Welcome to Fantasy Island

Some days it feels like my imagination is taking steroids. It seems I can hardly keep up with recording the conceptual outline of stories that are writing themselves in my head. The other day, I had a vivid story come to life in my brain and I had no opportunity to write any of it down. Why? Because I was in the shower. Yeah, that happens all the time. I've thought maybe I should get some waterproof markers for those moments.

Then I had a better idea! The simplicity of it makes the whole idea flawless. All I need is a time warp portal.

Now before you scoff, let me point out that somewhere in the future someone may be dialing this date into their time machine. Think about that the next time you drive by someone dressed funny.

So here's how the time warp portal deal works. First, I get a story while ostensibly occupied. The shower is not the only place that catalyzes my imagination into light speed. In school it happened daily. I hate to mention safety committee meetings, or any of a plethora of painfully boring events, but there are a lot of times when this happens. Sometimes a whole story comes in an instant.

Next, I write what I remember afterwards. Then, I simply ride through that exact time again and again until I have all the details recorded.

You see, simple as promised!

There is really only one complication to the whole plan. I'm one time portal shy of pulling it off. However, I had a fascinating (lucid) dream the other day. It was about time portals and the ability to foray into the past and/or the future. In fact, it was so realistic … maybe it was an actual time warp event! Maybe my imagination is just playing tricks on me. On the other hand, that could explain why I have appeared to age considerably more than my wife. What if … what if I have actually been time traveling all along?

P.S. – This blog has been written today and scheduled to post tomorrow. When you read it, it will have been written yesterday and scheduled to post today. Now think about that time portal again.

On the Cusp of Publication

As I wrap up the final draft of Book 2 in The Adventures of Boathouse Mouse, we are coming ever nearer to press time for Book 1. I want to rush Book 1 to print, but the artwork is absolutely masterful and cannot be rushed!

What is so special about the Boathouse Mouse Adventures?
I'm glad you asked.

For starters, the storyline is a delightful journey of discovery through the eyes of Boathouse. His unpretentious, guileless worldview is refreshing as he explores the world in the mid-1800's. He has an ever-replenishing series of adventures and some misadventures along the way. And nothing dampens his curiosity or his sense of wonder.

Those qualities are timeless, priceless, universally applicable, and seemingly in ever-decreasing supply. That's my unbiased soapbox view.

Besides all that, The Adventures of Boathouse Mouse are just plain fun. And, as if all the aforementioned stuff was not enough, um, there are ships. You know, like, with sails.

Ultimately, I am anticipating this publication with the same kind of patience a five-year-old has on Christmas Eve.

Everything Changed in One Instant

I am not a particularly dramatic person. In fact, I get accused of being passive, cool, collected, and other things along those lines, regularly. Evidently I don't register a lot of external emotion during a crisis, so people hang those descriptors on me for better or for worse.

That does not mean I have no feelings or emotions. I just don't pour them out on the sidewalk.

That said, when the doctor used the “c” word on me, I was a bit stunned. I eat a well-balanced diet. I have no vices. And in general, I am quite healthy.

Cancer? The word sort of ricocheted around in my brain. It was skin cancer, which is easily treatable and generally non-life-threatening. Still, I felt as if my body had betrayed me. The doctor assured me it was due to UV exposure from long in my past. No doubt that was all those adolescent sunburns. Yet the offending spot needed to be excised promptly. And so it was. But not without a thorough soul searching on my part.

For a guy who doesn't get out, hang out, or go out, I sure am a busy person. I have a day job building yachts for the rich and famous. I build boats for third world missionaries in my shop on weekends. And I write every moment I can get. My current to-write list is long, like twenty-four or so books long. As a side note, today a whole new book wrote itself in my head as I was pumping gas into the trusty old Blazer.

All that is to say, I had a moment of revelation as I was telling my wife that bump on my forehead was cancer. I discovered that I am mortal!

I have stood face-to-face with my mortality before. But those were particular incidents that took me close to the edge of life and death. In each of those cases, the risk diminished as fast as it had appeared, or I had to recover from the injuries. Either way, it was a brief encounter from my perspective.

The truth of life is, we are all on the brink of death every moment. We just don't see all the potential. With this doctor visit, I was forced to look into the hourglass and realize that fifty-three, eighty-three, or one hundred three are all finite numbers. Sooner or later I will draw my last breath.

I am mortal, but not morbid. I believe, without reservation, in eternal life through faith in Christ. It's not what's on the other side of life that concerns me, it is what I need to do on this side before I am finished!

What changed? Perspective. Since my writing will outlive me, and there is so much more I would like to share, I feel compelled to write more sooner rather than later.
I also have a deep burden for forgotten people in desperate places. How many boat builders are out there working to directly help those people? I don't know. I only know of one. I feel compelled to press harder into that work.

So, where does the extra time come from? I cannot afford to retire from my day job yet, unless everyone I know rushes out and purchases fifty each of my books. That was a little comic relief there. Maybe sleep could be subtracted from my schedule. But, since that probably will not work out, I am left with an unsolvable paradox.

However it must be done, I am determined to write more.

Anticipation Is Not Making Me Wait

The truth is, I don't have a choice. I'm waiting because I have to. But the time is getting closer.

Tick Tock Tick Tock

Today Shawna gave the world a glimpse of one of the illustrations for The Adventures of Boathouse Mouse. I love it! I am indescribably excited to release this book! So I share this little teaser with you, my friends. The only difference between your view and mine is ... I know where this is in the story.

How to Become a Superhero in One Easy Step

I don't know how. I'm certainly not one, and I don't know any, either. I suppose you need to be born with some superhuman ability. Maybe if you could fly or breathe under water you would be a good candidate. Obviously, if you are invincible you should be able to sign up for a superhero gig. Otherwise, I've got nothing.

I once knew someone who could burp their ABC's. I don't think that actually qualifies as superhuman anything. But the ability to burp on demand may have some possible health benefits.

Then there are those people who can contort themselves into unnatural shapes. That one could be borderline superhuman, but I have a hard time envisioning a scenario where some dude, or gal, twists up like a pretzel and rescues an Alpine village from an avalanche. Maybe if Earth was to be invaded by aliens that were afraid of pretzels … Like I say, it's difficult to see that one going anywhere.

Quite possibly the closest we mortals will ever come to being superheroes is by just faithfully doing the daily things we need to do. Maybe true superheroes are those people who manage to suspend their self-interest as they give their life away to help others who are in need. Maybe Mother Teresa's habit was really a cape in disguise. What if what we saw of her in public was just the tip of the iceberg?

Mayhap this is some random pointless ramble. Then again, it could be a surreptitious way of introducing the concept of the series of books that will follow the Falcon series.

Wrath of the Falcon is scheduled to be released in June of 2016. I guess there's still plenty of time to speculate on what might be officially announced next.

Stay tuned.