Enter The Door Within

Cheap Grace is Dead Wrong, but NOT for the reason you might think.

2012-01-29T21:18:00.001-05:00

Cheap Grace

I am an angry man right now. It's not the simple anger of a bad call in a football game. It's not the reactive anger of stubbing my toe or stepping on a kids' toy left in the wrong place. No, this is the kind of anger that comes from years of mistreatment at the hands of the unjust. This is waking up after years in the Matrix, realizing for the first time that you've been a slave.

That's how angry I am.

You see, my Pastor (Joe Duke, Lifepoint Church) is preaching out of Romans (my favorite book of the Bible). And his sermon this weekend, "A Matter of Life and Death," finally rang some much needed bells in my head. And I woke up. You can listen to the sermon here by the way: A Matter of Life and Death, Joe Duke, Lifepoint Church.

And when I woke up, I became angry. I'm not just angry for myself. I'm angry for generations (maybe centuries) of Christians who have been mistreated or misstaught or misled on two key areas of Christianity:

The Grace of God

and the Nature of Justification

So what's the problem? What has imprisoned me and so many Christians for generations? What is it about some teachings related to Grace or Justification?

The problem is that there are those who consciously or unconsciously teach that people can only be saved from hell by Grace plus something. It's the plus something that murders humanity.

The problem is that there are those who consciously or unconsciously teach that Justification can be proved or disproved by a person's behavior, implying that the only people who are really justified (who are really Christians) are the ones who live a virtually sinless or actually sinless lives. This imprisons humanity behind bars of ice.

And when someone like me comes along and says: "Wait a second! The Bible tells us that salvation is FREE. The only thing that must be true of us is that we believe that Jesus died for our sins and confess Him as Lord. And by God's amazing Grace, we are saved! We are justified which means declared ultimately righteous. And it's a free gift." When someone like me says something like that, there are those who would accuse us of me of teaching, "Cheap Grace."

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German theologian who spoke out against Nazi aggression during World War II. Bonhoeffer was arrested and eventually hung for his faith and his relentless criticism of Nazi evil. He was a great man, a brilliant man, a man who no-doubt inspired thousands, if not millions to become Christians or follow after Jesus. I have no right to speak against him, but I do believe some of his teachings are either somewhat errant or have been horrendously misunderstood. In his treatise "The Cost of Discipleship," Bonhoeffer wrote this:

"Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our Church. We are fighting today for costly grace."

"The only man who has the right to say that he is justified by grace alone is the man who has left all to follow Christ."

-Dietrich Bonhoeffer 

We read those now out of context, of course, and that's why I think, perhaps Bonhoeffer didn't mean what it sounds like he means. When you read this, part of you wants to raise a fist and yell, "ROCK ON!" But there's this nagging suspicion that something's a little off. In the first quote, do you see the pair of oxymorons? "Cheap Grace" and "Costly Grace." Neither of these things are possible. Not if we understand the Biblical definition of Grace.

In the second quotation, do you see the issue? If you are justified by grace alone, how can leaving everything behind be a PRErequisite? How can there be any other condition if you are saved by grace ALONE. There cannot be. Not if we understand the Biblical definition of Grace.

Ephesians 2:8-9

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast."

Romans 3: 21-23

²¹ But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, ²² even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;

Romans 4: 1-6

¹ What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? ² For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. ³ For what does the Scripture say? “ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.” ⁴ Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. ⁵ But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, ⁶ just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works..."

Romans 5:1

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ..."

Romans 5:15-17

¹⁵ But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. ¹⁶ The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. ¹⁷ For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

Galatians 3: 1-11

¹ You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. ² I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? ³ Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? ⁴ Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? ⁵ So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? ⁶ So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

⁷ Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. ⁸ Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” ⁹ So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

¹⁰ For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” ¹¹ Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.”

Romans 6:23

²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God gave His life up for us. He ransomed us, paid our debt, and saved us. He GAVE us forgiveness. He gave us salvation. He gave us life. And He gave us eternity in Heaven.

Grace is defined as unmerited favor. We didn't deserve it. We didn't earn it. We have nothing to boast about. We have no byline, and our names are not in the credits of Grace. It is God's gift. Do you see how many times the scriptures declare it is a gift? A pure gift, uncorrupted by any puny deeds we might manifest? You just can't have "cheap" or "costly" grace. It cannot be costly and costless at the same time. It's free. Do you hear me? IT IS FREE.

Now, there are some who distinguish the cost of Grace to God from our own cost. Yep. I get that. Jesus had to leave heaven and put on mortal flesh. That cost Him. Jesus has to muddle through human existence for 33 years. That cost Him. Jesus had to endure the taunts, the spit, the torture, the humiliation, and death on the cross. That cost Him...dearly. Perhaps even more than all of that: Jesus had to experience a span of time where He was completely cut off from God the father. I often wonder if that wasn't the moment where Jesus experienced the blow from the bearing the sin of the whole world--that in those moments, Jesus took the sum total of all humanity's sin and separation, the sum total of all humanity's eternity stay in hell--upon Himself. Grace cost God more than we could ever tally or imagine. Frankly, we're just too limited to go there. But for us, the recipients of Grace, it is free.

Believe: It really is that simple

What is the one word used the most in the New Testament to explain how a person gets saved? You guessed it. Believe. BELIEVE and you will be saved. For God so loved the world that He gave His only son that any who would BELIEVE. John wrote his whole gospel to encourage folks to BELIEVE.

Now, you might be thinking that the word "believe" in the Bible has some double-secret probationary meaning. Maybe in the Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic there's some extra complication to the word "believe" that Western readers wouldn't understand today. Nope. It meant then just what it does today. It means to be persuaded, to understand and agree with, to trust as true, or to pledge faith in as reliable. How can it be that simple?

I think that's the real problem. We stubborn humans just can't accept something as free. There's got to be a string attached somewhere, right? Maybe we think we'll be more spiritual if we do something to get it. Maybe we think we're helping God out. Maybe we rightly know how screwed up we are, how big a debt we owe, and then wrongly assume that, therefore, we owe some kind of penance before we can be truly saved. Maybe we were raised to be independent, can-do people.

But sorry...what do the scriptures tell us? Jesus did it all. And He gives it to us for FREE.

And the cool thing is that God knew all along how screwed up we are. He knew all along that there was NO WAY we could save ourselves. He knew our natures and knew we needed an utterly complete, simple gift--or we'd all be toast. Literally.

"For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. (For rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person perhaps someone might possibly dare to die.) But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, because we have now been declared righteousby his blood,we will be saved through him from God’s wrath.For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, since we have been reconciled, will we be saved by his life?" Romans 5: 6-10

See there, God's absolute brilliant generosity. God wasn't about "Go clean up your act, and then come see me about salvation." God wasn't about "Go do more and more sacrifices, and then come see me about salvation." God wasn't about "leave everything behind, and then I'll save you." No, God said, "Let me make this easy for you. Believe."

John expressed what kind of simple belief was necessary when he compared Jesus to something Moses did back in the OT:

"Just asMoses lifted up the serpentin the wilderness,so must the Son of Man be lifted up,so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”

This hearkens back to Numbers 21 where God sent poisonous snakes to bite some sinful folks who just wouldn't listen. Then, in their misery, they cried out for help. Moses held up a bronze serpent (the symbol of the AMA) and all who looked at it were saved. Jesus, John says, is just like that. He was lifted up so that all of us miserable folk could look to Jesus for salvation...and be saved. It's just that simple. Look on Him. Believe He can save you. Boom, it's done.

Modern Pharisees

So who's trying to sell Grace with a string attached? I won't name names, but you've probably heard of many of them. You've read their books, heard their sermons, etc. They will use all kinds of interesting phrases for it: full surrender, Lordship, absolute repentance, sinless perfection, instant sanctification, and so forth. And each one of these tells you to believe in Jesus for salvation, BUT... There's something else: some level of repentance, some activity, some attitude--some something necessary to really be saved.

According to many of these groups, especially the sinless perfection folk, a person who calls himself a Christian, who then sins often (or even at all, in some extreme teachings), must not be a Christian at all. Never was one. Or maybe was--but lost salvation. (Don't get me started on "losing salvation." Hello, it's called ETERNAL life for a reason!) These folks clearly have x-ray soul vision and can see an unregenerate heart. They will say in one breath, Grace alone, but in the next--so long as you don't sin, believed in this certain way, or add this to belief. And they would then accuse me of teaching "cheap grace."

These folks are like modern Pharisees, trying to add to God's work on the cross. Remember the Pharisees? Of all the folks Jesus met on earth, the Pharisees earn the prize for being ripped up one side and down the other by the Son of God. He called them serpents, hypocrites, white-washed tombs, and more! Why? Jesus didn't like that these mere men were adding rules, adding restrictions, adding ANYTHING to God's way.

I'm sick of it too. Seriously. SICK OF IT. My problem started way back when I first became a Christian. The dude who led me to the Lord was one GLOW IN THE DARK believer. Based on the person I assumed this guy to be, I assumed that as soon as I believed, WHOOSH, there goes all my issues with sin.

Well, there were some neat changes initially. But over time, sin crouched at my door and I stepped in it like is was a pasture full of manure. There were periods where I sinned more as a believer than I did during certain periods as an unbeliever. So what happened? Did I lose my salvation? Was I never a Christian to begin with? And for those who might teach such things: just how much sin is necessary to show I never was a Christian? One sin a day? Twelve? 17.5?

As you might have guessed, I noticed the discrepancy between my status as a Christian and my behaviors. And honestly, the first fifteen years of my Christian life were characterized by frequent terrors of hell, by questioning my salvation, by repeated altar calls and sinners prayers, etc. etc. Eventually, I came to a kind of stasis. I just kind of said to God that I don't know how to be more sincere. I don't know how to have more genuine faith. And I need help. But the sins didn't always stop. Neither did the fears.

This came to a serious head about three years back when I ran into someone who *firmly* holds to the sinless perfectionism stance. In other words, once a person becomes a Christian, they no longer sin. Ever. This person claims to have gone 25+ years now without a single sin and believes it should be relatively easy for any Christian to live like that. Oh, and if you do sin, well…your faith wasn't genuine, now was it? This teaching quite literally destroyed me for a while. I became useless to God, a quivering fearful, helpless mass of anxiety. One would think that I could just flip open the Bible and whack that theology to ribbons, but this individual had spent most of those 25 years creating a network of circular reasoning, connecting scriptures in alarming ways and even redefining sin--such that, it was hard to see though the web. I was a mess.

Holy Facepalm, Batman!
But, over time, and with the help of some pretty amazing apologetics-meisters, and especially with God's grace, I came through and utterly dismissed that errant belief system. So when my pastor began preaching out of Romans, it just connected. It was like a Holy Facepalm! How could I fall for that utter nonsense? How could I listen to this false teaching and remotely entertain the thought that I might be cheapening grace.

You know who "cheapens" Grace? It's these folks, these false teachers. As if God's grace can't cover all sins. As if God's grace can't save you unless you...blah, blah. As if God's grace just isn't powerful enough...unless we help.

You who try to add clean living or baptism or full sacrifice or total repentance or anything else to grace: STOP IT. Who can supplement the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross? Does Jesus' suffering, death, and resurrection NEED anything to supplement it? Is it not enough? Was Jesus kidding on the cross when he cried out, "It is finished"?

To those who see other Christians who sin, and in your minds judge them as people "who can't possibly be saved," is it not you who, in judgment, are serving the devil? Do you know that person's soul? Are you finding a label for these people out of a desire to comfort your own discomfort? Are you troubled by the incongruence between the name Christian and obvious sin? And since you can't make heads or tails of that, do you then comfort yourself by a wholesale declaration that sinning Christians aren't really Christians at all?

Matthew 23: 13 and 15

“But woe to you, experts in the lawand you Pharisees, hypocrites!You keep locking people out of the kingdom of heaven!For you neither enter nor permit those trying to enter to go in.

“Woe to you, experts in the lawand you Pharisees, hypocrites! You cross land and sea to make one convert,and when you get one,you make him twice as much a child of hellas yourselves!"

What you do is drive away the lowly, broken Christians who have blown it, making them think they never were Christians to begin with. And since they never were, they despair that they never can become Christians because they simply don't know how to muster more sincerity with which to believe.

What you do is bewitch whole generations of new believers into keeping a desperate, tragic secret. By your falseness, your legalism, and superficial holiness, you have made these new believer think that as soon as they become Christians, POOF, all troubles, all sin issues are instantly resolved. So now, these new believers, confronted with the reality of their own sin, inwardly cringe. Who can they tell and not be worried about rejection? And everyone else at church looks so great, like they've got the world on a string and the tiger by its tail. How can I possibly admit...that I mess up?

What you do is chase away the nervous unbeliever who comes to church one day, hoping against hope that maybe someone knows what they are going through. But instead, he finds a sanctuary filled with plastic people, perfect smiles and glad-handing glee-meisters…and if he digs deep enough, he finds hypocrites.

How dare we sell grace short by attempting to a) add something of human effort to it OR b) by claiming that Grace covers only a finite amount of sins (just the sins committed prior to conversion).

Priceless Grace

But, you may say, what about those people who claim to be Christians but sin...or even sin a lot? Well, maybe they are Christians and maybe they aren't. Maybe they are just walking out of fellowship with God. Maybe they have never been discipled properly or never had a good church...or even a friend good enough to teach and sharpen them. Isn't God's grace powerful enough to save them? Of course it is.

What if they sin a little? How do you define "a little?" What if they sin a lot? How do you define "a lot?" Do you see the problem? It's a problem of YOU, finite man, trying to define something that only the infinite mind of God has any right to define.

And I ask again, isn't grace powerful enough to cover those sins? Of course it is. You cannot out-sin Grace. Don't take my word for it. God has a lot to say on the matter. Check out Romans.

"The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6: 20-21

Grace always trumps sin. ALWAYS.

God took a magnificent risk in dying for sinful people. He risked that once we believe in Him and receive the gift of eternal life, we might at some point, just walk away. You've seen it, and I've seen it. We might as well stop denying it or trying the old "never was a Christian dodge." My first pastor was as godly and wise a man as you're ever likely going to meet. On fire for the Lord for thirty plus years. Smart as a whip. Taught at an accredited Bible College, led hundreds maybe thousands to Jesus. The man's faith was no doubt Grade A bonafide true. Ten years later, gone. Left his wife. Left the church. Struggling. Let every man be a liar and God be true. God has saved this man. Yes, even him. Or even me. I still sin too. And I say, there but for the Grace of God go I. See, I look at the picture below and see a sacrifice so great and so comprehensive--an ocean of agony to rescue broken mankind. Grace trumps sin.

Please understand, I am not advocating any kind of universalism thing here. Jesus' sacrifice is powerful enough to save mankind, but it did not save everyone. Some will reject the gift of Eternal Life. Some will reject the Grace of God. It's a free gift, but people still have to accept it.

Sinning Free for All?

At this point, you might be wondering: does that mean that I can become a Christian and just go sin all I want? Paul addressed that question in Romans too.

"What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" Romans 6: 1-2

Here, God is saying, you no longer have to live that way. Sinning hurts nonChristians. There are nasty natural consequences to sin. But for the believer, I think it's tenfold. You get the natural consequences plus some. You may lose the assurance of your salvation--the feeling that you are saved. You may be driven practically mad by the disconnect between your inner man who is alive with Christ and the outer man sinning madly. You might even just die. The wages of sin is death. And one thing that's definite is that you'll lose reward in heaven. That's another topic for study. Seriously, there will be glorious rewards in heaven, but not everyone will earn them.

Salvation--Justification--the Grace of God is FREE. Discipleship is costly. Sanctification is costly. Growing to be more like Jesus will refine you through Holy Fire. Christians have lots of work to do. Jesus Himself prepares good works for us to do. That's kind of a cool thought. But please get the point: all this is once you are IN THE FAMILY. Once you are saved, then the works come. But not automatically. You need the power of God each and every day to follow after Him.

Get off the not-so-Merry-go-round

Do you believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for your sins (past sins, present sins, and future sins)? Do you believe He is the Son of God who rose again to defeat death once and for all? Do you believe Jesus loved you enough to give his life for you? You do? Great. You're saved. God saved you.

But the thing is, you really have to SETTLE IT. You can't go back and forth on this. Trust me. It is a never ending cycle of futility. Am I saved? Yes, but I sinned. Maybe I wasn't saved. Lord, save me. Oh, I must be saved now. Crud, I sinned again. Maybe it didn't take. Lord, save me.

See where that leads? I'm convinced that the "Am I saved or not technique" is one of satan's greatest ploys to keep Christians from doing God's work. If you're not convinced you're saved, all you'll do is pine over that. You won't be much good to the cause of Christ. SETTLE IT.

Jesus paid your price. You are saved. If you sin again, confess it, move on! Ask God to give you the power to turn from sins. Look for the way of escape God provides us for every temptation. It'll be there. Seriously. Get a friend to hold you accountable. Pray for each other.

One more thing: be real. Stop trying to act more put-together than you are. Remember the broken sinners, Christian and nonChristian alike. Maybe they need an ear and an arm rather than an eye of judgment.

The Door Within Movie: Prayer is THE thing!

2012-01-21T12:05:00.000-05:00

In the last WEEK, I've had a dozen or more emails, IM's, posted comments, etc. asking about the possibility of The Door Within (my first book) being made into a movie. Maybe God is on the move because, just this past WEEK, I've had some VERY preliminary discussions on that very possibility. But here's the thing: a Door Within movie is still a million miles away from happening. These are just the very first, tentative, eency weency steps. So, my prayer warriors out there: Pray. Tell your friends: Pray. eMail your Prayer Chains to: Pray. Seriously, this isn't the time to go crazy with movie thoughts. But DO go crazy with prayer. Much love and thanks to you!

Time is money. NOT.

2012-01-02T19:05:00.000-05:00

It's the New Year. Resolutions aside, how do you plan to spend the New Year? Whoever said Time = Money was quite wrong. Time is far more valuable. You can spend time and money, of course. But you can't save time. It cannot be stored or banked away.

We all live on a fixed income of moments that, like it or not, WILL be spent. Compounding the issue is that we don't know what the sum total of our "time income" will be. God knows how long we will live, but we don't. Most of us have a kind of vague notion of living for a while. Barring illness or tragedy, we figure about 70-90 years. Maybe longer if science whips up some long life concoction someday. But there's no guarantee. We cannot count on time like we might check our bank balance. We cannot purchase more time. Time is literally priceless.

The good news is that, like money, time can be invested. You can take "right now" and invest it in something. Trouble is, too many of us will invest in something that pays temporary returns. A bit of pleasure here, a warm fuzzy there. A tickle of the taste buds, a cheap thrill, a new gadget--fill in the blank with any number of self-centered endeavors.

This is short-sighted investment at its worst. Why not invest your "right now" moments in something that will last. And not just last a lifetime. I'm talking FOREVER. The best investments are those that have a lot of time to earn returns. That's why someone who starts putting a hundred bucks a month into a savings account at age 20 will have so much more money at age 60 than someone who doesn't begin investing until age 40. And what if we knew exactly what to invest in? What if we had the world's greatest financial adviser to give us a serious trader tip? Sure fire, can't miss HUGE windfall investment tip? That would pretty much ROCK, right?

More good news: God is omniscient. He knows everything. And He gave us the greatest investment advice in the history of mankind. He told us just how to spend our time so that we would reap the greatest return. He said, "Love God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. And love your neighbor" Matthew 22: 36-40 (*BPV, 2012)

Love God. Love others. That means spend your time for the benefit of God and mankind. If you do, you begin laying treasures up for yourself in heaven. Rewards, crowns, the coolest jobs, etc. etc. Sound good? Yeah, I think so. But it might sound a bit mercenary or materialistic to some. But why should it? God Himself tells us to lay up treasures for ourselves in heaven. God Himself promises the rewards.

In his book of essays, The Weight of Glory, C.S. Lewis addresses this issue. "Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

I could write on this topic so much more, but I can't afford the time. I've got some investing to do. How about you?

* BPV = Bat Paraphrase Version

Amazon Blitz EPILOGUE

2011-12-12T16:23:00.000-05:00

Hi, all! Well, the Amazon Blitz went great! From my combined resources of NovelRank and Amazon Associates, it looks like 24-29 copies of The Errant King were sold during the Blitz. The best sales ranking appears to be: 6,195th, a 19,000 rank improvement. And that's very, very cool.

Sword in the Stars sold approximately 15-17 copies during the Blitz. The best sales ranking appears to be: 13,911th, a 16,000 rank improvement.

And better yet, both books continue to be ranked in the teens. So thank you to everyone who bought during the Blitz or spread the word! You rock!

If you haven't already joined the Starseeker Contest, please consider the adventure! Lots of prizes: Amazon Kindle, Books-4-Life, Namesake in Book, even your very own Star!

Buy Sword in the Stars or The Errant King from Amazon.com on TONIGHT, December 9th between the hours of 6pm--10pm Eastern Time.

ATTENTION STARSEEKERS:

If you're in the Starseeker Contest, we'll be AMPING the points for those who purchase Sword in the Stars or Errant King during the Blitz. Here's the chart:

Buy one book during the Blitz = 5,000pts.

Every additional book you buy during the Blitz = Double the Points--every book

Example: 1 book = 5K, 2 books = 10k, 3 books = 20K, 4 books = 40K, and so on...

Bonus Multiplier: If Sword in the Stars OR The Errant King breaks 500th on the Bestseller List, double any points you've earned from book buying. If Sword in the Stars OR The Errant King breaks 100th on the Bestseller List, triple any points you've earned from book buying. If Sword in the Stars OR The Errant King breaks 10th on the Bestseller List, quadruple any points you've earned from book buying. If Sword in the Stars hits #1 on the Bestseller List, multiply any points you've earned from book buying by TEN.

Once again, here are the links to use to purchase books for the Amazon Blitz. Just click below:

The Sword in the Stars

The Errant King

To Arms! To Arms! The Amazon Blitz for Errant King is Upon Us!!

2011-12-08T19:37:00.000-05:00

FRIDAY, December 9th between the hours of 6pm--10pm Eastern Time.
Can you say EPIC?

Greetings, faithful readers! Wayne Thomas Batson here. With Christmas not far away now, I wanted to let you know I've got a new series of fantasy books out.

The Dark Sea Annals, an Epic 7-book Fantasy Series with AMG Publishing. Book 1: The Sword in the Stars came out in 2010, and Book 2: The Errant King just came out last week. So if you loved The Door Within Trilogy or any of my other books, please check out my new series.

If you think you might get The Errant King, please consider, joining our Amazon Blitz! See below!

Buy Sword in the Stars or The Errant King from Amazon.com on FRIDAY, December 9th between the hours of 6pm--10pm Eastern Time.

I'd like to announce the official Errant King Amazon Blitz! If you've never done a blitz, the concept is to slam Amazon with book orders during a concentrated period of time. This accomplishes two very important things:

1) Tons of orders in a concentrated time will make The Errant King jump up high on Amazon's bestseller's list. This creates high visibility, more sales, and so on.

2) Also, getting tons of orders right around a new book's release date influences the publisher to pump up the marketing and even increase print runs.

Buy Sword in the Stars or The Errant King from Amazon.com on FRIDAY, December 9th between the hours of 6pm--10pm Eastern Time.

Here's the purchase link:

Errant King Amazon Blitz Link

I'd like to thank everyone who participates, so if you purchase a copy of Sword in the Stars OR The Errant King during the blitz, and then email me your snail mail address, I'll personalize a special Sword in the Stars/ Errant King bookplate sticker and send it to you. I doesn't matter if you buy one book or fifteen. I'll send as many stickers as you need.

Thanks so much for reading my stories and being so faithful!

Never alone.

WayneThomasBatson
Bestselling Author of The Door Within Trilogy,
Isle of Swords, Isle of Fire, The Berinfell Prophecies, Sword in the Stars,

and The Errant King

www.enterthedoorwithin.blogspot.com
www.heedtheprophecies.com
www.swordinthestars.com

Why Should Kids Get to Have ALL the Fun?

2011-12-07T19:04:00.000-05:00

Nothing against kids, but it has always seemed unfair to me that they always get to be whooshed through the portal for all kinds of great fantasy adventures. I guess it must have seemed unfair to prolific author Sharon Hinck as well because she's written a fantastic fantasy series--an epic adventure for women and moms! Sound odd to you? Not so. In fact, without any fear of "Man Card Deductions," I read The Restorer and REALLY enjoyed it. Looking for gift idea for the fantasy woman in your life...check out Sharon Hinck's The Restorer!

Order The Restorer-Expanded Edition at Marcher Lord Press (at their discounted price!) before December 9th and receive two free downloadable booklets an indepth Restorer literary guide, and a creative bookclub/party planner. http://www.marcherlordpress.com/

The Seek the Stars Contest is HERE!

2011-11-26T01:00:00.028-05:00

Welcome to Dark Sea Saturday! I hope the turkey nap is over and the shopping cramps are all worked out because you are about to have an adventure...

To celebrate the release of The Errant King, in association with AMG International Publishing, it gives me great pleasure to announce to my readers: the 1st Seek the Stars Contest!

WHAT IS IT?
The Seek the Stars Contest is an opportunity for my readers to have EPIC fun, exercising their God-given talents to form communities of readers and spread the word about books they know and love.

WHAT’s AT STAKE?
Fun. First of all, we all love to communicate with others about the things we love. We all need friends. Competing in the Seek the Stars Contest gives you the opportunity to do both. But there are, shall we say, a few prizes involved as well. More to come soon about all the specifics, but here are some items you could win:
• A Brand New Amazon Kindle!
• Ownership of your very own Star. Not kidding. Some winners will be able to have a real star registered in his/her name or even in his her team name!
• Free eBook downloads.
• All kinds of unlockables: behind the scenes Dark Sea Annals stuff, custom artwork, desktops, posters, Original Dark Sea Music Tracks, online games and more!
• A few hard-working winners will become Books-For-Life Guild Members. These folk get a signed copy of each and every book that I ever write!
• Get your name in the Acknowledgment Section of my next book.
• Get a character in my next book named after you!

WHEN DOES IT START?
The contest kicks off on DARK SEA SATURDAY, that is: Saturday, November 26th and ends SEVEN months later on Tuesday, June 26th. The number Seven is significant. Remember it! The start date is today. But, of course, you kinda know that, right?

When you click the link below, you'll come to a screen that looks like the picture at the bottom. Just click the button, enter the security random letters thingy, and it should download. You don't have to join the club or sign up for FileDropper.

CONTEST UPDATE #1:
All Constellations have been Founded! In less than 24 hours, all seven Founder positions have been claimed! I still have dozens of emails to sift through, but I suspect there are lots of anxious Starseekers anxious to get started. So...GET STARTED. Don't wait for me to email you with your Constellation Team. Just start loading up on points however you can.

Here's the list of Official Constellation Team Founders:

1) Winter's Read from Washington State
2) KK* from Ohio
3) Belac from Michigan
4) Songkeeper from Texas
5) Star Dreamer from Illinois
6) Vocal from Colorado
7) Sir Nagek from New York State

*I used initials for folks who didn't give a Fantasy Name alias.

DOWNLOAD COMPLETE RULES HERE!

Personal Response

2011-11-20T12:21:00.000-05:00

I recently posted about a yahoo article where comedian Conan O'Brien officiated a gay wedding. As you might expect, most of the responses here agreed with the Christian perspective. However, I recently received a comment that opposed it. But, for the most part, this was not some bombastic irrational person screaming out vitriol. This was a person who had serious heart and bravery and really seemed interest in investigating. I tried to comment back, but apparently, it was too many characters. So, I post it here. Hopefully, Anon, you come back and get a chance to read it.

Hi, Anon, thanks for entrusting the readers here enough to post a contrasting view. I can totally hear the compassion in your words and the heart behind it. The only way I can respond coherently is to reprint your words here with my replies immediately following. See below:

You Wrote: This makes me sick. Sorry, Mr. Batson, but I comoletely disagree. What is wrong with being gay? Gays are born with something different in their brain, something that makes them attracted to the same sex.

Response 1: 2 different questions here. What is wrong with being gay? If you believe the bible, then homosexual lust and sex are wrong. No way around that. But what about the genetic component? Are people actually born gay? There is huge sociobiological debate on this. But no this: there is NO conclusive proof that anyone is born gay. There are some genetic points of interest that might support the "born gay" position. But there are equal scientific grounds to show otherwise.

BUT: even if it could be proved conclusively that people were born with traits that would make it far easier for them to become gay, that would have nothing to do with it being sin or not. We are all born sinful. And each of us struggle with certain sins. It may be that all of our genetic codes are messed up in one way or another. One person might have the genetic fingerprint to be addicted to alcohol, sex, drugs, violence, etc. etc. But that doesn't mean we excuse the acts that often follow.

To suggest that there's something wrong with these people is, in my mind, completely ridiculous.

My response: it's not ridiculous if the Bible is your guide. And I'm not being bigoted in the least. I think there's something WRONG with every person on earth, especially me. It's called a "sin-nature." We all have it, and it makes it easier for each one of us to lean toward certain sins.

I understand that maybe marriage must be between a man and a woman, but this is not right.

My Response: Thank you for granting that point. Marriage always has been understood as man and woman. The word is defined that way. If words are to have meaning, then we must not simply change to meet politics or cultural trends. And the word "marriage" is not just some flexible term that has become antiquated over the years. Marriage is a critical social custom that builds the foundation of a nation.

Maybe it is a sin to be homosexual. But is that what you are going to say? That people that are different than you are worse?

My Response: No, I never implied that homosexuals are worse than me or worse than heterosexuals. All sin is counter-God. A homosexual's sins are no worse than my own. The trouble is that some segments of our society are fighting hard to normalize activities are wrong. It is the same as a sitcom that makes it seem like casual sex is fine and dandy. It's not. It's sin, and even if you don't believe in the bible, casual sex leaves a terrible hurt on most people who engage in it.

Who cares if someone isn't like you, isn't heterosexual? Why can't people just leave other people alone?

My Response: again, you seem to want to blame me, as if I am the measure of what's good and right in the world. Thank God it is not me! As to why can't people "leave other people alone?" No one is attacking anyone here. America is an open marketplace of ideas, isn't it? So when Yahoo publishes an article with a well-known celebrity going so far to support gay marriage as to officiate the "wedding," then it is my right (and as a Christian) a duty to speak out. The trouble is that many in the homosexual community confuse different opinions with bigotry. I'm tired of being called "intolerant" and a "bigot" or "homophobe" simply because I maintain and support a differing opinion on the subject. Those who support homosexuality are often very aggressive and in-your-face with their beliefs. Fine, but don't "name call" when I oppose you and oppose you well. Either support your beliefs or concede defeat. Don't resort to immature name calling.

Reading that it makes people sick to think about gay marriage is truly sad, sad that they can't leave it be. It's the way people are, and it's not going to change.

My Response: It's not sad. Imagine someone taking something dear to you and staining it. That's what's happening here. Marriage is what it is. Don't be upset because the word has meaning. If homosexuals want a union, then call it something else. And as to saying, why not leave it be because it'll never change? Think about where that logic takes you. Some people commit incest. Should we leave that be? Some rape. Some commit sexual abuse. Should we leave those things be as well? People commit adultery ALL THE TIME--Christians included. Should we leave that be? Of course not.

I really don't understand this. Is your entire life governed by the bible? Are you simply the puppet of the written word, to kill or shun those that are different or against this? Explain yourself, please.

My Response: Yes, my entire life is governed by the Bible. Not when I sin. And that is my own personal tragedy. God's word is my guide and keeps me from so many destructive paths and horrors. Am I a puppet for holding to a standard of right and wrong that transcends what I simply "feel" is right or wrong?

But, I want you, Anon, to take a very VERY careful look at your words there: "to kill or shun those that are different." You brought those words to the table. I never mentioned them. I don't urge anyone to kill or shun. That's the kind of emotional propaganda that gay rights leaders so often employ.

Love everyone. Hate the sin, especially that sin in my own life. But do not remain silent when beautiful, sacred things are being attacked.

Look What the Stork Delivered!!

2011-11-15T18:41:00.000-05:00

Greetings, Knights and Swordmaidens! No, the Batson household hasn't welcomed a fifth child. But in many ways, the moment a writer gets to hold his/her book in hand, well…it's just pure joy. I came home very tired from teaching today. And BEHOLD, there be boxes on me doorstep! Big FEDEX boxes! Immediately, I'm turning cartwheels!

In other news, don't forget: Mark your calendars for...

1) Dark Sea Saturday: November 26th--visit Enter the Door Within (HERE) for a HUGE announcement. The kickoff of the biggest contest I've ever been a part of.

2) December 3rd Lunch, Signing, Errant King Release Party:

WANNA DO LUNCH? Author chat and booksigning for The Errant King coming soon: December 3rd 12-3 pm in Ellicott City at His Way and Nora's Cafe. Contact Michelle Audrey Black (410) 549-8746 to reserve your seat!

LIVE Chat with Three Fantasy Authors! Come one, come all!

2011-11-10T21:38:00.000-05:00

Live chat with Fantasy Author's Donita K. Paul, D. Barkley Briggs, and Wayne Thomas Batson: You're invited! Live 90 Min. Chat with bestsellers Wayne Thomas Batson & Donita K. Paul at DeanBriggs.com, Monday, Nov. 14 @ 8 pm (Central) http://t.co/Wbi4r7ex.

Dark Sea Saturday is Coming!

2011-11-09T19:56:00.001-05:00

Forget Black Friday.

Dark Sea Saturday is better.

A ridiculously fun announcement coming soon.

This is Not Funny. Not at all.

2011-11-04T18:33:00.000-05:00

Maybe I spend too much time surfing the Net. Today on Yahoo, I found this article on Late Night TV host Conan O'Brien officiating a gay wedding. Looking at the headline, I thought, "You're kidding me." Nope. Not kidding at all. Here's the article if you want to read it: Conan's Big Day

Note to Young Readers: This post may be a little R-Rated, just because of the subject matter. I'll be addressing the issue of gay marriage, so please check with parents about reading on.

On some articles, Yahoo gives readers the option to post comments. So, I did. Weird thing is that, as I was writing, I felt a strange hesitance...a sense of "Oh, this is going to ruffle some feathers, maybe I shouldn't." But feeling that makes me mad. It shows just how pervasive the culture's influence has been on me and largely on Christianity as well. Liberals and activists have so "normalized" things like homosexuality that Christians get timid. We become afraid to express our opinions for fear of being called a bigot or worse. Well, forget that. Christ told us we should expect to be insulted for His name. Does that mean we go hate on people? No, of course not. We LOVE people. ALL people. But we don't condone sin--not our sin or others. And we certainly don't sit back and allow sin to be called good.

So, for what it's worth, here's my take on the Yahoo article:

It's completely appropriate that a comedian officiates this same sex marriage because it's a joke. It's a sham and a mockery of a pure and beautiful thing between one man and one woman. Look at it this way: from the beginning of the cultural practice of marriage it has ALWAYS been defined as one man and one woman, as is natural and fitting. Male and Female we have been created. No way around that. (Even if you don't believe in Creator, Created, or Creation). Humans have two sexes: Male and Female. The way the penis is shaped, the way it works, the way it's stimulated is completely in concert with the way the vagina is shaped, the way it works, and the way it is stimulated. Ask any doctor, nurse, or expert in human physiology. You'll see a myriad of amazing features of male and female anatomy and why they work the way they do. Whether you believe in God or not, you have to delude yourself not to believe that Male and Female were made, designed, evolved FOR EACH OTHER. And rational people had always understood this, and so marriage was appropriately used as a term for a ceremonial (and spiritual) union between man and woman.

If gay men or women want a type of union, fine. I don't agree with you. I don't think it's right. But I'm not naive to think that they won't find some way to have a union. Thing is: don't call it marriage. The only reason the word "marriage" is appealing to you is that you want what you do to be equal to what men and women do. You want what you do to be recognized in the same way. But it can never be equal to what men and women do because men and women are different. It can never be recognized in the same way because it is NOT the same thing. Have a union. But call it something else and get over the language barrier. For if words are to have any meaning at all, there needs to be a definition. And as long as the word marriage has been used in human history it's been defined as male united with female.

And let's not have any of this nonsense, playground name-calling. Bigot, homophobe, and the like. This name-calling is what people do when they run out of intellect. They hope to bludgeon those they disagree with into silence. I could just as easy call you a bigot for not accepting my views on sexuality. I might even go so far as to call you a "Christo-phobe." Maybe I should...what with the way some people react when you mention God or, heaven forbid, Jesus. When I speak out against the practice of homosexuality it is no more "hate-speech" than someone who disagrees with your politics or *gasp* your opinion of a sports team. You may be a rabid Dallas Cowboy fan and think me a barbarian for liking the Redskins, but when I diss the 'Boys, you wouldn't likely call it hate speech. It's a difference of opinion and/or preference. So dispense with the name-calling and start offering rational, researched, evidential responses.

And on that note, I want to make clear that, as a Christian, I cannot support or condone sin of any kind. The scriptures make it clear that homosexuality is one kind of sin, just as I mentioned before: sex outside of marriage, incest, adultery, etc. But please know, I understand the depth of love that all kinds of people can have for each other. The Bible talks clearly of friends who are closer than brothers. And there are men I love with powerful intensity. But the problem begins when brotherly love converts to lust and sexual behavior. That perverts actual love into something deviant. No matter how many people want it or "feel it" it's just not right. But here's the thing: if Jesus came today instead of 2000 years back, I bet He'd hang out with gays in much the same way as he did the tax collectors, prostitutes, and Samaritans. He would flock to those who recognized their need for love and relationship, and HE would give them the water that cures their thirst forever.

It's Time to Burn the Bill of Rights...

2011-10-19T18:54:00.000-05:00

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

I have recently acquired an ugly, pulsing spiritual bruise…just above the bridge of my nose. Yep, you guessed it: right between the eyes.

My community group has just begun a new study series: Seeking Him, Experiencing the Joy of Personal Revival by DeMoss and Grissom. Excellent study. Perhaps, a little too excellent. The 2nd week just absolutely nailed me. Week 2's topic: Humility.

Ouch. Didn't see this one coming. There was a list of characteristics in one of the lessons, showing on one side the traits/habits of Proud People and, on the other side, those of Humble People. The activity asks you to circle the number of the traits that you believe are mostly true of you. So I did it. WHAM, seven out of the first twelve characteristics of proud people are true of me often enough that I couldn't avoid them.

Then, I turned the page.

Well, heaven's to Betsy, lookie there. Turns out there are two more PAGES of characteristics. The first 12 had already nailed me plenty, and now, I find that there are double that and then some to wrestle with. Hence the bruise.

I've got pride issues. Too often do I go through a day pretending to know better than God, pretending to be a good man, pretending to…well just pretending.

The trait that left the welt was phrased in this way: "Proud people are self-protective of their time, their rights, and their reputation."

Somewhere, probably eons ago, I started to build my own Bill of Rights. And unlike the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights of our nation (which I support whole-heartedly), my personal Bill of Rights is a malignant cancer that needs to be burned.

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are nice things. But I started creating my own personal rights, things like:

I have the right to entertainment.

I have the right to sleep in.

I have the right to sit on the computer for hours, for no good reason.

I have the right to eat whatever I want, whenever I want.

I have the right to be a full time author.

I have the right to take most of the summer for my own amusements.

I have the right to have kids that never argue or disobey.

I have the right to a wife who meets ALL my needs.

I have the right to experience God whenever I call to Him.

You have any rights like that? You see the problem with each and every one of them, don't you? God never promised me any of those things. All those selfish, me me me, rights are nowhere to be found in God's word. In fact, God mostly just tells me to do the opposite. I'm supposed to die to self. I'm supposed to put others' needs first. I'm supposed to lose my life to save it. I'm supposed to expect trials and hardships. I'm supposed to be content in all situations. But somewhere along the line, I whipped out the quill and scroll and started composing my personal Writ of Selfishness.

Unfortunately, I'm not alone. We hear all kinds of rationalization these days--even from Christian folks. But God wants me to be happy--seems to be the carte blanche excuse for all kinds of evils: affairs, abandonments, sinful sexual preferences, expenses, new toys, on and on and on.

Forgive me for being blunt, but I don't see anywhere in Scripture where God says "Do whatever it takes to be happy." As my good friend Christopher Hopper likes to say, "God is much more concerned with your character than He is with your happiness."

Take a good look at your expectations. Have you fashioned your own bill of rights based pretty much on you getting what you want, regardless? Are you placing ridiculously unfair expectations on your job, your spouse, your kids, your friends, or even God? How about when you're driving, when someone fails to let you into the lane of traffic you're aiming for, do you get really, really mad?

See the trouble with these prideful, self-created rights is that we will often go to any lengths to protect them. And we'll be insanely furious when someone infringes upon them.
"What do you mean, I have to take the kids to their dentist appointments? This is my day off!"
"Throw the ball around? No, not now. This is 'Daddy' time."
"I know the bills are tight, but we've just got to have a vacation."

Maybe you're thinking you might have a pride issue too. So what do we do about it?

Read this:

In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said,
“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts,
The whole earth is full of His glory.”

And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said,

“Woe is me, for I am ruined!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I live among a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.” Isaiah 6: 1-7

When the prophet Isaiah caught a glimpse of God's glory, His purity, His Holiness, well, Isaiah was undone. By comparison, Isaiah knew he was dirt.

In some ways, I find myself jealous of Isaiah. I mean, he had an up close and personal experience with God. Who wouldn't feel humbled in the presence of the Living God? But maybe, just maybe I lack the perspective to understand how devastating such a meeting might be to me. Maybe it's enough to learn all I can of God's holiness in His word. Certainly, there's enough in the Bible to humble me.

But still, maybe you'll join me in praying, "Lord, please send your messengers with coals from your holy altar to touch all the parts of me that are unclean, especially, my mind and heart. In Jesus' name, Amen.

The Unthinkable Has Happened! Hear ye, hear ye! The Battle of the Books has Come!

2011-10-08T12:22:00.000-05:00

My books have declared war on...each other. How can this be? I have no idea. But my question to you is, who would win? I mean if each of my series of books went to war against each other, the main characters and supporting cast--who would win? You the readers will determine the victory!

It's the First Annual Battle of the Books! We're setting it up in playoff fashion. Who will win the first round?

ROUND 1: The Matchups

The Door Within Trilogy

versus

Isle of Sword/Isle of Fire

The Dark Sea Annals (Sword in the Stars, Errant King)

versus

The Berinfell Prophecies

Readers and Fans: you will determine which series move on to the Ultimate Book Championship. Starting now, I will keep track of votes that you post as comments! All you have to do is say which books series will win each matchup, and why you think so! Voting for the first round will remain open until November 15th!

What say you, then? How will Aidan, Antoinette, and Company fare against swashbuckling Cat, Anne, and the crew of the William Wallace?

Can unbeatable exAssassin Alastair Coldhollow and young King Lochlan hope to match arms against the likes of Tommy and Kat?

We'll find out! Let the games begin!

Bat Fiction Update: The Incredible Shrinking Author and More!

2011-09-28T19:57:00.000-05:00

Happy Fall to everyone! As always, thanks for being faithful readers!

Lots of news to pass along. First:

The Errant King, the 2nd book of the Dark Sea Annals, is due out at the end of October. And this just in, the final cover image. What do you think?

Speaking of covers, I need your help! I'm working on Imagination Station book 8: Mystery of Starlight Island for Focus on the Family. And we've got three cover images on the table. These are black and white sketches of what the eventual cover may be. Which of the three do you like best and why?

And last but not least: Anyone else out there battled weight issues? I have been since the 5th grade. But in recent years, with all the deadlines and teaching (and 50 other excuses), I've really let myself go. I got on the scale and it literally said, "Ouch!"

I've tried tons of diets: South Beach, Atkins, Body-4-Life, The Real Food Diet, etc. etc. ad infinitum. And mostly, they work--to a point. But they often do your body a disservice in the process and make it easier to gain back and then some.

So, this summer, I found myself tipping the scales at the highest I've ever been. I won't tell you the number, but let's just say there are professional linemen in the NFL who would blush to see the number I put up. {Sigh}. I began to find my quality of life and my usefulness to others dwindling. I certainly understand that there are those who have legitimate metabolic issues. That kind of weight gain must be an awful burden for those who have it.

But for the vast majority of overweight folks, folks with normal metabolism like me, we just do it to ourselves. And it impacts absolutely EVERYTHING. Every part of our lives. How much we can get done at work. How much we can play with our kids. How active we can be. And seriously, I believe that we disgrace the Temple of the Holy Spirit and make God look bad when we're fat.

Now, I'm not calling eating a sin. God made it pretty clear to Peter that everything God made was good for food. But somehow I don't think God was urging Peter to eat a whole triple cheese, meat lovers deep dish pizza and follow it up with three pints of Ben and Jerry's. I won't speak for others, but for myself, I've committed the sin of Temple Abuse...over and over and over again. And now, I'm paying for it.

That said, God has given me a fairly resilient body. And I'm just 42. So I'm not throwing in the towel. Rather, I'm getting out of the premature grave I've been living in. And I'm making a change. Or rather, God's empowering a change in me.

I've begun the Jenny Craig program. What? Another diet? I thought you said--actually, I did say. And yes, I am starting another diet, but just in name. Jenny Craig is all about learning to eat the right kinds of foods at the right times and in the right portion sizes. So, really, it's more about life modification than some fad diet. The fantastic thing about Jenny Craig for me is that they provide meals. Yep, it costs. But really, it works out to be just about 30% more than my personal grocery footprint. And to have the menu made for you, the food right there, is absolutely essential for someone with a crazy schedule like mine.

Go to Jenny!

Yeah, I know, I know. Jenny Craig sounds girly. But seriously, there are tons of men on the program doing very well. Everyone from pro surfers to actors to regular Joes like me. Still, I wish they'd have a men's branch called, Stone Cold Craig or some such. Appeals to the macho in me.

So, how did my first week go? Pretty easy, really. And I showed up on Sunday for my weigh in 14lbs down. That's right 14lbs in one week. The Jenny Craig consultants told me it was a site record for their office. Praise God. Week two is going well. Can't wait to see what I weigh in on Sunday. I know it won't be a ridiculous number, but it WILL BE DOWN.

So, I pledge to you, my readers, that I will do this. And I will get down to my healthy weight. And I will come on here every week and let you know how much down I am. And if I don't, you can yell at me! Deal?

PS: If anyone else out there wants to use this as an opportunity to get fit as well, just post comments right along with me. Iron sharpens Iron.

Never alone.

Bat Updates!

2011-08-18T11:54:00.000-05:00

Hi, All! I just realized that I haven't posted since July 13th. DOH! Lots of life has been happening. School ended for me on June 23rd, but it was off to OC with the fam. Back from that, I continued working on GHOST.

I expected to get the edits back for The Errant King (Book 2 in Dark Sea Annals) in June, but they didn't come. So, I started working on a book for Focus on the Family's Imagination Station Series. Book 2 (Shown Below) just hit the CBA Bestseller List! I'm writing book 8 in the series, a pirate tale called Mystery of Starlight Isle. This is for a younger audience than my usual, but lots of fun I must admit.

I had a couple of trips in July: Eastern Shore to crab and fish with my son Bryce, Atlanta for ICRS convention. Then, right at the end of July, BOOM, the edits for Errant King show up. Great stuff from Jeff Gerke. I think you're really going to like Errant King...a sprawling, epic adventure.

First week of August, my fam took off for our annual North Myrtle Beach vacation. Didn't do a stitch of writing, but had a very rich family time. Upon return, I had to jump into my classroom to start the castle construction. Long story.

Next week my teaching year begins. Wow. Summer went by so fast. For the Fall, I have this on my plate: Books 8 & 9 of the Imagination Station Series; eBook thriller GHOST; Berinfell Book 3 with Christopher Hopper; Dark Sea Annals Book 3...got any spare prayers?

Spearhead Books: United We Write

2011-07-13T20:39:00.002-05:00

Last year, Amazon.com revealed that it had sold more eBooks than paper books for the first time in its history. That signaled a shift. Suddenly, the tide in the literary bay was sucked out to sea, leaving a muddy bog of barnacle-crusted driftwood and flopping fish. Observers were perplexed at the phenomenon. iPads, Kindles, Nooks, and eReaders of all makes and models began to appear, even in the hands of the most dedicated paper-philes. Authors all over began to realize: "Wait a minute, I'm working my tail or sacrificing myself and my family for a mere pittance. But with eBooks, suddenly, I can earn something much more reasonable? Hmmm...

A wall of water rose up and came crashing into literary bay, knocking publishers for a loop and offering the most boss waves ever for amateur writers everywhere. Suddenly anyone. ANYONE could get published. Pay for a cover. Pay for formatting. Or do both yourself. Upload it, and ZAM, you're on Amazon. This is quite possibly the greatest thing ever to happen to writers, but might also be somewhat of a stifling puzzle for readers. You're sitting there with a brand new Kindle and go to browse for books. SMACK, wave after wave after wave of potential titles knock you on your electronic keister. (see the pic above) YIKE How do you know what books to get? How do you know which unknown author to trust? For Christian readers, the issue is compounded. How do I know I'm getting a story that I won't feel dirty while I'm reading it?

Enter Spearhead Books. Spearhead is a professional writer's guild. The concept originated in the mighty minds of the Miller Brothers and was sharpened by the likes of Christopher Hopper and yours truly. We are creating a brand, a seal of trust. When you go looking for new books, we want you to have a landing pad, a place to start. Four authors now, but many more to come. And every single title published will be: professionally edited and proofed, triple-checked for content, and adhere to a standard of Biblical quality.

A user-friendly rating system will let readers know the kind of content they can expect. Easy to browse listings and reader reviews--even an interactive forum will allow the most important people: THE READERS to help other readers find something they'll like. Come visit the Spearhead website. Take a look around. This is the kickoff, and there's much, much more to come.

P.S.

I didn't want to take any spotlight from the Spearhead announcement, but thought some of you might want to see the cover for The Errant King, book 2 of the Dark Sea Annals. What do you think?

Exciting News in Christian Fantasy/Adventure!

2011-06-11T11:31:00.000-05:00

Author Eric Reinhold was up my way this past week. I first met Eric on the Fantasy Fiction Tour "Motiv8" a few years back. What a cool guy. Big heart, friendly, devoted to the Lord and his family. Well, since then, God has opened the floodgates of Heaven on his Ryann Watters book series. The folks who made Facing the Giants and Fireproof decided to make his book into a movie--a real, honest to goodness--take your kids to the local AMC, get popcorn--wide release movie! And since then, things have just gone off-da-hook. Some investors have come on board, pumping capital into the project. And now, it looks like it's going to be TWO movies. You can find out more by clicking on the links below.

Sir Eric of Reinhold

Book and Movie News!

In other news, there's a new author on the block, someone you should look into: Brock Eastman. A long time talent man with Focus on the Family, Brock has taken to penning some incredible new fiction, covering a wide range of genres and reader ages. Want something for elementary aged readers? Brock's got it. Middle School/YA, yup, Brock's got a title! High School readers--that too! For more info, click on the links below:

Sir Brock of Eastman

Book News and More!

And finally, of all the reader mail/eMail I get, the question I get asked the most is: Is there a 3rd pirate book? There was Isle of Swords and Isle of Fire, but what about a 3rd book? See, I finished the storyline of Griffin "Cat" Thorne, Declan Ross, and his daughter Anne--in their dealings with the infamous pirate Bartholomew Thorne. But...I did leave a few strands purposefully hanging at the end. And apparently, a ton of my readers want more. Up till now, I haven't been able to even explore the possibility. I was under non-compete contractual agreement. But now, I'm released, free to write a new pirate adventure. I guess what I need to know from you is, are you interested in an Isle 3?

Green Light for Berinfell 3!

2011-05-28T14:32:00.000-05:00

Hi, Faithful Readers and Assorted Elves!

Unlike the poor folks in the cars above, I have good news for you! After months of prayers and waiting, Thomas Nelson has officially made it possible for Christopher Hopper and I to go ahead with Book 3 in the Berinfell Prophecies series! That's right, the long awaited sequel to Curse of the Spider King and Venom & Song is on the launch pad and ready to fly!

The outline is done. We'll take the next few months to make sure it's sharp. Hopefully we'll have the principle manuscript complete by the fall, and have the book ready for readers by the Christmas Holiday season. Initially, we'll be releasing Berinfell 3 as an eBook in multiple formats: Kindle, Nook, .PDF, etc. Also we'll use a print on demand service to do Paperback copies.

And, if we can generate enough interest, we are thinking of releasing Berinfell 3 as a special Collector's Edition Hardback. These would be numbered and signed by both authors and would include exclusive artwork by the authors, readers' guides, and other behind the scenes stuff.

If you're going to post a comment, please let us know what format you'd most like to get!

And thanks to all who have been praying for book 3 to happen. Christopher and I are stoked to get writing, and if the outline is any indication, Book 3 will definitely be the best of the series. Absolutely EPIC!!

The Journey: A Milestone, A Request, and Coming Full Circle

2011-05-14T12:42:00.000-05:00

Surreal. That's how I'd describe my writing journey. With the receipt of my last royalty statement, I've reached a milestone that blows my mind: To date, I've sold over a quarter of a million books. That would be 250,000+ books. Eight books published. Number 9 and 10 on the way. Six of these reached various spots on CBA and ECPA Bestseller lists. Several awards including: Mom's Choice, Silver Moonbeam, The Lamplighter, etc. I'm not boasting, or, if I am, it's boasting in God who made it all happen. But it just smacks me upside the head. Surreal.

Fifth Grade. I think my writing journey began in 5th grade. There was a Halloween Story writing contest in my school: Catherine T. Reed Elementary. I liked scary stories. But the prizes motivated me more. lol. First place was a big chocolate black cat. And, they would read my story to the whole school. On top of that, this girl I had a crush on was entering. There was to be a girl winner and a boy winner. The wheels turned, and I entered. I remember working on the story at home and letting my mom and dad read it. Believe it or not, I have a visual memory of them reading this one scene where the main character fell down a trapdoor in the haunted house that led to a sliding board down, down, down into some other creepy setting. And I remember my parents telling me, "Wayne, that is really creative." That meant the world to me, esp. because it came from my parents. I ended up winning the contest. So did the girl. They read our stories over the loudspeaker to the whole school. People I never knew came up to me afterward and told me how cool the story was. So I formed an equation:

Good Stories = more friends, cute girls, and chocolate

High School. Fast forward to my teenage years. I didn't write too many stories in high school. I got heavily into poetry. It was kind of adolescent therapy for me. Those are tough years, and I wrote my way through them. I ended up in a heavy metal band with some of my best friends. I wrote a ton of song lyrics. In my high school yearbook, I wrote that I wanted to someday become an author.

Teaching. I started teaching middle school reading/English in the fall of 1991. It wasn't too many years in that I began to realize, I didn't like most of what the county gave us to teach the kids. Not the skills really, but the literature. So I started writing my own stories for my lesson plans. My students responded big time. They really seemed to like my fiction. In 1993, my students challenged me to do the assignment I had give them: write a first person narrative short story. So I did. The story was called The Faith of a Child. It was written in green ink on 17 pages of loose paper. My students LOVED it. They kept asking me to read it again...and again. They encouraged me to write more. And over the years, it became about a 50 page novelette. Then it grew some more. During that time, God was very patient with me. I fell into kind of a rut where I was becoming content with mediocrity. I had this thing where I could tell people, "Yeah, I'm working on a book." I enjoyed being able to say that and all the kudos people threw at me for even attempting such a thing. But I was either too afraid or too lazy or both to do something more. But God kept sending little reminders of the gift He'd given me. People would come out of nowhere and tell me something positive about my stories. It kept me going.

Bill and Gregg. One of my best friends in the world, Bill Russell, got tired of me sitting on my book, then called The Door Without Hinges--yes, based on that little 17 page short story from 1993. Bill was attending Dallas Theological Seminary and befriended a guy named Gregg Wooding who part timed as a Publicist for Josh McDowell, Deion Sanders, etc. Gregg was thinking of expanding his operations to include literary work. So Bill suggested that I get my book to him. Gregg loved it. He said he wanted to be my agent. I went back to work on the manuscript, and it became The Door Within.

Atlanta ICRS. Gregg called and told me to book a flight to Atlanta in the summer of 2004. He wanted me to come to the big International Christian Retailer Show so that we could meet some publishers and pitch The Door Within. Interestingly, I sat down with the late Dan Penwell of AMG. He loved The Door Within concept and told me he felt we might be able to do business. I was STOKED. I remember calling my wife Mary Lu and my parents to tell them the news. And then, we sat down with Dee Ann Grand, the acquisitions editor for Thomas Nelson, and pitched The Door Within to them. She loved it. If anything, she was more enthusiastic than I was about the book. Thank you, God, for Dee Ann Grand. She really pushed my trilogy through some battles in Thomas Nelson. But that fall, I had a contract. I was going to be a published author. My wife cried. I stood there just numb over it all. Surreal.

Full Circle. This summer I'll be headed back to Atlanta for this year's International Christian Retailer's Show. But this time, I'll be with AMG publishers promoting The Sword in the Stars and The Errant King. Kind of cool, the way God works things.

New Frontiers. The publishing world has changed forever. And we're just on the doorstep. eBooks are becoming the modern Gutenberg Printing Press explosion. Kindle, Nook, Cruise, eReader, iPad, etc. etc. --these eReaders are appearing everywhere. eBook sales are exploding. And I don't think we're even close to the tipping point. So I'm working on Ghost, my first selfpublished novel. And I'm going to publish it as an eBook, though I will use print on demand through Create Space for those who want a hard copy. If I can get enough reader interest, I may also publish Ghost in a special Hardcover edition with all kinds of special tip ins and extras. We'll see. But you might be wondering, why self publish. Sure, eBooks are exploding, but couldn't you publish Ghost through a print publisher and have them do the eBook? I could, sure. And my other 9 books through Thomas Nelson and AMG are all available in eBook format. But, as much as I hate to admit it, I need to selfpublish. Really, it comes down to dollars and sense. Print Publishing's dirty little secret is that they don't pay their authors very well. In those 250,000 books I've sold, I've averaged 42 cents a book. I am dearly grateful for the income, but it isn't even close to enough to support a family, not over 6 years. So I've been a full time teacher and a full time writer. Add those to a full family life and you get a challenging juggle. So I need to selfpublish. Amazon is offering 70% royalties for eBooks. I just can't afford to miss out on that.

A Request. If you're still reading this, you're probably a pretty dedicated reader of my work. So, I'd like to throw a request out there. Tell me your story. How'd you find my books? Which books have you read? Which books are you hoping to read soon? What would you tell other people (who haven't read) about my books? Post a comment. I'd love to hear from you.

The Books: And, if you are in the market for a new book or an audiobook even, click the links below and check out these tales of adventure and fantasy!

The Door Within

The Door Within Audio read by author!

Rise of the Wyrm Lord

Rise of the Wyrm Lord Audio read by author!

The Final Storm

The Final Storm Audio read by author!

Isle of Swords

Isle of Swords Audio

Isle of Fire

Isle of Fire Audio

Curse of the Spider King

Curse of the Spider King Audio

Venom and Song

Venom and Song Audio

Sword in the Stars

Cool New Fan Art!

2011-05-02T18:56:00.000-05:00

Hi, all! Check out some new fan art I just received from some seriously talented artists!

These first two are from Eldra's sister. The style is quite common, but she does something very "personal" with each image, giving them a kind of special life. I love 'em!

The watercolor below is from IllustriousShades! Very cool composition, don't you think? I especially like the way the artist did Falon here. Seriously cool.

Ghost: Book 1 Cover Image is Here!

2011-04-25T11:35:00.000-05:00

Hi, all!

I just received the final cover art for my first supernatural thriller: GHOST. This is for older readers, probably upper high school on up. Definitely *NOT* for my usual YA audiences. Nothing gratuitous or seedy, but definitely intense, scary, and dealing with mature subject matter.

My plan is to release GHOST on July 1st for all formats: Kindle, Smashwords, Nook, CreateSpace, etc. etc. Just in time for the "Beach Reading Season!"

So here's the cover! Let me know what you think. Is this the time of book you'd pick up?

In the meantime, I'm working on the manuscript. I'm also looking for a professional editor with reasonable rates. Also looking for someone to do the formatting for the ebook uploads. I have a service in mind, but they are rather expensive. So, if you have expertise in either area, email me! Thanks!

The Unstoppable Flood

2011-04-23T19:53:00.001-05:00

Strike from your mind any of the negative images connected to the word flood. You might have first imagined the devastating tsunamis in Japan or the torrential flooding in the South after Hurricane Katrina. Imagine the force and sheer power of those events, but not the negative consequences. The flood I'm going to discuss is as far from that as the East is from the West.

There is a flood. A raging, surging flood. Picture a pristine white mountain where the snow and ice are melting…sending a pure, powerful torrent down the mountainside. And, oh yeah, this flood is moving right through your back yard. Through everyone's back yard, really.

And you've heard some things about this flood. People are finding life there. It's something like the Fountain of Youth, only better, they say. There's safety in the flood. There's nourishment in the flood. There's cleansing in the flood. There's even forgiveness in the flood.

And, from the sounds of things, this flood is unstoppable. It flows on and on and on. No dam will hold it, no blockage will divert it, no effort of human imagination can cut off its flow. And people are *willingly* jumping into this flood. They say you can too.

But you're not so sure.

There are many reasons why people may choose not to jump into this flood. Maybe you're refusing to believe the flood exists. Maybe you're a little afraid of anything that powerful. It might even be that you don't believe that the benefits offered are something you want…or even need. Those reasons, for the most part, go beyond the scope of this post. I want to address one reason in particular, an obstacle that keeps a lot of people from jumping into the flood. It's something that has plagued me for a long, long time. It's no simple hurdle: part intellectual, part psychological, many parts emotional, and perhaps, even a part that is physiological.

There are some who linger on the edge of the flood who won't jump in because they believe their debt is too great to EVER be washed away. We all have our sins, but not all of us believe the same things about those sins. For some of us, we see them as malignant black stains that won't ever be erased. No matter what spiritual chemo we try, there's always a trace left behind that soon grows to full potency and eats away at us once more.

The flood may cleanse some folks, but nobody like me. No way. My sins go deep. Paul may call himself Chief of Sinners, but shoot, Paul doesn't hold a candle to my history. For this person, the guilt for many years of wrongdoing haunts like a vengeful spirit. No need to mention specific sins. You know what they are. It may well be that you've never told ANYONE about these things in your entire life. But they are hideous, gouging, deviant things.

For some of these folks, jumping into the flood is just way too simple a cure for what ails us. We wish it were more us-centered. Maybe we could spend our lives digging a trench for the flood. Maybe we could get out there with shovels and pickaxes and, by the sweat of our brow, just tear up the earth so that the water could flow. Maybe then, we might jump in. Because honestly, there's something in us that screams that we just CAN'T be declared not guilty. We have to pay. And the more dearly we have to pay, the better. In fact, to gain forgiveness by simply jumping in the water…well, honestly, it just doesn't seem right. I am Hitler. I am Jeffery Dalhmer. I am Elizabeth Bathory. I don't deserve an easy rescue. And…really, there just can't be anything powerful enough to save me.

Picture every one of your sins, mainly the worst of the worst. Now, what would be due punishment for those? I mean, if each and every one of them were exposed in a very public fashion, what would be the due penalty? Maybe, if the sins are really bad, maybe you should be captured and imprisoned. Would that do it? And surely, if these things were known about you, you'd be abandoned by family members, friends, those who "used to love you" until…they found out. So maybe that would be just punishment, as well. Still not enough? Let's add public humiliation to the sentencing. You'll be stripped of everything that gives you human value--even your clothing. You'll be slandered, insulted, and viciously criticized--all while those who knew you laugh or spit.

For some of you, that might just be enough to pay for your crimes. But for others, they go even deeper. All of the above, plus some. Your sins, your hideous evil thoughts and actions, would demand agonizing torture. Maybe something where your body is torn to shreds or stabbed through with blades. And honestly, you feel it wouldn't be right for your consequences to end in anything short of death. All of that---it's all what you deserve. And…maybe…maybe you're right. Maybe you do deserve the massive list of penalties listed here. I'm not going to argue with you. Maybe you are that awful. I know sometimes, I've felt that way about myself.

Take another look at that list of consequences. What if the flood we were talking about was unleashed when someone else took all of those horrible penalties--ALL OF THEM--but he himself had never done anything at all to deserve them. What if he endured even worse, but he did it on your behalf. Truth is, someone did. Jesus of Nazareth was captured and imprisoned. He was ridiculed, spat upon, and mocked. He was abandoned by his twelve closest friends. He was presented publicly as something worthy of scorn and stripped of his dignity--even his clothing. And the public who claimed to have his back chose to have a murderer set free, rather than free this innocent man. Jesus was then whipped and scourged to within an inch of his life. And finally, Jesus was murdered in cold blood, killed in a public execution fit for a criminal. Worse still, and perhaps maybe something we can't begin to understand, Jesus was abandoned by God the Father.

That…was Friday.

Whatever your past, whatever your history, whatever your addictions, or sins--whatever penalty you think would pay for it--Jesus bore it ALL. And He did it to pay for you, to buy out your contract, to release you forever from bondage. The sins were great. The penalty was great. But Jesus paid it--IN FULL. That's what Jesus meant when He said, "It is finished."

So what about the flood? Could it possibly be powerful enough to wash even you clean? Why not? The penalty, the due penalty, the worst you can imagine, was endured and paid.

But then…there was Sunday.

Jesus didn't stay dead. That's an incredible line, isn't it? See, the flood wasn't unleashed when Jesus died. The torrent was launched when Jesus rose from the dead. See, anyone who has the power to come back to life is someone who can help you out. We're talking about the power of God. The power that created the universe and all the life in it. We're talking about the power to create life from nothing and the power to bring dead things back to the living. This is the Unstoppable Flood. There is nothing you could humanly imagine that is so great a sin that Jesus couldn't beat it down. You might be a bigtime sinner, but sorry, you aren't that special. You cannot out-sin God's grace. If you step into that flood, you will be cleansed. The penalty you were due, will be washed away forever, marked PAID IN FULL. This flood will give you life. It will nourish you. It will grant you everlasting forgiveness. And one day, it will give you a chance to hold the nail-scarred hand of the one who took your penalties.

There's only one catch. You need to jump into the flood. You need to believe that Jesus is the Son of God who paid for your sins, who suffered and died for you, and rose again so that you could see that HE beat the snot out of sin & death once and for all. Jesus is the Unstoppable Flood.

Come on in. The water's good.

eBooks: Bringing Down the House, Part 2

2011-04-12T16:27:00.000-05:00

A little over a year ago, I wrote an article about the advent of eBooks and what it means for traditional publishing. If you'd like to read that article first, visit here:

eBooks: Bringing Down the House, Part 1

My friend and coauthor Christopher Hopper recently posted a very thought provoking article on the same subject. If you'd like to read that article, visit here:

The Future of Print Books

Christopher's article and some of the comments afterward got me thinking a bit. I don't wish anyone ill, and I don't want to see anyone's career disappear, but honestly, I'm glad to see the Big Print Publishers in a bit of turmoil right now. You might be asking, "Are print publishers in turmoil right now?"

To answer that question, all you have to do is take a look at how big publishing houses are approaching the eBook phenomenon. By and large, what they are doing is pricing their eBooks at about the same price or a little less than print copies of their books.

James Patterson, for example. Latest book in Hardcover: $16.79, eBook: $14.99
Christopher Paolini's New Inheritance book in Hardcover: $14.99, ebook: $13.99
Stephanie Meyer's Twilight in Paperback: $7.99, ebook: $8.99

So...where's the turmoil? It's in the mindset. Publishers are trying to "protect" their print books by pricing the ebooks similarly. Rather than embracing the digital revolution, they are trying to cut their losses. Print publishers don't seem to understand or want to recognize that consumers will not pay that kind of money for noncorporeal property. It's binary folks. We don't pay top dollar for that. See iTunes. Sure, some folks will, but most will not. And right now, independent authors and Amazon are vexing print publishers to no end because they are offering excellent fiction for low cost: .99--$2.99. That kind of money is pretty much chump change, discretionary for a LOT of readers. And, therefore, these readers are willing to buy ebooks and lots of them. But not at hardcover prices. So what's happening? On Amazon, kindle book sales have now surpassed print sales. Borders Bookstores are on their way out. Print publishers are struggling.

And while I do not rejoice at anyone losing a job, I am happy that print publishing houses are having their trees shaken a bit. There are several reasons why I'm happy, but I'll give you two:

#1 Talent Selection: Publishing houses have been the gatekeepers for decades, judging the talents and marketability of authors and wannabe authors, and deciding what gets into print and what doesn't. Now, it's good to have a standard of excellence, right? Of course. And to their credit, there are a ton of hardworking and brilliant editors out there. Consequently, we've seen some pretty good books on the market. BUT, and this is a Grande Gluteus Maximous: How many sensational stories have they missed?

Ever thought about that? We've all read tons and tons of anecdotes from published authors who got rejected hundreds of times before finally landing a deal. Think about that. Big Time multimillion selling authors were rejected. I wonder how many brilliant authors over the years got discouraged by rejection and just gave up. Makes me sad to think about that. I might have been one of them. I scored dozens and dozens of rejections. There were times I thought about giving it up.

Why do print publishers miss great authors? A million reasons. But most reasons flow out of the system itself. Think about it: Joe Publisher decides what you will like to read. Sound a little odd? Sure, once sales are accrued, then the buying public directs future book deals. But many times, it's just a single editor or a marketing guru putting their finger in the air and saying, "Yeah, I think it's time for pirate stories to make a comeback." Often, they simply look at what movies are popular and try to hop on the bandwagon.

Another factor is that editors are often bombarded with manuscripts. Hundreds and hundreds of potential books every week. Sometimes, editors have precious little time to read a manuscript, often deciding yes/no in the first few pages. Everything else: stamp REJECTED.

And then, when the editor finds something he/she likes, it has to go through all kinds of hoops to ever see the light of day. There are many times that an editor may LOVE a book concept, but the marketer says, I can't sell this: stamp REJECTED.

The system is flawed. Who should decide what you like to read? You should, of course. eBooks are going to make that possible. Any author will have a shot at making a reader out of you. But won't that put a lot of crud out on the market? Sure. But there's already crud out in print publishing. For every book that sells 20,000 copies, there are tens of thousands that sell a few hundred copies. With the internet, word will get round. Just like any other product in the free market. You like it, you tell someone. They like it, boom! Word spreads.

#2: Talent Compensation: Most people are absolutely floored when I share with them about how much I make for each book of mine that sells. I'm almost embarrassed to tell folks sometimes, especially to those people who know me well and know how hard I work, how many hours I sacrifice, and how stressful it can all be. The current publishing paradigm does just what other industries have done (esp. music industry); it steals from the talent. The industry standard for fiction royalties is somewhere between 10-15% of gross (in secular market) and 8-12% of net (in CBA market). In other words, if you sell a $16.99 hardback, you make $1.69--$2.54 or, if off of Net, much much less. And what most nonauthors do not understand is that the majority of their sales will not fall into this category at all. There are hundreds of different subsidiary rights that cut, and cut, and cut the royalties.

Since 2005 when The Door Within released, I've sold more than a quarter of a million books. If I'd made a dollar a book on those, I'd be ridiculously underpaid. As it is, I -WISH- I had made a dollar a book. Not. So. Much.

I'm not an anomaly. As the print publishing paradigm stands, the talent--the writer--gets a tiny percentage of what the book brings in. The lion's share goes to the publisher. Oh sure, the publisher has to pay everyone and their uncle: distributors, editors, proofreaders, typesetters, etc. But in the end, the publisher earns out so much more than the author. eBooks are changing that.

With an eBook, I can write a book, and that costs me only time. I can pay to have it edited or find a willing soul to do it free. I will need a professional cover. I will need eBook formatting. I can get it all done for between $500-$1000 easy. Then, I can put my book up on Amazon and sell it for $2.99 and get…I almost can't write it without goose bumps…70% royalties. It doesn't require a marketing guru to figure out the profit differential: Print Publishing, sell 1000 books at $10.99 at 12% royalties versus selling 1000 eBooks at $2.99 at 70% royalties. Print = $1,648; eBook = $2, 093. Subtract all the reduced subsidiary rights sales, and eBooks even look more attractive.

And that is why this summer, I will be releasing my first exclusive eBook: "Ghost." You'll be able to get it on Amazon, B&N, Smashwords, Nook, etc. etc. for $2.99. I will not be signing a print contract on this book, the first of a LONNNNG series, hopefully. I'm intending this eBook to appeal to adult readers, and hoping it catches fire. For those who really want a printed version, I'm going to make it available using a Print-On-Demand service. Much more on that later.

So, will eBooks bring down the House? If print publishers don't embrace the new paradigm, yes. I predict in the next five years you will see the least flexible publishers fail utterly. Those that change will likely flourish.

All I want, and all any reader should want, is for good stories to be available at a reasonable cost.

The Book Battle--Game, Set, and Match!

2011-04-07T17:52:00.003-05:00

The Book Battle Is Over: Ladies and gents, it gives me great pleasure to announce the end of warfare, a cessation of hostilities between Christopher Hopper's Chrome Dome Crew and my own Lavish, Long-Haired Freaks!

For as of 6:39 this afternoon, I have completed the principle manuscript of The Errant King! Thank you, Lord!

As to the final word count and the winner, see below. But I have NO idea who guessed the closest. The best thing would be this: if you posted a close number and think you've won, check all the other posts here and on Facebook to make sure no one posted a more accurate number earlier than you own!

So without further ado, the final word count is:

140,352

As most of my readers know, Author Christopher Hopper and I are good friends. But that doesn't mean we won't engage in a little friendly competition and ribbing. If you've ever been to one of our "Duel Book Events," you'd know we tend to fight…a lot. Mostly about which type of hairstyle makes a warrior more…er, warrior-ish. I contend (and rightly so) that the long hair style is the best for warriors. Whereas, Sir Christopher contends that the shiny, no hair, chrome dome is the warrior's style du jour. It's quite the controversy (in his mind). And I suspect we will duel over it again soon. That said, we've recently discovered something else to fight over.

You see, Christopher Hopper and I both have NEW books in the pipeline. And we are currently both writing these books. Christopher got off to a huge head start, but due to his ridiculously busy schedule, I've almost caught him. And now, I've thrown down the gauntlet…and it landed on Christopher's big toe. {Notice the limp next time you see him}. After the ER visit, Christopher picked up the gauntlet and has decided to answer the challenge. It's a race…to the death {well, sort of}. And YOU get to play along!

THE CONTEST: Simple! The first man to finish his book wins. I'll be completing The Errant King, book 2 of the Dark Sea Annals. Christopher Hopper is working on a book I'll just call SR for now. Christopher will tell you more about it as he sees fit. Very hush, hush that shiny-skulled brute!

Where do you come in? Well, we'd like to invite you into the carnage. {Nice of us, eh?} All you need to do is choose a side. Who do you say will win? Post here or on CH's site, or on FB or wherever we have posted first! Say who will win and then tell us approximately how many thousand words the book will be.

Everyone who picks the correct winner and gets the wordcount within +/- 5,000 words wins a prize!*

Whoever picks the correct winner and has closest to the actual wordcount, wins a bigger prize!**

Hint: the final word count of the winning book will definitely be OVER 50,000 words. If you're looking for a ballpark figure, you might consider investigating our other books:

Sir Christopher's Books:

Rise of the Dibor
The Lion Vrie

Sir Wayne's Books:

The Door Within
Rise of the Wyrm Lord
The Final Storm
Isle of Swords
Isle of Fire
Sword in the Stars

Together:

Curse of the Spider King
Venom and Song

What are you waiting for? Choose your side now: The Valiant, Long-Haired Warrior Clan or the Follically-Challenge Side. Who will finish his novel first and how long will it be?

*Note: the prize will definitely be better than a dirt clog but somewhat inferior to an all expenses paid trip to New Zealand.

**Note: the bigger prize will definitely be better than a bag of moldy bread but somewhat inferior to a stack of gold bars.

Science Fiction and Fantasy World Weighs in on Sword in the Stars

2011-03-23T17:24:00.000-05:00

Hi, all!

I've talked to you about Science Fiction and Fantasy World.com before. They are one of the largest, if not the largest, fantasy and SciFi reader website in the world. Their members include Fantasy heavyweights such as R.A. Salvatore, Joe Abercrombie, Alison Croggon, and many more. A vote of confidence from SSF.com means a lot for the long term interest in a novel. So, I'm stoked to announce that SFFworld.com Moderator, Rob Bedford has given Sword in the Stars a rating of "Recommended." Click below on the cover image to read the review:

Also, in case you missed this one: Wonderful Kat G. over at Science Fiction and Fantasy World just posted a new interview with me. If you'd like to know a little more about where Sword in the Stars came from and where The Dark Sea Annals are going...click on over:

Words cannot describe how happy this makes me.

2011-03-21T09:37:00.000-05:00

If it weren't for J.R.R. Tolkien, I don't really know if I'd be an author today. It was 30 years ago this summer that my cousin Diedre gave me a copy of The Hobbit to read. To that point, I hadn't been much of a reader. I read when school forced me to, but not for fun. The Hobbit changed all that and completely shifted the course of my life. So today, I hear the news that Sir Peter Jackson has officially begun shooting the two Hobbit movies…well, I couldn't be happier. So much about this photo resonates with me. How about you?

New WtB Guest Post at SpecFaith!

2011-03-04T12:14:00.000-05:00

Is there food for your soul to be found in fantasy novels? Find out by visiting:

http://www.speculativefaith.com/2011/03/guest-blog-wayne-thomas-batson/

Wisdom from Kids...

2011-02-25T11:06:00.000-05:00

Proverbs don't come only from the Bible. Sometimes Middle School Kids can be quite wise. Read these and see if you agree:

Never trust a dog to watch your food.
Patrick, age 10

When your dad is mad and asks you, "Do I look stupid?" don't answer him.
Unknown

Never tell your mom her diet's not working.
Michael, 14

Never pee on an electric fence.
Robert, 13

Stay away from prunes.
Randy, 9

Don't pull dad's finger when he tells you to.
Emily, 10

When your mom is mad at your dad, don't let her brush your hair.
Taylia, 11

Never allow your three-year old brother in the same room as your school assignment.
Traci, 14

Puppies still have bad breath even after eating a tic tac.
Andrew, 10

Never hold a dust buster and a cat at the same time.
Kyoyo, 10

You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.
Armir, 10

Don't wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts.
Kellie, 11

If you want a kitten, start out by asking for a horse.
Naomi, 14

Felt markers are not good to use as lipstick.
Lauren, 10

Don't pick on your sister when she's holding a baseball bat.
Joel, 10

When you get a bad grade in school, show it to your mom when she's on the phone.
Alyesha, 13

Never, ever, try to baptize a cat.
Eileene, 11

Epistle to the NFL

2011-02-15T13:13:00.000-05:00

The NFL had better be careful. Right now, they've got the goose that lays golden eggs, and everyone wants an egg. But if they screw around and 1) there's a work stoppage or 2) the season gets delayed or canceled or 3) the whole standoff stays in the news for too long--then, they are going to kill the goose. It's not going to matter which side is more greedy than the other. The general public will perceive both sides as greedy--NO MATTER WHAT. And it's ugly. Sickening and freakin' ridiculous. This is a nation built on blue-collar backs. We're carpenters, steel workers, doctors, and teachers--getting paid pidly compared to both sides in this argument.

Owners and Players ought to look at this as an opportunity to right some long term wrongs, to make the game more enjoyable for loyal fans too.

Players: Obscene rookie contracts are an insult to every professional athlete. To pay a guy who's never taken an NFL snap ridiculous money is INSANE. Give rookies the NFL minimum as a standard salary, but make the contract laden with performance incentives; the more incentives reached the more bonus money, and the higher the base contract goes with each successive year. Build in an insurance clause which pays the rookie big money if there's a career ending injury or some such. Reducing the rookie salary to the incentive-dependent minimum is going to leave a HUGE chunk of change in the collective pot. With that, provide stat bonuses and veteran bonuses for those who've proven themselves already. Perhaps let their be NFL bonuses for statistical leaders across the board.

For the Owners: You absolutely have to provide $$$ for injury insurance. The guys are out there putting their lives and futures on the line, playing a sport that thrives due to its violent contact. You've got to cover the players and their families. Someone gets a career ending injury, the insurance kicks in. The slush money that's still left from the minimal rookie contracts should be funneled into research and development of new helmets and pads to better protect players from injury. The number of concussions these days is alarming. If something isn't done, we'll soon be getting pretty close to the Roman Coliseum. Those people who deplore Michael Vick for the dogfights, turn around and cheer when a quarterback gets destroyed by a DL who is twice the QB's size.

For the Teams: Rosters need to increase in size. If we go to 18 games, that's a no brainer, but even if not. Every team should be able to be 4-deep at every position. Salary Caps are still a must so that all market teams can compete. But the whole Free Agency thing has to change. How many times have fan fanatics been hurt when long-time team player favorites have asked for more money than they are worth to keep and ended up shipped off to finish their career on some other team. Many times, the team would love to keep those players, but the cap is prohibitive.

There should be a "Legacy Exemption," maybe as many as three per team, where fan favorite veterans could be paid extra $$$ to keep them on their home team without impacting the salary cap. No more Joe Montana playing for the Chiefs, Art Monk for the Jets, or Brian Mitchell to the Eagles.

Next, you have to blast these so called "voluntary meetings" and "OTA's". Players need time to heal. Players need time with family. Make several mandatory minicamps, but be done with it.

That's my .02. I love the NFL. I hope they don't drink the kool-aid.

GHOST sighting...

2011-02-13T11:22:00.000-05:00

Hi, Elves and Readers! Today, I'd like to tell you about Ghost, a new novel I've been working on for some time. Ghost is about half finished, and I have a cover design due in February. I intend to release it for Amazon Kindle this summer 2011. I will probably also release it on Smashwords and elsewhere for those who don't have Kindle but want to download Ghost in another format. There's even a print on demand service I'm investigating for those who want a hard copy.

About the Story: Ghost fits into the genre of Supernatural Thriller, in the same vein as Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, the X-Files, Nightstalker, etc. For my younger readers, please note that this is a story for adult readers. Why? It won't be for sex and bad language--that's a promise. And it won't be for gratuitous violence either. I'd say the violence and bloodshed would be on par with my pirate books.

So why the audience designation? Two reasons: these books will deal with the criminal element, and while there will be no explicit scenes, there will be topics that will disturb younger readers. Ghost is a special sort of investigator who will go after the worst of the worst criminals, the ones no one else can or will catch. These are villains who have literally been getting away with murder...or worse. Another reason for the change in reading audience is that these books will be on a whole new level of intensity. Seriously. We're talking, white-knuckle, pit of your stomach, fear. There's a point to it all as well, and hopefully a message of hope.

God says, vengeance belongs to Him. Ghost will be the instrument of that vengeance.

Maryland Right to Life Book signing featuring Sword in the Stars on Feb. 12th from 12-4 pm.

2011-02-10T17:40:00.000-05:00

Hi, all! Just giving you the head's up on a Sword in the Stars event coming up. I'm proud to be teaming up with the Maryland Right to Life Foundation for a booksigning/reading at Eldersburg's His Way Christian Bookstore. The Maryland Right to Life Book signing featuring Sword in the Stars will be on Feb. 12th from 12-4 pm.

6300 Georgetown Blvd # 127
Eldersburg, MD 21784-6419
(410) 549-8746

How do I get my book published?

2010-12-21T15:22:00.000-05:00

*Note: for you younger kids, the above picture is of a thing called a board

game. It represents the beginning of the game where you would physically roll

the dice and move your game piece around the game board.

I got an email from a reader who asked about how to get started down the road to being published. Before I knew it, I'd written quite a lengthy email in reply. This is NOT the magnum opus on the subject, but it might answer a few of your own questions.

About getting published, the literary world is changing markedly with the advent of the ebook, so there are a number of options:

Traditional Print--The process works like this:

1) Write a good book (how's that for brilliant?)

2) Edit and revise until it is crisp, spotless, and most importantly, told in your stylish voice

3) Let someone you trust read it and make suggestions; then edit and revise all over again.

3b) Work obsessively on your opening chapter. Make it grab the reader by the throat. You MUST hook them in the first chapter or they may not read any more--ever.

4) Look for a reputable agent. You can find one by subscribing to Writer's Digest. Every issue, they list agents and what they are looking for. Or you can purchase a Writer's Market Guide which lists zillions of publishers and agents. Or you can look into works of published fiction in your genre and see what agency those authors used.

5) Call the agent, see what they want: proposal only, or with three chapters, whole manuscript, query letter, or whatever.

6) Google Book Proposal format, or whatever your agent asked for. Find out how to write a good one, and submit to agent. Allow 2-3 weeks for response. Hear nothing after a month, call. Rinse and repeat until you have an agent.

7) Your agent should then begin shopping your manuscript around to publishers who, if interested, will ask you for one of those things you submitted to your agent. Get your agent to help you craft the best proposal, etc. possible.

8) Then, pray a lot and hope for a contract.

eBooks--the process works like this:

1) Write a good book (Did I mention, brilliant?)

2) Edit and revise until it is crisp, spotless, and most importantly, told in your stylish voice

3) Let someone you trust read it and make suggestions; then edit and revise all over again.

3b) Work obsessively on your opening chapter. Make it grab the reader by the throat. You MUST hook them in the first chapter or they may not read any more--ever.

4) Hire a professional editor to help you edit and revise your manuscript. Only let a friend do it if they are professionals. Seriously, you don't want to upload a junky eBook.

5) Find a cover artist and pay for the coolest cover you can afford. The cover must look cool in both full size AND thumbnail. It's more important for ebooks to have a great cover because they are all FACE OUT!

6) Either find a professional or do-it-yourself format your book for Amazon Kindle. Check out their publishing program. It's the best thing going.

7) Price your eBook LOW .99 to $3.99, or even give it away for a few months. That price point is discretionary money for most readers. Like the iTunes model, the low price will sell lots of books and, if you're using Amazon's 70% royalty model, will still get you serious money.

8) Once your eBook is online, promote, promote, promote. Visit eBook forums. KindleBoards, Smashwords, etc. Tell everyone about your book who will listen. People want to find the "next big deal author" and they will promote you if they like you.

Whew, so there you go! Hope that helps.

Never alone.

And the Tribebuilding 2 Winner is.......

2010-12-19T18:41:00.000-05:00

Tribe Building 2 Champion

Before announcing the winner (you didn't think I was going to come right out and just say it, did you?), I feel a bit of preface is in order. During one span of the contest, the Amazon Blitz, I inadvertently created a scoring glitch that compromised the true spirit of the contest. It left Tribes in a state of apprehension and me in quite a pickle. For to double back on what I had originally permitted feels much like not honoring my word, while allowing such a gimmicky technique undermines all the hard won points on both tribes. So in the end, after much thought and a convo with Christopher Hopper, we've made a decision. And it is time to announce the winner of the Venom and Song Tribe Building Contest.

And the winner is...

(You'll have to use your mouse and highlight the space below)

Tribe

Swiftstorm

Congrats to both teams. We will be discussing prizes soon!

Today's The Day: Tribebuilding 2 Contest Ends

2010-12-14T07:45:00.000-05:00

Well, alas, all good things must come to an end. The 2nd Tribebuilding contest draws to a close today. No matter what the results, Christopher Hopper and I thank all of you for participating in this adventure with us. We're very honored to be associated with such fine Elves. And in the words of a dear friend of ours, "Alas, two years is far too short a time to live among such excellent and admirable Elves." [Insert cheers.] "I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve." ;-)

So, Tribe Leaders, please submit your final totals before Midnight tonight! And so that this particular author doesn't go cross-eyed, please make sure all totals and results are clearly marked. :-D CH and I love you and thank you. There's much greater mission here--than just helping books sell.

Sword in the Stars: Reviews, Quotes, Tribe Quests and More!

2010-12-03T13:43:00.002-05:00

Greetings from Myriad! Smiles, everyone, smiles! Sword in the Stars has been out now for a couple of weeks, and so far, the reviews are great, sales are great, and my publisher is happy!

We've also opened a new website dedicated to all things Sword in the Stars. You can visit by clicking the banner below or by typing www.swordinthestars.com into your browser of choice.

One of the things you'll find on the site is an announcement about a live Webinar coming up in the new year. What's a Webinar? It's an online chat between you the reader and me, hosted by my publisher, AMG Inc. I'll be doing a reading from Sword in the Stars, answering questions, and talking a lot about the craft of writing. Hope to talk to you then!

You'll also find a tab for "Free" things. There's already one free Sword in the Stars Wallpaper, and there will be much more to come.

Want to be in my next book?
My publisher has asked for Sword in the Stars reviews and/or quotes from readers. eMail a review or quote, and I'll put your name in the acknowledgments page of Dark Sea Book 2: The Errant King! Just make sure you give me written permission to use your review/quote for promotional purposes! Then, if you don't mind, please post your review on Amazon, CBD, and anywhere else you can find! Thanks! Reviews are due to me by Christmas 2010!

Tribebuilding Final Quest:

Starting TODAY: Purchase a copy of Venom & Song --and/or-- Sword in the Stars from any Christian Bookstore--brick&mortar or online, send proof of purchase to your Tribe Leader, and then give the book to someone for Christmas! Remember, the Tribebuilding Contest ends on Dec. 14th, so all purchases must be made between now and then. And, of course, Christmas is the 25th, so we'll just use the honor system! Here's the point chart:

Purchase & Give 1 book: 7000 Vanadils

Purchase & Give 2 books: 10000 Vanadils Each!
Purchase & Give 3 books: 14000 Vanadils Each!

Purchase & Give 4 books: 21000 Vanadils Each!

Purchase & Give 5 books: 35000 Vanadils Each!

Disclaimers: 5 book limit per person; tribe members cannot pool funds; purchases prior to today do not count for this promotion; tribebuilding contest broadcasts cannot be rebroadcast or transmitted in any form without the expressed, written consent of Major League Baseball.

Sword in the Stars Book Release Party #1: Dec. 4th at His Way!

2010-11-25T10:30:00.000-05:00

Jazzed, Amped, Stoked--these are the three words that most accurately describe how I'm feeling these days. Sword in the Stars has been officially released and is starting to appear in bookstores all over the US. Reviews are beginning to come in and they're so good, I'm humbled. I'm getting hourly Facebook messages from great readers who just got Sword in the Stars in the mail and have begun reading. For an author, the time right after a book releases is like Christmas every day. I'm still just blown away that God has allowed this dream to come true.

So, it's with ridiculous glee and massive thrillage that I announce the first official Sword in the Stars Release Party! In the Maryland area, come one, come all to His Way Christian Bookstore on Saturday, December 4th at High Noon! I'll be there in full medieval costume, brandishing any one of a number of swords, doing readings from Sword in the Stars, Signing Books, and celebrating with wonderful readers like you.

Sword in the Stars Book Release Party #1

His Way Christian Bookstore

Saturday, December 4th at High Noon!

And, as a special bonus, there seems to be some strange conspiracy afoot amongst my readers, something that is sure to make this Book Release Party a one of a kind event. In the words of my good pal Bilbo Baggins, "Gandalf, my old friend, this should be a night to remember."

Oh, and see below for a word from some very sneaky people.

Need more info: See below!

His Way Christian Bookstore - Ellicott City

8450 Baltimore National Pike
Ellicott City, MD 21043
Phone: 410 465-7546
Fax: 410 465-5301
Email: customerservice@hiswaystores.com

A word from the League of Extraordinarily Sneaky People...

Sneak, the definition thereof: 1.) To go or move in a quiet, stealthy way. 2.) A person regarded as stealthy. 3.) An instance of sneaking; a quiet, stealthy movement. 4.) Carried out in a clandestine manner. 5.) Perpetrated without warning

Greetings Warriors, Shield Maidens, Elves, and all those that dwell in the Realm of Glimpses;

There are passages and doorways…and realms that lie unseen. And there are those who traverse these lands in secret to fight for the One True King. They are many and they are one. They are:

The League of Extraordinarily Sneaky People.

I am but one though I speak for the many. There is a warrior outside our ranks whom we desire to honor greatly. Many of us he has trained, many he has shown light, and into all he has burned a message of hope. His name is Sir Wayne Thomas Batson, the Loremaster.

The League has special things in store. Sneaking of the sneakiest sneakiness. Sneaking of great awesome power. Sneaking so sneaky we needed a new word to describe it—Sneakalotoricalsneakiness….No wait, that’s just ridiculous. <_<

Our scheme will come to fruition at His Way Christian Bookstore In Ellicott City on Saturday December 4th from 11AM-3PM. This happens to be the first official Sword in the Stars Book Signing as well!

Plan on attending and entering to win one of two copies of Sword in the Stars, a copy of The Door Within book on CD as well as other surprises! And dress in your sneakiest fantasy costume!

If you cannot make the journey, the League has more sneakiness to offer. Contact our leader for more information!

Join our ranks through the Book of Faces here: http://on.fb.me/eEZ1lJ Or contact our leader by email: everlastingscribe@hotmail.com

Oh, did I mention there’ll be cake?

~ The League

::sneak::

Tribebuilding 2, Contest Deadline Moved to December 14th!

2010-11-18T15:12:00.000-05:00

Tribebuilding 2 Contest Continues!

And so, after much deliberation amongst the Elves, I believe all parties concerned will be best served if the official deadline for the Tribe Building Contest be moved to Tuesday, December 14th. In this way, NaNoWriMo will be well and good over, and Elves will have two weeks--and weekends--to pour it on for the Tribe Building Contest! I think it's best not to go too far into the Christmas season because, as we all know, Elves are already very busy around Christmas. ;-)

Also, I'm cooking up some new Tribe Quests to throw out at you. Woo hoo hoo ha, ha, hah {cough} ha {cough} heh, {hack} heh {wheeze}...uh, yeah.

Blitz Update: Sword in the Stars climbs 10,000 spots!

2010-11-15T18:54:00.001-05:00


The above from Amazon as of 7:36pm ET

This just in, Sword in the Stars climbs from 56K to 45K. 10,000 spaces? Yes, good start! More updates each hour!

Sword in the Stars Amazon Blitz is Today! 5pm--10pm ET

2010-11-15T13:23:00.001-05:00

Today's the day! The mighty bastion of Amazon.com stands high on its mountaintop, daring our scattered masses, wandering swordsmen, rangers, archers, swordmaidens, and warriors of all kinds to unite in an assault upon it!

Today, I am calling on all my faithful readers…just as Aragorn rallied his forces at the gate of Mordor…to take part in this blitzing of Amazon! Yes, I know that none of my books have ever ranked higher than 365th on Amazon's bestseller list. And there may be a day when my books cannot climb any higher than 10,000th, but IT IS NOT THIS DAY!!

I know...it's cheesy. lol

Look at the photo below. Do you see where Sword in the Stars begins its quest today?

If we concentrate new book orders between 5-10pm tonight, you will see that number change dramatically. So please, join us on our little venture!

Here's the purchase link: Sword in the Stars Amazon Blitz Link

Reminder, I'll be Facebooking about the Blitz throughout its duration! So check there and we can engage in much inane banter!

Reminder 2: Don't forget, for every book you purchase during the Blitz, I will send you a signed and personalized bookplate sticker. Just email me with a clip of your digital Amazon receipt, and provide me with a mailing address, name of person for whom to sign, and any message you want, and I'll get the stickers sent out. No limit on stickers. If you purchase 10 books, I'll sign and send 10 stickers. :-D

FAQs:

Why do a Blitz?

1) Tons of orders in a concentrated time will make Sword in the Stars jump up high on Amazon's bestseller's list. This creates high visibility, more sales, and so on.

2) Also, getting tons of orders right around a new book's release date influences the publisher to pump up the marketing and even increase print runs.

This Amazon Blitz is special because it's my first book with my new publisher. AMG Publishing has been very good to me, so I really want to have a nice showing with the Sword in the Stars release. So here's the deal, buy a copy of Sword in the Stars, using the link below or the one in my sidebar. Make your purchase on Monday, November 15th, between the hours of 5pm--10pm ET.

Why from Amazon?

1) Exposure. Amazon has a mighty market share. The higher the rank with Amazon, the more people know about the books. I love the Indy stores and other big chains too!

Can I order a ton of books for the ranking and then return them?

I don't know if that works, but even if it would, please do not do it. I don't want to scam anyone or be a part of anyone who does.

Can I order more than one book?

You can order as many as you want. Christmas is right around the corner, and signed books make great gifts.

What happens after the Blitz?

1) If the Amazon Bestseller number hits the top ten, I'll be able to use that on future printings of Sword in the Stars. "Sword in the Stars, An Amazon Bestseller..."

2) If you read the book and have the time, please consider leaving a review of Sword in the Stars up on Amazon. Those reviews really do matter.

This Just In: Sword in the Stars Website is LIVE now! Many new features to come, but the shell is up! Check it out: http://swordinthestars.com/

Sword in the Stars Blitz: Monday, November 15th 5-10pm ET

2010-11-05T21:11:00.002-05:00

Monday, November 15th, 5-10pm ET

Greetings to all my phenomenal readers, blog friends, and anyone else who happens by here. I'd like to announce the official Sword in the Stars Amazon Blitz! If you've never done a blitz, the concept is to slam Amazon with book orders during a concentrated period of time. This accomplishes two very important things:

1) Tons of orders in a concentrated time will make Sword in the Stars jump up high on Amazon's bestseller's list. This creates high visibility, more sales, and so on.

2) Also, getting tons of orders right around a new book's release date influences the publisher to pump up the marketing and even increase print runs.

This Amazon Blitz is special because it's my first book with my new publisher. AMG Publishing has been very good to me, so I really want to have a nice showing with the Sword in the Stars release. So here's the deal, buy a copy of Sword in the Stars, using the link below or the one in my sidebar. Make your purchase on Monday, November 15th, between the hours of 5pm--10pm ET.

Here's the purchase link: Sword in the Stars Amazon Blitz Link

I'd like to thank everyone who participates, so if you purchase a copy of Sword in the Stars during the blitz, and then email me your snail mail address, I'll personalize a special Sword in the Stars bookplate sticker and send it to you. I doesn't matter if you buy one book or fifteen. I'll send as many stickers as you need. My mom says you should buy fifteen copies. Oh, and she also says the signed books make excellent Christmas gifts. {Thanks, Mom!}

If you're in the tribebuilding contest, yes, again we'll be AMPING the points for those who purchase Sword in the Stars during the Blitz. Here's the chart:

Buy one book during the Blitz = 5,000pts.

Every additional book you buy during the Blitz = Double the Points--every book

Example: 1 book = 5K, 2 books = 10k, 3 books = 20K, 4 books = 40K, and so on...

Bonus Multiplier: If Sword in the Stars breaks 500th on the Bestseller List, double any points you've earned from book buying. If Sword in the Stars breaks 100th on the Bestseller List, triple any points you've earned from book buying. If Sword in the Stars breaks 10th on the Bestseller List, quadruple any points you've earned from book buying. If Sword in the Stars hits #1 on the Bestseller List, multiply any points you've earned from book buying by TEN.

Thanks for reading, and hope you'll come Blitzing with us on Monday the 15th!

Amazing Reader Art!

2010-11-01T11:12:00.000-05:00

One of the central messages of the Berinfell Prophecies (Door Within series, as well) is that you are more precious and more important than you could ever imagine. Each of you is unique and utterly rare. One of the reasons we can all be sure this is true is that each of you have a completely unique talent/interest profile. Some are athletic, some are musical, some are artistic, some are linguistic, on and on the list goes with no end in sight.

From time to time, my readers share their talents with me. And recently I received two stunning pieces of reader art. Please take a look and enjoy. Post a comment if you feel so led.

This brilliant portrait of the "Sea Wolf" was drawn by Nichole!


This phenomenal rendering of Falon was created by Elizabeth!

Want to win a sharp, pointy thing? Today only!

2010-10-23T08:14:00.000-05:00

Want to win a sharp, pointy thing? Come out to His Way Bookstore in Ellicott City, Maryland at 1pm, buy a Wayne Thomas Batson book and be entered into a raffle to win a seriously cool broadsword! Today: Saturday, October 23rd only!

I'll be there doing readings, booksigning, and general tomfoolery!

2010-10-22T09:48:00.000-05:00

Hi, all! I just had a great time talking with 99.1 Family Radio in Ontario, Canada. I was especially impressed at how well the interviewer knew the books. If you're a reader of my books, or maybe a parent wondering how to inspire your child to read, check out the interview.

Click here to listen to the interview!

Back in the Day: A Fun Interview

2010-10-21T08:50:00.000-05:00

Lady Beth just emailed me an interview and I thought other readers might enjoy this peak into my past--a little insight as to how I got so whacked-out in the head. ;-)

Did you take any college classes to become a writer and if so what classes did you take?

I didn't get a degree in creative writing; my degree was in English/Education so that I could teach English and Reading. There was, after all, no guarantee that I would get published or be able to make living with my writing. That said, all those English grammar classes and literature classes really did help. I think the most helpful class for me was contemporary poetry. The teacher, a published poet named Kathy Mangan, was absolutely brilliant. She taught me so much about the importance of EVERY word, about the emotional power in every word, and about precise language.

Bouncing baby bat at age 1. Note the footy pajamas. And that's my mom holding me.

How did you find out you wanted to be a writer?

6th grade. The school had a Halloween short story contest and I won a big chocolate cat! Writing = chocolate, what's not to like? Just kidding. That was the first hint that I loved to create with words. It wasn't until much later that I began to think writing was maybe something God wanted me to do. I started writing stories for my students, and I began to see that these stories were having an impact on my students. The lights came on.


Me, age 8. I'm a little excited. Note the lovely 70's curtains!

Did you want to be a 'funny and funky' writer or did you want to be a 'serious and mysterious' writer?

Sweet, original question. I think more the serious and mysterious. I've always had a knack for thinking up creepy or just plain "odd" situations. Scenes that scream out for some kind of search or question. I have at least 20-30 story concepts waiting in a digital folder. Hopefully, God willing, I will get to write them all.

Tons of adventures as a kid. Many of these were in Panama City, Florida, with my best friend Hal. Incidentally, Hal was a little bit of a model for Robby Pierson in The Door Within Trilogy.

Did you always have a crazy imagination when you were a kid?

This shot was from the "Band Days," about 1985 thru 1989. These guys are still best friends of mine.

Yes, very much so. I was the 4th child, the last in line, the baby so to speak. My next nearest sibling was a whole 5 years older, so there wasn't a lot of playtime with siblings. I ended up playing by myself. I drew a ton--often getting in trouble in school for drawing in class! Oops. It might have had something to do with the fact that I was making WHOOSH sounds and laser beam sounds--aloud--while I was drawing. Double oops. And, if you happened to come by my house on a summer day, you might have scene me racing around with a Star Wars landspeeder in one hand and a Tie Fighter in the other. I constantly invented my own stories and plot lines. Imagine me up in a tree with Darth Vader saying to a crabapple, "Luke, I am your father." lol

Thanks for the great interview!
-WtB

Christian Authors all over Champaign? Gasp!!

2010-10-07T12:20:00.003-05:00

I just know there are some tea totalers out there thinking, "See, I told you those fantasy authors are agents of the devil! Look, they are drinking champagne and boasting about it!"

{Sigh}

Not champagne...we mean Champaign, as in the cool city in Illinois!

As a result of the Tribe Building Contest, author Christopher Hopper and I will be flying out to the great state of Illinois and having a private book signing party with Nightwing Tribe, the Tribebuilding Challenge Winner from last year.

But later that day, Christopher and I will descend upon the local Borders store to meet and greet the public. ALL are WELCOME!! You don't have to be an Elf! But please no Drefids or Warspiders!

So if you live in Illinois or will be in the area, please drop by and see us! Even if you can't go, tell friends and family who might be in the area. Signed books make RIGHTEOUS Christmas gifts! :-D

Here are the details of the event:

Where: Borders, West Town Blvd, Champaign IL

When: Saturday, Oct. 16th, 2pm-5pm

What: Authors Christopher Hopper and Wayne Thomas Batson

Why: Well, because we are two wild and crazy, entertaining author type dudes who will sword fight, insult each other (not you), and sign your books with all kinds of pithy wisdom stuff!

Hope to see you there! You are coming, aren't you? Don't make us beg. :-D

Ding Dong the Thread is Dead, the Wicked Old Thread is Dead!

2010-10-03T09:13:00.000-05:00

Hallelujah! The Thread is Dead! A few months and 1754+ comments later, The Wicked Old Thread is Dead! And we have a WINNER! WAY back in May, we kicked off the first Kill This Thread Contest. You can see the original thread HERE. Basically, the idea is that the thread lives as long as someone has posted a comment within 24 hours. If 24 hours go by without a new post, the thread dies. Well, the thread never actually died. I had to kill it b/c it went on forever. An amazingly dedicated group of posters, they were. And so, what I had to do is throw all the posters' names in a hat and pick a winner. My wife actually picked. And the winner is:

Lady Dragonkeeper

Lady Dragonkeeper, please email me with your snail mail address and name you want Christopher and I to sign the book to. We'll get it in the mail asap.

And thanks to all for being such enthusiastic participants.

About Migmar the Gnome...

2010-09-29T12:57:00.000-05:00

It has been an incredible week of Venom and Song discussion. During the CSFF Blog tour, over 75 separate posts have been made with who knows how many comments. Please see the previous article here and visit some of the links. Amazing analysis. But there was a post today by author John Otte asking about CH and I including a character in Venom and Song with a certain, er, uhm, problem. And I thought, wow, I better clear the air on this issue. {Pun very much intended}

Official Disclaimer: If the very mention of the word "flatulent" or any of its synonyms causes you feelings of dread, apprehension, or disgust, DO NOT READ ON. And by NO MEANS should you click on the picture below.

So here's the skinny on Migmar the Gnome King and his, uh, condition. There's a story behind that. Kind of a behind the scenes story. Christopher Hopper and I were in Scranton PA together, working on the outline for Curse of the Spider King. And you know how it is trying to come up with fantasy names. Some of us can take forever researching etymologies and looking up roots from Welsh, Celt, Saxon, etc.

Well, we stumbled upon, not a name generator, but a generic fantasy character generator. It basically had a HUGE database of creatures, races, and people PLUS identifying characteristics. It was pretty late at night, and Christopher and I were kind of goofy. And we kept clicking the generator to read these really random silly character combinations. Things like: drooling, red-headed knight, bug-eyed gargoyle with a limp and so forth. We were literally in tears and clutching our gut b/c the funniest character generated was "Flatulent Barrister Gnome!" Ever since then, it's been an inside joke and we decided to bring Migmar to life in Venom and Song.

So there it is. Don't hate us.

Venom and Song Blog Tour Monday thru Wednesday!

2010-09-27T05:55:00.003-05:00


Venom and Song

Hi, all!

Christopher Hopper and I are stoked because starting today (Monday), RIGHT NOW, Venom and Song is the featured book for the Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy Blog Tour. That means that bloggers all over the country will be posting interviews, behind-the-scenes info, reviews, and all kinds of Berinfell craziness!

All readers, please check out the blogs below for uber cool stuff about Venom and Song! The tour begins today, but there will be new stuff posted every day of the tour! Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday! Righteous!

PS: if you visit a site and you don't see Berinfell stuff, check back later as we all live in different time zones.

Angela
Brandon Barr
Keanan Brand
Amy Browning
Beckie Burnham
Morgan L. Busse
Melissa Carswell
Jeff Chapman
Valerie Comer
Amy Cruson
CSFF Blog Tour
D. G. D. Davidson
April Erwin
Tori Greene
Ryan Heart
Bruce Hennigan
Timothy Hicks
Becky Jesse
Cris Jesse
Jason Joyner
Julie
Carol Keen
Krystine Kercher
Dawn King
Leighton
Rebecca LuElla Miller
John W. Otte
Donita K. Paul
Chawna Schroeder
Tammy Shelnut
James Somers
Kathleen Smith
Rachel Starr Thomson
Robert Treskillard
Steve Trower
Fred Warren
Jason Waguespac
Dona Watson
Phyllis Wheeler
Jill Williamson
Nissa

Huge thanks to all the bloggers for all your hard work on behalf of the mission. Thanks to my readers for checking out some of these great blogs. You may find some great writing resources too!

What is Amazon doing? Tribe Quest Immediate Opportunity

2010-09-19T19:10:00.002-05:00

Okay, so I get an email from a reader, telling me that Isle of Fire has reached #242 on Amazon's bestseller list. I'm thinking, well...pirates are cool, but...??? 242? That's the lowest any of my books have ever gotten on Amazon. What gives?

See below. Do you see what I see?

This is Isle of Fire HARDCOVER. Look at the price. Amazon is selling Isle of Fire at $2.43. Are you kidding me? Talk about a "fire sale." Get it, Isle of Fire...on sale? Oh, nevermind. LoL

Okay Tribes, this is a very time-sensitive Quest opportunity. Isle of Fire sits right now at 242 on the Bestseller List. It won't take much to push it higher. Let's rock this!

The Quest:

Purchase 1 copy of Isle of Fire: 3000 pts.
Purchase 2 copies of Isle of Fire: 6000 pts.
Purchase 3 copies of Isle of Fire: 12000 pts.
Purchase 4 copies of Isle of Fire: 24000 pts.
Purchase 5 copies of Isle of Fire: 48000 pts.

Yes, I know, that's a ridiculous amount of points.

It gets better.

If Isle of Fire makes it to 100th or better on the Amazon list, double the points for each tribe member who gets a book.

If Isle of Fire makes it to #1 on the Amazon list, quadruple the points for each tribe member who gets a book. QUADRUPLE the points.

*Remember, if you're a minor, don't make a purchase without parent permission.

**Also, if IoF makes #1, keep in mind the points do NOT double and then quadruple. The points would quadruple.

Click HERE to order Isle of Fire!

Important Time Note: In order for your purchase to count, you must order today: Sunday 9/19 thru Tuesday 9/21st.

The Door Within Audiobook is available NOW!

2010-09-16T17:11:00.000-05:00

Hi, all! I just found out The Door Within Audiobook is shipping now, almost a month ahead of schedule. In case you haven't heard already, I spend some of the summer in the recording studio doing all the voices and narration for The Door Within and for Rise of the Wyrm Lord. Looks like I'll be doing The Final Storm this November, followed by Isle of Swords and Isle of Fire too!

If you'd like to hear a sample of the audio, click the movie below. This is a scene from Falon's Stair, one of my absolute favorite chapters to read aloud at signings. You should know that this sample is the unedited version, so you even get to hear my mess-ups!

Click HERE to PreOrder The Door Within audiobook!

Holy Bestsellers, Batman!

2010-09-04T07:06:00.000-05:00

Once again, I am humbled by my readers. Thank you so much for reading. There seems to be a wonderful resurgence of popularity in The Door Within books, all my books, really. I'm still awed that God lets me do this and doubly awed that He seems to be working through these books in the lives of others. Please let that encourage you. If God can use me, He can use you. Maybe that's why Paul kept referring to himself as the worst of sinners. He wanted us all to know that God can forgive us no matter what we've done. And He can still use us no matter how broken we are. Thank you, God.

And once more, thank you readers. Please see the bestseller lists below and give God some serious glory for it. The top list is the CBA Young Adult Bestseller list. The bottom list is ECPA Young Adult Bestseller list. Cool, eh?

Tribe Building Update and New Tribe Quest!

2010-08-22T12:02:00.000-05:00

Greetings Tribes! I will be posting current Tribe Points in the next week or so. Please be on the lookout!

In the meantime, it's time for the 2nd Tribe Building Quest. This is a time-sensitive task that can earn your tribe lots of bonus points! So have at it!

The Quest:

Preface: As you know, two summers ago, I toured with seven other fantasy authors. We called ourselves the Motiv8 Tour and we hit dozens of venues from California to Canada. On that journey, I got to know author Eric Reinhold quite well. He's the author of a fantasy series called Ryann Watters and the King's Sword. If you haven't already heard, his books' movie rights were purchased last year and they are actually filming a major motion picture based on his book. COOLNESS!

This is --without any exaggeration-- a turning point for Christian artists. If this movie does well at the box office, it will open the door for other fantasy books to be made into a movie (maybe even The Door Within, eh?) It will send a message to other studios that Christians can be a player in the entertainment marketplace. If the movie fails, the door will slam shut for who knows how long.

Your Mission: Below this text, I'm including all kinds of promo materials and links for the movie. Your job is to scavenge that info and CREATE! Find ways to promote this movie all over the web in your schools--anywhere and everywhere. How many points is this worth? It depends on your project. I'm not telling you what to do. This is kind of like the Amazing Open Category. You take the Ryann Watters movie info and figure out cool ways to promote it. Let me know what you're thinking (email me) and I'll tell you the ridiculous amounts of points you will earn.

Seriously, we need to hit this ball out of the park. Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, eMail, Posters, Flyers, Postcards, Bookmarks--whatever you can think of. You might even contact Mr. Reinhold personally and see what he's got going on and how you can help. Tribebuilding aside, this really is a mission. Do you want more God-honoring entertainment? Do you want Christian artists to thrive? Then go after this!

Treasure Chest of Movie Hype:

Eric tells me that The best way to “hype” the movie, would be to get your “army” posting about it all over the web and sending e-mails, etc. to friends and directing them to the official movie website (www.KingsSword.com) , my blog (www.ryannwatters.blogspot.com) , and Facebook (Eric Reinhold) and Twitter (Ryann Watters).

Filming officially begins in Mount Dora , Florida on August 4^th and the State of Florida has already approved tax incentives for the movie in the amount of $250,000, which is 1/3 of the budgeted $750,000. Some of the “Courageous” crew (the follow up movie by Sherwood Pictures, ‘Facing the Giants’) have come down from Georgia to be part of the movie. I’ve attached some pics of the 4 principal characters. Taylor Boswell (of Bowling Green , Kentucky ) has the most extensive experience of the group. The adult roles are more limited and they are providing the opportunity for some household name actors to be a part of the film. I can’t confirm any of those yet, but will do so on Twitter, Facebook, and my blog as soon as they are confirmed.

Here are some fun links you can work into your blog for readers as well, since they are youtube videos.

There isn’t a movie trailer, yet, but there is a teaser announcing the movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97mxHXeLkA0

Book signing in Mount Dora :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cxW6G5Rxkk&feature=related

Amateur video done by a high school student at my church with three Middle Schoolers summarizing the book:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=629li1sTJ0s&feature=related

Here are some of the latest updates on the movie website:

Under NEWS at the Official Movie Website: www.KingsSword.com

“Director Mike Germaine has assembled an amazingly talent team – com posed of alumni from very successful Christian movies such as “Fireproof”, “Letters to God”, etc., and the team has been covering every inch of downtown Mount Dora and surrounding area as they are blocking shots, determining best time of day to shoot for lighting, etc. In addition, the team is collecting B-Unit and “plate” shot footage to help assist the Production process this week and next leading up to 2 full weeks of filming the exciting chase sequences, where DRAKE DUNFELLOW pursues RYANN WATTERS through the narrow alleyways and quaint streets of downtown, as well as the other sequences involving the beautiful gazebo and scenery of Evans Park on the shores of Lake Dora.”

From the Producer (a prayer)

As the Production of Ryann Watters and the King’s Sword moves into Hi-Gear this week with start of Principal Photography, the very first thing we want to do this morning is to stop for a moment and pray.

“Father, we thank-you for this day and for this opportunity to serve you. We are so grateful and excited about the opportunity you have allowed for us with the movie project of Ryann Watters and the King’s Sword. We believe it to be Your call for us to bring this to pass and we are thrilled that you have chosen us to work through on this important calling. We thank You for stepping in and helping take our fragile human efforts and Bless it with Your supernatural strength, wisdom, creativity, connections, and purpose.

We thank You for opening doors and making a way out of no way and for bringing the right people from the North, the South, the East, the West – every direction point on the com pass – so that we may effectively and efficiently carry out the duties that You have assigned for us. Thank You for the Production team, thank You for the Cast, thank You for everyone working behind-the-scenes, thank Your for the business acumen and the finances required to bring this to pass. Make the path straight – make the path easy – connect us with those with whom we should be connected and keep us from connecting in areas that are not according to Your purpose. Give us favor with those we deal with and let their efforts rise, together with ours, to assist in the fulfillment of Your project.

Lord, let this be life-changing and revelatory to those of us who are working on this movie and book project and for any one who is remotely connected with us on this. Let us function effectively together for Your purposes and bind any atttempt of the enemy to interfere in any way, on any level in this. We know that ALL things are under your auspices and NOTHING moves without your approval and we thank You, in advance, for your covering and protection throughout our efforts here – for us, for our colleagues and partners, for our investors, for families and for anyone who is anyway connected to us on this.

Lord, we thank You also for allowing this to have a significant and meaningful impact among the next generation – those who will watch this movie and read this book and be impacted by it. We call a generational Blessing to all those who seek Your Will and obey Your Word and we ask this in the mighty name of Jesus!

Now, as we move forward, we thank You for giving us nimbleness of mind, efficiency of purpose, ability of direction, and Blessing of com pletion for this project. We thank You for the Mercy and Grace to ac com plish all of this and we will be careful to always remember to give You the Honor and the Glory in all of our efforts with this. We thank You, most of all, for Your Son, Jesus Christ and for allowing us to com e boldly to the Throne of Grace in His precious name. Amen.”

NOW – IT IS TIME. WE’RE GOING TO MAKE A MOVIE – IN JESUS’ NAME!

Door Within Audiobooks and Studio Unknown!

2010-08-15T20:28:00.002-05:00

Over the summer, I had the great pleasure of recording the audiobook versions of The Door Within and Rise of the Wyrm Lord. (I'll be doing The Final Storm too, this fall). I've always enjoyed reading stories aloud and have had tons of practice reading to my students over the years. But I've never done any professional reading. Oasis Audio purchased the rights of The Door Within Trilogy and was kind enough to invite me to read. Still, I was nervous. But I needn't have been, because Oasis found me an amazing studio in Baltimore called Studio Unknown.

Studio Unknown, Owned by Kevin Hill, is a cool and clever all-purpose audio/video shop that won't be unknown for long. Their slogan is "Discover Creative Sound," and they earn it every day. It seems there's nothing they can't do. Scoring movies, ADR, Sound Production, Foley--you name it, Studio Unknown can do it. Not only are they professional, but they are personable as well.

Shown above with me are Jon Krintz(mid) and Kevin Hill (right) who guided me through the process and showed me the ropes. And, in the process, I feel like I made two new friends. The studio itself is tucked away in a massive industrial park. In fact, if I hadn't been told exactly where to go, I would have been hopelessly lost. There was just a tiny doorbell that said: Ring for Studio Unknown.

But once the door is open, WHOOOSH!! You enter a completely professional, ultramodern recording studio--beautiful decor with lots of dark wood and track lighting. Upstairs is the main studio. Kevin and John worked their magic from behind a sound board that looked like the bridge console of the Starship Enterprise.

I was behind the glass in "The Booth," and I belted out The Door Within in 3 Days; Rise of the Wyrm Lord in 3.5 days. Along the way, I flubbed about 12,000 lines. LOL. Not quite that many, but I did make up some very interesting words such as "dilemina." Look for The Door Within and Rise of the Wyrm Lord on audiobook from Oasis this fall! I'll post links as soon as they are up.

And if you have any audio/video needs, please call Studio Unknown. They will help you discover creative sound.

Are you a Christian...and yet, you're still thirsty?

2010-08-05T13:24:00.000-05:00

You remember the time during Jesus' ministry that he came across the Samaritan woman at the well? It's in John 4: 1-42 if you want to read the whole account. It's a rich encounter and there are thousands of sermons seeded within it. But there's just one verse I want to think about right now, and I'm really hopeful that you'll think about it with me and maybe discuss your experiences also.

Jesus asks the woman to get him a drink of water, and in the conversation that follows, Jesus makes it clear that he actually has superior water for her to drink if she will. He contrasts actual natural water with spiritual, regenerating water by telling her,

“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13).

I don't know about you, but I read that verse and, like the woman at the well, that kind of water sounds ridiculously good to me. LET ME AT IT! According to Jesus, the water HE gives will grant us the ultimate "ever-quench." We will never thirst. Never again.

But what if we do thirst again?

What does that mean?

The best place to start seems to be what Jesus meant by never thirsting again. Jesus doesn't lie. So whatever He meant by never thirsting again, MUST be true. Jesus contrasts the two kinds of water, so the kind of thirst Jesus speaks of cannot be physical thirst. The woman at the well probably got physically thirsty the very next day. No, Jesus must have been talking about some sort of metaphorical or symbolic thirst. What is this thirst a symbol of, then?

Jesus says the water He gives will become, in the person, a spring of water, welling up to eternal life. It's inside the person, that much is sure. It's active and increasing in measure--like a spring that flows and fountains. And apparently, the flow fills up to a point of being eternal life. The thirst then, must be for this kind of thing. It's easy to jump to an understanding like this: the thirst is mankind's need for salvation, need for connection to the creator, need for unconditional love. We might even extend the thirst to mean an inner satisfaction and fulfillment, and ultimate meeting of our innermost needs. Is that all true about the thirst? If it is, then Christians should never be troubled by a lacking of any of that. Do you see where this is going? Or, rather, do you "feel" where this is going?

If the water Jesus gives is really all of that as stated above, and the thirst is the unsaved person's need of all that above, then, once we drink Jesus' water, once we believe and are saved, then…we should never thirst in any of those ways again. I feel kind of guilty right about now. You?

I'm a Christian. Not by my own merit. Not by anything I've done or said, but only by the grace of God. He saved me. His word tells me so. But here's the thing, I still feel thirsty. There's still a deep, deep longing for something that is just out of reach, but seemingly impossible still to reach.

And I'm not talking about the physical thirsts. There are tons of physical/earthly things--real hunger, thirst, bank accounts, jobs, family, relationships, etc. etc. that are not completely satisfied. Jesus wasn't talking to the woman about physical thirsts. We should all expect to still have those thirsts, right?

But I still have deeper thirsts. There's a gut-wrenching need for a touch from God, a need for a deeper sense of His presence in my life, a need for eternal safety, eternal love, and eternal companionship. I'm just being honest. I still thirst like that. Do you?

What does it mean if we still have the deep thirst? Does it mean we aren't really Christians? Can you feel the loose soil crumbling away beneath your feet? Can you feel yourself beginning to slide down that slope into a black chasm? If so, grab Jesus' hand.

"For God so love the world that He gave His only Son that ANYONE who would believe would not perish but have eternal life."

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

If you believe that Jesus died for you, that He is the provider of eternal life and your salvation, be at rest. You are saved. Jesus paid the price. He saved you. Why? For God SO LOVED THE WORLD. It is God's love for you. Not -your- love for God. When we were still enemies, HE DIED FOR US. It's not the quality of your faith; it's the quality of HIS GIFT. It's not that you didn't say the salvation prayer correctly. It's not that you didn't go up front during the altar call. It's not that you had and still have some doubts. It's none of that. All that stuff is you and me stuff--and don't we already know that our stuff is lacking?

The floor is not crumbling. You can stand. The foundation--thank God--is Jesus and His word, not our response to it. There is no stronger place to stand.

Go back to the thirst Jesus was talking about. Go back to the water Jesus was talking about. Go back to the qualities of it all. It is water that wells up to eternal life. The thirst, I think, is the soul's parched condition prior to salvation. When we come to Jesus, the scorched soul is flooded with eternal life. That thirst is eternally quenched.

So then, what is the thirst that we Christians still feel? I think it could be a number of things:

1) Thirst One: confusion between physical and eternal thirsts

This is a broken, sin-sick world. People get hungry, sick, worried, depressed. Relationships with spouses, family members, friends can grow strained. We can lose jobs. We can have people write nasty reviews of our books (ahem). lol The washer machine can break down. You can take your car in for an oil change and end up with a $1,600 bill for repairs you didn't even know were there. It can rain on your picnic. If we start to look at our circumstances and measuring God's goodness by those screwed up circumstances, then, we are going to be thirsty. Jesus never promised the woman at the well that her physical thirsts would all be met. Jesus never promised us that all our physical thirsts would be met. In fact, Jesus promised us: In this world you will have trouble. But take heart, for I (Jesus) have overcome the world.

2) Thirst Two: Impossible Expectations

What are you expecting out of people? What are you expecting out of this world? Do you, husband, expect your wife to meet your every need? Do you, friend, expect your friends to always be available for you? Do you expect every day to be full of fun? When you start expect all kinds of fulfillment from people--even people who are supposed to meet your needs, you place them (and yourself) in an awkward position. And even worse, if you expect people to meet needs only God can meet, you are being ridiculous. No can do. I love my wife. She's a great woman. But she's not Jesus.

3) Thirst Three: Something amiss in our lives

Look, I'm not telling you something you don't already know here. Sin destroys. Sin separates. Sin makes us uncomfortable. If you have sinned, or worse, have a repetitive sin in your life, you are handing satan a big old baseball bat with which he will beat you senseless. He likes to pull the "Bully Technique" on you. You know what bullies do, right? They torment the weakling and make it clear that to tell on the bully makes you even weaker, a "tattler" or some such. So the victim is in a no win situation. I get beat up, and I can't tell. Satan will beat you up with your sin, and then he'll tell you about all the trouble you'll get in if you own up to your sin, confess it, etc. Enough of that crap. Go to the Lord, confess your sin. If there's someone (a person) you need to reveal the sin to, even if it's painful--don't delay another minute. Bring the sin to life. Accept the consequences--and then let God rebuild you.

4) Thirst Four: Longing for our REAL home

C.S. Lewis said, "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." The Bible tells us we are indeed strangers and pilgrims in this foreign land. Our real home is heaven. And there is a very real sense in which, we Christians will NEVER be totally satisfied until we are in heaven, physically with our Lord Jesus. In heaven, all the chains will FINALLY fall away. All the fears will vanish. And there will be a kind of love that we cannot begin to guess at here on this giant spinning mudball. It will be eternity with God.

News and Notes

2010-08-03T12:20:00.003-05:00

Hi, all! Lots of news and announcements! If you have an interest in my books or in Fantasy Fiction, read on!

#1: It's looking very probable that the movie option for The Door Within will be purchased. Before you go crazy, know that what this means is that a well connected talent scout in Hollywood is optioning The Door Within for a limited time--to get a script written and shop it around to producers with the hopes that a Door Within movie might be made someday. It's a thousand miles away from a movie actually getting made. That said, it's a critical first step, so I'd appreciate your prayers.

#2: 3rd month in a row that The Door Within is on 2 Bestseller lists.

CBA YA Bestseller #6 for August

ECPA YA Bestseller #8 for August

ECPA also has: Isle of Swords at #17 and The Final Storm at #18

Thank you, readers, for being so faithful. Time is a precious thing--that you would spend some of yours reading my books still amazes me. I'm honored and very grateful.

#3:

2010 Clive Staples Award Voting Begins Today!

Curse of the Spider King has been nominated for the new Clive Staples Award. Please read the following and consider voting for Spider King. Remember, this award is not for Christopher and me personally...it's about glory for God.

Here are the details and the link:

Please read these instructions carefully, then proceed to the ballot by clicking on the link below.
CSA is not a popularity contest. The award has been established to recognize the work of fiction which readers designate as the previous year’s best. Consequently, voters must adhere to these basic rules.
   •   You MUST have read at least two of the nominations.
   •   You may vote only once for a first, second, and third choice.
   •   You may not vote for the same book as your second or third option that you voted for as your first choice.
   •   Your votes for second and third options may not be for the identical book.
   •   You may mark the “none of these” option if you do not have a second or third choice.
   •   Voting will close September 1, 2010.
   •   Second and third choice options will only be considered if a clear winner is not determined by the first choice vote.
To vote, click here and answer all the questions.

Fish or Cut Bait?

2010-07-26T11:57:00.001-05:00

Ever heard the phrase Fish or Cut Bait? It's an idiom, a saying that means you can't sit the fence. Either you get in the boat and brave the waters to go fishing --OR-- you sit on the dock and cut bait for the fishermen. In a literal sense, I'm not sure the saying is actually accurate, however, the message is completely accurate, somewhat uncomfortable, and absolutely necessary.

I'm speaking to Christians and NonChristians alike here. No exceptions. Not even me. In fact, I'm writing this partly as a confession and a kind of self exhortation. But I hope what I write will have an impact on readers as well.

There is a way, you see, to live life with one foot in God's kingdom, one foot in the world. In this case, the feet I'm talking about are the figurative kind, meaning that we can sort of believe God and sort of try to get our needs met in the world. Or we can have an endless internal debate about God, who He is, and how we experience Him. We can even elevate our own "feelings" as a kind of proxy God. IE: I feel powerfully this way--in love, frightened, depressed--and, in spite of what the Bible says, this is my experience. We go with our gut. It sounds confident, macho even. So there we are, Bible quoting one day, and letting emotions rule us the next. It's a way to live life on the fence…it's a miserable way to live. I know. I've been there. Have you?

The Bible calls this way of living "double minded," and we're told that the double minded man is unstable in all that he does, blown about by wind and tossed by every wave that comes by. Why the ship imagery? I suspect it's because the doubleminded person is a ship who's lost his anchor. The anchor being truth, God's truth revealed in scripture. Without that anchor, without something to hold us firm, we drift every which way. A good friend of mine in high school put it this way, "You got to stand for something, or you're going to fall for anything." True dat.

So here's the choice: Fish or Cut Bait?

For the NonChristian, the choice goes like this:

Either this world, this universe, and everything in it is a great big cosmic accident with no intelligent guidance whatsoever. There's no god. There's no ultimate meaning. There's no ultimate write or wrong. Morality is whatever works, whatever suits you, or whatever suits the society that you randomly were born into. The point of life can be: find something meaningful to do and someone you love to share it with--nevermind that "meaningful" and "love" have ultimately no substance or surety in an abstract, random world. To quote Sheryl Crow, "If it makes you happy, it can't be that bad," right? Certainly, there's a lot of fun to be had living in an ungoverned universe. Just ignore the pangs of emptiness, even when you've got every single thing, the rest of the world covets: money, property, spouse and family, prestige, gadgetry, food, vacations, etc. etc--and you still aren't fulfilled. Live and let live. Eat, drink, and be merry…for tomorrow, we die.

--OR-- The world was not an accident. The world and the universe and you were designed by an intelligent designer. God, for lack of a better word, made it all. Therefore, this God might have some claim on your life. He might offer some way of knowing Him. He might have some ideas of right and wrong. So you need to investigate. You need to try with all your might to find out who God is and see what He wants of you. You might give prayer a whirl. "God, if you're out there, I'd like to know about you. I'd like to know you. Can you help me?" You might be surprised at what you find.

Procrastination won't work, nonChristian. Putting the decision off isn't really putting the decision off at all. To quote Geddy Lee and RUSH, "If you choose not to decide, you'll still have made a choice."

For the Christian, the choice works like this:

Either God is who He says He is…IE: God loves you so much He let his Son die for you. God wants you to come back to Him always. God listens to you. His ear is inclined to you. God wants nothing but your good--even though painful trials might be necessary to refine you into who you really want to be. God is truthful when He says you are saved, that you can KNOW that you HAVE eternal life. God is truthful that He is preparing a place for you in Heaven which will be beautiful and amazing far beyond our imaginations to conceive. God is truthful when He promises that neither life nor death, angels nor demons, height depth, nor anything else in all of creation can separate you from Him. No matter what you feel in the moment, God is better than that, more loving than that, more forgiving than that, more intelligent than that, and more powerful than that.

--OR--

He's not.

Fish or Cut Bait? You need to decide. Sitting the fence won't work. Delaying the decision is impossible--self deception at best. By the way, I don't think this is a one time choice. You may need to choose daily. You may choose one thing and then, in the middle of the day, catch yourself bowing to the God of emotion. Choose again.

I'm going fishing. Anyone want to come along?

Much love,
-Wayne Thomas Batson

July ECPA Bestseller List! Take a look!

2010-07-13T12:59:00.000-05:00

This just in: Several of my books hit the bestseller list of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) for July 2010: ...On the Top 20 YA list:

The Door Within is #7

Isle of Swords is #12

The Rise of the Wyrm Lord is #13

The Final Storm is #18!

Thank you, God! And thank you to my readers!

Lunch for Young Authors...Venom and Song Signing Event!

2010-07-01T17:54:00.000-05:00

Greetings Adventurers, Storytellers, and Fantasy Fans of All Ages;

His Way Christian Bookstore in Ellicott City, Maryland invites you to our
The Berinfell Prophecies Book Two: Venom And Song
Launch Party on Saturday July 17th from 1-3PM
Come and meet Author Wayne Thomas Batson and have your copy of his latest book signed!

His fellow Author, Christopher Hopper, will not be able to attend, however signed bookplates from him will be available for those who come on the 17th! There will also be a dramatic reading, time to ask Wayne questions, and give aways!
Don't miss this wonderful opportunity for fellowship and fun!

Can't make the date? Pre-buy your copy and Wayne will sign it for you that day. We will also reserve a signed book plate for you from Christopher Hopper, and you can pick up Venom And Song at your convenience.

Here is what one young adult author/reviewer had to say about Venom And Song:

'Venom and Song is a classic Christian Fantasy novel with a page-turning plot, themes of bonding friendship and love, and the true power of God.' Seth Reid

Special Opportunity for Tween and Teen Writers

Wayne Thomas Batson will be at Nora's Cafe before the event and invites you to come and eat with him and chat about the writing craft. Seating is limited, and you are responsible for purchasing your own food.

To reserve your spot send an e-mail to HisWayEvents@hotmail.com
no later than Wednesday July 14th

The Venom & Song Blitz is NOW: Tuesday, June 22nd, 7pm EST!!

2010-06-22T13:30:00.004-05:00

IT'S ON

Warriors and Swordmaidens, the time has come! Right now we begin our hostile (well sort of) takeover of Amazon's Bestseller list. I hail all those who will raise a sword (or any other sharp, pointy thing) in this effort. The goal is attainable: Top 100 on the Amazon Bestseller list for Venom and Song.

Should you wish to join our merry band of conquerors, simply click the link below and purchase Venom and Song between 7pm and 8pm EST. If you're a reader of Batson or Hopper books, or just looking for a good summer read, please consider joining in the Blitz.

Click Below to Join the Blitz and Purchase Venom & Song

The Blitz Link

Click Above to Join the Blitz and Purchase Venom & Song

As of today at 7pm EST, Venom and Song is already climbing at 6,038th. How much higher will it go? I don't know, but I'm excited to find out.

It's 7:24 EST and already the number is dropping! Go Readers! WOO Hoo!

This just in! Venom and Song hits 443rd on Amazon's Bestseller list! The Blitz continues!

Check back here often between 7pm and 8pm. I will update the ranking as often as I can!

Amazon Blitz II Tuesday, June 22nd, 7pm EST

2010-06-20T20:55:00.000-05:00

Mark Your Calendars! Light the torches and gather the pitchforks!

Tuesday, June 22nd at 7pm, EST we will storm the Cybergates of Amazon.com and seek to propel Venom and Song to great heights on the Amazon Bestseller Chart!

Last year, we Blitzed for Curse of the Spider King, and the ranking went from 73,000th to 365th in one 24 hour period! And that thanks only to my generous readers, their friends and family.

This year, we are defining and actual time to shoot for. This will concentrate the effect of book purchases and hopefully launch Venom and Song into the top 100 or even better!

If you are planning to purchase Venom & Song anyway, would you please consider purchasing it from Amazon.com via the link I supply below. It's very important to have the purchases fall between 7-8pm on Tuesday, June 22nd. This maximizes the jump up on the Bestseller list.

Why do this? Books that hit high on Amazon's bestseller list get seen by a LOT more people. That exposure tends to generate LOTS more sales, which of course, starts a wonderful cycle. High purchases in the first week of release also tells Amazon that this is a book to push, so Amazon tends to include it in their eMailings, etc. And better still, the opening sales tells the publisher to plug in more marketing muscle to a book that is succeeding. So please consider joining us on June 22nd for the 2nd Annual Amazon BLITZ.

The Official Purchase Link:

Click HERE to purchase Venom and Song from Amazonduring the Amazon Blitz, June 22nd

For Tribes in the Tribebuilding Contest:

Here's the plan: If you purchase a copy of VENOM & SONG during the blitz day and time: Tuesday, June 22nd at 7-8pm, EST you will earn 10,000 points for your Tribe. You read that correctly. 10,000 points. But there's more:

If at anytime between 7pm, June 22nd and 12pm noon on June 23rd EST, Venom and Song reaches a high point on the Amazon Bestseller List, then more points will be added. See below:

If V&S reaches 5,000th--10,000th place, add 500 points per person.

If V&S reaches 1,000th--4,999th place, add 1000 points per person.

If V&S reaches 500th--999th place, add 2000 points per person.

If V&S reaches 300th--499th place, add 3000 points per person.

If V&S reaches 100th--299th place, add 4000 points per person.

If V&S reaches 11th--99th place, add 5000 points per person.

If V&S reaches the TOP 10 (well, I'll do a backflip, but besides that) add 10,000 additional points per person.

This means per person who purchases from AMAZON and sends the tribe leader the amazon receipt for proof, that person earns a minimum of 10,000 points plus the bonus points depending on the Bestseller List. Keep in mind, it is not cumulative. IE: if V&S reaches the top ten, each person does not receive ALL the other bonuses 500, 1000, etc. It's the 10,000.

So mark your calendars now for the Venom and Song AMAZON BLITZ!

Tribebuilding Contest: Quest #1--Stoke the Amazon Blitz Fires!

2010-06-15T16:59:00.000-05:00

Yo Tribes! Here's the first time sensitive Venture Quest!

As you know, we're getting ready for the Venom and Song, Amazon Blitz. Just less than a week away now. Christopher Hopper and I want the Internet to be flooded with word of our hostile takeover of Amazon's Bestseller List. So here's your mission, should you choose to accept it:

Every member of your tribe can post about the Amazon Blitz once a day (including but not beyond June 22nd) on as many social websites, blogs, etc. as possible. Each member should keep track of exactly where he/she posted--a running list would be best--and send that list to your Tribe Leader on the 23rd of June, along with a total of points earned.

How many points? 100 points per person, per post, per site, per day. Only exceptions to the one post per site, per day rule: Facebook and Twitter (up to 5 posts per day)

Suggested post: don't use this exact wording but something similar. Be sure to use the date and time and a link. Be creative!

Like to read fantasy? Join us for the Amazon Blitz on June 22nd, 7pm EST. For details: http://is.gd/cQG7Y

If you choose to accept this mission, God's speed. This message will self destruct in six days.

Bestseller List Bonanza!

2010-06-02T19:07:00.001-05:00

Thanks to my incredible readers, I just got the news that FOUR of my books made Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) Bestseller List for June 2010:

The Door Within is #6!

The Final Storm is #16!

The Rise of the Wyrm Lord is #18!

Isle of Swords is #19!

I think a FanFest is definitely coming soon!

TRIBE BUILDING CONTEST BEGINS: NOW!!

2010-05-29T11:13:00.004-05:00

Build Your Tribe

Begin Your Quest

Last year's Tribebuilding Contest for Curse of the Spider King was a HUGE success! We had six active tribes who worked together to do some absolutely amazing things! Venom & Song, book 2 of The Berinfell Chronicles will ship to stores beginning June 9th, so in honor of Book 2's release Christopher Hopper and I are launching:
Tribebuilding Contest 2

This year's contest will use the same general rules as last year's contest, so if you know the basics, skip the next part (in purple text). If you are new to Tribebuilding, make sure you read.

The BASICS:

1. You will gather 14 people (friends, family, etc) to join your Tribe. As the gatherer of this tribe, you become the Tribe Leader.

2. Your goal is to have each member of the tribe do as many of the Tribe Tasks as possible, earning Vanadil Points for your Tribe.

3. Tribe Tasks are things like reviewing Batson or Hopper books on Amazon, Borders, CBD, B&N, etc. or making posters or videos, or blogging, etc.

4. The Tribe leaders send me a Tribe Report on the 7th of every month. The report lists what each tribe member did and how many points total were earned.

5. That's it. That's the basic contest.

Major Changes for this year's version:

1. Tribe can earn GINORMOUS points for Creative Open Category Projects! It will vary by concept. Just propose an idea, and I'll tell you how many points will be offered.

2. Last year, we had six of the seven tribe names taken. If those tribes want to participate again, please let me know immediately so we can secure the Tribe Name for you. Additional tribes can create their own tribe name.

3. Tribe must be at least 14 people, not 21 like last year.

4. Tribes need not be geographically close in location to each other, but it helps when we plan the private book party.

5. Amazon Blitz, coming soon, so do NOT order Venom and Song just yet. If you order ON THE BLITZ DAY, it will mean ridiculous points for your Tribe! I mean OUTRAGEOUS, IMPOSSIBLY LARGE Numbers! WOOT.

Be on the lookout for RULE CHANGES coming soon.

I've outlined the entire contest and uploaded it page-by-page as you see below. You can click all the images and read right from the Web.

You can click HERE and download the pdf file.

Also, Tribe Leaders from last year, please email me about Rules/etc. that didn't work too well last year or were confusing. I'd like to make this year's even better than before.

Let the games BEGIN!

Tribe Names Claimed Last Year:
*Note: email me right away if you want to reclaim your Tribe's Name, or I will open them for new Tribes!

Valorbrand: taken by Kiada/Starfast/Robby

Silvertree: Taken by Keeneye

Ashheart: Taken by AmyA

Nightwing: Taken by Jacob Parker

Swiftstorm: Taken by Seth

Shadowtear: Taken by TimV

Oakenflower: Unclaimed

Flaming Arrow:Created by Sir Andrew

-----------------------------------------------

Did you think I forgot to mention prizes?

In addition to the prizes from last year (Private Book Party, Swords, Signed ARCs, etc), how about having EVERY member of your tribe mentioned in the Acknowledgement section of Berinfell Book 3*???

How about access to a special "Member's Only" Website full of Berinfell Lore, original Desktop art, games, and more!

CH and I are still thinking about additional prizes, so check back often for updates!

PS: Last year's Prize Winners will begin receiving prize packs in June! Thank you for your patience!

Will the Real Prodigal Please Stand Up?

2010-05-25T13:16:00.000-05:00

This past Sunday, we had a guest speaker preach on The Prodigal Son. It was a captivating talk, and I learned a ton. Strangely enough, though, as much as I learned from the speaker, I found myself thinking about another aspect of the parable. It stemmed from the actual meaning of the word "prodigal"--one of the points the speaker made about the word's real meaning struck a chord and made the parable more meaningful to me than perhaps ever before. So, buckle your seatbelts, Dorthy, because Kansas is going bye bye!

In common use, the word "prodigal" has come to mean "wayward" or "errant," "lost" even. But the original meaning is quite a bit different. Prodigal actually means "recklessly extravagant, wasteful, or lavish." Wasteful and reckless, we get. It makes sense. After all, the son, took his portion of his father's estate and wasted it on carnal pleasures: food, drink, fair-weather friends, and female companionship. But "extravagant" and "lavish" bring to mind the provision of absurd luxury or giving in abundance. Maybe we can apply that to the son and therefore call him prodigal. But I got to thinking someone else in the story might actually be more prodigal. I was thinking that someone might be the father…who is symbolic of God. Before you cry "Blasphemy!" or start gathering flaming brands and pitchforks, hear me out.

First, let's look at the actual text from Luke:

¹¹Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. ¹²The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.
¹³"Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. ¹⁴After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
¹⁷"When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! ¹⁸I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' ²⁰So he got up and went to his father.
"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
²¹"The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.^[a]'
²²"But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. ²⁴For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.
²⁵"Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ²⁷'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.'
²⁸"The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. ²⁹But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!'
³¹" 'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. ³²But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' "

Mannn, is Jesus a great storyteller or what! I love this story. It is SO rich and SO full of hope. And I think for too long, the focus has been on the son who left and came back home. We often call it the prodigal son or the "lost son." Maybe the son is one of the main characters, the protagonist even? But he's not the hero of the story. The father is.

In the narrative of the story, the father allows his son to take his portion of the estate--early. This was to be the son's inheritance. However, the father lets the son take it and leave. In essence, saying, I will not force you to stay. I will not withhold this from you. I won't force my will upon you. The father represents God, and isn't this just like God? He won't force us to love Him. If we choose to run off and spend our time and talents on stupid stuff, God will let us. He doesn't force us to love him. He will allow the consequences of our sin to wise us up, though. And that's just what happened to the son. The son comes to his senses and returns. Do you see the point I'm building here? The father sets aside a certain portion of the estate. Think of this as riches, wealth, material, etc. The father sets this all aside for the son. It's a substantial sum too. The son was able to PARTY it up in the most lavish ways. And the father gives this to the son WILLINGLY. There's no fight. Even though it likely hurt the father's feelings, the father still let the son go. That is reckless, lavish love.

But even more so is the son's return...or rather, the father's welcome. When the son comes home, thinking he's blown the possibility of sonship, hoping just to be a hired hand, a servant…the father runs to him. RUNS TO HIM. Have you heard that song? The father runs to the son. That's ridiculous, reckless love. And not just that, but the father throws a new robe on the lad, slaps a suh-weet ring on his finger, and calls the entire estate to a halt for a HUGE "welcome home" party. Talk about wasteful. Even the older son recognizes the excess. Anyone else hear the ring of Judas' voice in the older son? But if the word prodigal originally meant excessive, lavish, extremely extravagant, who in this story was more lavish than the father? No one. First he sets aside a portion of the estate, then he gives up the portion to the son, then after the son has wasted it and comes home, the father uses up even MORE resources to welcome the son home in GRAND fashion. Holy cow! What a wasteful father. What a wasteful God. And aren't we glad that He is.

See, in our eyes, the son was a screw up. He blew it...BIG TIME. He wasn't worth the time of day, wasn't worth even a servant's position. But to the father, the son was more precious than ALL of the estate put together. To the father, the son was so precious...the only thing that mattered was having the son back home with him.

Jesus told this parable. There is no authority greater. The kingdom of Heaven is like this. God is like this. God is good. He is a better kind of good than we can imagine or identify with. If we think we love our own children, God loves His more.

Now, I know some have interpreted this parable and have identified the "lost son" as a nonChristian who comes back to the father and is "saved." Some say the indignant older brother represents "Pharisee-like self righteous folk." After all, Jesus had a slew of Pharisees listening to Him tell this parable. Maybe the lost son represents the Gentiles and the older brother, the Jews. It might be. But regardless of the other characters, I think we need to focus on the Father. He is the One we should draw near to. He is the one willing to waste everything just to bring us home and welcome us to the place we MOST belong. He is the One who is so generously good that we very well can call Him prodigal.

So what's the take home on this? First, if you're a believer, stop and thank God right now for His goodness. For He gave us this life; He gave us all the good things in this world; He gave us a portion of everything. Praise Him. If you're not a believer, remember how much this Father loves you. He is waiting, not with blame, not with guilt, not asking for an explanation. God wants you to come home. He wants to embrace you and robe you. He wants to give you the family ring and throw a big party for you. And who says Christians don't party? Turns out, no one, but NO ONE throws a party like God's parties! See the invite below:

Who: You (whoever you are, no matter where you've been or what you've done)

What: Welcome Home Party! (Abundant life on earth and eternity to boot)

Where: Your real home (Heaven)

When: Right NOW (and much more after this life)

Why: Once was lost, but now are found (God is good. He loves you forever)

You've got to hear it to believe it!

2010-05-11T13:36:00.000-05:00

Like expectant parents, Christopher Hopper and I waited to hear the audio version of our first book together: Curse of the Spider King. OK, maybe not quite like parents, but still…you get the idea. We were very curious and a little worried. Would Oasis Audio hire serious voice talent? Would the voice actor/actress get it right? Would it be overly dramatic or too plain? Just as an actor or actress can absolutely make (see Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men) or break (see Natalie Portman* in Star Wars Prequels) a movie, the voice actor is everything to an audio book. But then, it arrived:

Order Curse of the Spider King Audio CDs!

Christopher and I were thrilled. No, that's understatement. The narrator, Greg Whalen did a terrific job with all 104 speaking characters. How does he come up with so many voices? I have no idea. The thing is, he got it right. The voices in my head somehow turned out to be the voices he spoke. Looking for something new to listen to? Click the link above or the link in my sidebar. If you'd like to hear a sample, click below:

Chapter 1 of Curse of the Spider King as read by Greg Whalen

* To be fair to Ms. Portman, Hayden Christensen shared the worst dialog in cinematic history! "I love you." "No, I love you more." Blech! Eaccchh! Hack! Cough! Of course, it was Lucas who presumably wrote the dialogue. And to be fair, Revenge of the Sith was actually the best of the Star Wars prequels. At least Jar Jar Binks didn't have a staring role. 'Nuff said.

Sword in the Stars now available for PreOrder!

2010-05-05T21:55:00.000-05:00

Hi, all! Well, this is a first for me. I actually have two new books about to come out within a few months of each other! Venom and Song, coauthored with the multitalented Christopher Hopper, comes out in late June. Then in August, my first book with AMG publishing, Sword in the Stars, will be released. Check out the preliminary cover art and the teaser below:

Click HERE to PreOrder Sword in the Stars!

Haunted by memories of a violent past, Alastair Coldhollow wagers his life on the hope that a sword will appear in the stars and the foretold Halfainin, the Pathwalker, would come. Meanwhile, tensions simmer between Anglinore and the murderous Gorrack Nation, threatening war on a cataclysmic scale. The fate of all could rest on an abandoned child and the decisions of those who desperately seek to identify him. Sword in the Stars is the first release in The Dark Sea Annals series.