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endings + beginnings

I’m not sure why I find the endings of stories so much more fascinating than the beginning.

It’s not the fact, or even the relief, of a story being complete. Not necessarily the satisfaction of tied-up subplots and well-rounded character arcs. Not the excitement of the climax (beginnings can be just as exciting).

But still, as I near the release of the final book of The Reinhold Chronicles, I find myself excited and a bit confused. I never anticipated how big these stories would grow when I first started forming them eight years ago (!). The Fiery Arrow was originally a standalone book. And although by the time I actually started writing it, I knew it would be the first of a trilogy, I had no clue what these adventures would really be like.

Now, looking back at it all, I’m slightly speechless. Continue reading “endings + beginnings”

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no accidental people

Isn’t it strange how your one life, your one story, can intersect with so many others? In one week. In one day. In a moment.

I was riding into Atlanta with a friend the other day, slogging through traffic on I-85, when this really hit me. Creeping through ATL traffic is annoying as heck, but it forces you to slow down. For me, at least—I start looking at the cars around me. Wondering about the people who drive them. Where they’re coming from. Where they’re going.

My friend must’ve been thinking along the same lines, because he broke the silence.

“Maybe this is weird. But do you ever think about the fact that there are probably people on this road right now that you know? Like, how many times have you driven past someone you know without realizing it? Or someone you’ll meet in the future?” Continue reading “no accidental people”

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Rivers and Roads

I don’t deal well with change.

Okay, no one really does, if they’re honest. But I feel like I’m pretty bad at it. Maybe it’s because I’m a storyteller. I see things in arcs and subplots. I realize that real life is full of foreshadowing, and I tend to plot out the future in my mind. I think of the people in my life as characters in my story—and of myself as a character in theirs.

Problem is, even real life has plot holes. Sometimes you don’t see the foreshadowing coming until you’re looking from hindsight. And real-life people are as unpredictable as good fictional characters—sometimes even more so.

Continue reading “Rivers and Roads”

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Love Unconditionally

In our whirlwind world, relationships are shallow and conversations circular.

Why don’t we dig deep? It’s hard to say. Maybe because it’s easy to skim the surface with superficial friendships, to define a relationship by the click of a button. Perhaps we just don’t want the work (and danger) of diving deep into another person’s heart. Or maybe we’re afraid—afraid others won’t understand, or that we’ll be hurt in the process.

But a terrifying possibility lurks beneath them all: we don’t know how. Maybe our culture no longer really knows how to forge deep relationships. Continue reading “Love Unconditionally”