My intention with “The Phantom’s Blade”

AuthorAppleton on September 28, 2015

I do not write stories simply to tell them. I do not look for the stories to merely entertain. I want them to have staying power and so they reflect the moments of my life. My next story explores the grim reality of loneliness and the hope of companionship. It shapes a future that is ever brighter because we must place our hope not in ourselves, but in the strength we find in doing good. Enter The Phantom’s Blade (The Sword of the Dragon book 4).

November 6th is the date! Finally it’s time to continue The Sword of the Dragon series and see what happens next with Ilfedo, Oganna, and Ombre.

I am so excited for this! It’s been a few years that I’ve been working on the material for this novel. The hardest part for me when writing Key of Living Fire was to leave a slew of newly-found characters in the underground city of Dresdyn. There are elements of the Hemmed Land’s history that have long hinted that they came from a land long lost. A history where technology was far in advance of what Ilfedo’s people currently understand as they exist in a near-medieval condition.

This book was written with sweat and tears… almost literally 😉 as I struggled to balance the many things going on in my life. Family, work, illness, moving to South Carolina, my fourth child being born, and now moving into our first house. It’s an exciting time as God has opened the doors so that now I can build a home business of writing, speaking, and editing. When your read my novels you are reading a reflection of what has happened and is happening in my life. My confusion, my revelations, my times of pain and of joy. The characters are put through much so that I can continue to evolve as a writer. So that my writing is not merely the telling of stories, but rather the sharing of visions striven for and attained.

Stories change hearts. Stories make a difference in our lives and in our culture.

So be sure to mark your calendar and warm a spot on your bookshelf for The Phantom’s Blade (The Sword of the Dragon book 4). Available on November 6th 2015.

How writing strengthens relationships

AuthorAppleton on September 21, 2015

It is an interesting thing to sit back and reflect on how we relate to other people. Some people communicate best verbally… but some of us can only make people understand exactly what we mean by writing it out.

Have you ever found yourself talking too much? Suddenly you realize that the conversation died a long while ago and the person you’re conversing with is no longer interested in what you have to say? Well, you suffer from the same condition I do. You may feel something is wrong with you because your verbal communication is less effective, but in fact you experience suggests you are a born writer.

Not all of us are gifted with our tongues. Some of us are wired for the written word. We can only explain what we feel after careful consideration or even meditation. For us communication is a process of creativity and the end goal is communication that feels like art to the recipient. When we write our thoughts flow uninhibited.

What is more amazing is that other people read what we write and suddenly they clearly understand what we’ve been trying to tell them all the while.

This has always been my struggle. When I talk, people have an easier time losing interest. They often can’t follow my reasoning as well as needed to arrive at the same conclusions I do. I watch in their eyes as they try their hardest to follow my line of thinking.

When I write out my thoughts the reverse is true.

My wife and I have had our share of disagreements and I fault myself for many of them because I cannot verbally communicate what I really mean. It takes me a while to get around to the point in the conversation. But I remember back when we started dating that I wrote her many a letter conveying the depth of my thoughts and feelings. Doing that really drew our hearts together and helped me lead her spiritually.

If you are like me your written words are more impactful than your spoken. If you are born to write then you can make people relate to and understand you through writing.

Use writing to strengthen your relationships. Use writing to lead people and to confound your adversaries. The pen is indeed mightier than the sword. Some people speak and their words reach people to change hearts and lives, but their words are gone after they are spoken. For us our writing is a path into changing hearts and minds. You can use writing to effect change… and your words will be preserved from generation to generation, leaving the same impact with each. That is a solemn responsibility and a glorious opportunity.

Q: Are you using writing to strengthen relationships, and change lives?

Noah: the movie… Is this Noah or not?

AuthorAppleton on September 14, 2015

Noah, the movie. Have you watched it? I saw it for the first time because it popped up on Netflix. Disappointing would be an understatement of my feelings regarding this film. Warning: I’m going to discuss major spoilers because it’s necessary to the evaluation.

It seems that Hollywood took this opportunity to completely reimagine the historical story. I’m (almost) at a loss for words because this film was so bad.

It would be easier to imagine that this is not supposed to be the Biblical story but rather a straight up work of fiction. It is a poor story, over-dramatized, unbelievable, mystical, and bad character development. Here are some reasons I think this is the worst film I’ve seen in a long time:

  1. The fallen angels only fell to earth because they wanted to aid mankind. In punishment the Creator encrusts them in stone. What?! Yes, you heard right. Instead of going with the fact that there was war in heaven and God cast out the angels who joined with Lucifer, now the angels are the good guys who tenderly long to be re-admitted to paradise.
  2. Noah loves the creation and believes that God wants mankind wiped off the face of the earth. Whereas in the Biblical account God commanded them to go forth and multiply and replenish the Earth.
  3. There were seven who rode the ark… It was Noah, his wife, his three sons, one wife for one son, and of course (Hollywood’s favorite addition) a stowaway. It felt like an excuse to let Russell Crowe land punches in a death-match aboard the ark. Besides this, Ham actually found a girl but Noah purposefully leaves her behind to die. Oh, and he left Methuselah behind to die as well.
  4. Noah details for everyone aboard the ark how they are to make sure they die as the last of humanity, because the new world is not for them but for the creatures.

This is a terrible film. I was laughing at several points because it just carried everything so far overboard (pun intended). When a story is drafted from well-known source material it needs to come close to that material, otherwise it need not credit the source material. Noah has this problem to a degree I’ve not seen before.

The movie is also plumb full of plot holes. Here is a laughable example:

At the end of the film Noah is rather depressed (as he is throughout the entire film). His sons and wife have begun to build new homes for themselves. As they are building he picks grapes and makes himself wine. He gets himself drunk and naked in a cave. See the problem? They just got out of the ark and, in order to make wine, grapes have to ferment. Not gonna happen if you just crush them into a cup. That’s called grape juice and you can drink a lot of it without any problems. Trust me, I’m living proof!

My conclusion then: If you want to waste a couple of hours watching a heartless story with pointless drama that you can poke fun at, try Noah! It won’t disappoint you.

Question: Have you watched Noah?

How Star Wars impacted my thinking on stories

AuthorAppleton on September 7, 2015

I was probably around nine years old. I remember sitting in my grandfather’s living room, my eyes glued to his television. He had an extensive collection of VHS tapes and he was fond of science fiction. That day he played Star Wars: A New Hope… and with a few swings of his lightsaber Alec Guiness convinced me that Ben Kenobi was the coolest sort of hero.

Yep, I’ve been a fan ever since! I love looking back at that moment when I saw Star Wars for the first time. I can recapture that sense of amazement experienced only in that first moment of discovery. I already loved stories. I read extensively and wrote quite a few of my own fictional pieces, yet up to that point I think space opera and fantasy had not entered my realm of creative thinking. My first brush with anything close to it had been Pilgrim’s Progress, an allegory of the Christian life that feels fantasy-ish.

In Star Wars I recognized the value of different strong personalities in story. Han Solo of course would not let anything water down his swashbuckling attitude. He opposed everyone on his team and loved everyone at the same time. Ben Kenobi took every perilous encounter in sober stride, wisely weighing the consequences of his actions and of those around him. He was feeble yet in his eyes was a playful, indomitable will. He would not be denied. Even R2D2 and C3PO possessed unique personalities that made them generationally memorable.

To my young mind these characters were the catalyst for an amazing array of story possibilities. I remember staying up late at night telling my own Star Wars spinoff stories to my brother and sister. In childish fun these spinoffs often degenerated into silliness. (I remember one particular tale where Princess Leia met up with Emperor Palpatine and turned her own powers on him, thoroughly decimating him).

Looking back I realize that all of those silly spinoffs were the continued growth of my creativity.

Star Wars stories helped me realize that storytelling has no limits except those that we place upon it. What you imagine, you can create. What you fear, you can face. What you aspire to be, you can become. Strange places that don’t even exist, you can visit.

The imagination is limitless and its power is exploration to reveal to us the elements of story that matter to us. The elements of story that define the choices we make. The characters whose interactions help us understand how we want to interact with people in real life. The characters that help us understand why we find certain people more interesting than others.

Q: How did the stories you enjoyed as a child impact the person you are today?