Recent Blog Posts

More on Story Ideas

Orson Scott Card once said: “Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don’t see any.”       Story ideas abound in the world around us but all too often we’re so wrapped …

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Story Ideas?

People frequently ask me where I get my story ideas. Some have even hinted that writers must be given a box, like those old metal cookie tins, when they decide to be writers and the box contains all the story ideas they’ll ever need.   I’ve come to believe that …

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The 2:00 a.m. Friend

I was parked outside IHOP the other day waiting for my critique partners to arrive for our biweekly breakfast and critique meeting. I noticed a group of gentlemen standing outside. They appeared to be in their late sixties to early seventies. They are there every time we have our meeting. …

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Paying It Forward

Recently, I taught at a writer’s conference for the first time. What a privilege.   Somehow, I think being on the conference faculty conveys that I have authority and knowledge. Not if you could have seen me on the inside. Quivering mush is probably the best description. I’ve spoken in …

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The Power of Words

    Like most Christian authors, I pray over my writing; sometimes for inspiration; sometimes for ideas. At times, I’ve ask the Lord to help me take the jumble of thoughts in my head, a jumble that looks like a tangled fishing line and help me make some sense of …

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The Reader Speaks

Recently I enjoyed the opportunity to speak with readers of my novel, Journey to Riverbend, at our local library’s book club. While I’ve met and discussed the book with individual readers, this was the first time I met with a group of readers, not writers. There were about ten readers …

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Being Living Epistles

Many times, I think we go through our days wrapped up in what we have to accomplish, getting tasks and errands done, working, and we’re not aware of how visible we are to others. We know other people are around us because we interact with them but we’re so focused …

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Fit for the Master’s Use

One of my test readers recently sent me an email that both blessed me and reminded me of what we’re all about as writers. At the end of her email, she included a prayer: God, I pray you give Henry wisdom, knowledge, creativity, patience and energy to finish Your book. …

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A Speck in the Universe?

Recently, my wife and I were privileged to see a preview of the IMAX movie, “Hubble.”   The images the Hubble sends back are artistically beautiful, inspiring, and awe inducing. . Beyond the range of the human eye are stars, galaxies, nebulas, all churning with power of God’s words, “Light, …

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Let’s See Where This Goes

? I grew up with a father who liked to take road trips. He would think nothing of driving from Providence, RI, to New York City for Sunday dinner. Sunday afternoon drives were his way of relaxing. When driving the back roads of Rhode Island, he would come across a …

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