Came in too late to blog last night. After 10:00 p.m. my brain is mush; you wouldn’t want to read what I would write. Was dining with Bryon and Pam Williamson from Hidden Falls (Johnny Carino’s, Lemon Rosemary Chicken–Yum). B and P are good friends, whom we see often (even oftener on FB), but last […]
About a week ago, something surprising happened on the Fortis Press website. Let me give you some background. We started the site in May and traffic remained light through September. In August visitors looked at an average of 140 pages a day (that’s about 30 people looking at 5 or so pages each); in September, […]
Today, I had two encouraging notes from readers. Encouraging is not strong enough. Each said God touched him/her with my story. Can’t tell you how a comment like that makes me feel. Doesn’t get any better. Made me think of Monday night’s post when I said I didn’t know how the book was doing, didn’t […]
Do good writers create readers? Or is it the other way around? Maybe readers create good writers. Today in class we read from the African American poet Langston Hughes. In a piece called “Theme for English B,” he writes “I am a part of you instructor / As you are a part of me.” Many […]
Blog–a memoir in progress Been thinking about it today. In a novel the author controls the ending. In a memoir, the author knows the ending. In a blog, he does neither. It was about a year ago when Paul Young, author of The Shack, told a local audience how his book succeeded without a big marketing […]
Is there anything better than the sound of friends laughing? I don’t think so. Unless it’s the sound of friends disagreeing. Yep, passionately disagreeing. You wouldn’t put that one on your list of favorites? I wouldn’t either if we’re talking about the kind of non-discussions that are, in truth, a series of monologues. […]
Off to Lubbock to see Tech play A&M tonight so I’m posting early. Wanted to give you an update on the book. Had eight online requests for copies this week. Plus, we’ve given some away– to the carpenters who installed the door and, of course, the painter. Moral is don’t go to the Bellah’s house to […]
If you’re a FaceBook friend, you’ve already read the news. My youngest successfully defended his dissertation today. He is now Dr. Jeremy Bellah. Tonight, with his permission, I want to share Jeremy’s story. On a Saturday morning in August 1994, two policeman showed up at our door and wanted to talk with Jeremy. Believed he […]
I love to laugh. It’s one reason I’ve enjoyed FaceBook. My friends have quirky senses of humor (yes, I’m talking about you, Kathy and Bob), and they like to share the fun, like those YouTube postings this week. Did you watch the Trunk Monkey (I hear Blake has ordered one) or the office manager’s vent […]
I have two goals for these entries: one, keep it short, and, two, keep it real. Tonight I’m thinking about the first. I like C.S. Lewis for his one-liners, short but pithy. Example: “Joy is the serious business of heaven,” or “two heads are better than one not because either is infallible, but because they are unlikely […]