No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. — I Corinthians 11:19 Differences. Disagreements. Conflict. Brawls. Few of us like having them. In fact, many of us avoid them. Which is a shame. Especially for Christians. Yes, believers are commanded to love one another, live in [...]
When I was shopping for an agent, a question came up with such frequency that I began to ponder its import. It was: How long did it take you to write your first novel? After two completed novels and a novella, the query has now become: How long does it take you to write a [...]
Apparently not. On the one hand are the agents and editors who flatly say that Speculative Fiction DOES NOT SELL in the CBA. It’s an experiment that is over, they opine. The demand just isn’t there. Blah. Blah. Blah. And then this from Allen Arnold, Senior Vice-President and Fiction Publisher at Thomas Nelson. In a [...]
So when did Jesus go soft? When did He go anti-capitalist? When did He suddenly become this holy hippie who winks at sin and rails against the establishment? When did He stop making exclusive claims, dividing people, and warning about a place of eternal torment? When did Jesus stop being the Judge, and simply become [...]
You can’t have bad guys without real evil. You also can’t have compelling drama without real stakes. And a biblical worldview is the only worldview that sustains the philosophical framework necessary for eternal stakes and ultimate moral consequences. Which is why most authors — even non-religious ones — appeal to a religious / moral worldview [...]
If reading is a journey of discovery, most readers can point to landmarks along the way. Whether it’s a matter of prose, conceptual lucidity, memorable characters, or just good timing, these books (fiction and non) embed themselves in our psyche and inevitably serve as signposts to our reading experience. These are the books you keep [...]
There’s only one thing worse than striking out — it’s striking out looking, rather than swinging. I think the same is true of artists. I’ve always appreciated when an artist is willing to take a risk — swing for the fences — even if they whiff. Perhaps they attempt something unconventional or outside their comfort [...]
I had to fight NOT to comment on a recent online discussion about book reviews and reviewers. Friend and novelist Gina Holmes recently posted on the subject. In Confessions of a Book Reviewer, Gina summarized what she’s learned as a published author and lamented “spiteful reviewers” who post reviews that are “anything but objective and [...]
In 2011, mikeduran.com had its highest traffic numbers ever. We’ve had some tough, interesting, thought-provoking discussions here, and I want to thank you for helping make that possible. But what was everybody reading? These ten posts generated the most traffic on deCOMPOSE in 2011. * * * 10.) White Men, Black Women, and Fictional Stereotypes — [...]
