Adam Renn Olenn

So I wrote a little north of 150 pages of the new novel and realized it was getting messy.

I stepped back and wrote 50 pages of character bios, read some books for research, wrote throwaway scenes, had my wife read the typescript… all productive ways of dodging the fact that I had no clue where the book was going.

Then I got back to the grind of figuring out what the story is.

It has been slow going.

But I just finished it, and it feels like I won the Stanley Cup. I’m sure it will enjoy a lot of revision, but now I’ve got something to work with.

It tried to run, it tried to hide, but I ran that sucker down!

Adam

Christ forgives the repentant sinner.

The unrepentant sinner is still condemned.

So if you’re not truly sorry, if your heart has not changed, if you have not yourself become a person of love and forgiveness, Christ unapologetically damns you Himself.

To my knowledge, Osama Bin Laden didn’t repent of the many murders he authored, and so this image represents an enormous misunderstanding of the teachings of Jesus.

Jesus doesn’t offer unconditional forgiveness.  Unconditional love, yes, but not forgiveness.  He offers forgiveness to you in equal measure to that which you offer unto others.  He spells it out in the Lord’s prayer, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

Did Osama forgive those opposed to his ideology?  If yes, the cartoon is accurate.  But if not (and who among us thinks otherwise?), He would offer no such succor to that vile, unrepentant murderer.

Christianity is often misunderstood as the ‘easiest of religions’ because of the possibility of total absolution.  But the price of that absolution is developing a Christ-like capacity for forgiveness oneself, making it actually the most difficult of religions.

I know I fall short.  How about you?

Christian Boer, a typographer at the firm Studiostudio, based in the Netherlands, has designed a special font for people with dyslexia. The font, called “Dyslexie,” uses specially shaped letters to exaggerate some of the differences between letters that dyslexics find hard to see.

Click here to see the full article, and to watch a short video about how the font works.  It’s quite brilliant.

Some clever fellow has figured out a way for readers and authors to do virtual book signings.

It’s called Kindlegraph, and worth a look if you’re into that sort of thing.

Nobody wants to read timid sentences and flaccid paragraphs.  So learn what the hell you’re doing.

First clue - learn to spell.  Second clue - learn proper grammar.

Then get out there and describe things.  And make up anything you want.

This book will help you do all those things by reinvigorating Strunk & White’s rules of grammar with an overdue dose of color.

Click on the picture or this link to learn more.

My dad made us watch Breaker Morant when I was twelve or so.  I remember that it was quite gripping, despite the bleak beauty and indie/slow sensibility.

I re-watched it recently, and discovered he was right: it’s a masterpiece.  Lucky you, it’s currently available on Hulu for free.

What a world we live in…

One yes outweighs a hundred no’s.

My short story “Coronation” was accepted by Level Best Books for their 2011 anthology in the horror category.

The anthology is titled Dead Calm: Crime Stories by New England Writers, and will be launched at the Mystery Writers of America’s annual conference, aka the Crime Bake.

The good people of Level Best Books asked if I’d attend the Crime Bake and do a signing with some of the other authors in the anthology.  Would I?  I’m already shopping for a suitably authorial sport coat with leather elbow patches and a briarwood pipe, baby!