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| C. Kevin Thompson |
I was browsing around the internet the other day, looking for
some things screenplay related, and I ran across a blog by a British
screenwriting bloke. In the upper, right-hand corner of the blog, it said
something like this:
It’s not
the rejection I’m afraid of. I can handle rejection. It’s the hope that drives
me mad and has me up at night.
Ever been there?
“Oh, I
hope that agent calls me back. She was so excited about my WIP.”
“I think
my novel could easily be made into a movie.”
“Just
imagine my non-fiction book stacked up five high, multiple stacks, just inside
the doors of Barnes & Noble, displayed for all to see. Right next to all
the big authors.”
“I’ve
submitted my book into the awards contest. I hope I win.”
Hope can be a funny thing.
It inspires
us.
It’s probably what got many of us into this writing biz in the first place.
It’s what motivates you into the wee hours of the morning, burning the
midnight...eh, electricity.
It
captivates us. Hope can dream big dreams. Most authors I’m sure
have thought—at least once—about their name appearing in some prominent,
writer-like location, where “the world” (it’s always the world, right?) can see
it. The front cover of Time. The
windows of B&N. In a promo spot on the Hallmark Channel.
It
comforts us. Hope can be that rope by which we cling when our
world is crumbling around us. It may be all we have at times, especially when
we feel like people have abandoned us.
It can
also drive us mad. Like the British bloke so aptly put it, we can
hope so adamantly, so specifically, that when things don’t follow our aspired,
inspired, and conspired comfortable game plan, then “all hope is lost.” “The
world” has come to an end. It’s over. Just throw in the…eh, computer. We’ll
never write again.
For those of us who name the name of Christ, our hope is in
Him. Only He is solid ground. Only He is the same yesterday, today, and
forever. Everything else is transient. There is no such thing as a “sure bet.”
Even sure bets, with whatever money is won at the track of human existence,
will wither and fade. But that’s what happens when hope is built on sand
instead of rock (Matt. 7:24-27).
Job knew this. Talk about hope and rejection. Yet, despite all
the bad things that happened to him, including not having a very supportive
spouse, he said, “Though he slay me, yet I will hope in Him” (Job 13:15).
Solomon understood this writer’s life: “Hope deferred makes
the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life” (Proverbs 13:12).
Paul saw hope as an anchor (Hebrews 6:19). He saw the hope of
salvation as a helmet that protects our head (mind, thoughts, beliefs; 1
Thessalonians 5:8).
Be mindful of the theme emerging from these scriptures and
others like them. Our hope is to be placed in God and the things of God
(justice, mercy, forbearance, kindness, peace, joy, love, goodness,
faithfulness, and gentleness). When we compare these things of God to our hopes
of this writing life, being a published author or a conference speaker or an
award-winning writer become chaff as God grinds us down to this kernel of
truth: Hope isn’t maddening when it is properly ordered in the ways of God.
So, how do you hope?
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 a
husband, a father, a grandfather, and a kid at heart. Often referred to as
“crazy” by his grandchildren, it’s only because he is. He’s a writer. Need he
say more?
The first three books of his Blake Meyer Thriller series are
out! Book 1, 30 Days Hath Revenge and
Book 2, Triple Time, are available!
Book 3, The Tide of Times, just
released in October! All three are on sale through New Year’s Eve! Also, the
second edition of his award-winning debut novel, The Serpent’s Grasp, is now available!
Kevin is a huge fan of the TV series 24, The Blacklist, Blue Bloods, and Criminal Minds, loves anything to do with Star Trek, and is a Sherlock Holmes fanatic, too. It’s quite
elementary, actually.
Website: www.ckevinthompson.com/
Kevin’s Writer’s Blog: www.ckevinthompson.blogspot.com/
Facebook: C. Kevin Thompson –
Author Fan Page
Twitter: @CKevinThompson
Goodreads: C.
Kevin Thompson
