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Punch Buggy, Sort Of, No Returns
If you are a 12-year-old girl called Tiger Lily, and you lose to your little brother at Punch Buggy, you must find a way to win. Even if there are few cars in your small town that are not a farmer’s Ford truck or a soccer mom’s van. Continue reading
Where My Opinions Went
Following up on that thing I said the other day: y’know, ages and ages ago I wrote that I don’t know where I belong. That’s not true anymore. I was being all whimsical, talking about being a happy tree in … Continue reading
What’s On Your To-Done List?
A To-Done List does what a To-Do List can never do. It talks about what really happened today and how you handled it, not what you wanted to have happen and how you imagined yourself handling things that didn’t end up existing. Continue reading
Forget All That. Let’s Just Have Fun.
It’s the commencement of 2012, and the recommencement of Scienda’s regularly scheduled madness (for real this time I think maybe). Continue reading
Biblical Hope
Think back through the history of the Bible. Abraham, who didn’t exactly believe God, at least not all the time. Samson, a drunken womanizer. David, a power-mongering adulterer, who was also not the best father. Solomon, the unwise wise man. And finally, a young virgin in an out-of-the-way corner of a vast empire.
God often begins with small people and unlikely things. Continue reading
Lest We Forget
On the third weekend of October, the weather in Regina, Saskatchewan was fair. As we pulled up to the Ring Road, we spotted a young man standing on the boulevard with a backpack and a sign. The sign read, Travelling … Continue reading
Meanderings on Disbelief
Long, long ago, in a galaxy not so far away that we can’t hyperlink to it, Mr. Marcus Schooley Calvin “Wile E.” Quixote said this: “What notitia of the gospel, or perhaps even its rational support, can the natural man … Continue reading
Why “Relevance” is Low on My To-Do List
Being “relevant” is such a big deal to the internet culture, with its minute-by-minute changes, and yet it presents a practical impossibility that threatens to burn out those who strive to ride the content waves. There is a difference between … Continue reading
Hana Grace Williams and the Myth of My Happiness
It’s a nightmare I can’t shake, and it does not come to me in sleep. It comes to me in waking and keeps my eyes from closing. It’s the sort of thing we called heinous when we heard of it … Continue reading
Interview: Meredith Efken, Author of Lucky Baby (Part 2)
Today, I continue the conversation with Meredith Efken, the author of Lucky Baby. (Read Part 1 here.) Previously, we discussed experiencing discomfort and a sense of orphanhood from within the religious culture commonly known as “evangelical.” We also talked about … Continue reading
Year in Photos
…And yep, these are mostly of me. I’ve gotten disenchanted with the idea of posting my family online of late–even somewhat of being so digitally present myself. It amazes me how the large services invite people to build other people’s … Continue reading
Literary Ninjas: Captain on Deck
Literary Ninjas, Episode 2: Port Yonder Press CEO Chila Woychik takes on supernatural thriller author Marc Schooley in a second attempt to interview him to death. Join Chila for a series of unpredictable questions and an answer-formatting challenge that should cure Marc of varminthood for good…maybe. Continue reading
Editorial Snookering: The Results Are In
I would like you to imagine, for a moment, a gentleman a full foot taller than I, of a leanish frame. He wears a leather jacket and boots, a black cotton shirt and slacks. He is slightly balding, with a merry face that reminds one of old pictures of his father in these later days. The left eyebrow tends to arch sharply at odd moments.
He has found himself a chair, stretched out his legs, and settled in for an extended torpor.
That last trait should give away my literary partner, Mr. Marc Schooley of Houston, Texas. Continue reading
Literary Ninjas: By the Seat of the Pants
Fellow Port Yonder author Janalyn Voigt picks Marc’s brain on what it’s like to write by the seat of the pants. Asking Marc to stop writing and be useful: Top-notch strategy! Continue reading
Introversion, the Privacy Instinct and Critical Mass
At the end of last year, I’d had enough. More and more people were hanging out here (cool), but with it came an increased level of random internet static, such as the Jezebel incident. Or the mate-seeking brainless rooster incident. There’s a scum layer at the bottom of the cyberpond, and it’s composed of utterly moronic dorks.
This is my personal space, and I have let a lot of my life hang out the window. The level of exposure started to feel too high. The behind-the-scenes writing workload exploded in the first half of the year, and I saw that as a good thing. I could still do what I love without being so public.
So off I went… Continue reading
Review: Lucky Baby by Meredith Efken
The woman of my earliest memory has no body. Just a round face with skin like a plum. Smooth and tight. Firm. A smiling plum with dimples. She is not my mama. I don’t remember my mama. Many years later, … Continue reading
Should Women Think? Mom Versus the Spiritual Charlatan
An interesting dynamic plays out between conservative evangelical women and false teachers. In the first place, a cultural tradition of rigid segregation of the genders tends to drive a wedge between husbands and wives, effectively dividing and conquering. Separated from their husbands’ oversight, women are exposed to a lot of teaching that their husbands don’t hear about, or hear about too late–after their wives have absorbed and accepted unbiblical, manmade “doctrines of the home” or “doctrines of femininity.” Continue reading
P.A. Baines a Next Generation Indie Book Awards Double Finalist
P.A. Baines has made the Indie Book Award final list in both the Religious and Sci-Fi categories. What is this, you ask? Basically, it’s the Sundance Film Festival of publishing. And I really encourage you to take a look at this book. Alpha Redemption was my favourite editing job of 2010, hands down. Continue reading
Interview: Meredith Efken, Author of Lucky Baby (Part 1)
This month, I’m delighted to have Meredith Efken as Scienda’s Very Savvy Guest on Relevant and Swashbuckly Topics. Meredith is a freelance editor and the author of Lucky Baby, which became one of my all-time favourite books upon reading it. … Continue reading
Recent Posts
Sun Over Frozen Lake
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A late-morning light cloud cover, over the lake (which, obviously, is solid ice at this time of year–the locals use it like a highway).
And also, for those of you who love visuals, I’m really enjoying Pinterest. If you’re on there, feel free to come find me. I love seeing what others are pinning.
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