I haven’t blogged as much as I’d like lately. The truth is, I’ve been really busy. I mean–not too busy that I wasn’t able to binge-watch a few shows, but still busy. For this post, I’m going to share what I’ve been up to in the world of writing and creating for the past few months.
Schoolwork
This semester in my Master of Theological Studies degree I took Historical Theology 1. Like most grad classes, I had to write a paper. I originally wanted to discuss the idea of “canon” and the nature of Scripture in the early church and I eventually settled on researching the original heretic Marcion (pronounced like “Martian”).
My paper was titled “A Textual Foundation for Faith: Exploring Marcion’s Theology of ‘Scripture’.” I argued that his bad theology came from his reading of a different (either original, corrupted, or shortened) version of some New Testament texts. I concluded that as he put together the Gospel of Luke and ten letters of Paul, he considered this collection “Scripture.” I don’t think I’ll submit this paper to a journal, but I might add it to Academia.edu.
Thesis
For my master’s program, I choose the thesis option. Why? I don’t know. Perhaps I wanted to torture myself. In reality, I did it because I like writing papers and generally you do a master’s thesis if you ever want to go on to Ph.d. work, which I might one day do. But, man, it’s hard.
I’m still in the early stages of this long process, but right now I’m researching the metaphor of growth from infant to adulthood in the New Testament. Several times, NT authors call someone an “infant in Christ” or something similar–I’m looking at what that metaphor means and what the language contributes to our understanding of spiritual growth today.
Proposal to “Theology and the DC Universe”
Recently, I submitted a proposal for a chapter in the book “Theology and the DC Universe” which is a collection of essays looking at DC Comics (in comics, film, and on T.V.) in light of theology. It won’t be out until 2021, but the call for submissions ceases at the end of October.
My proposal title pretty aptly describes the paper: “Pauline Pneumatology and the Speed Force: Characteristics of the Holy Spirit in Comparison with the Concept of the ‘Speed Force’.” Basically, I want to look at how the Speed Force acts similar to the Holy Spirit through the comics and the CW T.V. show The Flash–I want to highlight the similarities, but also point out the differences.
Hope I’m accepted! I’ll find out in a month or two.
Super Jake???
You might be wondering if I’m still serious about fiction. Well, I am. I’ve already finished the manuscript for Super Jake and I’ve sent a proposal and the first few chapters off to several literary agents. One agent has already rejected me. Within the next month, I should be hearing from at least one more.
The agent that rejected me made some–some— good points. She pointed out that I did more telling than showing. Which is fair. I like writing dialogue more than the description and because of my background in theatre writing, sometimes I just too plainly say what happened. I did tweak some of the writing to fit what she said. But she thought it was funny!
While we are on the subject of book proposals, I’ve been trying to build up a newsletter. Newsletter numbers are included on most book proposals–and my numbers are pretty pathetic. Please, please join my email list so I can show agents that people do really like to hear what I say and they’d love to be alerted when I have a book.
NaNoWriMo
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is coming soon–it’s in November. Several years ago I tried the challenge to write a whole 60,000 word book in a month, but I gave up after getting off track for a few days. But now that I’m in full-on author-mode, I’m considering trying it again.
Now I’m super busy with master’s thesis stuff (due at the beginning of December) so it’s actually really stupid to try to write 60,000 words in a month (about 1,666 words a day!) but here’s the thing: I kinda want to try. I’ve been planning an urban fantasy Young Adult book that I may eventually self-publish. It’s a super cool concept that combines my love of mythology with my love of other kinds of mythology (there’s the sneak peek!). It will not be expressly Christian, like Super Jake, but I hope to explore some religious themes in a more mature way.
But I’m still torn if I should do it. My brother, who is a screenwriter by training, might join me in NaNoWriMo to write his first book. The encouragement will be good if he really joins me. Maybe also I can share a little of my book every so often on this blog and you can brutally critique me and possibly encourage me–could work! Though my main concern is planning out my time so I can balance college ministry, substitute teaching, schoolwork, thesis work, and THEN over a thousand words a day. So I’m asking you: should I do it? (Answer on the poll below).
Well, that’s all the crazy things I’m up to in the writing world. Hopefully, you’ll give me grace even though I don’t blog enough! But I’m trying!
Have a great day. And PLEASE answer the poll above.
