The Trinity Arts Conference and A Fiction Update

An update:  We have officially decided to go to the Trinity Arts Conference!  My wife wrote her way through the decision-making process in this post, we sent in the check, and BAM!  We're conference bound.  Mary Ann decided not to attend the conference, but she, the kids, and her parents will be visiting her Aunt Pam in McKinney, TX.

This is a big deal for me.  I've wanted to write at least since I was a young teenager (it was comic books back then), but this is really the first step I've taken toward putting my fiction out for public consumption.  Well . . . not quite the first step.  The first step came yesterday, when I read the first chapter of my novel (you read that right!) to my fellow-students in my Christianity and Imagination class.

I was nervous.  As I said to the class, I've preached before, bared my soul on this blog, and sent out a non-fiction paper for publication, but I've never shared my fiction with anyone outside of my family (My "Vintage Furniture and Oddities" post doesn't count since I didn't really invest myself in it).  I have never been a 'reviser' either, but I actually tried to craft this story, not just to barf it out onto the page.

A negative response would have been depressing indeed.

Fortunately, the response was quite positive.  For one thing, three people actually made comments.  No response might have been worse than a negative one.  Three of my classmates spoke to me as class ended, two of them saying they wanted to hear more of the story.  The third said, "So you've finished the novel?"  I decided to interpret that as interest.

And no, by the way, I haven't finished the novel.  Just chapter one and a few important scenes.

The professor also told me he looked forward to reading what I wrote, so that counts as a positive response too.  He is an extraordinarily kind man, though, so he might say that even if the story stunk out loud.

Anyway, I'm taking the chapter and whatever else I can complete before June 12 to the conference for the writer's workshop.  Nerve-wracking, but if I want people to actually enjoy reading my stuff that's what it will take.  I don't want to make any sweeping pronouncements, but this may just be the start of a new direction.

Speed-Writing, Anyone?

Interesting day I had today.  As I mentioned in a previous post I have a "Christianity and Imagination" class this semester.  It's been a great class, and I'll be sorry to see it end.  My professor, Dr. David Calhoun, is a wonderful Christian man who loves to really grapple with good literature.  He introduced me to Frederick Buechner, for which I am thankful, and we will be discussing his work as well as Flannery O'Connor's.  She's been a favorite for a long time, so I'm looking forward to that day.

There is only one grade in the class.  Each student has to put together some form of imaginative art.  It could be a poem, a painting, even a dance.  I planned to write a short story because at any given time I have a number of short stories kicking around in my head.  As I feared, the story has begun to creep beyond the bounds of 'short storydom.'  It's on its way to becoming a novel, I think.  Don't get me wrong:  I will be happy to have a novel if I can complete it.  I'll shop it around.  Finishing it for class will be the problem.

On monday we had 'drawn lots' to see when we would do our presentations.  I drew May 2, which seemed good to me.  That gave me more than a month, and I thought if I aimed at writing 1000 words a day I could have a decent amount of work done.  1000 words a day is a tall order, but it was something to aim for.

But that was before Friday.

It seems that when Dr. Calhoun set up his lot-casting system he was using an outdated list of names.  There are three more people in the class than he thought.  That means that he needed to add an extra day to the presentation schedule.  But that's not a problem.  He thought the most fair thing would be for us to draw lots again.  Suddenly the room felt a little hotter.

The basket went around the room for the second time.  After a few minutes it came to me and I drew my paper.  I opened it, checked the date, and laid it on the table.  My new date is the 18th.

APRIL 18th.

I lost two entire weeks.  If 1000 words a day was unlikely, 2000 is in the realm of the absurd.  I don't suppose I have to have the whole novel finished, but I would like to have most of the first draft done when I do my reading.

So if you'll excuse me, I've got some work to do.

My Phenomenal Week

This week has been one of the most fun weeks I've had all year, particularly since I entered seminary in June. It started out with no small amount of trepidation; I had my Greek in Exegesis final exam to study for (Greek in Exegesis is the more advanced Greek course here at Covenant). I was concerned because the exam was a pretty big deal. We had to take a passage from Colossians and write what amounted to a mini-commentary on it. We had to deal with the cultural backgroud, Old Testament motifs, grammatical concerns, words that needed closer study, and more. All this had to be done in three hours, which was not easy. I managed it in the end, though, and came out feeling pretty good about it. I don't think I'm destined for an 'A' (thought I dare to dream...), but I think I studied well and 'left it all on the field,' to use a sports metaphor. Perhaps 'left it all in the exam room' would be better, but exams ended on a high note in any case.

Another plus that comes with the end of classes is a shortened work day. For those who don't know, I make my living scrubbin' toilets for The King's Cleaning Service. I work on the Seminary's campus, which has been reduced to a virtual ghost town since the semester ended. No Classes + Christmas Holiday= Empty Campus, which means few people are using the facilities here. I can zip through the campus in a fairly short amount of time and still have a little energy left at the end of the day.

And speaking of Christmas, that has only added to my good spirits. The prospect of seeing our families back in West Virginia is exciting, but that means we won't be able to have our own Christmas celebration here in St. Louis. That being the case, we're going to let the boys open their presents this Friday before we leave town. Our four-year-old, Max, is getting his first bike, so I'll be putting it together tonight (pray for me)!

Mary Ann and I, on the other hand, couldn't resist opening our presents. We tore into them last night, and I must say I'm pleased with the results. Mary Ann was pleased with the presents I got for as well, I think. In case you're interested, here was my haul:

1. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Movie)


One of two Harry Potter movies missing from my collection.

2. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Movie)


This is the other one. It completes my Harry Potter DVD collection!

3. The Waiting: The Waiting


Definitely The Waiting's best CD.

4. The Pilgrim's Progress

This one was probably the crowning touch of the night. It is an illustrated edition from 1891. Veeeerrry cool. To say I was excited is putting it lightly.

The boys and I watched The Chamber of Secrets this morning, which put me in a Harry Potter kind of mood, so I checked MuggleNet to see if there was any news. To my delight, I saw some more good news that made this week even a little better. J.K. Rowling has released the title of book seven!!! I will reveal it at the very end of this post so I won't spoil it for you. Go to her website to find out (MuggleNet has instructions on how to find it out). Anyway, it's been a great week and it only promises to get better (we're getting a used Grand Caravan this Friday in Louisville which will actually reduce our car payment!).

I think that's it. I'll try to post again soon. Now for the title to book seven:


SPOILER!!!!!!






Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Excellent!