Writing Deficiency Disorder by C. Kevin Thompson

Writing Deficiency Disorder

Study after study has been done in recent years. Such things as “gray matter atrophy,” “compromised white matter integrity,” “reduced cortical thickness,” “impaired cognitive function,” and “cravings and impaired dopamine function,” are all physiological detriments attributed to this malady that now touches hundreds of thousands of people a year. It is a global issue, and not limited to those of us here in America. It is not discriminatory when it comes to gender or age, although it does affect younger folks more than older ones.

Such alarming things as “structural and functional changes in the brain regions involving emotional processing, executive attention, decision making, and cognitive control” have been discovered.1

You might be thinking I am speaking of such horrible diseases like Alzheimer’s, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, or some form of brain cancer or neurological degradation for which science has yet to find a cure.

However, this disease of which I speak is self-inflicted. It has nothing to do with exposure to chemical spills or radioactive power plants. It has nothing to do with the weed killer our farmers spray on our vegetables in the field as they grow or the depletion of the ozone layer and the subsequent exposure to harmful ultraviolet radiation.

I’m speaking of your smartphone. That handy-dandy device that brings the world to your fingertips. That electronic wonder you hold in your hand—the same one that has enough computing power to equal that found in both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2.

This also applies to the gaming systems your teens may utilize. X-Box One and PlayStation 4 are the latest versions of these to hit store shelves.

The point is, when we are on our devices, whether it be phones or gaming devices, something “ungood” happens inside our craniums. Hemispheres get disconnected. Rerouting of normal brain pathways occurs. Loneliness and depression increases. To put it bluntly, it changes a person. It “messes with our heads,” literally. The normal person spends 135 minutes a day on their devices,² equaling almost ten percent of an entire twenty-four-hour day. When you factor in sleep (seven hours average), then the percentage climbs to over thirteen percent of one’s waking moments. And this is the “normal” person, mind you. I’m sure we can think of people we know who spend considerably more than two hours and fifteen minutes a day on devices, spread across gaming systems, social media, and other smartphone-related usage, like texting, web-surfing, etc.

For the writer, besides facing the real issue of rearranging our brain structures, which affects how much real, restful sleep we receive, by the way, we face a dilemma all our own: Stolen Writing Time, or what we could label Writing Deficiency Disorder. It hits us in different ways, but each one is kin to the other. For some of us, it’s the incessant buzzing of your smartphone as notification after notification alerts you to the “my world will come to an end if I don’t check it” light flashing in the corner of your device. For others, it’s the “come hither” look our browser button at the bottom of our computer monitor gives us each time we pause when typing. For still others, it’s the dopamine withdrawal we are experiencing because it’s been over fifteen minutes since we accrued our last “fifteen minutes of social media fame” in the form of likes, hearts, and comments. For younger writers, developing a new dance move on Fortnite just may be their kryptonite.

For those of us who call ourselves “writers/authors,” we like to “justify” our online time by saying things like, “Well, I was checking on a sale ad I am running,” or “I feel like if I’m not in touch with my peeps, I'm not being a good author,” or other similar comments. Yes, social media is here for now. Whether it is here to stay is another question. I guess only time will answer that question. Yes, the internet is a tool. Many books can be sold via its engines of ingenuity (although many of us are experiencing hindrances in that area via the “giants” in this land, like Amazon, Google, and Facebook algorithms, for example). Yes, it is nice to “talk” with folks we know who do not live locally. Social media isn’t all bad. The internet does have some useful qualities. Electronics, whether the gaming kind or communicative sort, are not bad, per se. They are amoral. They are neither good nor bad. They are like money. Inanimate objects. It is the love of those items that is the root of evil (cf. 1 Timothy 6:10).

Especially when we allow them to dominate us.

And for us as writers, allowing them to rob us of time that could be spent putting words on the page is our version of this malady: Writing Deficiency Disorder.

So, let TED talk some other time, maybe while you’re cooking dinner or mowing the yard instead. Leave Facebook, Instagram, MeWe, Snapchat, and Twitter alone for a day and see just how many people actually missed you by sending messages like, “Hey, where did you go?” Then, spend that time instead at your computer alone with your manuscript, with the Wi-Fi disconnected (you know you can do that, right?). Shut the smartphone off, or silence it, and leave it in another room. Set a timer or a goal and tell yourself, “I’m glued to this keyboard until I finish (the goal) or the timer goes off.”

Trust me, do this for a month of weekdays, and not only will you have developed a new habit, you will have saved some brain cells, grabbed a little more restful sleep, climbed out of that pit of despair, and put more words on the page than ever before. And to top it all off, like whipped cream on a sundae, your Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, MeWe, and Facebook friends will still be there, and they will still be your friends. You know why? They’re like the rest of the world. They’re just as interested in getting their dopamine fix from how many “likes” they’ve received in the last two hours, or by how many coins or kills they’ve amassed in the latest game craze, as you are by completing a chapter or finally getting to type “The End” on their first draft.


1 Dunckley, Victoria L. “Gray Matters: Too Much Screen Time Damages the Brain.” Psychology Today. 2014 Feb. 14. 2019 Aug. 18 <https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mental-wealth/201402/gray-matters-too-much-screen-time-damages-the-brain>

² McSweeney, Kelly. “This is Your Brain on Instagram: Effects of Social Media on the Brain.” Now. The Intersection of technology, innovation, & creativity. 2019 March 17. 2019 Aug. 18. 
<https://now.northropgrumman.com/this-is-your-brain-on-instagram-effects-of-social-media-on-the-brain/>

When we are on our devices, whether it be phones or gaming devices, something “ungood” happens inside our craniums. #seriouslywrite #encouragementforwriters via @CKevinThompson

Allowing smartphones to rob us of time that could be spent putting words on the page is the writer’s version of this malady: Writing Deficiency Disorder.
#seriouslywrite #encouragementforwriters via @CKevinThompson

The Serpent’s Grasp

The Serpent's Grasp

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

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 four books of his Blake Meyer Thriller series are out! Book 1, 30 Days Hath Revenge, Book 2, Triple Time, Book 3, The Tide of Times, and Book 4, When the Clock Strikes Fourteen, are now available!! Also, the second edition of his award-winning debut novel, The Serpent’s Grasp, is also now available!

Kevin is a huge fan of the TV series 24, The Blacklist, Blue Bloods, NCIS, Criminal Minds, BBC shows Broadchurch, Shetland, Hinterland, and Wallander, loves anything to do with Star Trek, and is a Sherlock Holmes fanatic, too. But you will never catch him wearing a deerstalker. Ever.

Website: www.ckevinthompson.com/
Kevin’s Writer’s Blog: www.ckevinthompson.blogspot.com/
Facebook: C. Kevin Thompson – Author Fan Page
Twitter: @CKevinThompson
Instagram: ckevinthompson
Pinterest: ckevinthompsonauthor
Goodreads: C. Kevin Thompson
BookBub: C. Kevin Thompson

A Twist of Hope by C. Kevin Thompson

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?

The Serpent’s Grasp

The Serpent's Grasp

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

An Author’s Forum on the Four-Letter Word We Have All Grown to…eh, Love? Marketing! by C. Kevin Thompson

C. Kevin Thompson

Return on Investment. It’s called R-O-I in the business world. Well, actually, it’s called that everywhere these days. I’m an educator by day, and we use it. It speaks of whether or not what you spend your money on has the old “bang for the buck.” The same can be said of time we spend. And as I get older, the former is just as critical as the latter!

So, as a writer, what are your ROIs? Think of what you spend and what you spend it on, and ask yourself this simple question: Is it giving me the bang for my buck?

I just read an article recently that said authors (not just people, but authors) spend an average of two hours and twenty minutes on social media a day. No doubt, much of that is marketing stuff. And no doubt, some of it is that “Squirrel!” moment when you went to that social media site on a mission and found yourself sitting there thirty minutes later laughing and shaking your head at the internet’s latest version “The People of Walmart” photographs.

The article brought up a good point, though. How much writing could you do with an extra two hours and twenty minutes a day? They did the math. That’s twenty business, 40-hour work weeks a year.

Hmm….

Some people could crank out a novel or two in that amount of time…

It sure got me to thinking. For authors, social media marketing has changed over its short history. What used to work doesn’t really work anymore, unless you pay for it via ads. And even those don’t work as well as they did six months ago.

So, what’s an author to do? What do you do when you try to get the word out about your book? Do you use the old standbys like book signings and book tours? Are you a social media guru? Are you a cutting-edge kind of person? What’s your deal? How are you growing your readership? What’s working? What has been a goldmine? What’s not working? What was a total flop?

I’m sure a fellow author or two or a hundred would love to hear about your triumphs and/or tragedies. We’re all here to grow, right? We can all learn from one another, right? Then, let us hear from you! Let’s have a mini-writers conference in the comments below.

The Serpent's Grasp

The Serpent’s Grasp

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, Book 2, Triple Time, and Book 3, The Tide of Times, are now available! Book 4, When the Clock Strikes Fourteen, is coming soon! 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.

To connect with Kevin and learn more, please visit:

Website:                                http://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

When Hurricanes Blow Away Your Writing Schedule by C. Kevin Thompson

C. Kevin Thompson

There is little out there more trying on the patience of a person than preparing for a hurricane. In the week to ten days prior to the event, you are watching forecasts, being told how big the storm is, how destructive it is. There’s the dizzying array of “spaghetti models” showing the storm going one way, then another, and another.

At first, Hurricane Irma was going to hit New York. Be another Sandy. Then, it shifted. The people of the Carolinas took notice. Yet again, it shifted. East coast of Florida. West coast of Florida. Then, right up the middle of the state.

During this time, people started to panic as Irma became the most publicized, advertised, and glamorized storm of all time. An estimated five million people headed north. For those who stayed, generators disappeared. Gasoline disappeared. Store shelves looked like Looter Central. I laughed when I went to our local store two days before the storm hit. Even when supplies are scarce, there were kinds of bread and certain types of paper goods nobody apparently wanted. A First-World problem, for sure.

But once you are as prepared as you can be, you still have to live through the storm. Bands of rains influenced by Irma swept across our area Saturday evening, Sept. 10. The outer bands got here on Sunday. By Sunday night, the winds picked up with gusts of 50-60 mph. The power went out at 1:23 a.m., ninety minutes before the eye plowed directly over our area.

By late Monday morning, the winds were still gusty, but the threats were gone, or so we thought. A fifty-foot oak tree that was already leaning toward our house had shifted at least two feet more, and the roots had uprooted partially. This was in addition to a shattered kitchen window suffered during the peak of the storm and what I estimate is 15-20 pick-up truck loads of debris scattered across our yard.

Our power remained off until Wednesday afternoon while heat indexes of 102 plagued our area.

Now (Saturday, Sept. 16), we’re getting back to normal. The Leaning Tree of Lake Thompson is gone. Tree service took it down Wednesday. About 60 percent of the debris is picked up and stacked out by the road, but I’m running out of lot frontage. The piles range from five to eight feet high and are anywhere from four to ten feet wide. FEMA trucks will pick it all up in about a month or two.

Oh, the window is fixed, too.

But one thing that still needs repair is my writing schedule. I’m a good 10,000 words behind, and finding time to be creative is at a premium right now. Especially when you are physically and emotionally drained. (And yet, we didn’t suffer anything like the folks in south Florida—Naples area—or those in Houston. Please pray for those affected.)

But like everything that is important, I’ll find the time. Somehow. Some way. I’ll figure out how to up my word count some days until I’m back on track. Why? Because that’s what writers do. They write. Even if it is only ten words.

And it will probably be awhile before I complain about all the usual, minor things I complain about that get in my way.

It’s amazing how life-changing events help to refocus our lives.

Maybe that’s why God allows them to happen.

The Serpent’s Grasp

The Serpent's Grasp

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 with a B.A. In Bible (Houghton College, Houghton, NY), an M.A. in Christian Studies (Wesley Biblical Seminary, Jackson, MS), and an M.Ed. in Educational Leadership (National-Louis University, Wheeling, IL). He presently works as an assistant principal in a middle school.

His Blake Meyer series is out! 30 Days Hath Revenge - A Blake Meyer Thriller: Book 1, is now available! Book 2 of the Blake Meyer Series, Triple Time, is now available! Book 3, The Tide of Times, will be out Labor Day weekend! 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.

To connect with Kevin and learn more, please visit:

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

If the Bible was Submitted for Publication… (1 Samuel 31) by C. Kevin Thompson

C. Kevin Thompson

I attended a Christian writers conference a few years ago. It was the first one for me. They had a contest wherein writers who wished to do so could submit the first three chapters of a manuscript prior to the conference. The submissions were subsequently handed off to faculty members when they arrived. The manuscripts samples were read, scored, and were given back to the attendees when they registered. The winners in each category were honored on the last evening of the conference.

I thought to myself, “My writing is pretty tight. I have a good chance.” So, I paid my contest fee, sent in my first three chapters, and waited. 

When I arrived at the conference, I received my manuscript packet. Inside, my three chapters were stapled together with a cover sheet from the editor of a publishing house who was charged with the reading of my work. This editor—being honest, I’m sure—wrote on the form, in the comment section these words: “Not suited for Christian market. Submit to general market.”

As you can imagine, I walked away a little discouraged. Borderline depressed, actually. What I thought was good writing for the CBA market had just been annihilated in nine words. As I walked away, I wondered why I was there. If my work is not suited for the CBA, then why stay at a Christian writers conference?

I wanted a reason. A note. A critique of how this conclusion was reached. But there were no comments about the level of the writing itself. No words of encouragement. No critique whatsoever. Just the editor’s name, the publishing house represented, and the comment.

Because there was no reason given, I had to speculate, and that’s the worst thing to do when you’re depressed and discouraged. I concluded that people having affairs and subsequently getting eaten by giant sea serpents didn’t fit the scope of the bonnet and buggy crowd. And, I thought, because this editor only got to read the first three chapters and not the entire manuscript, the redeeming value of the story was missed.

Now, here I sit, reading the last chapter in 1 Samuel. A book in the Bible, no less. And the gore depicted in this story rivals, probably exceeds, anything I’ve written.

This chapter describes the demise of King Saul. The Philistines had already killed his sons, and now, Saul asks his armor-bearer to “run him through” with his sword so that his enemies cannot torture him. Saul’s armor-bearer refuses, so Saul takes his own sword and commits suicide. Terrified, the armor-bearer does the same thing.

The carnage didn’t stop there. The Philistines went through the region, occupying towns and taking any and all possessions. They even raided the dead bodies fallen on the battlefield. When they come across King Saul and his three sons, they stripped them of their armor, then beheaded Saul’s dead body. They sent news via messengers throughout the land, no doubt, using Saul’s head as the proverbial king’s seal of authenticity.

If that wasn’t bad enough, Saul’s armor was taken, along with his body, to the Philistine temple of Ashtoreth. There, his armor was put in the temple (v. 10). And to top it all off, Saul’s body was fastened to the wall as a sign to the worshippers that Ashtoreth was supposedly greater than the God of Israel.

This was reprehensible to the people of Jabesh Gilead, so they entered the temple, removed Saul’s body, burned it, and then buried the bones (vv. 11-12).

I guess God should have written this for the general market.

Oh, wait. He did.

Hmmm…

And therein lies the rub.

As a writer, it’s easy to write Christian novels that ooze with Christianese and always end “happily ever after.” Everybody gets saved, finds God, gets filled with the Holy Spirit, wins the girl of his dreams, finds the man of her dreams, or whatever. When I say “easy,” I mean Christian publishers always look for these kinds of stories because they sell. But interestingly enough, that’s not how the Bible was written. Yes, there are the romantic suspense stories of the Ruths of the Bible. There are the dramatic stories of the Marys. However, the Bible doesn’t contain those kind of stories only. God chose to write stories depicting people, godly people at times, with all their spiritual warts, psychological scars, and psychopathic tendencies. Sometimes, committing horrendous atrocities.

And the most important thing to remember is that God wrote the Bible so that others could be saved.

Imagine that. People can get saved reading about violence and sin…so long as the violence has a redeeming purpose and sin is sin.

So, for those of you who write stories that don’t involve Amish women or historical figures of the wild west who hate each other in the beginning (but you know they’ll end up together), take heart. There is a place for your story in the plan of God…so long as there is a redeeming purpose in the pages. So, be patient and keep writing. God will take care of the rest.

Oh, and by the way, about those first three chapters I mentioned earlier…they were the first three chapters of my debut novel, The Serpent’s Grasp. This novel won the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference’s 2013 Selah Award for Fiction-First Novel and was a finalist in Foreword Review’s 2012 Book of the Year Awards in the Science Fiction category.

A publisher picked it up at that same conference referenced above.

It was a good thing I stayed, huh?

The Serpent’s Grasp

The Serpent's Grasp

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 with a B.A. In Bible (Houghton College, Houghton, NY), an M.A. in Christian Studies (Wesley Biblical Seminary, Jackson, MS), and an M.Ed. in Educational Leadership (National-Louis University, Wheeling, IL). He presently works as an assistant principal in a middle school.

His Blake Meyer series is out! 30 Days Hath Revenge - A Blake Meyer Thriller: Book 1, is now available! Book 2 of the Blake Meyer Series, Triple Time, is now available! Book 3, The Tide of Times, will be out Labor Day weekend! 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.

To connect with Kevin and learn more, please visit:

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

By-Laws, In-Laws, and Out-Laws (Exodus 18) by C. Kevin Thompson

C. Kevin Thompson

Sometimes you should listen to your in-laws.

I know. It sounds like crazy talk from a madman, but it’s true. Once in a blue moon, they may come up with some good advice. Like in the case with Moses and his father-in-law Jethro, for example.

Jethro came to visit and deliver to Moses his wife and children who had been living in Midian during the period of time Moses spent being God’s mouthpiece in the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. Upon his arrival, he became enthralled at how God was using his son-in-law. So, he decided to stay a while and enjoy “God’s presence and bounty.”

You know how relatives are.

One day, Moses took his place in the “judgment seat” and settled disputes amongst the people from morning ‘til night. Jethro witnessed this and made a simple, but astute, observation. “Keep doing this every day, Moses, and you’ll be dead before too long. You’ll wear yourself out.”

Good advice. At that time, the Israelites numbered over 600,000. That is a lot of disputes to settle for one man.

Jethro suggested to Moses an idea to take before the Lord. “Be God’s representative before the people. Teach them His decrees and laws. Settle the big disputes, but appoint God-fearing men as judges to settle the minor cases.” In other words, Jethro suggested a court system similar to what we have today. The judges would be the lower court system, and Moses and God would be the “Supreme Court.”

Moses liked the idea and made it happen. Two chapters later, the Ten Commandments were relayed to Moses. Coincidence? I doubt it.

Relatives can help give us ideas. Sometimes, they can even be good ones.

As a writer, those relatives you see as _____________ (You fill in the adjective here) can be the idea starter for a winning character.

What about the second cousin on your mother’s side who changes jobs every six months? You know who I’m talking about. Or that uncle with the bald head, beer gut, and annoying chuckle? Uh-huh. Gets on your nerves doesn’t it? Or what about your rich cousin? How did he make his fortune?

Remember “Jailbird Joey” from Back to the Future? I bet one of the writers was thinking of a relative when that character was inserted into the McFly family. Or what about the uncle in Home Alone who never wants to pay for anything but mooches off the McAlister family every Christmas? Got one of those in your family? Or Raymond’s cousin Gerard in Everybody Loves Raymond? Do you know a Gerard? Have a Gerard? Want to unload a Gerard?

Everyone has relatives that embarrass them, make them angry, frustrate them, make them proud, or cause them to step into the bathroom when that relative is spotted coming down the hallway. You know the one. You can remember what day, which store, and what aisle it was you ducked down when that relative circled the end cap.

There’s a storyline for a character there somewhere. There are emotions, personality traits, idiosyncrasies that can be used to deepen your characters. You just have to be careful. You don’t want to make it too obvious who it is you’re writing about. Family feuds are easy enough to start. Why make it effortless?

And who knows? Maybe that creepy cousin from your step-dad’s fourth marriage—the one who dresses in black and listens to Evanesence—is writing you into his sci-fi, horror, paranormal romance novel right now.

Yeah. You know the one.

The Serpent’s Grasp

The Serpent's Grasp

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 with a B.A. In Bible (Houghton College, Houghton, NY), an M.A. in Christian Studies (Wesley Biblical Seminary, Jackson, MS), and an M.Ed. in Educational Leadership (National-Louis University, Wheeling, IL). He presently works as an assistant principal in a middle school.

His Blake Meyer series is out! 30 Days Hath Revenge - A Blake Meyer Thriller: Book 1, is now available! Book 2 of the Blake Meyer Series, Triple Time, is now available! Book 3, The Tide of Times, will be out Labor Day weekend! 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.

To connect with Kevin and learn more, please visit:

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

The Story Behind the Art by C. Kevin Thompson

C. Kevin Thompson

Do you read books or poems, hear songs, look at pictures or paintings, and wonder, how did the author come up with this? What does it mean? Is there some simple elegance to this piece? Or is there a deeper meaning hidden by my lack of knowledge about the origins?

Art is richer when you (the reader, the listener, the viewer) know the “backstory.” That’s why doing interviews as an author is so important, especially when you can peel back some layers and allow your audience to see you as a real person or how you come up with your stories.

I’ve been doing blog interviews for some time now, both as a guest and as the interviewer, but the importance of this concept was truly “brought home” to me recently.

We were listening to Sirius/XM radio on the way to the beach over Memorial Day weekend. They were doing a countdown of the Top 100 most influential rock-n-roll songs of all time. I’m not sure who put the list together, but like so many of these kinds of countdowns, I took issue with many of the selections as well as where some were ranked.

However, one particularly interesting part of this countdown was an interview they did with Robert Lamm, one of the members of the group Chicago. Leading into the next song in the Top 100 (I forget which number it was), they replayed an interview from some time back wherein Lamm explained how he came up with the name to the song, 25 or 6 to 4. Have you ever wondered how that song got its name? Me, too.

Lamm told the story of how—at the time he wrote the song—he was staying in an upstairs apartment with some immigrants from Europe in the Los Angeles/Hollywood area. It was early in the morning, and he’d been up all night, feeling the pressure of having to come up with songs that rivaled the ones found on the band’s debut album, which released in January 1969 with Columbia Records, and sold over one million copies. The band had just returned from a successful European tour and needed to complete the song list for the LP which would become Chicago II.

Lamm tells the story of how the music for the song came easy to him. Being the keyboardist for the group, this song actually started with a guitar riff. The rest of the notes flowed and were on paper quickly, but the lyrics? Not so much. He scribbled lines down. Some rhymed. Some still needed a match. He saw a bar across the street with “dancing lights against the sky.” There were airplanes, too, flying in and out of LAX. More dancing lights.

At one point, he looked at his watch. Squinting, he couldn’t tell exactly what time it was. At first, he thought it was twenty-five ’til four. Then, he said no, it’s twenty-six minutes until 4:00 a.m. “Is it twenty-five or six to four?” Noticing the line “25 or 6 to 4” rhymed with a line he’d penned earlier ending with the word “floor,” he jotted it down as well, thinking it would serve for now as a working title.

Soon, what Robert Lamm had was, in his words, “a song about writing a song.” So, when you click on the lyrics below and listen to the song itself, it just may take on a whole new persona. I know it did for me. Now, when I hear the song and think about it being “a song about writing a song,” the lyrics not only make perfect sense, but they almost seem comical.

Sometimes, simple is better than complex when it comes to art. Knowing the story behind the art is always useful, too. But what it does more than anything is allow the reader/listener/viewer to realize the Robert Lamm’s of the world are just like us. They struggle. They lie awake at night, trying to “think of something to say.” They feel the pressure of their last success pushing them to be better, to improve in their craft, not knowing “how much more they can take.” Yet, these are all things we, as writers, wrestle with every day. So, be encouraged. Who knows, maybe someday, you’ll write a book on writing a book.

I’ll bet it will look and sound very similar to the song below, as you sit at your computer, staring at the clock, wondering, “Is it 3:35 or 3:34 a.m.?”

Song Video (Live Version) of 25 or 6 to 4

Lyrics to 25 or 6 to 4

The Serpent’s Grasp

The Serpent's Grasp

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 with a B.A. In Bible (Houghton College, Houghton, NY), an M.A. in Christian Studies (Wesley Biblical Seminary, Jackson, MS), and an M.Ed. in Educational Leadership (National-Louis University, Wheeling, IL). He presently works as an assistant principal in a middle school.

His Blake Meyer series is out! 30 Days Hath Revenge - A Blake Meyer Thriller: Book 1, is now available! Book 2 of the Blake Meyer Series, Triple Time, is now available! Book 3, The Tide of Times, will be out in August 2017! Also, the second edition of The Serpent’s Grasp will be out in June 2017 through Hallway Publishing!

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.

To connect with Kevin and learn more, please visit:

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