Stephanie If you have been regularly visiting this blog (and I have a hard time believing anyone is), you have experienced a prominent trait of my personality, the stumble-get up-try again-stumble cycle exacerbated (look it up LOL) by procrastination. There have been other things going on in my life, which I may discuss over the coming weeks, but the bottom line is I kept putting off working on this site. Now I’m focused. I’m dusting myself off and starting again. Maybe this time I’ll get it right. 
You can tell by the tone of my last few posts that I have been unsure of what to post (or even if I should keep posting). This is partly because I’ve never had a clear idea of what I wanted to do with this blog. I knew I wanted to review books, mainly fantasy, from a Christian perspective, but that was all. I thought I might enjoy sharing some of my thoughts, but I wasn’t sure which ones. Or even why I should. I couldn’t (still can’t) imagine readers being interested in my ramblings unless I was absolutely riveting or I offered something they wanted. The reviews are that, but I can only read and review so many books at a time. And, while I hope I’m interesting, I don’t delude myself that my words are riveting.
Over the past few weeks and months, I’ve refined my plans for this blog. Along with the reviews, I want to share my faith-walk in the hopes that it will encourage, inspire and challenge whoever reads it. I don’t want a Bible-teaching blog, although there will probably be posts that discuss what I learn in my personal study time. I don’t want a syrupy, give-all-the-pat answers blog, although sometimes I may reveal an elusive truth by examining some of those pat answers. And I certainly don’t want an in-your-face, confrontational type blog, although there may be times that what I write ignites controversy. As the subtitle to this blog states, I want to present my perspective on life and fiction.
That means my personality, my way of viewing things will be evident and, as my friends know, I’m by no means a controversial Bible-thumper or a syrupy milquetoast Christian. I am, however, a committed, Bible-studying, Bible-believing and Bible-living Christian. If you share that faith, you’ll most likely find encouragement and inspiration here. Maybe even some thought-provoking challenges. If you don’t share that faith, your enjoyment may be limited, but I’m sure you will still find much to peruse and consider.
Why life and fiction? Because writing, reading and watching fiction is a big part of my life. I love stories. I love to read them, watch them and especially create them. That means, in addition to the reviews, I’ll also be sharing my thoughts and observations about the stories going on around me and the ones I’m creating. While this is not an author website (if/when I’m published, I’ll design a separate site promoting that), writing is a big part of my life. On this blog, I’ll share musings about my writing, as well as my spiritual growth and my life in general.
I’d originally thought I’d make a schedule and post accordingly, but I’ve decided that is not wise. While I do need routine and even a schedule, I also need flexibility. Instead of creating a rigid schedule, the plan is to post musings about my life, my writing or my spiritual journey at least twice each week. Some weeks I’ll post a review. Again, I’m not going to lock myself into a schedule for producing reviews but I will work hard to post at least one or two a month. Maybe in a few months, I’ll be able to increase that. For now, that will have to be enough.
I’ll probably stumble again before I get a regular routine established and suddenly realize I have abandoned my blog for days, maybe even weeks. Have faith, I will return. Remember . . . there’s a get-up-and-try-again phase to my cycle.
Tags: Musings, schedule of posts, Stephanie
Larry Fogelberg
Reviewing literature from a Christian perspective. Hm. Just the last few days, I was thinking about Playboy Magazine, and how us guys used to love to read it when I was a teenager. And in hindsight, the most abominable section of that magazine was not the foldouts of naked women (after all, a naked woman is just a naked woman, in all the glory God bestowed upon her), but the most abominable — the most pernicious — element was a column written by Hugh Hefner, called the Playboy Philosophy. If you’re not familiar with it, it justified free sex and denigrated everything spiritual. I was influence by that pernicious rot far more than by the foldouts, to the point where I feel a visceral repulsion whenever I see pictures of HH in his captain’s hat. Ideas are powerful. And depraved ideas are no exception. Would you care to comment?
Stephanie
Definitely, Larry! One of my favorite quotes is, “The pen is mightier than the sword.” It is so true. I once heard someone complaining about someone in the movie business (something to do with Warner Bros, I think) saying the goal of the company was to influence, with well-made movies, the minds of the young people watching. My first thought was, “But that’s what we SHOULD be doing!” That is the nature of words, stories, treatises and more, to influence. Every thing we read influences us in some way. When we consciously notice that influence, it often is magnified or, if it is a detrimental influence, can be refuted. It’s when we don’t notice those detrimental ideas that they take root and grow wild, taking over our minds. That is at the heart of why I want to discuss the books I read. To analyze their influence and draw the good out of them. Or warn others when there is no good in them.