I got my first book published in September last year. I did it without an agent…and in a bit of an atypical way. It was an exciting experience, even though it took over a year to happen. In the mean time, I started working on my next book. I actually finished the first draft around the…
Competition is a brutal thing. It’s likened to a pie, with everyone trying to get a piece—and a piece that’s larger than anyone else’s. If you grew up in a large family where pie was scarce, you can relate all-too-well to this analogy. You grew up understanding competition. But if competition is everyone trying to…
I was hanging out with my friend the other day when he got a phone call. He looked at the caller ID, scowled, and ignored it. I laughed and asked him who it was. “It’s the volunteer coordinator at my church. I know they’re going to ask me to volunteer this Sunday, but I don’t…
I talk about this often: If you post bitter political links in your Facebook profile, I’m going to hide you. My goal with social media is not to have a bunch of angry people yelling their dogma at me. And guess what…I’m not the only one. The sad thing for those people who I hide…
I saw a headline post on my “Trending” news section of Facebook. It said, “Man with concealed handgun license takes down shooter.” That worried me. It worried me, because it sounded somewhat biased. Surely different news outlets would have headlined that different ways. So I researched it. Sure enough, Fox News had that headline. Then outlets…
Want to know the quickest way to get on my good side? It’s not exactly hard, but very few people are willing to do it. It’s to make your yes be yes, and your no be no. That means, if you agree to do something, you follow through. You don’t make excuses, you just do…
I’ve always loved borrowing friends’ trucks. For one reason, it makes me feel a bit more masculine than my baby blue Chevy Spark makes me feel. But the other reason is that I love the sense of community you feel on Texas roads when you’re driving a truck. I haven’t experienced this phenomena elsewhere. But…
I’m not what you’d call a typical manly guy. I’m not mega outdoorsy and I’m not even that into sports. But, for the first time in my life, I own a house that has green grass. (In Texas, that’s a feat.) So nearly every evening, you can find me outside with a hose in hand,…
I had an epiphany today about my book. I need to re-write it. (This is the book I’ve been feeling really insecure about.) Now, rewriting the book might not change it that much. But I want to make one small tweak to my perspective while writing it, and I know that will make all the…
People say America was formed on Christian principles. It was created by a bunch of Bible believers, creating a place where we can finally worship freely without some annoying king breathing down our backs and oppressing us. There are some nuggets of truth in that. But the problem is, the church has begun confusing American…