Christianity – Page 3 – Robert Treskillard’s Blog

Ted Dekker: Screaming Truth In Storytelling

I found this great interview of Ted Dekker by C.J. Darlington. If you take the time to read it, you…

White Stag Spotted In Scotland

This just in: After the only previously known living white stag was killed and beheaded by poachers near the Cornwall…

Auralia’s Colors – Of Villains & Beastmen

There’s been multiple people who have commented on my “lack of a villain” ideas I floated around yesterday. Here are a few.

Marcus: How interesting that you wanted a literal villain to focus on.

Tim: I hadn’t really thought about the lack of a true villain in Auralia’s Colors. The Queen could be seen as a villain. She turned Abascar’s focus inward, and away from The Keeper. As the Wintering continued, these traits deepened; becoming a part of successive generations like the young girl with the kitten.

Rachelle: I hadn’t noticed the lack of a villain.

So why did it strike me as so odd? I’ve been analyzing and re-analyzing to figure this out, and I think I have a conclusion, at least for me, as to why I felt the lack of a villain.

(NOTICE: PLOT SPOILER BELOW, so only click if you have read the book!)

Is Branding A Blog The Purpose?

Marcus Goodyear wrote an excellent counterpoint piece about branding a blog vs. using a blog as conversation at I’m Not…

My Daughter Has Posted To Her Blog!

Adele has been so busy this year trying to finish up her final two years of high school in a…

Well Install — Part 3

My son and I worked on installing the well Friday afternoon once it warmed up.

The first thing we did was pressure test the line after getting all the fittings on. To do this, we had to electrically hook up the pump and then put it in a garbage can full of water and turn it on. This wasn’t enough water, so we filled it up again and ran it again. All the fittings held!

Then I had to take it apart again to drain the water out of the pipe. This was to reduce the weight during the install. When that was done I put it back together again and got ready to put the pump and pipe into the well.

Thirsting For The Water Of Life — Part 2

The “overnight” parts for our new well drop pipe didn’t ship until Wednesday, so they finally arrived last night immediately before we left for a Christmas concert (I’ll put another post up about the concert—incredible!). Not only did they arrive, but they fit perfectly.

So today is the day. Everything is ready for the well install, and this means we might all get hot showers without having to borrow them! However, I didn’t just jump out there first thing this morning because it was 23 degrees and the ground was covered in frost. It’s supposed to warm up to around 39 by noon, and that sounds better.

I have pondered more deeply the words of Isaiah 55 over the last few days of this final waiting. Not only the verses I quoted earlier, but the ones that follow, verses 4 through the end.

Well Install — Part 2

Sometimes my son calls me Puddleglum (of course, I tease him back and call him GloomyPoodle), and yes, I can…

Well Install — Part 1

I now have in my possession all the parts that I need to install the well. Today is the big…

Thirsting For The Water Of Life — Part 1

The verse in the Bible that has impacted me the most is Isaiah 55:1-3:

“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come buy and eat! Come buy wine and milk without money and without cost.

Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?

Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.

Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.”

Lately, these verses have taken on new meaning for our family. Why? Because it has been 18 days since we have had water at our house!

Great Fiction Distilled Into A Hymn

This Sunday we sang the hymn, “Once To Every Man And Nation“, which was written by James Russel Lowell. As…

God’s Love In The Midst Of Our Pain

On Sunday we sang “O The Deep, Deep Love Of Jesus”, which is always comforting to me. The song first…

Stephen Lawhead Interview About Magic In Fiction

I found a recent interview with Stephen Lawhead where he discusses his view about magic in fiction.

This is very interesting to me because just the other day I posted about how my King Arthur books will be different from his. One of those points related to the use of magic.

Now, based on what I read in his article, I’m not sure if I was completely fair in my broad brush strokes. Here are a few clarifications:

King Arthur – My Odds Just Got Worse!!

Here I just posted about how difficult the odds are to get published in the Christian speculative fiction genre, and now my own personal odds just got worse!

I even knew it was going to happen. I just didn’t think it would be this soon. Once Stephen Lawhead started re-releasing his older books (Song of Albion and the Dragon King series) I knew it was bound to happen. It turns out that he was just notified that HarperCollins is going to “re-release the entire Pendragon Cycle in a new edition with new covers sometime in the next year”.

What does this mean for me? I’m not sure, really. Here I am writing a series of books based on the King Arthur myths, and one of my inspirations is being re-released probably around the time that my first book will be sent to literary agents! This probably makes it much harder for an agent to seriously consider my work at this time.

However … there is the flip side that the added publicity could make it easier. Obviously this topic sells. Obviously there is public interest. Obviously there will be some buzz. “Hey, have you read Lawhead? Robert Treskillard has a book on King Arthur too…”