.

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I'm looking forward to that too, Sarah!

You can learn more and join the growing community of homsechooled authors by becoming a follower of the Homeschool Authors blog.

Son of the Shield - Status Report

Wednesday I spent an approximate total of six hours editing/rewriting sword fight and ambush scenes. During those six hours I had the Minas Tirith theme from the LOTR soundtrack on repeat (Click Here to listen) since it makes such great ambush music, but I'm pretty sure it's permanently engraved on my brain now. I've even dreamed it the last few nights.
Son of the Shield has some awesome revamped ambushes in it, though! (If I may say so without sounding boastful ; )
Special thanks go to my brother James, too, for all his help and insight on how the mind of a man works. I'm sure by now he's very tired of me saying "Okay, James, so if you were in this situation and so-and-so did such-and-such..." but he's been very patient and helpful, so hopefully my male readers of the future won't be disgusted with me. : )
The project as a whole is moving along well, and I'm very hopeful about making my deadline. 
A fellow Christian writer, Brian McBride, also gave me a great idea with some graphics he did for his own WIP (you can check them out Here, at his blog) and I'm starting to think about doing something kind of similar.
First things first, though - and finishing Son of the Shield is definitely first!

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.