Tuesday, August 16, 2011

New MANuscript - letting the song out!

Just completed my new manuscript!
Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth.
Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it.
Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy! – Psalm 96, 1, 11 & 12


YAY… YAHOO… WOO-HOO… COOL-BEANS

Drum-roll, please! My new manuscript is now complete, printed off, and on its way by priority mail to my publisher in Nashville. Time to take a deep breath and get back into my “normal” flow of writing activity.
It is – to be honest – always a bittersweet moment whenever an intense project such as writing a new book is completed. I enjoy the process so much: the research, the praying, the sketching out of ideas, the sitting in my leather chair and thinking, the walking around and thinking, the drinking coffee and thinking, the bouncing-off of ideas with friends, the writing, the re-writing, the re-re-writing, the pulling things together and – finally – the break-neck surge of creativity and composition that pours forth during that last week of frantic assembly before finally letting go and dropping a new book in the mail slot at the Post Office….
This particular book has been different because of the “fast-track” schedule. It’s book # 5, but book #4 is still in the pipeline and waiting for next month’s release date. They have almost become tangled together in the process. I’ll talk more about the other book – Reaching Toward Easter – when it actually “hits the shelves”.
But for today it’s “Ten Life-Charged Words for Men” that has really captured my imagination, and – apart from the obvious – I think I know why:
It was writing the conclusion, Sunday evening, that forced me to consider the core message of the project, the “Why does this world need another book?” question. Well, the answer became clear when one of the saddest lines in 19th Century literature surfaced in my thinking.
“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them” (Henry David Thoreau , 1854).
I realized that “Ten Life-Charged Words for Men” is all about putting an end to such a sad state of affairs! Instead of desperation, the ideas discussed represent a life defined by fullness. People who are “Life-charged” are people who let their song out. Or expressed in another way, the content of my new book is about the process of Letting Life Loose.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very good blog! Do you have any helpful hints for aspiring writers? I'm hoping to start my own blog soon but I'm a little lost on everything. Would you propose starting with a free platform like Wordpress or go for a paid option? There are so many choices out there that I'm completely overwhelmed .. Any recommendations? Thanks a lot!

Derek Maul said...

Absolutely begin with a free platform. The point is beginning. Writing is about writing, not thinking about writing - so GO FOR IT!
- Peace - D

Anonymous said...

It's a shame you don't hаvе а ԁоnate button!
I'd certainly donate to this brilliant blog! I suppose for now i'll settlе for bοоkmarκing anԁ аdԁіng your RSS feed tο my Goоgle acсount.

I look forward to frеѕh uрdatеѕ anԁ ωill share thіѕ site
with my Faсebοok group. Тalk ѕоon!


My blog post - how do nootropics work
Here is my page :: nootropic recipes

Anonymous said...

Ӏ'm truly enjoying the design and layout of your blog. It's а vегy еaѕy on the eyes which mаkes it much more enjoyаble for mе tо cоme heгe anԁ viѕit
more often. Did you hiгe out a ԁeveloper
to cгeate your theme? Exceptional ωork!


My blog: TENS

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.