First Book on Kindle

Thanks to Kimberly Erickson for the image!

Getting over the flu, I decided it was a good time to experiment with the Kindle format.  It turns out that it's not only simpler than Lulu, the finished product is also much better--not to mention the wider distribution.  So...I'll probably be keeping Kindle for future short writing ventures and turning to Lulu only for things like calendars.

My first e-book for Kindle users is called Three Short Stories.  This book includes "Stars Within the Glass," "Into the Night," and "Light in the Darkness."

While two of the stories have been sold separately before, "Into the Night" has never been published before.  It was originally intended to be part of a larger work, but I discarded the novel subplot idea it represented. While this is probably more of a chapter than a traditional, unified short story, I think you will still enjoy reading the tale.  I welcome reader comments, as they may actually help me decide whether, or not, to finish the tale of Benjamin Jenkins in the late 1800s.

Reclaiming True Diversity

Sometimes it's easy to say no to a movement or cause just because of some of the characteristics of its supporters.  Diversity is a prime example, I think.  I used to take a negative view of diversity because it struck me as propaganda, a movement hijacked by the politically correct crowd, aimed at freezing free speech which may be opposed to their favored causes of the day--e.g. gay marriage.  

While in many respects, diversity can quickly become a cliche, there is real and substantive truth there, as well.  Lately, I have been endeavoring to use the language of the enemy against the enemy and for the cause of truth.  This is probably easiest to explain through three examples.  First, if the atheist opposes symbols of faith, I would point out that the atheist's position is simply a different type of faith.  Second, another example would concern those who preach "diversity," but who have no shred of tolerance for opinions diverse from their own.  It's a two-way street, folks.  (Strangely, I have found some of the most liberal people I know are also some of the most bigoted.)  Third, I have successfully argued at a state agency, for example, that New Age training within a state seminar is a form of promoting of religion.

What does this have to do with the clarion call for diversity?  Well, what do we mean by true diversity?  It's a recognition of many different cultures and belief systems, right?  At its core, there is the quality of respect and treating others as we would want to be treated.  These are biblical concepts, beliefs grounded in faith.  I submit to the reader that these Christian principles need to be taken back and applied to everything from immigration reform to safeguarding free speech.  If they want to communicate this way, let's give it back to them in full measure!

While my point of view holds that the diversity movement can be important because it reflects the differences within God's diverse and varied creation, I don't hold that it justly applies to chosen behaviors.  Even still, though, the Christian has no argument with regards to the imperative need to show and demonstrate respect and courtesy for the homosexual just as much as to the poor immigrant.  They are both human beings made in the image of God, requiring redemption as all of us do.

So, if you work within a politically correct environment, you may find it helpful to defend your position with the liberal's own toolbox of words and phrases; it really gets under their skin.  After all, it's not an excuse for inaction that some people may do what's right for entirely the wrong reasons.

Staying in the "Creative Groove"

I hope all of my readers (both of them!) had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's.  We started our journey back to Oregon from north Texas yesterday at 6am (Central), and our second flight didn't bring us home to western Oregon until close to noon.  It was a long day, but we're happy to be home safe and sound.

One thing I was struck with this trip is how I finally broke a persistent writer's block.  I thought I'd share a few quick observations today.  If you have a stressful day job as I do, it's really difficult to be able to leave your work at the office and focus on creative projects.  (In fact this really hit home, when the first message I read on my iPhone after arriving in Oregon was a very negative office-related e-mail.)

Temporarily leaving behind the daily life responsibilities, experiencing a change of scene, and I think also attending fairly frequent Mass (Holy Days of "Opportunity," you know) helped me write more than I have in years.  It was wonderful to be able to free mind and connect with my characters again like that.  The million dollar question, of course, will be whether I can stay in this "Creative Groove."  

Someone is bound to ask what attending Mass could possibly have to do with writing, and it's a little hard for a Catholic to perhaps articulate.  Is it the Eucharist or is it simply slowing down to focus on God and His Church?  The short answer is "yes."  The longer answer would remind all writers and artists that the ultimate wellspring of any good creative enterprise is God, the Creator.  

That's all for today.  God bless.

Are Packing Teachers the Answer to School Violence?

After the tragic and depraved events in Newtown, Connecticut, one of the solutions being suggested by some--such as Oregon State Rep. Dennis Richardson--is the idea of two or three teachers at each school being allowed to carry a concealed weapon in order to deal with an armed intruder emergency.

Let me first say that I have nothing at all against responsible use of firearms.  In fact, my father is a firearms instructor.  I look forward to getting a new concealed weapons permit myself in the near future for a .45 caliber handgun.  What I do question, though, is the wisdom of this recommendation for four main reasons.


Opposing Skill Sets

Perhaps relevant to this discussion is a quick snapshot of my own background.  As a young man, I spent many an hour helping in classrooms, followed some years later by ride-alongs with city, county, and federal law enforcement officers from Seattle to Port Townsend.  I have also had the opportunity to work in the loss prevention, corporate security, and even as a Campus Security Officer for Seattle Pacific University before going to work for the State of Oregon in 1997.  

While I have the greatest respect for teachers, the skill set and talent required to educate our children is completely different than what's required for a law enforcement officer.  The teacher is slow and methodical, while the police officer must, through experience and constant training and education, be prepared at any moment to take lethal force against an individual.  He's not going to aim for the legs; he's not going to fire a "warning shot."  If he pulls his service weapon, he is prepared and ready to take a life.  These professions are diametrically opposed--not great candidates for job sharing.  A simple error in judgement could quickly lead to catastrophic results.  (One example of this would be the issue of bystander safety.)


Conflicting Priorities

If the armed teacher were to suspect an emergency in-progress, is he expected to leave his students unattended to go race down the halls?  The teacher's primary responsibility should be to do everything in his power to ensure the safety of his students.  This doesn't include abandoning them alone in the classroom.


Too Much Authority?

Last year, a teacher at Sprague High School was arrested .  Sadly, this is nothing new in our nation, but it should give us all some food for thought.  It's well known that abusive teachers will often wield their authority in a way that intimidates their victim.  Do we really want to risk handing this same teacher a 9mm?  I suggest a diversification of authority in schools safeguards our children.


The Pacific Northwest is not Texas

I'll probably catch some heat (only slight pun intended) on this from my Texas family, but let me explain.  Just because some schools may be successfully employing a practice along these lines in Texas, doesn't mean it's necessarily appropriate in Oregon or Washington (especially western sides of the respective states).  No, I have absolutely no statistics to back this assertion up, but, as a guy who has lived both in the north and south, I suggest that firearm familiarity may be a little more prevalent down south than in the Pacific Northwest.  (If you don't believe me, just try breaking into a house in south Dallas.)  This issue needs to be addressed on a state by state basis, and I don't believe that either Oregon or Washington is the ideal test candidate.


A Better Solution

Rather than arming our educators, I suggest that one way to approach this is to utilize more plainclothes personnel who are well armed and highly trained.  These individuals would randomly patrol school district property.  They would not get involved in citing cars in the fire lane, but they would take action any time a violent encounter is observed.  (After all, even a small fight between high schoolers can quickly escalate if a weapon appears.)

People need to understand that a uniformed officer serves both as a deterrent and a first responder, but he is also likely the first target.  The plainclothes personnel would have the extra few seconds they would require to get in position and terminate the threat as safely as possible.

Shared Accountability & Militant Atheism

In the wake of Friday's tragedy, I shared some thoughts online the other day.  I'd like to post them again here.


We've systematically removed God and prayer from our culture, embraced moral relativism, and loved ourselves more than others. This is the tragic result. Our culture needs a return to the values that made us great. This won't be solved by Unitarians or New Age Mysticism; the answer is Christ.


Who bears the responsibility for the spiritual swamp we are mired in today?  The short answer is that we are all responsible for the current state of affairs.  Still, if we look a little deeper, is there a particular mindset which perhaps bears a greater degree of culpability for us so thoroughly losing our way as a culture?

I suggest that no small degree of responsibility rests on the shoulders of those whose message of the anti-Gospel seeks converts to their cause.  This is not so much associated with all atheists as the ones who are constantly "evangelizing" their faith.  (The atheist who doesn't push his faith so vociferously can hardly be held accountable for those who choose to do so.)

That's right, I did say faith.  If atheism is an absence of faith, then that absence in and of itself represents a form of faith.  Yes, it may be a faith in essentialy nothing, but it remains a belief system that cannot be proven just as my personal belief in God cannot be scientifically proven: a supposition with regards to a particular state of affairs and the nature of reality itself.

Seeing atheism through the lens of faith is helpful in reacting to its siren call.  For instance, the atheist that demands a school stop some long-held practice because it offends him, needs to be intellectually honest and realize that his request itself is framed upon his own faith.  Whose faith should win?  That's not my call, but I suggest those atheists who feel the need to get in our faces with provocative billboards or inflammatory rhetoric need to recognize their behavior for what it is.  They wish to spread their faith in a similar way to the Christian's desire to evangelize the lost.



The crimes of atheism have generally been perpetrated through a hubristic ideology that sees man, not God, as the creator of values. Using the latest techniques of science and technology, man seeks to displace God and create a secular utopia here on earth. Of course if some people - the Jews, the landowners, the unfit, or the handicapped - have to be eliminated in order to achieve this utopia, this is a price the atheist tyrants and their apologists have shown themselves quite willing to pay. Thus they confirm the truth of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's dictum, "If God is not, everything is permitted. 

Diniesh D’Souza, “Atheism, Not Religion is the Real Force Behind the Mass Murders of History.” The Christian Science Monitor. (11-21-06 edition).  

(See also http://atheismexposed.tripod.com/atheist_crimes.htm .)

A Pitch Black Day

Beautiful faces, mouths agape   
Eyes with tears, cries from red lips awake.  
Nightmare begins like a thunderclap.  
Pleadings, cries, flailing arms, fingers slap.  

Hands raised to the walking night.   
Evil rages, the young lose their fight.  
The nightmare unfolds, and terror calls.  
Groans and gasps echo down the red halls.  

Lifeless faces downward bent   
Ugly eyes stare.  Silent lips, blue and spent.   
Racing men, unprepared for the sight.   
Sons, daughters, babies...gone in the night.    

Spirits rising upward, fire.   
Silent lips, voices clear as the spire.  
The nightmare now is for the living.  
Questions, anger, and no forgiving.   

Bright figures don't look behind.   
Innocence regained, love unconfined.  
Today, the children play at His feet.   
Sons, daughters, babies have arrived complete.

Sharing an Office Interview

I was graciously interviewed at my state office today for an internal state agency profile.  In case you don't work within sight of my exciting tax cubicle, here's what Craig Spivey prepared this afternoon.  Special thanks to Craig and the rest of the gang in Communications!  (I've made some adjustments to formating for the blog.)




Employment Department Tax Auditor, Karl Erickson, would seem to be on a hot streak.  In 2010 we wrote about the success of his first book, Tristan's Travels, as it was published in hard back. Now Karl readies for the release of his second childrens book, Toupee Mice.

Writing childrens books seems to be such a separate world than that of a Tax Auditor, I thought it would be fun to have a question and answer session with Karl.

EDweb: Why do you write?


Karl: I've enjoyed writing for years.  There's a satisfaction that comes from crafting a quality tale, and there's even more satisfaction in seeing children laugh and giggle at the stories.  There's so much negativity and darkness around us, I like to focus on the lighthearted dimension in my children's books.  Finding and exploring the good (and silly)  is something to which children need greater exposure.  Writing is also a powerful creative outlet.  The author is able to create and populate his own world.  That beats football in my book!

EDweb: Where do your story ideas come from?


Karl: The origin of story ideas varies greatly from book to book.  When it comes to my books for children, the ideas were often sparked by stories I would spontaneously create and read aloud for our own kids.  I'd pay close attention to what they liked the most, and then adapt and polish the tale into a book form.  Other times, scene images or character sketches have led to the larger stories.  In one short story, for instance, the image began with just a young university student running furiously through a dark and rainy Seattle campus.

Sometimes it's also "all of the above" when it comes to ideas sparking a story.   That's kind of the way it was with my current mystery novel, The Blood Cries Out (not a children's book).  It's almost finished, but it's been in development for years.  It began first with the protagonist's character sketch and a glimmer of an idea for a particular scene in the San Juan Islands.  It grew from there, and it's been an exciting journey.  (I even received a tour of the Seattle Police Department's Homicide Unit by Seattle Police Commander and popular mystery author, Neil Low.)

The freedom of writing for older audiences is probably where I'll be focusing for a while, but I may return to children's books someday.

EDweb:  Tell us about the collaboration with you and your wife.  How do you mix your writing with her art?  How does she get the feel for your stories to be able to translate them into illustration?

Karl: As we've been married for over 20 years, it's challenging to put the process in words; we both know the stories and the characters inside and out.  One part of the creative process, though, is something similar to storyboarding.  You've probably seen this demonstrated in behind the scene features on movie productions, but what we do is similar.  We'll brainstorm on important scenes that could be illustrated first, then Kimberly will do quick sketches of each scene.  Some scenes are great in the book, but not necessarily perfect for visual depiction.  Kimberly looks at layout, feel, and other elements to decide which scenes she will ultimately paint.

Another challenge that comes up at times concerns the illustration models.  Kimberly prefers to paint from my animal model photographs.  (I know this brings to mind someone saying "Flaunt it, baby!" to a rabbit...but bear with me here.)  Surprisingly, though, sometimes it's hard to photograph a seagull reading a newspaper.  This is where things get particularly creative--but I can't divulge all of the artist's secrets!

EDweb:  People don't necessarily equate Tax Auditors with creative artists.  How do you combine those two worlds?


Karl: I think the creative process actually serves as a good outlet for my kind of accounting work--not that I want to do this forever.  In fact, I think learning to look at things with a humorous or creative perspective actually is helpful when it comes to problem-solving and thinking outside of the box--or outside of the outer box, as I like to say.  Humor is a powerful thing, and I think we need more of it around our offices, too.

In fact, I'd suggest that there are even appropriate and effective methods of employing carefully tailored humor within a business setting as a technique for de-escalating conflicts.  ...Not that I wear my arrow through the head hat during audits, mind you, but a sense of humor puts people at ease, and it conveys a sense of shared humanity.

EDweb: Writing a book is a long process. . .what is your process from taking an idea, turning it into a story, developing characters with personality, and then finally coming out with a finished product?  What does that look like?

 
Karl: I consider my writing as a second job.  Not only is it a very long process, but it doesn't always go in chronological order.  I actually wrote Toupee Mice before Tristan's Travels, but they are being published in reverse order.  The success of Tristan's Travels helped to bring the older tale of tails to print--after we revised it.  I like to say that each book I undertake is like an exercise in extraordinarily complex project management.  There are so many different elements that have to come together that it's really more like designing a building than simply a piece of writing.

The foundation of the story is the plot and its central characters.  On top of this, you create memorable scenes, inject humor and surprise, and build tension--all built within the setting of the story.  It's the setting that perhaps most strongly conveys the sense of place found in a book, and this is always something I spend a lot of time on.  For example, I frequently do research trips relating to my stories.  For Tristan's Travels, this meant taking a lot of photographs around Astoria--as well as getting in touch with a fellow named Sean Astin.  For Toupee Mice, it required us to shoot hundreds of animal photos around the valley.  The Blood Cries Out has taken me to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, downtown Seattle (including the police department and city offices), and even Joseph, Oregon in the shadow of the Wallowa Mountains in majestic northeast Oregon.

Skipping ahead (past outlining, character sketches and profiles, simmering character conflicts and critical backstories, etc), one comes to the marketing and promotion side of the business.  For those like me who avoid the self-publishing route, some would say this is where the heavy lifting really begins for the author.  Everyone and their neighbor has a word processor, after all, and many people try their hand at writing.  It's a very competitive field.  One needs to be patient and have a positive attitude.  If you find a traditional publisher to accept your work, you're indeed one of the fortunate few--at least until the next rejection letter arrives in the mailbox.