Speaking, Malibu, CA This week end (Sept 18-20, 2010)

My wife and I leave in a bit to fly down to Burbank, CA for a conference I'm speaking at (Sept 18-20, 2010). Friday I'm speaking at Beacon Hill Classical Academy on early Church heroes and hymn writers (Clement of Alexandria, etc), and in the afternoon I'm teaching a two-hour intensive writing seminar to young people, fiction writing, sonnet writing, hymn writing; then Friday evening I'm teaching a session open to the public on Heroes and the measure of true greatness. Saturday morning I'll be talking on books and literature, You are What You Read. Sunday I'll be interviewed during Sunday School and then am preaching from Psalm 93, King Jesus Reigns, in the morning at Grace Reformed Church, Camarillo, CA.

INKBLOTS: Member gains approval from Writer's Edge reading service

Congratulations to Doug McComas* on his compelling novel set in WW II South Pacific! Few publishers accept unsolicited manuscripts making it all the more difficult for first-time authors (Lewis was a first-time author once) even to have their work read by an acquisitions editor. Many publishers have turned to reading service organizations like The Writer's Edge in Wheaton, IL. McComas had sent a previous manuscript to WE and received a curt rejection from them, but he kept writing. I have enjoyed seeing and hearing Doug's writing mature and hearing him develop his voice as a writer. This manuscript needs to be snatched up by a publisher. But that's not just my opinion.

Writer's Edge wrote of it, "Nice job with this. Your writing style is lovely--full of sharp imagery. It's a compelling story you've set out here. Great job! I hope to see this in print some day."

Here's Doug's synopsis: "Stranded on a Pacific battlefield Nathan recalls his life.  From his upbringing and Marine Corps boot camp to hard combat on Tarawa, to mass suicides of families on Saipan, then his return home, God’s calling for his life comes in unexpected ways involving people he never imagined."


* Note: The photograph above is not Doug McComas--too much hair. It's C. S. Lewis.