The sun has come out, unexpectedly, so I have to seize the moment and get out there with my legal pad, to continue my work on Bell Mountain No. 12, His Mercy Endureth Forever. Unlike Agatha Christie, pictured above, I can’t write fiction indoors. As I write, I have to try to inhabit a world that doesn’t, in fact, exist; and I can’t do that if I keep getting robo-calls from “Your Debt Partner” and various resorts that try to convince me that I’ve been there before and really liked it.
We have a black walnut tree in the yard which day and night bombards us with nuts the size of baseballs. Thanks to the incessant rain, the nuts have begun to rot while still on the tree. A lot of them go “splat!” instead of “pow!” when they hit the ground: icky black goo all over the place. But even that is less distracting than the robo-calls.
I still don’t have the climax to this story, still waiting for the Lord to show it to me. I feel like I’m chipping away at a great block of marble to get at the shape that waits inside, with no idea of what that shape will be. Your guess is as good as mine. Suffice it to say that currently hellzapoppin in Obann.
Well, back to work! I hope the nuts keep missing me: a few of them this morning were… adjacent.
I wonder if Michelangelo knew he was going to end up with David when he started chipping away at that discarded piece of marble? I’m really enjoying The Temple – good stuff!!
I’m sure he had a clearer idea then than I have now.
As I have many not-so-good days these days, my companion (besides, of course, my Bible) has been Bell Mountain. Because I’ve read them all and wait patiently – well, maybe patiently is being a bit kind to myself lol – I’ve started the whole series over. It’s really surprising how another read brings some things out that I possibly hadn’t noticed the first time around. Even when some of the events take place seem to come upon me faster – like how quickly Ellayne and Jack decided to head out together, and how quickly Wytt became their companion. And yet, there’s another odd thing – since after reading the whole series to date, the characters we grow to know and love seem to have become more than characters: I’d have to say friends. Even most of the villains have something we can find to care about. Keep ’em comin’ Lee!
Well, that gives me something to live up to! Or try to, at least. Thanks so much for those words, Linda.
You know, a comment like this is rather humbling; and it also tells me I’m doing work more important than I sometimes realize.
I wish I could convince everyone to read Bell Mountain. Once you start, you can’t stop – because they’re real! God is using you mightily, Lee. You follow scripture and weave God’s plan throughout. What a gift and a blessing to those of us who are reading them.
Not to be redundant, but the only book I reread is my Bible – with the exception now of your Bell Mountain Series. I’ve fallen in love – with your writing, your style, your characters – and all that goes into such a huge undertaking.
Yes, I would have to say God is using your work for something more important than you sometimes realize. Especially in these times when many of our young people don’t know God, maybe Bell Mountain will help them discover Him and give them a yearning to know Him better.
To God be the glory for this: I just write what He gives me. I am entirely dependent on His guidance. So no one is more surprised than I am by how the books turned out!
When Mark Rushdoony first saw Bell Mountain, and decided to publish it, he said, “This will be a classic.”
I hope that doesn’t mean they don’t get going until after I’m gone.
You work with a legal pad too? I burn through at least one per week, and I’m not even writing a book.
Sounds like my writing process these days. I used to be a meticulous outliner. Now I can’t seem to stick to an outline at all. The end of the story will come to you, I have no doubt, and it will be great. 🙂