Road Trip on the Kumano Kodō
Thursday, 10 AM (1 hour)
The Kumano Kodō is one of only two UNESCO-honored pilgrimage trails in the world, used since the 10th century for physical and spiritual journeys and helping to create a millennium of peaceful religious syncretism. Join a thousand years of ascetics, samurai, emperors, and monks to learn about the cultural history of this trail network from someone who has hiked it herself. We’ll discuss the historical context, the development of the trail network, the purpose of the pilgrimages and the resulting thousand years of religious syncretism, political implications, and how the trails can be experienced today.
Storytime from Japanese History
Thursday, 11AM (2 hours)
As the oldest monarchy in the world, Japan’s had plenty of time for some amazing moments in history. Hear a few of the most important, most famous, or most fun—from the Genpei War to the Meiji Revolution, from girl power to magical red cows, from archery contests to smallpox—with illustrations, photos, ties to your favorite anime/manga, and plenty of geekery.
Moar Storytime From Japanese History
Thursday, 1PM (2 hours)
Continued by popular demand! How did an earthquake lead to the development of ramen and a hostage situation to Cup Noodles? Who went “Gotta paste ’em all!” about religious stickers? Who were the Shitennō before they were Sailor Moon villains? What will you eat at a Buddhist temple, and why is it so good? Come pick up a few more intriguing stories and facts from Japanese history!
Take the side road, they said. It will be scenic, they said. Okay, it IS scenic, and it’s in pretty good shape for a dirt road.
I took the back road out of Calgary, Alberta (where I was for When Words Collide) by recommendation for a more scenic route, as if you’ve seen Alberta Highway 2 once, you’ve really seen all there is to see. My route took me pretty far west into distinctly rural territory. As I was driving further and further from civilization and my streaming radio failed, I mused that I’d better not flatten a tire or anything, as I didn’t know if I’d be able to reach help.
Just a moment later, I came around a turn and saw a car sitting only partly off the road, and occupied. I passed, stopped, and reversed to pull alongside, putting down my passenger window so I could call to the driver. Continue reading
I just arrived home from one of my favorite writing conferences, Realm Makers, and I want to do a quick recap of the weekend.
Realm Makers bills itself as “not your grandmother’s writing conference,” which is perhaps unfair to a select group of grandmothers but gets the general point across, given that Realm Makers is a speculative fiction conference for Christian writers. Note that the order of that phrase is very important; this is not necessarily a conference for writing “Christian fiction” (the quotes indicate the genre) but a conference for Christian writers. That may not seem like a big deal, but it can be.
There are friends there who are writing for the CBA book market as well, but it’s certainly not limited to the traditional “Christian fiction” fare. Realm Makers is only in its sixth year but already has about 400 attendees.
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So we’re closing on the biggest gift-giving occasion of the year, and you don’t know what to get that writer on your list? What about an investment in their writing career? Nothing says love and encouragement and “I believe in you!” like a contribution to their goals. (And reading their work. But that’s much harder to wrap.)
If you are the writer, feel free to leave this page open on a conspicuous monitor or maybe even send a helpful link. Continue reading
So July was kind of a blur, and the first part of August, but all for very good reasons.
Ireland Writer Tours
Long-time blog readers know I blogged about writing in Ireland in 2015, and I went again this year. It’s a great week, full of fabulous touring and inspiration. But I stayed a little longer this year with organizer Fiona Claire to prepare for 2017, when I’ll be co-teaching with the talented Lorie Langdon!
Stay tuned for more information on this, but trust me, it’s going to be amazing. As I said in my newsletter: Want to explore a 15th century castle, walk through an impossibly green forest to an ancient waterfall, and climb in the footsteps of both 8th century monks and Luke Skywalker? All while improving your writing craft and exploring your publication options? Continue reading
So first off, let me apologize for the state of the site over the last week and a half. We got hacked, and everything went merrily into a handbasket. Things should be all fine and safe again. I’ll catch up with the writing in Ireland posts and things shortly, I hope.
On a brighter note, I’m playing along this month with the #WIPjoy collective sharing project, authors sharing about their work in progress. I’m trying to post most days about some part of one work in progress — in particular, The Lamp and the Lie. (That’s a working title, very subject to change — as it’s already the second working title….)
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Don’t forget, I (and others!) will be at the Allen County Public Library Author Fair this Saturday.
I’ll be speaking on self-publishing, with others. I’ll have a table with books and shirts and stuff, and I’ll be happy to sign or help you pick Christmas gifts (shop early!) from my table or another author’s table, and just talk about your favorite fiction.
Details below. Please stop by! Continue reading
So I took your advice and suggestions on colors, and now the shirts are coming.
The shirts are coming.
You want to see one of the designs? Continue reading
So you might have noticed I’ve been off the blog. I was doing writerly things, I promise! (Well, most of the time.) In short, I signed up back-to-back for a writers retreat, the When Words Collide literary festival, and Gen Con.
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Exterior of the Lew Wallace Library (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Late addition to my not-a-tour: I’ll be at the Crawfordsville District Public Library (Indiana) this Saturday for an authors fair! There will be lots of books and people and more books, and maybe afterward I’ll wander over to the Lew Wallace Study & Museum.
Want to join us? The fair starts at 10 am and runs until noon.
