Who’s Buried in Grant’s Tomb?

A friend asked me the other day how the new book was coming along which, as usual, sent me off on another tangent of thought. You see, the new novel is a work of historical fiction, which requires a great deal of research. That’s no big deal for me because I’ve always enjoyed reading about history. The usual response when I say that is, “Ugh. All those names and dates. How boring!”

Well, if all you look at are names and dates, then yeah, that’s weapons-grade boring. But that’s not what history is, not really. History is the story of people and their interactions with each other. For human beings, nothing is quite so fascinating to us as we are ourselves. Properly applied, history shows us what we have done before so as to give us insight into what we might do again. But how can that be? People in the past were so different than us.

Really?

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Happy Fathers’ Day

Happy Fathers’ Day to all the fathers out there! I thought I take a minute today to share with y’all about my father.

My Dad is a child of the Great Depression. He served his country in the Army in WWII, after which he married his childhood sweetheart and raised three boys. He and Mom have been married for 67 years this past May.

Dad is in his late eighties now. He doesn’t hear so well anymore. He’s all but lost the use of one arm, and one leg seems to be deserting him too, but if you met him, you’d never know it. As far as he’s concerned, he has a great life. He is happy and uncomplaining, content with whatever God has left for him.

I have many fond memories of my Dad, but one sticks out today: whenever we would take a family trip—he always drove, no matter how far our destination—before we made it to the end of our street, he had his rosary in his hand to pray. Isn’t it funny how we never got lost, had an accident, or a bad trip? He always trusts in the God that made him for everything in his life, but also for that of his wife, his boys, and his grandchildren. He may doze off while saying his rosary these days (he prays it every day), but I have no doubt that after a long life of following the Lord, he probably prays in his sleep.

My Dad taught us boys about stability, honesty, hard work, and cutting the other person some slack. But mostly, he taught us about God. He presented to us an icon of our Father in Heaven so that we would never fear to go to Him with our cares.

Thanks Dad, and Happy Fathers’ Day!

This isn’t What it Looks Like

When I was a kid, my friends and I played a lot of basketball. In the summer, we played lots more basketball, 10-12 hours a day, everyday. The day would start with games of “21” in the driveway, followed by more 21 in someone else’s driveway followed by pickup games on the courts at the Little League diamonds until it was too dark. At which point we’d go play in someone’s driveway that had good lights. You get the picture.

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Grrrrr…

In a recent interview about his new book The Tyranny of Clichés,  NRO’s Jonah Goldberg told Reason TV’s Nick Gillespie when asked why he wrote the book that,

…the best muse there is, is being annoyed.

This post isn’t a review of the book, although it sounds very interesting, (click the link above to watch the interview) it’s about that quote. It struck me in a completely unrelated way. Let me explain:

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Flag Day

In case you forgot, today is Flag Day. The history of this holiday goes back to June 14, 1777 when Congress authorized the Stars and Stripes as the official symbol of the United States.

In 1885, a schoolteacher in Wisconsin placed a flag in his one-room schoolhouse to teach the children about their country and its flag. This teacher called June 14 the Flag’s Birthday. President Woodrow Wilson officially proclaimed the anniversary of the “flag resolution” of 1777 in 1916. It was President Harry Truman who signed the resolution formally declaring June 14 as Flag Day.

Isn’t Independence Day the birthday of America? Why all the fuss about the flag today? Well, because the 4th of July and Flag Day celebrate two different things: Independence Day celebrates the birth of our nation and the brave men and women who founded it. Flag Day celebrates our national symbol, the symbol of what’s best in our nation and what it can become.

Today our flag wears a constellation of fifty stars: separate and unique, but united, they float in a sky of blue signifying justice and freedom. There are thirteen stripes, one for each of the founding colonies. Seven in red for courage, born and defended by blood. Six in white for purity and hope.

It is fashionable today to disparage America and patriotic feelings. I think that stems from a deficient education in history and civics, something that used to be part of every child’s youth. However, I also think it stems from a sense of entitlement arising in recent generations who do not know what their liberty and freedom have cost in blood and treasure, and who do not realize that there are those who would sacrifice everything to preserve it. They lack a fundamental understanding that since its founding, the United States of America has been, and continues to be, the land of freedom and opportunity for masses of the world’s population. You need only look around your neighborhood to see faces of different colors, religions, and nationalities that chose to live here for the freedom and opportunity they are afforded. Even if they are not yet citizens nor have any intention of becoming citizens, they still recognize the hope they have here.

So today, get your flag out of the closet and hang it outside for everyone to see. May it remind you that you live in the very best place on earth. And if you’re inclined to focus on the many problems we face in our country today, just look at the flag and remember the improbable nature of our nation’s birth. Surely, a country so blessed by God can overcome anything with His help.

Happy Flag Day!

The Plot Thickens

For those who are interested, I thought I’d update you on the new book. As soon as The Good Thief was put to bed–Heh. I’m learning that that never really happens–I started right in on the next novel. This one is historical fiction and takes place in Czechoslovakia at the outset of WWII. As with my first novel, there is a biblical analog underlying the action, which in this case is the book of Jeremiah. Without giving away the plot, the story centers around the main character, Fr. Jeremiáš Láska, a Czechoslovak priest, who is drawn into the counsels of the powerful as his country fights for its very survival.

Research is mostly complete, as is the initial plotting. Actual writing is well underway. It’s a funny thing, but I never realized just how much work is involved before a single word is written. It’s also funny how a single sentence can take an hour to write. You writers in the audience know what I mean.

I don’t know about you, but my biggest challenge in the whole writing process is continuity. By continuity, I don’t mean continuing to write, I mean continuity of story, plot, and characters. Supposedly, the Simpson’s World episode guide was created largely to help the show’s writers with this very problem. After more than 20 years on TV, they had to have a way to make sure they weren’t stepping on something they had done before. It’s a real drag to stop in the middle of chapter 20 to find out what you did in chapter 5. What’s the old saying? Measure twice, cut once?

So I’m being much stricter with the writing process in order to avoid such problems. This is a challenge because my style is more–how shall I say it?–free range. The Good Thief was a story that lived in my head for a long time. I could literally see it, and that saved me some work, but for this book I’m being more methodical. Hopefully that will produce the result I’m looking for: a tight, engaging, thought-provoking story, written in a minimum of time. As one friend always reminds me, “You have to minimize your time to market.” That’s also very important, because as my fellow-writers know, payday comes very slowwwly.

Frustration

A good friend told me recently that, “I think frustration mostly stems out of knowing where you want to be but have no idea how to get there.” Maybe that seems pretty commonsensical to you, but it struck me rather forcefully.

I’ve been struggling for a few days with a depression bordering on despair. When my friend said this, a light went off. Yes, I want to do something, to get somewhere, but when I try to think how to do it, to get there, I find I really don’t even know where to start and this is the source of the problem. Continually approaching the problem from different angles has only resulted in more frustration at my impotence. My inability to make headway adds to the depression. Almost as if walls were being thrown up in front of me at every turn. What to do? John Keats said:

I am in that temper that if I were under water, I would scarcely kick to come to the top.

And there it is. What to do? Kick and keep kicking till you break the surface. Sore muscles may go with it, but it beats the alternative.