“…but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God” (First Samuel 30:6b).

From Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible:

“IV. David’s pious dependence upon the divine providence and grace in this distress: But David encouraged himself in the Lord his God. His men fretted at their loss. The soul of the people was bitter, so the word is. Their own discontent and impatience added wormwood and gall to the affliction and misery, and made their case doubly grievous. But 1. David bore it better, though he had more reason than any of them to lament it; they gave liberty to their passions, but he set his graces on work, and by encouraging himself in God, while they dispirited each other, he kept his spirit calm and sedate. Or, 2. There may be a reference to the threatening words his men gave out against him. They spoke of stoning him; but he, not offering to avenge the affront, nor terrified by their menaces, encouraged himself in the Lord his God, believed, and considered with application to his present case, the power and providence of God, his justice and goodness, the method he commonly takes of bringing low and then raising up, his care of his people that serve him and trust in him, and the particular promises he had made to him of bringing him safely to the throne; with these considerations he supported himself, not doubting but the present trouble would end well. Note, Those that have taken the Lord for their God may take encouragement from their relation to him in the worst of times. It is the duty and interest of all good people, whatever happens, to encourage themselves in God as their Lord and their God, assuring themselves that he can and will bring light out of darkness, peace out of trouble, and good out of evil, to all that love him and are the called according to his purpose, Rom_8:28. It was David’s practice, and he had the comfort of it, What time I am afraid I will trust in thee. When he was at his wits’ end he was not at his faith’s end. “ 

I felt encouraged by this passage and wanted to share it, along with Mr. Henry’s commentary on it.

Tools, Tools, Tools

As mentioned in my last post on the subject of Writing a Mystery, my brain was becoming overcome by locales, characters, events, and conversations—not to mention the intertwining plotlines!  A writer friend of mine suggested a couple of books, one of which she said she’d loan or give me, and another, which I purchased.  The one I purchased is Fiction Writing Demystified, by (trust me) Tom Sawyer.  It has, I must say inspired me to want to take my novel, when I think I have finished it, and sit down with Demystified and go through each chapter by chapter together to ensure I’ve not left anything undone.

Another tool I’m using is a little program called Diagram Designer by Michael Vinther.  I’m not doing a precise event timeline with it, but I did a plotline, diagrammed the evidence for a crime, and described the major plotline sequence of events as it pertained to the crime itself.  On other pages, I am tracking on which days of the week (and elapsed days) are in which chapters and where the scenes are on those days.

For an actual like-the-cops-on-TV timeline, as the detectives would see it, showing what evidence and connections they see thus far, I’m using an Excel template.

Most how-to-be-a-writer sites tend to suggest, if not mandate, the creation of an outline.  I have found, however, that I’m what I would call a character-driven writer.  I don’t know exactly what is down the road until I write what the characters do or say or see in the here and now.

Well, dear reader, it is time for me to get back to my characters and see where they will take me today!

Thank you for reading!

Banging Away

I have certainly been remiss with respect to attending this blog.  Shame on me!  I’ll let myself off the hook, though, because I’ve been pretty diligent about working on my whodunit.  Not that it means anything in and of itself, but it feels pretty good to see “18,900 words” at the bottom of my screen.  I’ve been out to actual scenes I used in my book because I didn’t want someone telling me I didn’t at least get the locales correct.  I have had to take a few literary liberties, but not so obvious as NCIS (CBS) giving the impression that the agents quickly commute between DC and Norfolk, or that one can go from the Navy Yard to Manassas in ten minutes.

I sustain a state of wonder over the notion that my favorite authors can keep track, while writing, of what day of the week it is, which character said what, or even exactly how much each detective knows at any given time.

“How’m I gonna…?” seems to be a question which has to be answered over and over, and every time I solve that puzzle, another awaits.  I’ve been going back and reading through a series by perhaps my (currently) favorite author, Michael Connelly, the Harry Bosch series.  Every time I pick up one of his books, I am convinced that this book of mine will never fly.  At the least, I know I will have to go back through and flesh out every sort of description – characters, scenes, processes – to give life to them beyond my natural tendency to be overly concise.  Practice seems to make perfect, or at least maturation, because I find that I now recognize the too bland passages almost immediately.  I still keep on typing, though, to get the idea down “on paper.”

Some of the characters are based upon folks I actually knew decades ago, who were characters themselves.  Since I’m approaching 66, I doubt if any of them are still around to recognize themselves.

Well, it’s time to get back to my “murder board” (actually a legal pad), so I can update what my detectives know, so that, when they convene again on Monday (theirs and mine), we can get some work done!

Freedom of the press

This is more of a survey than an opinion piece, though I’ll share mine.  It seems that a reporter published information from a police source who had been ordered by a judge not to disclose information in order that the defendant might be assured of a fair trial, not in the press but in the courtroom.  (See the quote below.)

“Sylvester issued a gag order to law enforcement authorities in the days following the July 20 attack, in which Holmes allegedly killed 12 and injured 70. Holmes’ attorneys claim Winter’s story, published on July 25 and picked up by media outlets around the world, has jeopardized his right to a fair trial.”  Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/01/fox-news-reporter-faces-aurora-judge-over-refusal-to-reveal-sources/#ixzz2PEo6cawp

My question is whether the public’s need to know – not their curiosity or their lust for information – should trump the defendant’s right to a fair trial or possibly even free a guilty person from justice being meted out.  In this case, the reporter is not just protecting a confidential source, but is aiding and abetting a violator of the law, one who puts himself and his opinion above the law.

On the other hand, when does a gag order go too far and violate the intention of the framers of the Constitution?  In this case, I’m siding with the judge.

What say you?

An Easter Invitation – 3 Images

Progress Report:

Chapter One seems finished,  and is roughly seven-and-a-half pages, double-spaced, and 2,300 words.

Don’t know if that’s a good “score,” or if publishers even care about that sort of thing.

Chapter Two is coming along nicely, but I need to stop.  My Weber grill is calling me!

End of Watch

One takes their chances with an R-rated movie.  With a cop movie we figured violence would be the trigger.  We reached our “End of Watch,” that is our end of watching this film, within a very few minutes of having begun it.  It was not just profanity-laced, but only speckled here and there with barely enough decent words to glue together the strings of profanity.  The characters were on a par with the yahoos from Animal House or Porky’s, but without the redeeming qualities.  These supposedly college-educated police officers behaved like nose-picking adolescents.  Scary to think that in real life folks like these might be armed.  I’m from a police family, with a Captain and Chief of police as well as a beat cop, and while there were times of frivolity and rough language, underneath was the seriousness of the job.  All that was reflected in End of Watch until we ejected the DVD was patently juvenile.  We’re going to give our law enforcement folks more credit than that.