Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Happenings of the Month: February 2017

You know, it has suddenly struck me that it's a little weird to be writing 2017 after these things. Somehow that didn't occur to me at all last month, but it's pretty crazy. I've been doing these Happenings of the Month posts since December of 2015. Over a year now. And I really enjoy writing them. I hope you all enjoy reading them.

Happenings of the Month Feb 2017

Entertainment of the Month:

Sunday, February 26, 2017

Sunday Psalms: Chapters 80, 81, and 84

Today's verses are all about perspective, and I find that they contain important revelations about human decision-making.

Sunday Psalms Chap. 80, 81, and 84

Psalm 80:19 "Restore us, O Lord God Almighty; make Your face shine upon us, that we may be saved."

This refrain occurs three times in this passage, amidst pleas for God to remove His anger from His people. It's an interesting passage that talks about God bringing a vine from Egypt and causing it to grow. Yet something has happened; God has removed His protection from the vine.

Friday, February 24, 2017

Outlining Raiders' Rise: My Plotting Process

In school, I outline probably about 95% of the essays I write. I fell in love with outlining during high school, when I figured out that it actually saves me an incredible amount of work and frustration. Now I do most of the work for the paper while outlining; drafting is a simple matter of mashing everything together.

Outlining Raiders' Rise

When writing fiction, I also find outlining to be extremely helpful. For novels, I am not a pantser. I'm not sure I can be. If I just start writing, things are going to get crazy fast. Part of me wishes that I could use essay outlines for stories, that it could be a clear progression of stair-step ideas. Up to this point, though, I haven't been able to make that work.

Friday, February 17, 2017

The Christian Genre: On Age, Content, and Renewing Our Minds

Last month, I wrote a post about the "Christian" genre, introducing some of my thoughts about the concept. Today, I'd like to go more in-depth on one of the concepts I mentioned – the concept of different purposes for Christian stuff. I will largely be focusing on books and movies today.

Christian Genre Age and Content

 

Saturday, February 4, 2017

The Lost Girl of Astor Street Clue Hunt #23 & #24

Stephanie Morrill's latest book, The Lost Girl of Astor Street, releases today! It's a very exciting event, all around. I was lucky enough to have the chance to read the book ahead of time, and it is fabulous. It's going to be a hit, I'm sure, and you should definitely check it out. This is both stop #23 and stop #24 on the clue hunt celebrating the release. This stop's clue will appear in bold at the bottom of the post. If you've gotten lost along the way or want to start from the beginning, here's the complete list of stops.

Clue 1: Stephanie's Morrill's Blog

Clue 2: Some Books Are

Clue 3: Gabriella Slade

Clue 4: Page by Page, Book by Book

Clue 5: Pens and Scrolls

Clue 6: Singing Librarian Books

Clue 7: Heather Manning

Clue 8: Annie Louise Twitchell

Clue 9: Noveling Novelties

Clue 10: Kaitee Hart

Clue 11: Classics and Craziness

Clue 12: Zerina Blossom

Clue 13: Rebecca Morgan

Clue 14: Keturah's Korner

Clue 15: That Book Gal

Clue 16: Anna Schaeffer

Clue 17: Hadley Grace

Clue 18: Lydia Howe

Clue 19: Ramblings by Bethany

Clue 20: Matilda Sjöholm

Clue 21: Lydia Carns

Clue 22: Broken Birdsong

Clue 23 & Clue 24: The Ink Loft

Clue 25: Roseanna M. White

I'm a history lover, so, instead of a book review, I decided to introduce you to some of the history of the period.