Bleeding and Writing: Announcing BOND BOOKS READNG SERVICE

What a flurry of changes for the Bond family in the last couple of months! "The mind of man plans his way but the Lord directs his steps." The jolting events we are passing through have helped us embrace this truth from God's Word, but not without some bleeding. More about all that in a future post.

One of the wonderful outcomes of the changes that God has orchestrated for our lives is that at last I can give more attention to the many readers who write and ask if I would read what they have written and offer critique, guidance, and instruction. Though I've felt guilty about it, pressing obligations have ordinarily forced me to decline.

That's about to change.

This blog post marks the launch of the BOND BOOKS READING SERVICE. For well over two decades, along with writing twenty-five books, I have taught hundreds of young adults how to write. To my delight, I have seen many of them win writing awards and valuable scholarships; go on to be highly successful in college, graduate school, and the work force; some taking up their pen in professions that involve them in writing every day; and--to my great pleasure--several have gone on to be published authors.
 
Recently a number of former students wrote to tell me about the far-reaching impact of our time together: A student, now in medical school, wrote, "Bond's literature and writing classes were some of the most useful I have ever taken, and the care and effort he puts into his students is bar none," and another, now a consultant for Microsoft, wrote of his time at university: "English professors, history professors, political science professors, communication professors, and religion professors asked who taught me to write; I would always answer, 'Thank Mr. Bond.'"(other writing students' testimonials)

Last year alone, thanks be to God, my students experienced the greatest writing success of any year of my teaching career. For example, in the double-blind judged, Pierce County Library Foundation's creative writing contest, my students managed to win seven of twelve monetary writing awards in both poetry and short story fiction. And in a North American regional high school essay contest (contestants hailing from three states and British Columbia), my students managed to sweep the entire essay-writing contest, winning first, second, and third places. We rejoice with these student winners and give glory and gratitude to God for them.

Now, in the providence of God, I have the opportunity to spread the net wider so that more young people (and adults) have the same opportunity to improve their writing skill, for the glory of Christ. As a writer (one who often bleeds as he writes) and as a teacher of writing, "I count myself among those who learn as they write and write as they learn" (Augustine). I would like to help you do the same.

If you're serious about improving your writing, follow these steps:
1. Read the writing categories below and see which one fits your writing project. 
2. Email me at bondbooks.net@gmail.com and briefly introduce yourself and your writing project. 
3. Attach a Word document of your writing project. 
4. You will receive a PayPal invoice for the reading service (or you can pay by check). 

Unless there is unusually high volume, I will complete my critique within two weeks. 

“No teacher shaped my love for the written word more than Douglas Bond. Under his instruction, I learned to craft essays, formulate theses, and articulate research so effectively that one university writing professor insisted I write a thank you card to my high school English teacher." Bekah Ueland 

READING SERVICE CATEGORIES:

Common Application and College Entrance or Scholarship Application Essays: Is your son or daughter anguishing over common application essays for college? Have they realized how critical these essays are to their success in being accepted at the college of their choice or to winning significant amounts of scholarship funds for college and avoiding crippling debt accumulated through four years of college? I have been blessed to coach hundreds of students transitioning to college as they craft mature, scholarship-winning essays. I look forward to helping your son or daughter as well. [Fee: 6 cents a word] 

Creative Writing--Short Story Fiction: Send me a typed, double-spaced, electronic copy of your short story (1,000 word minimum), and I will give it a close read and critique, returning to you tracked suggestions in the margin, as well as a written critique of the strengths and weakness of the short story, and offering you specific ways to improve your writing. Should your work merit it, I will also suggest publishing options for your short fiction work. [Fee: 3.5  cents per word]

Creative Writing--Novel: Send me a typed, double-spaced, electronic copy of a synopsis of your novel (100-150 words), the first chapter, and two other chapters from the manuscript (4,000 word minimum).  I will read and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the work, returning to you tracked suggestions in the margins, as well as a 1 1/2 to 2 page written analysis of the merits of the work, with clear recommendations of how to improve your writing. Should your work merit it, I will also suggest publishing options for your novel. [Fee: 2.5 cents per word. Contact me to discuss the fee for me to read and critique your entire novel]

Creative Writing--Poetry: Send me a typed, double-spaced, electronic copy of your poetry (left margin, no center-lined poetry). Write a brief paragraph explanation of the inspiration for the poetry, the form and structure you have chosen, and the poetic conventions you are employing in the poem. Likely, I will not read the paragraph until I have read and considered the poetry on its own merits, but it will be beneficial to have your explanatory to consult as I prepare my comments and critique. Should your poetry merit it, I will suggest publishing options. [Fee: $2.00 per line; 14-line minimum]

Creative Writing: Hymn or Song Lyric: Send me a typed, double-spaced electronic copy of your hymn or song (left margin, no center-lined poetry). If you were inspired to write the hymn from a biblical text, type out the passage at the top of the hymn. Be sure your hymn lyric is in a consistent meter for ease of singing. Should your hymn or song lyric merit it, I will suggest publishing and possible composer options for your work. [Fee: $2.50 per line; 12-line minimum] 

Research Paper: Send a typed assignment page that gives precise details of the prescription and requirements for the research paper. Formatted according to the usage style required (MLA, APA, Chicago Style, other), send me an electronic, typed, double-spaced copy of your research paper. You will have the choice of having me give 1. General Critique. 2. Proof Reading. 3. Style, Editing, and Content Evaluation. [Fee to be arranged]

Custom Writing Project (movie or audio scripts, advertising copy, brochure copy, website text, other): Contact me for a critique of your specific writing project. [Fee to be arranged]

Learn more at BOND BOOKS READING SERVICE

***Special writing tutorial opportunity:  Join me in England for the OXFORD CREATIVE WRITING MASTER CLASS, March 30-April 6, 2016, for an unforgettable writing tutorial that may very well be the defining week of your writing career. If you are interested, do not delay. There's only a few spaces remaining. Special deep-cut discount ending September 15, 2016. 

Self-Forgetfulness and Delight--Keys to Writing Well (and most everything else in life)

INKBLOTS, resuming our men's writing group, four of we old-dog regulars and joined by David one of my former students. I led off with a brief thought from Alan Jacobs, author of The Narnian, who said this: “Lewis's mind was above all characterized by a willingness to be enchanted, and it was this openness to enchantment that held together the various strands of his life, his delight in laughter, his willingness to accept a world made by a good and loving God, and (in some ways above all) his willingness to submit to the charms of a wonderful story.” Jacobs in his biography of C. S. Lewis reflected that "those who will never be fooled can never be delighted, because without self-forgetfulness there can be no delight." Which makes me recall Jesus' words about how essential it is that we be child-like to enter the Kingdom of heaven.

We talked about typesetting using Word rather than InDesign, the later requiring us to learn a new program... us old dogs. Not going to happen. David, author of Beyond Tweeting (read my interview with David) led off with reading an excerpt from the forward, and then chapter

one. I like how David makes this for the reader not the author. John asked David to explain what tweeting actual is, and things like hashtags. Track a topic or theme. Though you cannot own the hashtag so you could end up with your tag meaning something and connecting with some big distortion of your collection point. Bob brought up the question of whether Twitter monitors and censors tags or tweets. "How can we use twitter to sell books?" asked John. David pointed out how important it is to provide value for those following on twitter, not just about blasting the cyber world with your promotional plans. Use saferwhois.com to search for domain names so your searching doesn't get picked up by those who buy up domain names then sell them. Search engine optimization (SEO) is the way to maximize your position on the searches. David is helping us big time here. 

This morphed into a discussion of old dogs and new tricks. This has been fun. David, thank you for all your helpful insights into marketing and social media. I thought it would be good to segue to our usual creative writing readings. Dougie Mac leading off with an episode from his Monte Casino yarn set in WW II. As he summarized the historical context of this conflict, I can see it in my mind's eye, having been there with my family just a few weeks ago. Modern technology fails us. His computer just died. 

Bob took up the baton with one of his Bible study guides, this one on the Psalms. Bob read his rough draft introduction, a sweeping summary of David and his writing of various Psalms, and how they are relevant to the reader today and in every generation. That led to a discussion of greed, how exactly, I am not sure. Which led me to recalling Tolstoy's short story, How Much Land Does a Man Need, a well-crafted yarn that shows the destructive nature of greed, show casing a protagonist who is killed by his own avarice. 

John reads from his Russian yarn, after working on his protagonist's character who needed to be a bit more realistically flawed at the beginning so she has somewhere to go from there. Dougie Mac didn't feel like she was significantly flawed. Don't overuse 'beautiful' or 'exciting.' Have her catch herself for making the simile about heaven. You told instead of showing us her reaction to her own reference to heaven. There is a good deal of description of elegant clothing, but I didn't feel like I could actually see it. How about using more comparative image, figurative language, imaginative comparisons? You used beautiful a dozen times or more. Mouth watering is too cliche and needs another image. Could you give us more metaphor of what the dancers and their fine clothes looked and felt like to her? I like how she flashes back to dancing with her father; give us more of this kind of imagining on your protagonist's perspective. You drew me in with the shooting that she does not understand. The rag doll image is probably overused. I think you could play up her thinking it was all a play, just an act, when it was murder. As she thinks back on pricking her finger on the thorn of a rose, have her begin to acknowledge that it was real and her recollection was a desperate effort at escaping it all. This is getting better and better. 

Which made me recall a Lewis-ism. "Don't use adjectives which merely tell us how you want us to feel about the thing you are describing. I mean, instead of telling us a thing was

'terrible,' describe it so that we'll be terrified. Don't say it was 'delightful'; make us say 'delightful' when we've read the description. You see, all those words (horrifying, wonderful, hideous, exquisite) are only like saying to your readers 'Please will you do my job for me.'"

David recalled a short story he wrote for a British Lit class in college, from the point of view of Helen, clever, imaginative perspective, employing a modern-world slangy syntax. Melodrama, which actually works pretty well with Greek tragedy, which has probably inspired more soap operas and country western songs than most classics professors want to admit. Having written this fiction piece for a class a couple of years ago, David cringed at some of his own writing in it, though it clearly shows the promise that is beginning to be fulfilled with his writing and his teaching/consulting for Microsoft.

Though I haven't worked on it for over a month (what a month it's been), I read from a chapter in War in the Wasteland. Once I can see my way more clearly and get some logistics planned out for future history tours and for the Oxford Creative Writing Master Class I'm planning out right now, then I can get back to writing. There are jolts that enervate creative writing, and ones that stimulate it. Still trying to figure out which kind this one is. A fine evening with 'Blots. Thank you gentlemen for your friendship, support, encouragement, and for just being a big 'Blot in my life. 

Is Tweeting and Social Media for the Birds?

Author, David V. Kimball

It's a delight for me to introduce readers to David V. Kimball, a young man I had the pleasure of teaching during his high school years. In fact, David was one of my TTTAs (Total Techie Teacher's Assistants), without which I would not have known how to do important things with my computer, like turn it on--or what to do when my iPhone warbled. Now a university graduate with a degree in Communication and Marketing, David works with Microsoft as part of the Training and Evangelism team. And he has done something close to my heart. He's written his first book! I want my readers to meet David and find out what his new book is all about.

DOUGLAS: Welcome, David. Congratulation on writing and launching your new book Beyond Tweeting! Nobody when I was your age even had a remote category for social media; tweeting was called postcards back then--you do know what postcards are, right? Picture on one side, space to write--that'd be write by hand with a ball point pen (I'll explain about those later)--and a place to put the stamp (ya, I'll tell you about stamps another time, too). Never mind, talk to us about your journey to writing BT.
DAVID: Thank you, Doug. You raise a good point - social media hasn't been around very long. We're still figuring it out. Twitter, in particular, tends to confuse people. Posting on a website with a seemingly arbitrary 140 character limit is a turn off for some, while others can't get enough of the social network. So what is Twitter exactly? That's the first question I sought to answer by writing this book.

DOUGLAS: Being the techno-moron that I am, I'm going to ask you to unpack that a bit more (you can use more than 140 characters). What exactly is Twitter and all this yammer about something called tweeting?
DAVID: Twitter is a social networking website. Each "tweet" is one post. When I began writing, I came to the following conclusion: there is no "one way" to use Twitter. It's built to become something bigger than just posting short messages; it's a dynamic networking platform. Even better, once you align your personal interests and passions with your Twitter profile, it becomes exponentially more powerful.

DOUGLAS: Could you reduce that down even more for all the tech-tards reading this (of course, I get everything you're saying... Just thinking of others)? Let me put it this way: What's actually going on with Twitter and tweeting?

DAVID: Sure. Basically, everyone has something they love to do and love to talk about. Everyone likes meeting new people that share their love for that particular thing, so why not do it using the internet? With Twitter.com you can setup a profile and meet others in a topic-driven environment.

DOUGLAS: So how did you go about learning this language? I mean, things like Twitter and social media--all things computer and technology--it's like another language, right? So how did you get to be an expert in it? 
DAVID: It is another language! Honestly, I learned simply by using technology a lot. At a very young age I started scribbling on Microsoft Paint and typing random stories on Microsoft Word on the family's Windows 98 machine (no product placement here, I swear). I had never taken a formal course on anything internet-related, just created lots of social media accounts and played around with them. And now that you bring it up, I don't actually consider myself a social media expert at all. I'm more of what you call a social media practitioner, aka, a person actively engaged in an art or discipline. I've just used these platforms a lot and have found a few things that work! 

DOUGLAS: Au contraire, Monsieur. I'm thinking you're being too modest here. That may explain your early acquisition of the tech language, the grammar stage of you picking up this discipline, but clearly you are way past the grammar stage; I'm thinking logic and rhetoric here. Talk to me about what you studied in college. How did your studies prepare you to write this book?

DAVID: As far as how I was prepared, I have to go back well before college to my homeschooled days. My mother deliberately selected a literature-based curriculum so I was exposed to a large variety of reading and writing early on. Of course, a bit later, some high school English teacher might have had something to do with helping me along, too (although I called him Mr. Bond then, not Doug). Except, in addition to reading literature, he made me study writers' intent, historical context, and write research papers! Turns out - that's exactly what my college professors wanted me to do soon thereafter. Who knew! I decided to major in Communication at Northwest University with a minor in Marketing. I was elected to NU's Student Government and ran all of their social media accounts, managed their website, created promotional graphics, and ended up completely rebranding NUSG itself.

DOUGLAS: Who would benefit from reading BT and in what specific ways would it benefit them?

DAVID: I wrote Beyond Tweeting with a variety of people in mind, so prior knowledge of using the platform is not required. In essence you could give this book to someone who only has an email address, an internet connection, and a laptop, and they'd be set. Early chapters detail the sign-up process, what information to put in your profile, and how to start tweeting. For people that already use Twitter, they will gain key insights that will improve their experience and may even cause them to repurpose it altogether. For example, if Joe Schmoe simply uses Twitter to see friends post pictures of cats and hear coworkers complain about work, I'd encourage Joe to read my book and learn to use Twitter a different way. Once he puts it into practice, he might find 10 of the best friends he didn't know he had using Twitter. Of course, if Joe really does like cat pictures, he can apply BT's tactics to finding more of them!

DOUGLAS: CS Lewis loved cats, so we're okay with a dude who likes cats, right? Seriously, that's a very helpful overview. Remember Gutenberg? Back in 1450 he was taking lots of heat for his moveable-type printing technological innovation. What would you say to the well-intentioned Christian who is convinced that Twitter and social media are innovations from the lower regions? 

DAVID: With every innovation comes a new abuse. That's just the way it is in a broken world--and when something new comes around, we can either focus on the negatives and dangers it may possess, or we can look at the opportunities for betterment and growth. For hesitant Christians, I would encourage them to look at how we can use social media to expand the Kingdom. Imagine the gospel being propagated to exponentially more people than would be possible with conventional media. Not only is the Bible more accessible now--but godly people can use social networking sites like Twitter as a platform to send clear messages about the real truth, hope, and love we find in Jesus Christ.  If nothing else, use social media sites to be kind and serve the needs of other people.

DOUGLAS: Great answer. Tell readers how they can learn more and how they can get BT (and any final words you'd like to add)

DAVID: First I'd like to mention how valuable my editors Whitney Chen and Rebekah M. Ueland have been, the book wouldn't be what it is without them. You can get Beyond Tweeting on my website at davidvkimball.com/book. I'd also like to mention I started a podcast about social media for practitioners of the same name. You can listen to the Beyond Tweeting Podcast at beyondtweeting.com. Thanks, Doug!

DOUGLAS: All the best on your knew book, David. Now I'm going to go tweet this!

Best Thing Popes Ever Did--Chateauneuf des Papes

Throughout the Middle Ages the RCC would not give the wine to the congregants in the mass, just a crust of bread, and the priests kept the good stuff for themselves. Calvin may have been the first Reformer in France to give The Lord's Supper in both elements in a cave near Poitier in France in 1533 (literal underground church). We stopped on the ROME TO GENEVA CHURCH HISTORY TOUR to see and experience the best thing the popes ever did, the cultivation of the richest wine region in France and in the world, Chateauneuf des Papes (the new castle of the popes). The castle here was also a garrison for the multi-national mercenary papal armies plundering, killing, and burning their way through Huguenot south of France.

Dutch Dukedom Huguenot Orange

What is a Dutch dukedom doing in southern France? Read HAMMER OF THE HUGUENOTS and find out! Layers of Ancient Roman and tragic Reformation history in this out of the way place featured in my newest book.

Dancing on the Bridge of Avignon

Onward to the palatial seat of the Avignon papacy, one of the means God ordained for the protection and long life and Bible-centered ministry of John Wycliffe...

Palais de Papes in Avignon was garrison for papal and mercenary troops radiating outward to crush the Huguenots in the region

ROME TO GENEVA: 30 minutes of rain in 11 days

On our opening moments of the ROME TO GENEVA CHURCH HISTORY TOUR we met by the attentive folks at the Convent Giusti, where we were treated with such kindness and hospitality, and then we stepped out the door to this--a Noah-like deluge, no joke!

The opening 30 minutes of the ROME TO GENEVA CHURCH HISTORY TOUR it poured down rain in defiance of the rainbow, with thunder and lightning cracking and roaring off the coliseum and other ancient monuments on all sides. Then 11 days of blue skies and sunshine--no joke. It was spectacular and amazing! Thank you, Heavenly Father!

After singing Te Deum and reading from II Timothy where Paul it is believed to have written the epistle, when we came up out of the Mamertine Prison where history tells us both Peter and Paul were held before their executions for loyalty to King Jesus, the rain and thunder and lightning had ended, and blue skies and sunshine persisted for the next 11 days.

The still more ancient Portico d'Ottavia, prototype of the AD 80 Coliseum, built with Jewish slave labor taken at the fall of Jerusalem, near the Jewish Ghetto where Paul may have lived in house arrest for two years before being accused of sedition against the Roman government and thrown in the hole of a prison Mamertine.

Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome

Scala Santa, said to have been brought to Rome by Empress Helen, from Pilate's palace in Jerusalem. Here tens of thousands have prayed on their knees, and do to this day, including Martin Luther in his vain pilgrimage in 1510, which we followed throughout this vast and fascinating city

We behaved ourselves in Rome...

Santa Giovanni Laterna, founded by Constantine in 4th century, papal church until 1309 and the Avignon Papacy (we'll be there soon enough)

Santa Maria de Poppilo, site where Nero was buried, Augustinian Priory where Luther stayed for a month in 1510

St Peter's Basilica, Michelangelo and Brunelleschi teaming up to create the most amazing free-standing stone dome in the world--built on the backs of German peasants paying for indulgences hawked by Johann Tetzel in Wittenberg. Really got Luther fired up, 95 Theses in 1517 (Luther 500 Tour coming up in 2017)

Pantheon in Rome, the most complete ancient building in the world--absolutely splendid pagan temple

Whatever the official tour guides (not me) tell you, the Flavian Amphitheater, AD 80, the epicenter of blood sports in Rome, was used for the martyrdom of some of our forebears in the faith, 13-year-old Blandina, for example.