Words

Spilled Milk

2007-08-07T22:20:00Z

The third chapter of my book is called Spilled Milk. It’s all about the second beatitude: Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.” I’ve really struggled with this chapter, mostly with how to begin, but I think I made progress today:

I was there when she came out with her mother’s eyes and my nose. Beautiful.

She was all swollen with deep creases at her joints and lots of places in between, segmented rolls of beautiful, looking more like a bundle of sausages in a diaper than a body and head, arms and legs. Beautiful dimpled knees crawled after the cats. Beautiful ruby lips cooed from the crib. Beautiful puffy fingers wrapped around my pinky.

Eventually, they played patty cake. Then they held crayons. They steered a tricycle across the street. Then they painted my finger nails and dug for doodle bugs. Beautiful.

And then they spilled a glass of milk one morning at breakfast. And everything changed.

She was three. I remember it well, from toaster to tears. I was cutting a freshly warmed waffled into choke-proof squares on the kitchen counter. Gabriella was coloring at the table, patiently waiting for breakfast as the sun slowly rose through the hackberry trees out back and threw shadows and light onto her picture.

We think she must have scooted in her chair to get out of the sun’s rays - we’re not sure - but milk was spilled.

“Dammit!” she yelled and collapsed into a tearful tantrum.

I laughed while Becky began interrogating and consoling Gabriella simultaneously. “You’re OK, Sweety. I’ll get you some more milk… Where’d you hear that word? Do you remember? Did -”

“You really need to watch your mouth around the kids,” I joked. “I know you get ticked off in traffic but…for the children, Becky.”

Even beauty is busted. I know this. But why cry over spilled milk?

Then I move on to answer that question.

I doubt I’ll be allowed to keep the word “Dammit” in there. Shame, really. What better way to argue for greater shock at the sight and sound of depravity than to create shock with depravity? At least that’s how my depraved brain is working today.

The book, by the way, is slated to release August 2008.

Static Chapter 2: Baggage

2007-07-31T18:34:01Z

To read the post on chapter one of Ron Martoia’s Static click here. To buy the book and join the discussion click here.

On to chapter two.

Ron writes…

“The words we use have no raw definitions. Instead, from our life experiences we fill up “mental containers” - containers of understanding and meaning - that we call words. And because your life experience is different from my life experience, the connotations of words - our understanding of what those words mean - will vary from person to person.” (p. 12)

Ron also acknowledges that not only do we all define words differently to a degree, but we also use these words to communicate ideas we might not even fully understand or might understand incorrectly. So the problem of communicating our beliefs are many. Words we use don’t always mean to others what they mean to us and we may not have a good understanding (or correct understanding) of what we’re trying to communicate.

Ron says…

“I realized one day that I had come believe I was about 97 percent accurate in what I held to be doctrinally true. In other words, I acknowledged that I may be wrong about a few details, but certainly no more than about 3 percent...I was the product of the academy, where a premium was placed on being right, ready, and full of insight. At some level, I was merely reflecting the values commonly taught at Bible schools and seminaries around the globe. The problem with this sort of posture - this sort of “certainty” - is that over time it becomes impervious to change, fresh insight, or new understanding. Before long, we move from being learners (which is the real meaning of the Greek word for disciple in the New Testament) to becoming protectors - protectors of “what we have always believed.” (pp.13,14)

QUESTIONS: How do you process new ideas and insights? If someone speaks or writes an idea that is contrary to what you believe or just outside the scope of things you’ve thought about, how do you respond? How should we? What percentage of what you believe could you be wrong about?

Then Ron writes the most underline-worthy words in this book, for me…

All genuine learning requires a tentative disposition - tentative in the sense that I must hold open the possibility that the thoughts I have and the positions I hold may need to be adjusted, revised, or even discarded in favor of more complete understandings. (p.14)

This is difficult to me. I like certainty. I’m afraid of the “slippery slope” that leads from “tentative disposition” to “there is no absolute truth.”

QUESTIONS: What keeps us from living with a “tentative disposition?” How does having certainty benefit us and others we communicate with? How does it harm us and those we communicate with? Same questions with tentativeness. How’s that disposition benefit us and “them?” Are you convinced being more tentative and uncertain is the right way to go? Why?

Static Chapter 1: Pheidippides Was A Wimp

2007-07-15T03:26:00Z

Here’s the plan: We’re going to blog through Ron Martoia’s Static for a while. I’ll post something on one chapter every week, probably every weekend, as long as my schedule allows for it. You guys are invited to read, discuss, ask questions, disagree, agree etc.

This book is about gaining a more complete understanding about the Christian faith. And it’s about finding language and concepts that better communicate that faith.

What’s wrong with the language we use now? Some would say words like “repent” and “sin” and “Good News” have lost their meaning. Some would say what they mean doesn’t adequately communicate what the Christian faith was all about when the bible was written. Others would say these words are unattractive to those outside the Christian faith. Still others would say there’s nothing wrong with these words at all and, in fact, not using them is to be unbiblical and rewrite the Christian faith for easier sell to our modern consumer culture.

You can imagine that if this is what Static and our discussion here is about, there is bound to be disagreement from time to time. Passionate disagreement. All I ask is that we all think and pray before posting, that we’re kind to one another at all times, and that we put constructive discourse above winning. Let’s get started…

CHAPTER ONE: PHEIDIPPIDES WAS A WIMP
In this first chapter Ron introduces the two characters Phil and Jess, a husband and wife who are trying to “witness” to Phil’s co-worker Marty and having a hard time with it. This book is their ongoing conversation with Ron about what Christianity really is and what Marty really needs to hear from Phil and Jess. This is a trendy writing device these days in certain circles: Conversation as a means of teaching. QUESTION: Was eavesdropping on Ron’s conversation with Jess and Phil an effective way to communicate these ides to you or would you rather him just tell you what he knows and leave Jess and Phil out of it?

SNIPPETS:
“In the stories of Jesus’ life, the salvation parts-all of them-are answers to direct questions,” I said. “People ask Jesus or a disciple to them about salvation, and they get an honest answer. But if salvation is the ‘good news’ that we read about, then why do people have to drag it out of Jesus and the disciples? Or look at Acts 16:17, NLT. In that account, a girl is tagging along behind Paul and Silas, and she is shouting, ‘These men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved.’ But Paul, instead of saying, ‘Uh-huh-sing it , sister; we got the power,’ turns around and commands an evil spirit to leave the girl. So, apparently, Paul recognizes that emphasizing salvation is a misdirection-not to mention an irritant. Which it is.” p.5 QUESTION: When you read these words for the first time what was your inner monologue? Did you immediately form an opinion? What was it?

I was part of the church. I was studying Scripture. I thought I knew it all. But when I talked to people outside the Christian bubble, people who didn’t believe or who were searching for a deeper spirituality, I hit a brick wall every time… When you hit so many brick walls, eventually you’ve got to question whether you truly understand the message yourself - or whether you really know how to communicate it. p.9 QUESTIONS: Has this been your experience - “hitting brick walls” when you talk about what you believe with people who don’t believe the same things? And, if so, have you questioned whether you understand “the message” correctly? Or do you more often question whether you’re communicating the right message in the wrong way, or just poorly? Or do these questions presume too much - you don’t actually think much about what “the message” is or communicate it to anyone? If we’re ineffective in communicating what we believe (ineffective in that others don’t listen or come to believe as we do) does that necessarily mean we misunderstand the message or communicate it poorly? Does less than stellar “results” necessarily mean there’s a problem with our understanding or our communicating?

Close

2007-07-03T20:18:00Z

We’re close on this book deal thing. The deal memo is being turned into an actual contract. The publisher has been a breeze to work with (much easier than record label folks...geez) and we’ve come up with contract terms that work for all of us. Now, the final draft is being created - all the withertos and beforementioneds are being checked - and by the end of this week (we all hope) we’ll have something for me and them to sign.

And then I have to write a book I guess.

Yea, I’m pretty sure that’s in the contract somewhere.

Deal Memo

2007-06-14T16:46:00Z

Just before signing a contract with a record label or a publishing company you receive a “deal memo.” It’s a one page document listing the key points to be agree upon. If I agree with those points I sign it, fax it over, and it becomes the foundation for the contract which the legal department then draws up for me to sign.

The book deal memo arrived yesterday. In it is stuff like…

A book summary.

Editor’s name.

Publication Date (August 1, 2008)

The amount of the advance (money paid upfront) and the schedule of payment after that.

Royalty rate.

The rate at which the author can purchase the book to resell.

The dimensions of the book and any other production peculiarities - paper type, for instance.

Word count and the date the manuscript is to be turned in.

All that’s agreed upon. So I’m signing, faxing over, and waiting for “legal” to do their thing.

Stuff Coming Here Soon

2007-06-06T16:57:00Z

Stuff will be posted here soon. I promise.

The WORDS blog is the most neglected part of this site and I thought it would be one of the most utilized. it soon will be. I think. I hope.

We’re in the final stages of the final stages of finishing up the book deal. When that’s signed I’ll post an official announcement here about who I signed with, why and when the book is coming out.

And soon after that, with the publisher’s permission, I’ll post excerpts from the book as they’re edited by the pros.

Then, in time, I’ll post “from the road” type stuff as I do my first book tour and learn about the book business.

So, my apologies. Good stuff - or some kind of stuff - is coming. Soon.

In the meantime I have three books I need to post reviews of. I’ll get on that next week.

See you then.

Anne Lamott

2007-05-17T13:59:00Z

Anne Lamott writes and speaks about subjects that begin with capital letters: Alcoholism, Motherhood, Jesus. But armed with self-effacing humor – she is laugh out-loud funny – and ruthless honesty, Lamott converts her subjects into enchantment. Actually, she writes about what most of us don’t like to think about. She wrote her first novel for her father, the writer Kenneth Lamott, when he was diagnosed with brain cancer. She has said that the book was “a present to someone I loved who was going to die.” In all her novels, Anne Lamott writes about loss – loss of loved ones and loss of personal control. She doesn’t try to sugar-coat the sadness, frustration and disappointment, but tells her stories with honesty, compassion and a pureness of voice. Anne Lamott says, “I have a lot of hope and a lot of faith and I struggle to communicate that.” Anne Lamott does communicate her faith; in her books and in person, she lifts, comforts, and inspires, all the while keeping us laughing.

Anne Lamott is the author of six novels including, Hard Laughter, Rosie, Joe Jones, All New People, and Crooked Little Heart (the sequel to Rosie), as well as four best-selling books of non-fiction, Operating Instructions, an account of life as a single mother during her son’s first year and Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, a guide to writing and the challenges of a writer’s life, Traveling Mercies, a collection of autobiographical essays on faith, and Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith. Anne Lamott has been honored with a Guggenheim Fellowship, and has taught at U.C. Davis, as well as at writing conferences across the country. Lamott’s biweekly Salon Magazine “online diary” Word by Word was voted The Best of the Web by Time magazine. Filmmaker Freida Mock (who won an Academy Award for her documentary on Maya Lin) has made a documentary on Anne Lamott, “Bird by Bird with Annie” (1999). Anne Lamott’s next essay collection, titled Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith (March 2007). (Taken from her agent’s website.)

Click here to buy Anne Lamott books.

And here she is reading her own words:

Which Site Works?

2007-04-05T16:48:00Z

Seth Godin has a new book coming out called The Dip. The books site is here. It’s simple. It’s easy to link to. It’s easy to spread the content on it to the rest of the web.

Then there’s this book’s site. Beautiful, and, I think, a waste of pixels and cash. The videos aren’t spreadable. The samples aren’t easily spread either. People come to learn about the book but leave with nothing in their hands, nothing to pass on. Numerous flash pages, none with their own url I can link to. Why?

I’m realizing that books sell, like music, in large part due to marketing that allows word to spread. So what I need in a marketing team isn’t beauty. Isn’t cool. It’s effectiveness.

One of these sites works - for me - and the other doesn’t. Do you feel the same way?

Question Suggestions Anyone?

2007-04-03T03:37:00Z

If I could go back in time, to 2000, and meet with my former label for the first time all over again there are so many questions I would ask knowing what I know today about how the music business really works. The music business, you see, has very little to do with music. it has everything to do with strategic relationship, distribution deals, radio relationships, retail budgets, and marketing. Definitely marketing. And more marketing. And, of course, money. All of this involves money and lots of it.

Having a label whose employees cheer for you, love you, hype you is meaningless without marketing genius and the money to make it a reality.

Is that how the book business works? I’m about to find out. Or try to.

I’ve asked for a meeting with my possible future publisher - a meeting with their marketing department. I want to know where their boundaries are. What are their limitations? Financial limits. Creative limits. I want to know their strengths and weaknesses. I want to know how they like the word “free” because I like it a great deal. I want to know how they feel about input, about Seth Godin, about permission marketing, and Web 2.0 and why they have nothing on the best-sellers lists I’m been watching. Why?

To me, signing a contract with a corporation is a marriage. And before we jump in bed together I want to know what she looks like with her make-up off. What’s behind the pitch? What is this team really like?

I know there a couple or three authors lurking about this blog from time to time. I’m hoping you guys (and gals) can give me some guidance on what questions to ask and how to ask them. What do I need to know? What questions will I wish I asked seven years from now?

Write An EBook

2007-03-29T19:31:00Z

Seth Godin says you should write an ebook. And after reading about how he did it and how successful he was at it, I’m kinda wondering if I should too. Read his riff.

Why would anyone with an idea to spread not consider writing an ebook?

Apparently

2007-03-13T15:29:01Z

Apparently it takes longer to sign a book deal than it does a record contract.

Big Big God

2007-02-28T17:50:00Z

BRENTWOOD — Not that long ago, Jeff Atwood and his daughter Madison were having a conversation about God. More specifically, they talked about the size of God. Atwood was happy to have this or any conversation with his 10-year-old, because when she was a baby, she contracted bacterial meningitis.

“We almost lost her. She was on life support for several days. She was our first child, and it was her first ear infection. You expect those things will work out. You go get an antibiotic and move on. But the germ moved into her bloodstream and it was affecting the lining around her brain.” Madison survived, but the experience left her with a significant brain injury.

“She doesn’t really comprehend really abstract things; things difficult for her to get her arms around,” Atwood said.

So that day when they were talking about God, Madison couldn’t help but ask about God’s size.

“She and I were sitting around talking about God and she said ‘like Jesus up in heaven’ and she pointed up. ‘Is he like me, little like me?’ and I said, ‘No. He’s big. A big, big God.’ “

After saying those words aloud, inspiration struck.

“I said, ‘Wow. There’s a book idea,’ “ he said.

Good Words: In The Name Of Jesus

2007-02-08T04:48:00Z

In The Name Of Jesus is a tiny book I read on a car ride from some Southern state to it’s neighbor. But it’s message will take a lifetime for me to live an adequate response to, if I ever complete the task at all.

Henri J.M. Nouwen, like most guys still using middle initials, is ridiculously well-educated and important...at least to academics like himself. The kind of guy you’d think has arrived. Yet he writes transparently…

After twenty-five years in the academic world as a teacher of pastoral psychology, pastoral theology, and Christian spirituality, I began to experience a deep inner threat. As I entered my fifties and was able to realize the unlikelihood of doubling my years, I came face to face with the simple question, “Did becoming older bring me closer to Jesus?” After twenty-five years of priesthood, I found myself praying poorly, living somewhat isolated from other people, and very much preoccupied with burning issues. Everyone was saying that I was doing really well, but something inside was telling me that my success was putting my own soul in danger…

...I woke up one day with the realization that I was living in a very dark place and that the term “burnout” was a convenient psychological translation for spiritual death.

In the midst of this I kept praying, “Lord, show me where you want me to go and I will follow you, but please be clear and unambiguous about it!” Well, God was.

What happened next is radical. This Notre Dame and Harvard professor abandons the life he’s always known for one in which his vast knowledge of God and scripture and psychology are not needed as much as he is.

I highly recommend this book that walked me through a dark time of my own, not only for those experiencing burn-out and doubt but for the prevention of it down the road. Nouwen, using simple language and his own story, writes about well-worn wallpaper-like topics like prayer and obeying God but in refreshingly honest and clear ways that reshaped my life in important ways.

Like I said, it’s a small book: 81 pages of large print. But it tames big ideas like resisting the temptation to be spectacular and embracing instead a life of faithfulness, or resisting the temptation to be relevant and embracing instead a life of pray. These seem like they’d require deep scriptural unraveling to fully communicate but they don’t. All Nouwen’s smarts somehow unfold on the page as cutting simplicity instead of a detailed exegesis of scholarly proportions.

The book is a transcription more-or-less of a speech Nouwen gave on the topic of Christian Leadership but, whether you think you’re a leader or not, this book is worth reading. I hope it moves, provokes, and inspires you the way it has me every time I’ve read it.

Heretic’s Guide To A Bad Start

2007-01-04T20:23:00Z

One of the perks of my job I love most is the amount of free books I get sent. About once a month someone sends me a book to read and review, sometimes even write a blur about for marketing purposes or something.

Yesterday I received A Heretic’s Guide To Eternity by Spencer Burke, the founder of theooze.com - an on-line “emergent” community.

I’ve only skimmed it so far and only truly read the forward 0 by Brian McLaren. It’s a strange little forward. Three pages of defensiveness and disclaimers. He parses the word heretic and defends it’s use against a not yet and very imaginary attack from who know who.

I imagine that the blogs and maybe even religious broadcasting airwaves will soon be buzzing with scandalous outrage that Spencer and Barry have used the word “heretic” in their title. Maybe the risk they’re taking won’t be worth it, as scores of serious, concerned people try to take the logs our of the authors’ eyes, unaware that they might even have a tiny metal shaving in their own...if some people do more than react to the scandalous title and actually read this book and realize, not what’s wrong with heresy (which is obvious to almost everybody), but what’s so often wrong with religion, including “our” religion (whichever that might be).

The whole is prickly like this. And I got the feeling at the end of it all that McLaren was saying essentially, “If you, Shaun, don’t like anything in this book you’re about to read, well, you’re a bad bad mean person who doesn’t think enough for himself.”

Pompous. Fists gloved and ready. A horrible tone to set at the beginning.

Ebola

2006-12-21T17:03:00Z

I finished the chapter I needed to turn in to a publisher this week. The thing that took the longest and was most painful was cutting it down. I tend to repeat myself in my writing and throw in things I find amusing or interesting that, if I’m honest/realistic, no one else would care about. Here’s an example, a funny bit I cut out because, um, it just didn’t fit in the end. It didn’t add anything to the chapter except humor:

My wife is a mild hypochondriac. And for this reason I don’t like the internet.

If her neck is stiff, if her tongue is a different shade of pink, she visits one of those be-your-own-doctor sites. It quickly analyzes her list of symptoms and then displays a few of the possible illnesses she may be afflicted with – ordered from most heinous to least.

Entering head ache, back pain and fatigue she soon discovers she has the Ebola virus, gonorrhea or an allergy to dairy.

I’ve noticed that any set of symptoms actually will yield a list containing the Ebola virus.

Dry skin? Ebola virus. Watery eyes? Ebola virus. Acne? Ebola virus.

Where was I going with this? Well, it’s a tenuous connection at best but the connection was: Every thing that is “wrong with the world,” no matter how small a symptom it may be, leads us back to the same diagnosis, the same disease: The Fall.

A stretch I know. That’s why it got deleted.

If you write, how do you edit? How do you go about deciding what stays and what goes? And do you do most of your editing as you write or write all you can and want to and then, in the end, go back and edit?