Addiction Relapse, Pirate Monk, Action Figure Collecting, and More...

In lieu of a post this morning, here are links to a few more of my articles elsewhere:

• "10 Emotions That Can Trigger a Relapse in 2014 (part 1)" for X3Church
• "10 Emotions That Can Trigger a Relapse in 2014 (part 2)" for same.

• You Might have a Problem Collecting Toys If... at Figures.com 
• A Second Article on the Building of the Kre-O Brand at same

Finally, I was recently interviewed on Pirate Monk Podcast, the audio program of the Samson Society.

Starting in April, I'll be linking to my work on other sites when the articles go live!

And as a bonus, I included this. Not mine but it's pretty good: A Review of Kre-O City Invasion!

Review: The Dragon's Fury

The Dragon's Fury
by D.C. Mickelson

Reviewing another's art can be a tricky thing. The sensibilities of artists and audience members are different. Sometimes a book and a reader simply fail to connect; to no fault of either party, the chemistry is not there. This is a stark reality for me, given that beta readers recently finished engaging my 2nd novel. Writing works for some people but not others, and that's okay.

The trouble comes when those people become your sounding board for revisions or your reviewers after the fact.

Are You Praising Him?

I'm that type of Christian that asks questions that are useful but arguably ill-timed (and off putting). I'm learning that I get this from my mother.

My mother is a dear woman. I see a great deal of her in myself, and I am grateful for it. A certain forwardness about faith is one things we share. My mom is ever-willing to put God into the conversation, whether speaking about church or finances or whatever else. She sees God in things and wants to give him attention.  She share these views with others unabashedly, hoping they might seem him as well. I love this about her, and I tend to be the same way.

But most people (myself included) don't always want God acknowledged, not only in general conversation but especially when we are in a foul mood or ill temper. We don't want to be reminded of God when we are wallowing in our failure, not getting the results we want, or receiving our just desserts for our waywardness.

Joy

I’m not in a position the world would find joyful. In 2011, I set myself and wife on a journey based on what I felt the Lord leading us to do: first, to move ourselves from our comfortable middle-class existences in Southern California back to the State of Delaware where I was raised; second, to write a novel. We traveled cross-country in Summer 2012 with thoughts of getting work and our own home within nine months of our arrival to the East Coast. All the while, I was hard at work on my debut novel, Stronghold, which I released in May of 2013.

Though it took two years to accomplish, I thought we had done exactly as the Lord had asked and that he had “big plans” for us here.

Random Thoughts of a Disorganized Writer

Life has a way of escaping from us. One moment we have our paths outlined. We have our goals, our 5-year plans, and our action steps and priority items for the coming week. The next seeming moment--or at least the next moment we think on these things--we are behind in nearly every area, we've become lost on this tangent or that sidebar, and we have to reassess everything. We need to reset our priorities, recalibrate our goals, and redefine our boundaries and expectations.

Funny how much the process of achieving anything is dependent on constant vigilance of the process itself, rather than the act in question. If someone had told me a central aspect of writing was taking time each week to organize and plan before sitting to actually put words to the page, I never would have believed them. Now that I am "in the thick of it"; I don't know how successful writers achieve anything without this facet of their workload.

Quit Saying 'No' to Your Addictions...

Saying “no” is hard. It is. Humans like to say, “yes”. Oftentimes, we like to oblige others or ourselves. We like to be agreeable. Saying “yes” is easy.

But those in any type of recovery have a conundrum, because our journey is based on saying, “no”. Whether we’re addicted to drugs, smokes, booze, or porn, we’re all forced to say, “no”, and we don’t always want to. 

Some of us have not said “no” to our addiction for some time; others cannot remember if they ever have, and still more just want to keep saying it one more day. Wherever you are on that spectrum, you know how hard it is. You usually can’t just say it once and be done with it, either; rather, the desire remains too strong, calling to you again and again. Sometimes resisting is so hard that we collapse under the siren’s song just so that it will shut up.

Saying “no” is work.