The Sage Record

That which each can do best, none but his Maker can teach him,

Where is the master who could have taught Shakespeare? Where is the master who could have instructed Franklin, or Washington, or Bacon, or Newton? . . . Shakespeare will never be made by the study of Shakespeare. Do that which is assigned you, and you cannot hope too much or dare too much. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

I heartily recommend Sarah Young’s Jesus Calling - Enjoying Peace in His Presence. DiAnn Mills recommended it to me this spring at the Church Library Conference. I was able to get a copy in the vendor area.

Out of the Overflow, Stories of God’s Love from His Heart to Yours, is a collection of over 100 contributed stories from the attendees at the 2010 CLASS Seminar Christian Writer’s Conference showing how God’s love has overflowed from their into the hearts of others and it includes my poem, When I Sing to Jesus.  This book is categorized as Religion/Inspirational. The ISBN-13 is 978-1-60615-104-4 

I’m disappointed; I didn’t met my writing goals this month. It was partly because of my Mom being in the hospital/rehab, partly because I have not set up a clear writing schedule. I learned a few things. I did some great research on the book of Ezra. One of the things I learned this month is nothing that belongs to God is ever lost. This is encouraging, I will be able to use this research one day. And I was blessed by what I learned.

Based on a recommendations on Kaye Dacus and Steve Laube’s blogs, I checked out the bestsellers the week I was born (Dec 11, 1951). What a great way to understand the world I entered. The number 1 fiction bestseller was The Caine Mutiny by Herman Woulk and the non-fiction number 1 bestseller was by Rachel Carson, The Sea Around Us. Over half the books included in the 16 titles for each categories were books and authors I know, such as The Catcher in the Rye, From Here to eternity, A Man Called Peter, Kon-Tiki, and authors Irving Stone, Graham Greene, Thomas Mann and Winston S. Churchill. It was a world trying to heal from World War II through words and stories. It was a world beginning to stretch beyond the ordinary and willing to stand against authority. It was a world that valued a good love story. It was world reaching to understand its resources. It was a world seeking its God. All in all a pretty interesting place in which to be born.

There were many people, events and concepts which impacted me at this year’s conference. However the skies over Ghost Ranch held the greatest impact because of what it represented. The weather was outstanding, just a little colder than last year, but still very doable. Thursday afternoon there were some clouds and a few snow flurries. Otherwise, it was this deep blue color.

Friday night of the conference I had to come down from the mountain and drive to Albuquerque to attend a Saturday morning BSF leadership meeting.

During the Fiction Track, Tom Davis encouraged us to use flip camera during our research. I felt guilty, since I had never used my flip camera. I took it out of my bag and shot some footage of the beautiful sky. My panning is a little shaky, but maybe the beauty will make up for my inexperience. Do you have a gadget around the house that you've never used?

The drive to New Mexico is longer than one person can make in one day, but trying to wedge a week long trip between my BSF commitments is challenging. I left as soon as I could after my Monday night BSF class and drove to Wichita Falls. I find the hardest part of any trip is getting out the metroplex. While it might seem like I snuck out of town in darkness, this leg of the trip went well and got me on the road.

The CLASSemniar Christian Writer's Conference was the reason I was in New Mexico. This was my second year to attend this conference.

What I did Monday, Nov 15

This is awkward to talk about the end of the trip, first. but here we go...

To all my writing friends --A call to write, write, write!

I have to confess. While waiting for the release of LIFE IN DEFIANCE, I kept imagining different ends to Mary DeMuth’ s Defiance Texas Trilogy by casting the town’s characters in the role of the Daisy Chance’s killer. I played this character game to avoid facing the the real question; will any sense come from sweet Daisy’s death?

I would like to recommend one of my new writing friends new book, THIN PLACES. If you have ever wondered why there is a longing in you that you can fill you need to read this book. Here is my review of the book.

When I read the characteristics of Sherlock Holmes I realized that our new friend, Dr. Gregory House must have been developed with Holmes in mind.