Parts of Speaking Publishing

 Good essay from CT.  https://www.christianitytoday.com/2023/12/filthy-night-fetid-night-nativity-scene-sheep-incarnation/ This piece reminds me of our addiction to photo perfectionism. We have been duped by all these images, moving and still, that the world is supposed to look a certain way. Who decides. I look at my dining room table right now. It is the hub of the house's activity, as I think it is for many families.  At one end are my Christmas and birthday cards, to remind me of friends. There is a pile of mail to attend to, most of which will be recycled. There is a vase of flowers my son and his wife gave me for my birthday--they are going on two weeks old but still have some attraction. There is a centerpiece with the advent candle surrounded by "synthetic eucalyptus" on a slice of wood. I suppose it is time to cull the flowers, remove the candles, and pack up the cards. There are salt and pepper and a sugar bowl, a jar of celery salt, some books, two candles I ma...

 The finalists for the 2025 Prize: Denene Millner,  One Blood  (Forge Books, 9.5.23) AA Chika Unigwe,  The Middle Daughter  (Dzanc Books, 4.4.23) AA Anissa Gray,  Life and Other Love Songs  (Berkley, Penguin, 4.11.23) black and gay Julia Franks,  The Say So  (Hub City Press, 6.6.23) white Ra’Niqua Lee,  For What Ails You  (ELJ Editions, 11.6.23) black John M Williams,  End Times  (Sartoris Literary Group, 9.15.23) Gordon Johnston,  Seven Islands of the Ocmulgee: River Stories  (Mercer UP, 2.7.23) Kimberly Brock,  The Fabled Earth  (Harper Muse, 10.1.24) Peter Selgin,  A Boy’s Guide to Outer Space  (Regal House Publishing, 11.12.24) Barbara Tucker,  Lying In  (Colorful Crow Publishing, 5.15.24)  The placement of my name last convinces me I am the dark horse; I just made the cut.  I am from the smallest press, have no New York Times Bestsellers, garnered only a ha...

I tried this Apple TV series the other night—Monday I think—and got hooked. Why? Why would a grandma approaching retirement and seven decades of life want to watch a streaming series, helmed by Ben Stiller of all people, about drones (not the flying type) in a huge, oppressive corporation where the employees don’t even know what their company creates or who they serve? Three reasons, maybe four. First, it’s well written. It gives out the clues at just the right time. Ah, so it’s a mystery, the reader, who doesn’t now what the show is about, says. Well, yes, sort of. It is more of a dystopian world drama, but it is one that looks almost exactly like ours (some filming takes place at one of the Bell Lab facilities). But it looks just enough different to keep us off kilter. The world is too clean, antiseptic, orderly, corporate, isolated. It is something like LOST, and I was a huge LOST fan, until…..well, no need to go there. All of us kept watching although we had lost the thread ...

  My publisher, Vickie McEntire of Colorful Crow Publishing, heard of the Townsend Prize for fiction and decided to nominate my latest novel, Lying In. It cost eight copies of the novel in hardback, postage, an email to ensure it would not be too late to meet the Labor Day deadline, and an undisclosed entrance fee. I appreciated my publisher’s confidence in the book, rushed down to Calhoun to hand her the eight copies, thanked here, and went about my business. Academy Award nominees say, “It is an honor to be nominated.” In my case, I felt gratitude that the publisher, who had just taken over the business from the founder, was willing to submit it. However, I did not expect anything to come of it. The Townsend Prize is awarded every two years to a literary fiction writer living in Georgia (at the time of writing the book). It is supported by the Atlanta Writers’ Club. TPast award winners include Alice Walker, Terry Kay, Ha Jin, Philip Lee Williams, Ferrol Sams, Kathryn Stock...

Russell Moore does it again (although sometimes I wish he conformed to my viewpoints more!) https://www.christianitytoday.com/2024/12/anxiety-christmas-apocalypse-revelation-russell-moore/ The essay is about one of my favorite episodes-Simeon and Anna meeting the baby Jesus and his parents in the temple. An excerpt, from the end: That’s where I realized just how similar the warm, bright Christmas story is to the dark, scary middle of the Book of Revelation. Every Sunday, I remind my church-folk (and myself) that the “scary” parts of Revelation are actually good news . God is pulling back the veil so that what’s hidden is made plain. The kingdoms of this world are shaky and tottering. The way of Caesar, the way of the Beast, seems right now to “work.” For the first-century church, the word from Patmos is a call to overcome: not by fighting like the Devil against the ways of the Devil but by remaining faithful, enduring through suffering, and waiting on the God of Israel to m...

The Idea #27 is tongue in cheek.  But these are some ideas about writing fiction, which I have done in ten novels (and counting), a dozen short stories, and two produced plays (I know, not exactly the same).  Background: In 2015 a colleague and I wrote an open educational resource public speaking textbook for a grant provided by our University System. We didn't realize at the time that it would go viral and be used all over the world within a few years. There are two reasons for that: it is good (as good as anything on the market) and it is free, although only in digital form. Check out www.exploringpublicspeaking.com for it. We also didn't know at the time that my co-author would die at 39 in 2016. I still miss him. Back to the point, I receive requests for the test banks every other day, and this morning I received one from Pennsylvania. The writer had a signature line: "Reading fiction is important. It is a vital means of imagining a life other than our own, which in t...

 If you come, through some personal journey, to this blog, please know I appreciate any time you give to it. I do not know how to provide an indication of how many minutes it takes to read any particular post, but I keep them reasonable lengths.  If you like my take on the world, please read my others blogs (which have gone dormant) partsofspeaking.blogspot.com and highereducationobserver.blogspot.com and www.barbaragrahamtucker.net and any of my fourteen books on Amazon as of 12/18/2024.

 I use this blog to post links to other readings, so here is one you might enjoy:  https://www.newcartographies.com/p/the-arc-of-innovation-bends-toward I read The Shallows over ten years ago, and it had a huge influence on me. Unfortunately, I am still too much in the clutches of the Internet (one must be in the knowledge economy) but I hope to find a more sustainable balance soon.  On his argument here, that our innovations have come to focus on Technologies of the Self (social media, drugs that deal with mental or emotional illness), I would add that medical advancements for sustaining and prolonging life and health somewhat argue against his thesis.  However, there are plenty of medical advancements that are for personal aggrandizement rather than the general public health; likewise, there seems to be a turning away from what is good for the public (vaccines) versus what is good for one's self (mood-altering medications). I doubt he would say that every advancem...

My students, themselves only 18-20, keep talking about this and how it is creating wild children.  This article explains its origins and its theological (and practical) problems.   https://thedispatch.com/newsletter/dispatch-faith/what-gentle-parenting-misunderstands-about-human-nature/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=What%20%20Gentle%20Parenting%20%20Misunderstands%20About%20Human%20Nature&utm_campaign=What%20%20Gentle%20Parenting%20%20Misunderstands%20About%20Human%20Nature  

I think I will soon read an exhaustive biography of Spurgeon. Two quotes: We must have more hospitals. I do not know whether we shall not be obliged to make the Government spend something in this direction. I don’t believe in the Government doing anything well. I generally feel sorry when anything has to be left to the Government. I don’t mean this Government in particular, but any Government which may be in office for the time being. It is six of one and half-a-dozen of the other. I have a very small opinion of the whole lot. There are some things which we should try ourselves to do as long as ever we can; but if we are driven up a corner, it may come to what I fear. Bones must be set, and the sick must be cared for; the poor must not be left to die, in order not to have to go to the Government for help. So let us all try to give what we can. It is your duty to give, not merely as Christians, but as men. I like the Hospital Sunday movement, for all Christian people can meet, as we are...

 I get a newsletter from a Substacker who will remain nameless. "They" are progressive politically, but I have enjoyed and been moved by their writing.  They train others in writing as wel.   The title of this week's is "How Writers Can Oppose Trump's Bad Policies." Does this imply Biden had no bad policies? Does this imply a writer can't support Donald Trump (not that I do, so much, but it seems to be an implication or assertion without support)?  Does one have to be progressive in politics to be a good writer? Is anyone who supports Trump incapable of good writing? Does it diminish our humanity or creativity or something? This writer, who is a naturalist and environmentalist, says that their goal is to make life better. I appreciate that. I can see how from their perspective there might be a massive, unbridgeable disconnect between support for Trump and a better ecology (that word is a clue to the writer's identity, to those who know Southern liter...

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-QHbpYjuIg O come, all you unfaithful Come, weak and unstable Come, know you are not alone O come, barren and waiting ones Weary of praying, come See what your God has done Christ is born, Christ is born Christ is born for you O come, bitter and broken Come with fears unspoken Come, taste of His perfect love O come, guilty and hiding ones There is no need to run See what your God has done Christ is born, Christ is born Christ is born for you He's the Lamb who was given Slain for our pardon His promise is peace For those who believe He's the Lamb who was given Slain for our pardon His promise is peace For those who believe So come, though you have nothing Come, He is the offering Come, see what your God has done Christ is born, Christ is born Christ is born for you Christ is born, Christ is born Christ is born for you Source:  Musixmatch Songwriters: Bob Kauflin / Lisa Clow O Come, All You Unfaithful lyrics © Sovereign Grace Praise

 There has been some, well, quite a bit, of post-mortems by the Democratic Party about their presidential and Senate losses. For me, not a little bit of it falls on Barak Obama.  I was never a fan. Like many, I did appreciate that our country proved it could elect a nonwhite person (well, partly) for the highest office. On the other hand, the man's arrogance was quite astounding.  The very fact that he ran for president as a first-term senator was pretty astounding.  First, he insulted John McCain publicly.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXudI0ibo-k   Second, his tag line was "We will fundamentally transform America." Has that ever been dissected? Who the h--- did he think he was that he would do that?  that he could, or should? As a pundit I listened to this morning said, that is not out of love for country; it is lust for power; it is a form of oppression. Anyone who thinks the country should be fundamentally transformed does not need to be the lea...