I just received notification that the next round of royalties are on their way. As I will likely miss a couple weeks' posts soon, I thought I'd get this to you and let you celebrate with me.

You can see from the graphic we are making slow but steady progress toward our goal of raising enough funds to provide a complete well through Living Water International. We are now at 4.5% of our goal. But even more importantly, we've already helped over ten families have clean water to drink for a year.

This adventure would not be possible with out YOU! Whether you have purchased an ebook, a physical copy, or even if you are supporting us by spreading the word about the book, you are helping us make a difference for men, women, and children that would not have clean water to drink without you. If you want to read more about what your assistance means to those in need of clean water, click on the Compassion tab at the top of the page.

Remember, there are many ways to help and I listed them a few blogs ago. Without the vast promotional power of a major publisher or the big name recognition of a well established author, we can't make this happen without your help.

Working together to meet the needs of "the least of these."

Thanks until next time.

It's here! Hearts of Compassion Publishing has teamed with Goodreads to run our first ever Book Giveaway.

Enter between June 22 and July 22, and you will be in the drawing, to be conducted by Goodreads, to win one of five copies of In The Image of Man, signed by ME. How weird is that?

But even if you enter, you don't have to wait to win to start reading, you can swing by Amazon and pick up the e-book. And don't worry, if you're name isn't drawn, you can still get the book at Amazon or CreateSpace. :) Don't forget proceeds are going to provide clean drinking water through Living Water International.

Stay tuned for more great news next week!

Without a doubt James L. Rubart is one of my favorite authors in Christian Speculative Fiction. His stories combine great story lines, believable characters, and important life lessons. Spirit Bridge is no exception. This is the third, and in my opinion the best of three books in the Well Spring series which started with Soul's Gate and continued with Memory's Door. 

These books present a unique allegorical look at the spiritual realm and the battle that each of us engages in on a daily basis. Each book leaves you thinking about your own spiritual condition and teaches many valuable life lessons. One such lesson in Spirit Bridge is found in the admonition for one of the characters to, "turn for good from thoughts that are lies, and believe fully that you are loved simply because of who you are." As children of the King of kings, this is a message all of us need to remember.

Another aspect that makes Jim's books so powerful is his understanding and portrayal of real characters. As a creative type, I loved the statement in the book that, "The highs are sky high and the lows are the deepest valleys for many, many artists. For them to be able to tap into the emotional depth you see in their novels, songs, and paintings, they have to be able to experience great sorrow along with great triumphs."

I would highly recommend this series of books, and especially Spirit Bridge.

Okay, as you might guess from the picture on the left, we're not talking about Times Best Seller type sales. But royalties are royalties. And more importantly, we are now able to pass along our first support to Living Water International.

Now you might be asking, "Didn't In The Image of Man come out a couple months ago?" To which I say, "Yep, welcome to the world of publishing and passing along of profits." And these first royalties are not even for a full month. So, ultimately, yes I'm excited to finally see the many-many hours of writing, rewriting, editing, and publishing going toward a worthwhile ministry.

While we will not wait to pass along proceeds to LWI, the graphic on the left will be used going forward to indicate how we are doing toward raising the funds necessary to provide an entire well for an area in need of clean drinking water. This is our  God-sized goal for In The Image of Man. So, you might be asking, "How can I help?"

1. Buy In The Image of Man. Yeah, I know. That one's a bit obvious.

2. Read the book and talk about it with others. Good old fashioned word-of-mouth.

3. Write a review on Amazon. Think about it, this is the first thing you look at when you are shopping online.

4. Write a Goodreads review, vote for Image on Goodreads lists, and recommend to friends on Goodreads.

5. If you're a blogger, spread the word.

6. Share links on Facebook. For each new share of a post on Facebook, roughly 100 extra people see a post.

Most importantly, PRAY that God would do something special with this book!

'Till next time.

This has been an encouraging week in regards to my first book In The Image of Man. First, I received an e-mail from blogger, femmeflashpoint, informing me that they would be running a review of the book. This provided my first review from someone who was neither friend nor family. Though, through several communications over the week, I certainly consider the blogger a friend at this point. If you haven't read her review of the book at this point, I suggest stopping by to check it out. She writes an impressive review. And I don't just say so because the review was very positive on Image.

Second, a longtime friend who has spent considerable time in the bookstore industry wrote a review on Goodreads. While I believe it is impossible for any person to be completely unbiased in their review when they know the author, this is a person whose opinion and expertise in this field I greatly respect. This review was also quite positive on Image.

Finally, after many positive discussions, great reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, and this blog post, I had a thought provoking discussion with my story advisor (my wife). And we came to the conclusion that while the story I was currently working on conveys a much needed message, it would not be fair to my readers to come out next with a book that was not the anticipated sequel to Image. I also believe that from a purely business perspective, it really makes the most sense to follow up the well received story of Image with its sequel.

So, I have set aside my current Work In Progress (WIP) to start work on the sequel. I'm excited to say that this weekend allowed me to get a great start on the next book in the Image series. As always, you can see some snippets from my writing at #WritingExcerpts on Twitter, or in the feed to the right of this blog.

Have you read In The Image of Man? If so, I'd love to hear from you. Also, please stop by Amazon and write a review. Basically, say what you liked, or didn't, about the book. Good reviews really can help the sales of a book, especially for a new author like myself.

'Till next time!

Today I finished listening to The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. This leads me to two thoughts that I want to share.

First, yes I said listening to, not reading. I have found Audible is a great resource for me. As a writer, one exhortation you often receive is that in order to be an excellent writer, you MUST read often. And not just your favorites, but various authors from a variety of genres. Well, as a fulltime employee, a fulltime husband and father, and at least a part-time volunteer, with a fulltime passion to write and make a difference with my writing, the one thing that is truly a precious commodity is time. As such, I have found that listening to books is a great way to make use of my time driving from place to place.

Now let me say before you do, listening to books does not take the place of reading. You don't get to see the way the author makes use of white space on the page and the many other visual cues that reading allows you to pick up. Also, it goes without saying that if I'm driving while listening to a book, I'm probably not as focused on the details of word choice. And I might even miss a phrase or two when that pickup truck cuts me off at the intersection. Still, I get to enjoy and learn from many more stories than I would otherwise, while still leaving time to write.

I should probably also mention that I typically prefer to listen to my educational non-fiction books more so than novels. In part, this is because I so enjoy reading novels that I prefer to use my Audible time and credits on the less attractive non-fiction reading. However, I do much enjoy listening to novels such as The Hobbit.

This leads me to my second point. Over the past few years, I have spent considerable time learning to "follow the rules" in my writing. This learning has done nothing but strengthen my writing as I have learned from some of the best writers I know about things like deepening the POV (Point of View) of scenes, showing instead of telling, and developing believable characters. However, as I listened to Tolkien's classic, I was reminded that rules change. In fact I even wonder, if Tolkien were to write this incredible tale today, would it even get published due to the many "rules" that are broken. In all fairness, I believe it would for one simple reason.

Assuming he could get someone to read completely through the story without getting caught in the trappings of rule watching, a brilliant story is a brilliant story no matter what style is used to tell it. So while rules in writing are important and will ultimately result in stronger writing, following the rules without a great story is useless. Where as, a great story will transcend the rules.

As I said in the title, STORY RULES RULES!

'Till next time.