Nov 27 2008
Blow the trumpets! Burning Light is now available for pre-order. The cost is $20 for the book, or purchase Worlds Unseen and Burning Light together for only $30! Orders will ship straight to you as soon as they come off the press.
Nov 19 2008
Good snowy evening, friends and readers!
My article "The Other Christian Faith" is up for reading at Boundless.org. This is a personal favourite of mine–an autobiographical look at the lying faith that masquerades as Christianity. Chances are pretty good that you’ve trusted in The Other Christian Faith without even realizing it. I sure have. If you’d like to read the article, it’s here:
Nov 18 2008
To keep up my regular posting schedule, I really should blog today, but my head is so full of varied things that can find nothing to say. I asked Carolyn what to post about and she said “pointe shoes, chocolate, and little gummy things that make you feel comfortable,” but what kind of answer, I ask you, is that?
Things are going well: we are getting very close to Emmanuel tour time and working hard to smooth wrinkles out of the program. My ogre story is going nowhere, and Burning Light has half a cover — what cover, I do not know, because my sister won’t tell me what she’s painting so I have to wait until she finishes to see it. I have a new editing job that I’m really, really, REALLY excited about because it means I get to work on novels, which I love ever so much more than some of the other work I’ve done. And a chapter of Zoe has been edited (methinks Em does not read this, or she would have been after me before now to get it to her since last time I mentioned it). I just have to write up a detailed editing intro, and that project will be fully underway.
And, I bought two Stephen Lawhead novels and Annie Dillard’s Living by Fiction the other day. If I only had time to read, I would be very happy.
Nov 14 2008
What a day! Because of conflicting performer schedules, we held our Emmanuel rehearsal at 6:00 this morning (the moon, as the flutist disgruntedly announced, was still up). When I got morning stuff out of the way and started work around 8:30, I was too tired to be very intelligent about that ogre story. Really, the whole story is frustrating me. I have characters I like and some good plot twists, just no unified actual PLOT yet. Sort of a problem when you’re trying to figure out what to write next!
And today, right in the middle of marking papers, the “e” on my keyboard started sticking. I. Am. Horrified. I’m going to see if I can possibly get it fixed over the weekend, because believe me, when your entire job consists of writing LOADS of words with “e” in them, you can’t function without a working e-key. If you don’t believe me, count how many words in this paragraph alone use it!
In much nicer news, yesterday the new Christian PEN Web site went live, and it’s gorgeous. It was designed by PEN member Tracy Ruckman, and I told her I was going to rave on my blog, so here I am, raving. It’s got great info about all of the PEN editors, projects we’ve worked on or books we’ve written, course information for all of the upcoming editing courses offered by the PEN, a really helpful links page with info on writing, editing, and publishing, and more. And thanks to Tracy, it’s all really well organized and nice to look at. If you have any interest in editing (because you need an editor or want to be one), check it out!
Nov 12 2008
I’m so excited! Thanks to some extra time (my students were late turning in papers … this isn’t actually a good thing, but it did give me a chunk of availability) and the option of using my Worlds Unseen layout as a sort of template, I’ve finished the Burning Light layout in record time. We’re talking three days as opposed to a week and a half. It looks really nice, and I’m excited to get the files sent to the printer as soon as the cover is finished.
With that news flash, I must get back to work!
Nov 11 2008
Yeesh, as they say in the old country. I am so busy. Today’s schedule: get up at 7:00-ish. Do Bible and eat breakfast. Go out to a cluttered room above Carolyn’s dance studio and rehearse the main pieces for Emmanuel. (I also direct the rehearsals, so add that to my list of responsibilities.) Come inside, pack for the day, help clean the kitchen, do some other stuff I’ve forgotten about. Load into the car. Drive Dana to work. Drive Carolyn, Naomi, and Elyssa an hour and twenty minutes up the QEW (that’s the Queen Elizabeth Way) to Oakville, drop Carolyn off for dance classes.
Take Naomi and Elyssa to library. Unpack my computer and mark papers. Stop marking papers to move the car (because we can’t park it in one place for more than two hours). Come inside and keep marking papers. Format Burning Light. Move the car. Review an article for submission. Leave the library and take little girls to the studio for THEIR classes. Memorize Emmanuel narration while waiting for Carolyn to get out of class and get her jacket from me. Walk to Starbucks. Buy a hot chocolate. (Not all of my busyness is work, heh.) Start up computer and get online. Upload papers. Answer business emails I haven’t had a chance to look at yet, re: uploading metadata for a book, possible regular editing work, a music order for Emmanuel, other. Blog.
Still to do: Edit Zoe. (I hope you’re reading this, Em.) Write a few more paragraphs in my ogre story. (I named the heroine Memory. Apparently I have a thing for strange names that begin with “M.”) Walk back to the studio, pick up passengers. Drive home (to Stevensville). Crash for half an hour or so. Drive to Niagara Falls to pick up Uncle Dave from work.
I have half an hour before I have to head back to the studio. Ready, set, edit!
Nov 08 2008
Boy, is it ever quiet around here! This is my fault, I suppose, as I’m the only one who posts on this blog 
. I have an excuse: I am swamped, flooded, under water with work. But it could be worse. I am not actually drowning, just cheerfully treading water.
Today I nearly finished going over all the changes suggested by my marvelous volunteer proofreaders, who are sharp of eye and quick of mind. Every textual change and fix for Burning Light should be finished by tomorrow afternoon, which is exciting. Next week I’ll start the layout, and hopefully get a look at the beginning stages of the cover. (Yes, this is late in the game for a book that’s coming out in December, but my sister Deborah is a Genius Artist and will be able to turn out a beautiful cover on time.)
If you haven’t seen Deborah’s work yet, check out my cover gallery here: http://www.rachelstarrthomson.com/gallery/covers/
I’ve also been marking some of the year’s longest and most difficult student papers, visiting friends in Ottawa, rehearsing for Emmanuel (see here for tour dates and info), writing, pitching, and submitting articles, and adding a line here and there to a new short story. (It’s about ogres, but they’re not very much like Shrek.) Oh, and editing articles, reviewing manuscripts for editing, and churning out estimates and quotes for potential clients.
Sometimes I feel VERY swamped, but the light sparkles on the water often, and I remember how much I am blessed to do work I love!
Nov 05 2008
Canadian though I am, I watched the American election last night with great interest. God has always had His hand on America, and I will be praying for the nation in this significant time. Albert Mohler has written an excellent call to prayer entitled “America Has Chosen a President.” I encourage you to read it and join us in prayer!
Beyond this, we must commit ourselves to pray for this new President, for his wife and family, for his administration, and for the nation. We are commanded to pray for rulers, and this new President faces challenges that are not only daunting but potentially disastrous. May God grant him wisdom.
