 |
| C. Kevin Thompson |
“Why
Write?”
Ever muttered those words to yourself?
“I’ve
been writing for years now. Yet, my Twitter followers are few and far-between
compared to secular writers. If only I had 67.2K like James Patterson.”
Ever think those kinds of thoughts?
“My
Facebook friends seem fickle and flighty. When I post about a new blog entry or
a new book, they say they ‘like’ my posts, but few ever say they actually read
it. Hardly any of them comment on it.”
Ever wonder about these things?
If you allow yourself, it’s easy, as a writer, to throw a
pity party. Every profession has their pity party planners. They circle the
wagons often, making sure they encapsulate every other like-minded party goer,
who can pat them on the back and “encourage them” in their defeated, idiomatic
existence. I’m an educator. There are many pity party planners right now in the
teaching ranks. You think you have it tough as a writer?
Yet, as I shift gears into 2015 and rethink some of my writing
plans, I have been wondering how God would have fared if He approached things
the way we do.
In the beginning, He writes the first set of organized words
for His people in Exodus 20. Within days, those “books” are literally destroyed
by His distributor, Moses (Exodus 32). So, He has to have them reprinted
(Exodus 34).
Once those writings were distributed to the people, they are
first met with hoopla and holiday spirit (Exodus 35-40). However, it didn’t
take long for those same words to become despised, ignored, and eventually
forgotten (Numbers 11 is where it all starts).
God’s readership sank to the bottom of the “Mesopotamian
Booksellers Hot Releases List” time and time again. For decades, while in
captivity, God’s Word was nowhere to be found in Babylon or Assyria. It finally
was unearthed by Hilkiah the priest under the reign of Josiah in 2 Kings 22
(also, 2 Chronicles 34) after the Hebrews had been back in the Promised Land
for some time under the reign of Hezekiah.
On and on the story goes. God’s first book, in the
beginning, wasn’t very popular. Yet, did God give up? Of course not. Even when
it went “out of print,” He never gave up. Why? Because He believed in what He
wrote. That’s why He wrote the sequel (the New Testament).
He knew these two “books” would change lives.
For eternity.
Do you write to change lives for eternity? If so, then don’t
be surprised if you’re not “popular” in this anti-God, anti-Christian world
which grows increasingly darker with each passing day. There weren’t too many
people getting “saved” as the Israelites were being hauled off to Babylon and
Assyria. As the Romans swept across the Sinai Peninsula and descended into what
is now North Africa, the “books” still languished in “sales.” When the sequel
went into print, then the “sales” improved.
So, don’t walk away from your computer downtrodden because
you only gained ten Twitter followers this week and lost four. It took God a
long while before His writing plan “took off,” too.
Don’t give up. Write with the heart of God, and He will
reward your faithfulness in the places it matters most (Matthew 6:33).
Something
ominous lurks under the waters.
Dr.
Evelyn Sims, a brilliant marine biologist, is being watched. Her husband's
mysterious death at sea—with the only survivor of the Greenback telling a
shocking, unbelievable tale—has thrown her personal life into chaos. Her
scientific views are being scrutinized. Her husband's office and their home are
investigated. Called in by the FBI to help solve the mystery, Evelyn is thrust
into her toughest research project ever...and forced into a maze of deception
and betrayal.
Micah
Gregson, the Coast Guard captain who rescued the Greenback, is determined to
find out why a special unit at the FBI—the one assigned to cryptozoological
cases—is involved.
Together
Evelyn and Micah will uncover a plot more deadly than anything the ocean could
ever produce. One that will either save Evelyn's life and redeem her career, or
destroy everything she—and myriad others—stand for.
C.
KEVIN THOMPSON is an ordained minister, having served churches
in New York, Mississippi, Texas, and Iowa. He is married (for 33+ years), has
three daughters, two sons-in-law, and five grandchildren. He speaks in churches
on occasion, presently works as an assistant principal in a Central Florida
school district, and plays the drums in his church’s praise team. He is a huge
fan of the TV series 24, The Blacklist,
and Criminal Minds, loves anything to
do with Star Trek, and is a Sherlock
Holmes fanatic too.
Kevin is a member of the Christian Authors Network (CAN),
ACFW, and Word Weavers International, and his published works include two
award-winning novels, The Serpent’s Grasp
(OakTara, 2012; winner of the 2013 Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers
Conference Selah Award for First Fiction) and 30 Days Hath Revenge - A Blake Meyer Thriller: Book 1 (OakTara
2013), as well as articles in The
Wesleyan Advocate, The Preacher, Vista, The Des Moines Register and The Ocala Star-Banner.
Facebook: C. Kevin
Thompson – Author Fan Page
Twitter: @CKevinThompson
Goodreads: C. Kevin Thompson
