Welcome to my site

What can I say? I'm so pleased that you've come here. I've spent 5 years blogging, more than that building websites and have been writing "professionally" since 2003. I'm here to help writers with their writing, encourage people through this life, and point them to Jesus. That's the most important thing. So stay tuned. Check this site regularly as "some of the features" may change. I'll need help from time to time, because I'm not perfect. If you're perfect, please go to another site. I'm pretty sure you won't fit in here.

Unbalanced Scales

I'm sure everyone in the U.S. already knows that we are in danger. The problem is that so much of the rhetoric and the old rules are just antagonizing things.

For instance, only weeks ago all the media could do was talk about going over a fiscal cliff. Now, however, that cliff seems to have disappeared and they are talking about spending ceilings. I don't know about you, but this tells me that the people in Washington (D.C) don't know what they're talking about.

Then comes the IRS looming on the horizon. It's hard enough to get around with their hands in our pockets year round, but they expect an extra-special bonus via our Income Tax. We've been gritting our teeth and baring this for years, but now it's becoming harder and harder to find the forms to fill out, even if you can understand them, so you can send them in and pay that tax. I'm of the inclination that if they want my money they should come and fill out all the forms and make it easy. I'm not one of these people who expect freebies. It's just that the founding fathers didn't get paid, and if they did it was by their district, and probably in feed or livestock. I say we go back to that. You want to get out of our $15 trillion debt, then stop paying the people who aren't listening to us when we say, "No taxes."

I know, that's idealistic, but this country was built on ideals, and hard work made it work. That is until the government decided to pay for those who didn't want to work. Take a good idea and present it to Congress or the Senate and the first thing they do is appoint a special task force to investigate the problem. Oh, and all those tax problems we face, they do not face. How'd that happen. Whatever happened to "We the People..?"

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

THE MUSE, by Fred Warren


The Christian Fiction Review Blog has is touring a truly fantastic book this month. THE MUSE, by Fred Warren is more than just fantasy, more than just good fantasy. It's something fresh and moving and interesting, comical and humorous at the same time. Seems there's trouble in writer's paradise. Three writers make up a writer's group they call "The Seventh Circle of Hell". For those unfamiliar with the term it's a literary reference to part of Dante's Inferno. Our three writers are Stan Marino, Davos Alexandros, and Jilly Jackson, and they've all run into problems with their writing. Stan wrote himself into an impossible situation. Davos realized that the current propulsion engines on his spaceship won't have enough fuel for the journey, and Jilly is realizing that the market isn't very friendly to her Gothic approach of her vampire stories. Seem silly to you. I can assure you that what may seem as a mild bump in the road for you can seem like an impregnable wall to the writer. I know, I've been there.

To all of this add in the Muse and you have some interesting situations. Be careful what you wish for, sometimes you just might get it, is one of the underlying messages of this book. Oh sure, things may look good on the outset, but gold plated shackles are still shackles. It's a wise person who chooses carefully along the way.

If you think about it there's a lot about spiritual warfare in this novel. It's sweetened up a bit, I admit, but the author wasn't trying to write a piece about spiritual warfare as much as he was trying to tell a fun piece of fantasy. Just remember, sometimes hidden beneath some of the most ordinary things can mask the most extraordinary things. In fact, I really wasn't looking forward that much to reading this book. I mean, seriously, THE MUSE? What kind of title is that? And the cover just shouted to me that this was going to be a bomb. (Sorry Grace). Then I started reading. I'm a slow reader and a novel this size usually takes me at least a week, maybe more. I finished THE MUSE in two days, and wishing I had more to read.

I'm telling you, if you really want a treat you'll get this book. It is one fantastic piece of literature.

Don't forget to visit Fred's site found HERE

You can purchase his book at any of the following sites (although I would urge you to go to Splashdown books and help a wonderful young lady get her new company off the ground)

Splashdown Books

Barnes & Noble

Amazon


Don't forget to check out the following CFRB member's sites for other reviews and insights for THE MUSE.




[Important legal notice: This book was given to me freely by Splashdown books for the purpose of doing a review. My compensation is writing a review of the book. However, having said that I must also state that I don't even bother looking at things I feel may be of inferior quality. The works displayed on CFRB are, and have been, for the most part, exemplary in their quality and content]
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2 comments:

  1. Fred WarrenApril 6, 2010 at 11:32 AM

    Yeah, I didn't go into this with the idea of writing a "spiritual warfare" story as would be familiar to most Christian readers. Although evil is eventually personified and there's some very real combat going on, my primary focus was the battle going on within Stan, and it began a long time before he encountered the enemy he fights in The Muse. As depicted in the story, Stan is a nominal Christian. He's struggling in his faith, wondering if God is truly, actively engaged in his life. Part of his journey through the story is a growing awareness that God is more involved in his life than he ever imagined. Where he goes from there, well, that's a whole other story.

    The cover is something Grace and I went back and forth on for a while. Our model doesn't reflect my image of Stan as I was writing the story, but if you've spent any time hanging around computer guys, you know that's in the realm of possibility. It's an arresting image, and I think in the end it inspires curiosity. "Who is this guy, and what is he doing with that sword?" Interestingly, the feedback I've had on the cover has been very polarized. People either love it or hate it. However, even if they're not keen on the cover, they read the book.

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  2. DavidApril 6, 2010 at 11:45 PM

    There are a lot of "Stans" in this world, nominal Christians, people with good intentions, who don't realize they are in a spiritual war. I think the way you approached this was excellent, because it emphasized this fact.

    The cover...if it gets people to read the book, that's the important part, for that is where the true message lies. So whether I like it or not is beside the point. May God anoint this story and share it with those people who need to hear Him speaking to them right now. May they get a glimpse of the fullness of His love and find they are loved specifically and intimately, and come and be part of His family.

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