Browse: Page 18
By J. Timothy King on July 19, 2011
Sixteen year old Channie Kerns leads an idyllic life of magic, deep in the Ozark Mountains, until her family is forced to flee from a powerful rival who wants them all murdered. They leave everything and everyone behind, uproot their lives, change their names, and disappear to Louisville, Colorado. But when her parents catch Channie flirting with a group of “sex-crazed,” non-magical, city boys, they slap a powerful chastity spell on her to protect her virtue. And the spell has side-effects no one expected. Then Channie begins to fall in love with Josh Abrim, a BMX racer with dangerous secrets of his own. She rebels against her parents and turns to dark and forbidden magic to break the chastity spell, with disastrous results.
In the spirit of full disclosure—and a little bragging—I discovered Enchantement when Charlotte Abel commented on BeTheStory.com: ‘If the early reviews for “Enchantment” are any indication, I’d have to say “we” nailed it. I’m including you in that “we” because it was your article that gave me the courage to write what was in my heart.’ That’s when I began to suspect that I might like this book. And I was right. Continue reading “Teaser Tuesdays: Enchantment, by Charlotte Abel”
Posted in Teaser Tuesdays | Tagged Charlotte Abel, Enchantment |
By J. Timothy King on July 12, 2011
As you may recall, I’m a friend neither of crony capitalism nor of the religious right.
I hate crony capitalism, because it corrupts honest people just trying to run honest businesses and do an honest day’s work. That’s one of the reasons, I think, why everyone loves the “free market” but despises “capitalism.”
And when it comes to Christian politics, if Jesus were here preaching today— He wouldn’t be preaching by the seashore, of course. But on his YouTube channel, I think he’d more often support the ACLU than the ACLJ. And when challenged by James Dobson and Roberta Combs—as he was challenged by the Sadducees and Pharisees—he’d probably say something about giving unto Obama that which is Obama’s, and giving unto God that which is God’s.
So when a friend sent out a link to this piece on the Psychology Today website, entitled “The Unseen Influence of the Religious Right,” I was truly hoping for some solid ammunition.
Instead, I read the whole thing, and all I got was this stinkin’ blog post. Continue reading “What a Disappointment: Crony Capitalism and the Religious Right”
Posted in Christianity, Economics, Politics, Religion | Tagged religious right
By J. Timothy King on July 9, 2011
A friend of mine remarked today (in a private online forum), “Once you’ve walked in the shoes I walk in, live the life I live, and feel the pain I feel, then you can judge me.”
This is a common sentiment, which has inspired some powerful stories, and which inspired some involved thoughts of my own (at almost one in the morning). I gather that this anonymous quote has been floating around the Internet. There’s a lot stuffed into that single, pithy thought. I’m not sure I buy into all of it. So I felt compelled to write this short note, expounding what I think is an important truth. Continue reading “Once you’ve walked in my shoes…”
Posted in Love and Relationships | Tagged emotion, empathy, interpersonal utility comparisons, relationships
By J. Timothy King on July 6, 2011
Apparently this week’s most favorite misunderstood bible quote, I’ve run into it multiple times recently, from multiple sources:
I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
(Philippians 4:13 NIV)
What an empowering thought. Isn’t it great that we can accomplish anything we set our minds to, through God’s strength? Bzzt. Wrong! What Paul is talking about here involves much more depth, a much more profound message.
In uncertain times such as these, we seek to be empowered. Because with power comes control and certainty. World and national events sometimes make us feel as though life is slipping away from us. Wars on one side, injustice on the other, and economic tornadoes touching down right over our heads. We fear for our lives, our families, and our communities, and we may even feel these slipping away from us. And we react, as all humans do, to reassert ourselves over our environment, to try to maintain personal empowerment in the midst of circumstances we have no control over. Continue reading “I Can Do All Things… (on Philippians 4:13)”
Posted in Christianity, Religion | Tagged peace |
By J. Timothy King on July 5, 2011
This is so très kewl!
I was watching on NetFlix a Discovery Channel documentary, The Science of Sex Appeal… research for my next novel.
Anyhow, at one point during the program, anthropologist Helen Fisher said:
I think that we’ve evolved three distinctly different brain systems for love. One is the sex drive, the craving for sexual gratification, associated with testosterone in both men and women. The other is romantic love, that elation, the focused attention, the obsessive thinking of early love. And the third is attachment, that sense of calm and security you can feel for a long-term partner.
(Helen Fisher is the author of Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love and other titles.)
So why is this so très kewl? Continue reading “Three Kinds of Love”
Posted in Books, Love and Relationships, Love through the Eyes of an Idiot | Tagged attachment, commitment, love, romance, sex, unconditional love |
By J. Timothy King on June 21, 2011
Splurging with my birthday money, at the Used Book Superstore
When I opened my birthday present, aside from the gift itself, out fell two twenties and a ten. And the first thing I thought was, Now I can buy more groceries.
As you know, sometimes the life of a writer sucks. But I do have a summer software contract lined up, which should fund this year’s big book giveaway. As we say: I’m just writing to make money until my software-development career takes off.
Nonetheless, I did manage to stop by the Used Book Superstore yesterday, on a lark. I told myself I’d only check for Holly Lisle titles that I didn’t have. Didn’t find any. (No surprise.) And then I happened through the foreign-language section and the advertising-and-marketing section and the religion section. Continue reading “My Birthday Books”
Posted in Books, Judaism, Religion | Tagged birthdays, Holly Lisle, Mark Kinzer, Midnight Rain, Twilight, Used Book Superstore, used books
By J. Timothy King on June 7, 2011
You may recall last year an off-the-wall post scratched out at Dunkin Donuts that a wrote on the way to an MRI lab. I had been suffering from depression and headaches, sometimes so serious that I couldn’t think straight.
Rarely, in these cases, the symptoms indicate a brain tumor or some other neurological problem. So at the expense of my health-insurance company—and possibly also to protect himself from a malpractice claim—he ordered an MRI scan on my head. I implied that I promised to post pictures, which I never did… not that they’re that interesting. They found nothing there. Uh, nothing that wasn’t supposed to be there. (As you can see from the photo above, my perfectly healthy brain.)
I still say the depression had a pretty obvious cause. And the headaches, I’m convinced were caused by stress, poor sleep, and caffeine abuse. (UPDATE: And bad diet, lack of exercise, and dehydration. Duh.)
My friend wasn’t so lucky. Continue reading “What My Doctor Was Afraid Of”
Posted in Judaism, Religion | Tagged cancer, Modeh Ani, MRI, photos
By J. Timothy King on June 7, 2011
Phoebe Rain’s violent ex-husband lies in a coma a thousand miles away. Yet Phoebe knows the voice on the other end of the phone, the voice of that twisted man, who vowed he’d never let her get away. Panicked, she turns to her neighbor, Dr. Alan MacKerrie, who finds the story hard to believe… But now he too is receiving chilling warnings of danger from beyond. Caught between icy terror and mounting passion, is there no escape?
On the way to my goal to read every book Holly Lisle has ever written… Well, not yet close to that goal, but at least heading in the right direction. And like her other romantic suspenses, Midnight Rain comes with about equal parts evil suspense, paranormal terror, and passionate romance, all weaved through a compelling story driven by deep characters, proof that stories that grab you do not also need to be shallow.
Today’s teaser, from page 84 (randomly selected by Random.org) of Midnight Rain: Continue reading “Teaser Tuesdays: Midnight Rain”
Posted in Teaser Tuesdays | Tagged Holly Lisle, Midnight Rain |
By J. Timothy King on May 27, 2011
[UPDATE, October 2013: My daily routine has changed massively since this post, especially since we moved into the Merrimack Valley. These photos are also two cars ago, and one diet ago—and unfortunately Panera Bread no longer fits into my diet. But I do still visit some of the other places on this list, and I still write on my couch, though I’ve lost a lot of weight since that photo.]
I’ve been posting photos of my personal writing spaces on Facebook. It all started as a project, created by Estrella Azul, in the #FridayFlash group there, with a number of writers sharing photos of their personal writing spaces.
(Click on any of the photos in this post for a full-size version.)
Me, I don’t have a fixed writing space. But I frequent a few favorite locations, whether writing prose or writing software. One of these, my own living room. I stretch out next to my spooky cat, turn on Music Choice to jazz or classical, or even easy listening— Hey, don’t laugh: it relaxes me. Unfortunately, the television sits there in the same room, and NetFlix. That can prove quite a distraction, which probably accounts for why I’m so exhausted and I still didn’t get any actual work done. Continue reading “My Personal Writing Spaces (photos)”
Posted in Writing | Tagged photos
By J. Timothy King on May 6, 2011
I wrote earlier this week on Be the Story about how I was getting into In Plain Sight. Unfortunately, if you’re unfamiliar with the show, I can neither confirm nor deny that it even exists. We all know, you know, but we don’t actually know. The location at which this game will occur is also top-secret.
And please, if you invite Jinx and Peter, fill their glasses with plain orange juice or tomato juice or apple juice or some other suitably thick and/or sweet liquid. At least they’ll be able to get sick with you.
Here are the rules: Continue reading “The “In Plain Sight” Drinking Game”
Posted in Entertainment, Television | Tagged drinking game, In Plain Sight, TV |
