If You're Ready...It's Craftsman Time

After much preparation, the Christian Writers Guild is launching its Craftsman Course. But we warn you. This challenging year-long program isn't for everyone. It allows no shortcuts, cuts no slack, and requires heavy investments of both your time and money.

But if you qualify, you'll get the best hands-on training and help available to take your novel idea from the proposal stage to the printed page.

"This is the kind of a course I would have jumped at when I was a beginning novelist. " Jerry B. Jenkins

This is for you if …

• You've completed the Christian Writers Guild Apprentice and
Journeyman courses or have enough experience
or credits to waive this requirement.
• You have a novel you're burning to write.
• You're looking for a challenging one-year course that will walk you through the planning, plotting, writing, and re-writing.
• You have skin thick enough to take solid input from pros who will pull no punches.
• You can afford the $3,500 (as low as $3,150 if paid upfront).
• You can set aside five days for a residency program, November 5 to 9, 2008, at the Grand Hyatt in Denver.
• And you'll commit to keeping up with all the lessons in the meantime.

What you can expect to learn

• All the elements of developing a powerful story (point of view, characters, plotting, dialogue, and much more).
• How to create a stellar three-chapter sample and a full-blown proposal.
• How to pitch your book to a publishing house and literary agents.

Added benefits

• Your own mentor, interacting with you, via email, through every step.
• The five-day residency program, where you'll get personal coaching from me, along with widely published and deeply experienced fiction specialists
• No more than nine classmates, so you'll get lots of one-on-one time, plus interaction with other students
• A discount for our annual Writing for the Soul conference in February '09, where you'll enjoy a special workshop, editor appointment preferences, plus breakfast with Jerry B. Jenkins and his Craftsman team.

As you can imagine, we must be very selective in accepting enrollees. But if the above resonates with you, we need to hear from you soon. We plan to begin May 1, so contact Admissions Manager Paul Finch for details toll-free at 866-495-5177.

The Short-Term Residency

From Wednesday, November 5 through Sunday November 9, Jerry B. Jenkins, the Christian Writers Guild staff, and select published novelists will provide Craftsman participants with a writing retreat like no other. The short-term residency, included in the price of the Craftsman course, will cover lodging and special meals at an exceptional downtown Denver facility.

In addition, the short-term residency will…
Allow you to focus on your novel like never before
Provide intense training opportunities
Get you thinking about how to pitch your book
Show you insider marketing tips and tricks
Answer questions about contracts and agents
Offer creativity exercises to keep your approach fresh
Assign daily drills to strengthen your writing

The short-term residency will give you both the time and space to write and the freedom to enjoy mountain vistas. Plus, you're within walking distance of an array of attractions and eateries. For details, contact Paul Finch, Admissions Manager toll-free at 866-495-5177 .

The Craftsman Course Outline

Classes for the first group of 10 students begin May 1. The topics covered include:

May – Lesson 1 (Brainstorming Your Book)
Lesson 2 (Your Synopsis and Structure)

June – Lesson 3 (Plotting)
Lesson 4 (Characters)

July – Lesson 5 (Point of View)
Lesson 6 (In the Beginning…)

Aug. – Lesson 7 (Scenes – The Guts of Your Novel)
Lesson 8 (Showing vs. Telling)

Sept. – Lesson 9 (Location, Location, Location)
Lesson 10 (Dialogue – Say It Like You Mean It)

Oct. – Lesson 11 (Finding Your Voice and Style)

Nov. - Residency

Dec.– Lesson 12 (The Finale – Bringing Down the Curtain)

Jan.– Lesson 13 (Your All-Important Theme)

Feb. – Lesson 14 (The Polish) and Writing for the Soul 2009 Conference

Mar.– Lesson 15 (Crafting Your Proposal)

April – Lesson 16 (Marketing Yourself/Renewing the Writer's Soul)

For details, contact Paul Finch, Admissions Manager, toll-free at 866-495-5177.

3 Writing Tips

The top 3? That's tough.

In response to a writing meme from my friend at TitleTrakk.com, C.J. Darlington, here's what helps me stay on track as an author.

First: write a little every day. Even if you're sick and can only crawl to the keyboard. Write something. Anything. Writing is a discipline and unless you make wordsmithing a part of your life, it won't be. Kind of like prayer or offering words of encouragement. Unless you practice all the time you won't improve.

Second: tear apart magazines. This fits in the "read" category. But besides reading the publications you subscribe to, take the time to pull out articles that you think you might one day find useful. Be sure you categorize them into a "ideas" or "super weird ideas" folders. Once a month, go through all the bright pictures and intriguing headlines to see what you can use. If the story still appeals to you, keep it. If not, trash it. Sometimes it's difficult to get through the stack of incoming mail, but often there's a gem waiting.

Third: tune out the negative voices. Whether your own cranky soundtrack of the mind, or the negative words of others, shut out the junk and remember that God called you to write. He's your boss, your ultimate reviewer. Don't get caught up in cutting comments. Just do your best and keep striving to improve.

Thanks, C.J. This was a blast. It's fun to think once in a while! I'm still new at this, but I'd like to tag Michelle Cox, co-author of Simple Little Words: What You Say Can Change a Life.

Finding Your Golden Compass

Are you ready for another release from New Line Cinema, the company that in the past has brought us quality Christmas season classics? For three years running the entire country waited expectantly for the latest in the Lord of the Rings series. How we loved sitting in the theater watching a story of sacrifice, redemption, and hope revealed before our eyes.

And we also appreciated seeing a Christian tale portrayed on the giant screen. We hurried to the show in droves. We told our friends how wonderful the films were. And we wept along with Frodo, moved by the magic.

This year we have another alternative, The Golden Compass, based on a book by avowed atheist, Phillip Pullman. It stars some monster names in the movie industry like Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. It's based on a series, His Dark Materials, that in the final trilogy blatantly calls for the death of God. Who specifically does Pullman mean? "The Authority, God, the Creator, the Lord, Yahweh, El, Adonai, the King, the Father, the Almighty -- those were all names he gave himself."

Couldn't be more blunt than that. And speaking of direct, Pullman has expressed something akin to revulsion for C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia and, conversely, admiration for Richard Dawkins, a much ballyhooed British athiest.

So the choice is ours. Do we scurry to the movie The Golden Compass because the show looks "exciting". Or do we show some self-control and choose an alternative more nourishing to the soul? May we have the discernment to choose wisely.

For adults and older teens, consider Bella. A beautiful story of intersecting lives that touches both heart and mind. And for the younger set, perhaps something light like Enchanted or Bee Movie. Neither flick is perfect, of course, but the delightful elements far outweigh the darker materials.

If you have a handle on True North why waste time cozying up with a shiny golden compass?

My Twin

Seventh child and a perfect match. To me. Least that’s what my wife, Sue, says. My mom thinks so too. Tad’s siblings concur.

The boy is incorrigible and delightful. Hilarious and irritating. He laughs when someone gets bonked on the head. He burps at the table. Fusses when he’s not getting his way.

Yep, he’s just like me.

Even as to looks, every day I hear someone say, “He’s your twin.” Dark hair and eyes, always getting into mischief.

He wants to eat sweets before veggies, he likes to make noise. Screaming’s a specialty. He bosses his brothers and sisters around. You’d think he was the first-born like his pop the way he pushes and prods to move the world his direction.

When he’s not getting enough attention he grabs his high chair and shakes. A mini-earthquake. Or he belches (again). Or he puts his baby bare feet on the edge of the table and shoves. Tries to topple himself backwards. Without realizing how much he could hurt himself.

So like me. Stumbling ahead without asking for help or divine assistance. Sure that I’m on the right track. “Don’t bother me, God. I’ve got this all figured out.”

And as for music he loves a pounding drum or lullaby. Any lyric makes him rock and wiggle. Same as me. He delights in turning the TV off and on, pushing buttons on the remotes, toggling on the computer keyboard. Touching, running, doing, moving.

Chase me if you will. Catch me if you can.

And so I run as well. Wishing for a glance at the final tally. I want to know how everything will turn out. Will the bad guys be punished? The good rewarded? But I can’t peer past the veil. So I grow impatient, kick up a fuss.

Born to an early bird father and night owl mom, Tad combines the worst of both worlds. He loves staying up until he’s too weepy to wail. And then calling for “Mama” at the first bark of dog in the morning. We both like our sleep, this little boy and me. Just not exactly at the same time.

How many treasured tales do we all have of our children? Little scenes locked away in our hearts? Busy as we are, we’d do well to pull them out, turn them over, and smile again. (And again.)

Days turn into years and moments become decades. Our baby boy is still learning to speak and our oldest son is ready for college.

Tad may be my completely incorrigible twin. That’s okay. Because he’s also “encouragable.” If I do my part.

When he gets it right and remembers to kiss and not bite, I tell him, “That was nice.” When he comes when called instead of running the other way, I wrap him in a hug and say, “Thanks, little guy.”

When he pushes down the urge to be like me and chooses obedience instead I rejoice with him.
Theodore Allen Perrodin. A twin born decades apart.

A living, wiggling reminder of my need for both love and forgiveness.

Start Writing Your Book Today

Book Three in the Renegade Spirit Series is called Seclusion Point. It will be published by Thomas Nelson in early 2008. Demon's Bluff, Book Two, was recently released as a follow up to the initial volume, The Tattooed Rats.

I think you'll enjoy the all-new trailer for Demon's Bluff: The Novel. It was created by my two teen sons. Check it out at http://youtube.com/watch?v=cSjLzCyr2gE


Three books. That's amazing to me. Because, to be honest, I wasn't sure I could do it. And I would never have completed the books without God's help. Think about it. The Creator is available to assist you. All you have to do is ask Him for wisdom...and He'll give it. Generously.


Some people live a lifetime dreaming of what they want to accomplish but never take a step toward their goals. Let's not make that mistake.


When I began working on the Renegade Spirit Trilogy with Jerry B. Jenkins, I'd never written a novel. But that didn't stop me. I didn't even know what I didn't know...

I went for it anyway! This was a chance of a lifetime to learn about everything from dialogue, to story arc, to point of view. It was all new to me. But with help, I picked up the strands and wove together a book. Then another. And finally a third.


You can do the same. Read voraciously. Study other writers and how-to books. And then sit down at your keyboard and type. Until you start you don't know what you'll be able to do. And chances are that you'll surprise yourself in a most delighful way.


Blessings and Happy Writing,
John Perrodin

Sing for the King

My family spent a wonderful week in Tucson. We celebrated Resurrection Sunday together with three special baptisms. What a perfect day to rejoice!

Part of the vacation was having morning time to walk while the day was cool, the birds chattering, and the long-tailed lizards skittering. One day I passed the community swimming pool and heard music. A single voice singing.

I couldn't see her face through the brush and cactus obscuring the fence, but could tell that she was slowly swimming as she sang. Her sweet words exalted the King. Jesus.

She didn't care who heard her. She was singing for the Savior and her words made her allegiance clear. It boosted me to hear someone so unafraid of what others thought. So unworried about the "impression" she might be making. God had spoken loving lyrics to her heart and she gave back her joy through the music of her voice.

How often do we as writers fear sharing the message God has given us? We think someone may be offended or turned off. So instead of opening the dialogue we remain silenct. Lose out, by default, on even the possibility of influencing others.

The next time you wonder if you should let your Christian voice be heard remember the Lady of the Pool. And let your written words zing in service to the King.

Try, Try, Try, Try, Try...Again

Happy St. Pat's Day! Pursuing publication is like seeking the proverbial pot o' gold at the end of the rainbow. The treasure is elusive and always barely out of reach. Many and varied are the methods that we're told will bring us to the point of white-hot publishing success. We can read certain books, practice specific exercises, know the right people. But there's more. Much more.

The only way to eventually succeed as a writer is to keep writing everyday. Period. That and never giving up on your message or your craft. Real writers constantly grow their skills. And they learn to take criticism with a smile (and maybe a sore stomach). You might be the one-in-a-million writer who gets a contract the first time you try. Maybe you'll even get your book published and get some marketing support so more than your family realizes you have a book in print.

But it's not likely. Typically, you'll write your heart out and create a minor masterpiece but no one will know it exists. Not unless you take the time to promote yourself and your work. That's the part of the author equation that writers ignore. Writing the book (or article) is only half the battle. Probably less than that.

You must help people find your writing and then hope they take the time to read it. Accomplish this by staying enthused about your projects. Share your successes (both major and minor) with others. As far as pushing a specific proposal, learn when to take "no" for an answer. Your timing might not be right. Now. But give it a few months or years and you never know.

Don't give up if that's what God has in store for you. Once you become involved in full-time writing you might wish God had sent you to some hidden, humid jungles to kick back, relax, and do missionary work. :0) Writing isn't for the weak or the fearful. It's for people who believe they have a message to share. And are willing to sacrifice whatever it takes to be heard.