G is for God

Now I have revealed to all that I am in the process of becoming a minister, I really cannot avoid today's letter being anything else. So if you are not in the mood for a Christian sermon please stop reading now and skip to the letter "H" (Once it is written).

Of course I am referring to The God, "I am" the god that brought the Israelites out of Egypt and the God who gave his only begotten son so that who so ever believes shall not perish but have everlasting life.

I am studying Deuteronomy this week or as it is known in the Hebrew "elleh haddebarim." It is a very good summary of the preceding 3 books and again lays down the law for the Jewish people. It also has some good information on who God is for the Jewish people. A caring God who knows we fall easily into temptation. Although the laws are complicated and the punishments severe, it is possible to see the underlying love God has for his people.

I am looking forward to reading the experts' opinions tomorrow on this subject but I can already see the ties between this well-entrenched law book and the good news of the New Testament. One of the things I truly admire, as an author, is all the inter-connections between the different ages and how something 800 years earlier can affect the people of the later age.

A question people may ask now is "Since you love God and scripture, are your books Christian Fiction?"

The answer is "Yes and No." My favourite author of all time is C S Lewis and the way he created a wonderful allegorical series. Books that on the face seemed to be normal everyday fiction, but when read with scripture in mind a whole new layer can be explored.

This is what I attempt in my books. IVRRAC is not "Christian Fiction" in the general sense but it has many suggestions of Christianity throughout it. A person can read IVRRAC and be totally oblivious to it being in any way Christian based and thoroughly enjoy it. But when read with Christianity in mind many parallels can be found between Simon's adventures and scripture.

Thus I feel I can provide good reading for both Christian and non-Christian readers within my books.

Cheers and blessings to all.

Peter

F is for Familiarity

We all have our places we like to be, people we like to talk to and genres we like to read or write. The familiarity of our usual haunts makes us feel warm inside, safe and secure. But sometimes we need to step out into unfamiliar ground to move on in life.
Each great event in my life has started with trembling feet upon strange lands. From the literal first step on U.S. soil at the start of my first overseas holiday to my decision to become a minister and all the events in between.
Without this willingness to stray from the familiar I would have never got married to my wonderful wife, never had my two wonderful children. I would have never met many a wonderful tourist in my backpacker business and have never got to writing this blog - a direct result of stepping out and publishing my book.
And of course I would have never had such a memorable holiday at Universal Studios and Disney World. Looking back at my life so far, I realise that it is true that every success in my life was due to me braving the unknown and going for it. And the majority of failures were when I stayed in my rut and comfortable familiar surroundings.
Something to think about.
Peter

E is for Early for Once

One of the advantages of being near the International Date Line is that I have more hours to post these posts.  I can post according to my local date or 20 hours later according to US dates.

I am sad it does not mean I can predict lottery numbers in your lotteries but I do feel that I am time travelling at times when discussing things in online forums. Especially on days like Easter when everyone is wishing each other a happy easter yet it was yesterday for me.

To get back on subject I am writing this at 7pm Wednesday night but it is still Tuesday in the US so I guess I will be one of the first to be posting an E post.

Had to put the kids to bed, so I am posting at 8pm instead. Have a great Wednesday while I enjoy my Thursday.

Peter

D is for Dynamite

I am reminded of my favourite song spoof - 10 Sticks of Dynamite. Sung to 10 Green Bottles.

10 Sticks of Dynamite sitting on the wall
10 Sticks of Dynamite sitting on the wall
If one stick of Dynamite should accidentally fall
There will be no sticks of Dynamite and no silly wall.

Please excuse any errors, I have kids smothering me while I write this post. It is near bedtime here and so they are at their most active.

D is also for my Dearest Wife who read this blog and noted that I could have thought of better "D" words than dynamite.

C is for Computers

Are computers not wonderful? I have loved computers (even when their network interface is playing up) since I was 5. And at the time I grew up this was quite unusual. In fact my 3rd Grade (translated for my US friends) teacher had to ask me what the word "computer" referred to in my fictional story assignment.

Thus there are computers in IVRRAC and in BOAS. In fact the one in BOAS is a central character literally with a mind of its own. I have only written two stories that do not deal with computers, both are available free online (Carnarvon  Love - Google Books and Only the Only http://twppj.wordpress.com/only-the-only-a-freebie/) in their rough form - no external editing.

C is also for Cheers

Peter

B is for BOAS

Of course I am going to promote my next book since it begins with the letter B. BOAS is a black comedy about the latest superhero who saves Christchurch and the rest of the world. The first book is more a personal vendetta than global but there will be more books to follow.

It is full of great humour and is definitely a novel to look out for. The production is stalled for a month while I get to grips with my study and getting this computer more reliable. I update the BOAS blog regularly (while writing is being done) with new quotes from the text and the word count so far. See http://boas-superhero.blogspot.com/ for more details.

Cheers


Peter

A is for Anguish

A is for Anguish at my poor computer's 10/100 Ethernet port. Damaged by one son 18 months ago it is very similar to my daughter's wriggly tooth in that it is only just holding on. I have been spending the last few days attempting to get a new interface up and running and failing miserably. So I am back using my very iffy link to the outside world.

A is also for aged computers. My laptop has faithfully served me many years, though its battery died years ago. I am finally getting a replacement (2nd hand) that can actually handle Windows 7. Hopefully it also has some life left in the battery for an opportunity to be more mobile. Looking forward to some good coffees at the local cafés.

Cheers

Peter