Skip to main content

A Mossy Story


In college I had a vivid dream of an island rising out of the water; horses followed, dark horses that ran like they'd just escaped an injustice. I journaled about the dream but it went no further.

Mossy's story began on paper in 2016. We'd moved to a very small house, and I had a few ideas about a boy and some trees. Our three sons also inspired me, and Mossy came to life one night as we tried to get the boys to bed. After that night, I wrote in the early mornings until an adventure seemed mostly complete.

Life being what it is, the story sat for months. I poked at it after awhile, and decided it was okay but too short. I added a couple chapters. It sat again.

Mossy, along with the horses and the trees, wouldn't leave my mind. And I'm glad for it.

I learned in the summer of 2020 that Wipf and Stock accepted my small book, A Mossy Story. It's now the winter of 2022. The leaves have long since gone, and Lord Salix is no longer clothed in his robe of leaves. And yet, the promise of the spring is in the air, and the hint of a story whispers.

I hope you'll like it--and more, I hope you'll be encouraged by this small story!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Silliness Solidifies Relationships

On February 8th, I posted an introduction of sorts called "Toward a Manifesto of Silliness." Every week since then I've written about silliness, mostly as a way to meditate on and answer the question: What makes silliness important? My family and I talked it over, and here are our answers: "Silliness is a Sign of Joy." "Silliness is Important Because We are Silly." "Silliness is Just Fun." "Silliness Helps Bring Balance." Thinking on and writing about those answers helped this last silly answer grow -- I had an idea at first, but those initial answers shaped how I thought/think about silliness. It was a suspicion that began the day my youngest son and I played our game of nothing. Remember? All this began with nothing. Try to imagine: First, we sat side by side, the whole room bright from the sun. Soon, he draped his arms around my neck, and because of the faces we'd been making, laughter took over. His brothers were close by, ...
1 comment
Read more

Silliness Helps Bring Balance

If you've been with us for the last few weeks, you're beginning to see what we feel about silliness. If you haven't been checking in on us, however, here's what you've missed: * We asked some initial questions about why silliness is important . * Firstly, we said, silliness is a sign of joy . * Secondly, we are obviously silly and obviously important. You are, too, if you were wondering . * Thirdly, silliness is just fun . Don't worry, we'll wait while you catch up on all that reading. ... Good, I'm glad you're back! We're just giving another answer: Fourthly, silliness is important because it helps bring balance. I hope you know we're being earnest, if not completely serious. That last sentence made me smile, and I needed it at the moment. You see, even though all this writing and posting amounts to little, there's a feeling that begins at the back of my mind when I think I'm doing something good, especially when I'm glad about m...
1 comment
Read more

The Apostle James Attends My Creative Writing Class

We'll begin with something a bit fantastic, that being a visit from the apostle James: He stood at my school desk the other day -- I'd gone for some water -- and he opened one of my books. It lay flat on my desk next to a description of an exercise we do in class. Conveniently, the book he opened contained his own letter to some of the first people to proclaim Jesus as the Christ, and he flipped right to it. He didn't say anything, but pointed out to me a few passages. Then he directed my eyes to some parallels in what we do in my Creative Writing classes. It's in light of this that I offer this meditation on faith and writing. I'm in my 9th year of creative writing instruction. Spread into two classes, almost evenly, I have 22 students this year -- which is more than usual. The mix of students who want to write with those who need an easy class to blow off is about the same; the mix of their anxieties, if we only consider anxieties that are class-related, is also n...
Post a Comment
Read more