Robert McKay: Blog

I've given the titles of my novels, some of which I've either posted or am posting here (the rest I plan to post, with one probable exception). But it occurs to me that, since I'm not posting the title pages, the titles may puzzle some people (or not, but I sure don't know). I am, therefore, giving here the sources of the title, first for the actual Carpenter books and then for the ones that are in the Carpenter universe, but aren't Carpenter stories.

CARPENTER BOOKS
1. Half-Life
From the title page: "The half-life of plutonium is 24,000 years." --Glenn Seaborg, co-discoverer of plutonium." And from the book itself, where Darvin tells Cecelia, " I love you – for a million times the half-life of plutonium." I can't post this one yet for reasons I may explain another time, and probably won't in any event.
2. Red Hawk
This one's simple - the story recounts Darvin's first trip to Red Hawk, OK, since he left in the 1980s.<g>
3. A Wall of Fire
This comes from the epigraph: "'For I,' declares the LORD, 'will be a wall of fire around her, and I will be the glory in her midst.'" (Zech. 2:5 NASB; unless I specify otherwise all quotes are from this version)
4. Where You Go
This also comes from the epigraph, which is also a quotation from the Bible, this time from Ruth, which is one of my favorite books: "Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God." (1:16)
5. Something
Again the epigraph, but not the Bible this time. It's Edward Abbey, in a Time-Life book on the desert (IIRC the title is Cactus Country) quoting what a friend once told him: "There's something about the desert."
6. Angels’ Hands
We're back to the Bible again, this time Psalm 91:11-13, which says, "For He will give His angels charge concerning you,/To guard you in all your ways./They will bear you up in their hands,/That you do not strike your foot against a stone./You will tread upon the lion and cobra,/The young lion and the serpent you will trample down."
7. Unalienable Rights
This comes from the Declaration of Independence, where Thomas Jefferson wrote, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness..." I find that I didn't create a title page for this one.
8. Dead and Over
This comes from something Darvin says about his friendship with Straight: "It was a friendship which probably should never have existed. But it’s over now – dead and over."
9. Do Not Despise
We come back to the Bible here, which supplied the epigraph for the book: "See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven." (Matt. 18:10)
10. A Strong Woman
The epigraph here is Proverbs 31:17. The title isn't a direct quote from the epigraph, this time: "She girds herself with strength/And makes her arms strong."
11. The Chief
This one refers to Darvin, who has become the chief of police in Red Hawk for a year.
12. Life Is Short
This one came, believe it or not, from Stephen King. In Firestarter a helpful man says to Charlie's father, "Life is short and pain is long and we were all put on this earth to help each other." The serial murderer in my novel quotes only the first part of this, and uses it to justify his actions.
13. Sweet Home Alabama
Lynyrd Skynyrd fans will recognize this - it's the title of one of their most famous songs. I used it ironically, because the book takes place in Alabama, which on this occasion proves to be anything but sweet.

NON-CARPENTER NOVELS
1. Flower In the Wind
Alan McGee says to Alison, his new wife who has just left prostitution, "You’re fragile, I know, a flower in the wind. And I don’t want that wind to blow the petals off."
2. Genesis
The narrator's name is Genesis Carter.
3. Adown
This is the Hebrew word for lord which Sarah used when addressing her husband, Abraham. Cassie Hudson uses it as an endearment when talking to her husband Yirmeyah.
4. The Walking Wounded
Karin Seguín says to her OB-GYN, who's still mourning her dead husband, "I guess we’re the walking wounded – me, you, and Kevin."
5. One Flesh
Now we come back to the Bible, which provides the epigraph. It's Genesis 2:20-24, and I won't quote it since it's a fairly long passage.
6. Hadassah
The main character's name is Hadassah Garvin, that being Esther's original name in the book of that name.
7. High Flight
This is the title of a poem by Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee of the Royal Canadian Air Force, who died in World War II. I've loved the poem for decades, and when I came to write a novel featuring two characters who are in the US Air Force I immediately thought of the poem. If you remember the days when TV stations went off the air at midnight you have likely heard this poem - they would frequently play someone reading it before ceasing to broadcast for the night.

As y'all know by now, I've started posting my non-Carpenter stories as well as the Carpenter series. The non-Carpenter stuff is related to the Carpenter books - they all in some way connect to the Carpenters' church, and in some of them the Carpenters make an appearance. But unlike the Carpenter stories, the non-Carpenter stuff is explicitly Christian fiction (the Carpenter stories aren't un-Christian, but it's about people who happen to be Christians, rather than having an explicit Christian message).

I've been reviewing these non-Carpenter stories, and found some things in them that I'd forgotten I wrote. It's nothing I'm ashamed of - but at the same time I realize that it's a bit stronger, sometimes, than you'll find in books that issue from Christian publishers.

I've never submitted anything to a Christian publishing house, but I've conversed with people who have, and it seems that there's an unwritten standard that excludes anything "controversial." It seems, based on what these individuals have told me, that Christian fiction publishers only accept books which are sweet, uplifting, and don't deal with some of the difficult issues that face the church.

I refuse to write that way. Like it or not - and I don't - the church has to face such things as prostitution, teenage sex, adultery, hypocrisy, and unmarried mothers. Like it or not, these things are sometimes in the church - not because they're part of Christianity, but because human beings comprise the church, and act like human beings.

And even if these things didn't come into the church, the church would still have to deal with them because of the Great Commission. Jesus commanded His people to go, and wherever they go, to make disciples. He didn't say that we can go everywhere that people are upright and moral, but just that we are to go everywhere. That means that our message goes to prostitutes, teenagers who are having sex, adulterers, hypocrites, and unmarried women who have children.

And so for the church - and Christian fiction - to ignore these things is to first ignore the reality of the world as it is, and second to pretend that Jesus didn't say what He said (or, if you want to reverse the formulation, that He said what He didn't say). In my opinion Christian publishers, by choosing to omit books that face such matters from their catalogs, are eviscerating the Christian faith as it appears in the books they issue.

I don't dodge such matters - in part because I'm not, after all, ambitious about publication. If someone were to offer to buy one of my books, and publish it, I wouldn't turn him down - but my purpose in writing isn't to get into print. It's to write. It's the writing that's important to me. Publication, if it ever comes, will be gravy.

And so in my non-Carpenter books you'll find a biker who's whored and done drugs and sold drugs and fought and quite possibly killed someone. You'll find a woman whose father raped her, and who wound up a prostitute, and after she marred a good Christian man fled from him and returned to prostitution. You'll find married couples who, in their conversations with each other, don't pretend that they never have sex. You'll find people who struggle with sexual desire. You'll find, in short, real people.

Because of this, though nothing in anything I've ever written is pornographic or close to it, there is some strong material. There are subjects which, to put it bluntly, parents ought to be discussing with their children instead of being either lazy or cowards and letting the schools do the job. There are things which are proper for parents to discuss with their children - but not for me to discuss with other parents' children.

And so some of the non-Carpenter books will have an age rating on them (I appreciate the fact that Fine Stories permits this). It's not that they're wicked, but rather that I'm not going to expose someone's child to something that it's the parents' business to talk to that child about.

And since that's what I wanted to say, I'll stop typing now. :)

Well, I've gotten one request, but it's a good idea...

NOVEL CHRONOLOGY - Carpenter
1. Half-Life (2005) [not available for posting]
2. Red Hawk (2006)
3. A Wall of Fire (2006)
4. Where You Go (2006)
5. Something (2007)
6. Angels’ Hands (2007)
7. Unalienable Rights (2008)
8. Dead and Over (Jul 2008)
9. Do Not Despise (2008)
10. A Strong Woman (Oct-Nov 2008)
11. The Chief (2009)
12. Life Is Short (2010-2011)
13. Sweet Home Alabama (2011)


NOVEL CHRONOLOGY - non-Carpenter
1. Flower In the Wind – 1993-1999
2. Genesis – 1997-1999
3. Adown – 2002-2007
4. The Walking Wounded – 2005-2006
5. One Flesh - 2006
6. Hadassah – 2007-2008
7. High Flight – 2007-2009

. . . you ought not say it. I don't have anything in particular to say today, other than that both Angels' Hands and Flower In the Wind are continuing. I know some like my stuff, and others don't, and still others feel free to tell me (I don't mean they're making polite suggestions either) that unless I write the stuff they want the way they want it that I'm turning out junk.

Well, if you don't like what I write, or how I write it, you don't have to read it, eh? :)

And that's all for this week.

Well, I'm back posting my stuff. It turns out that the possibility that I wanted to look into fell through, and since I write for the writing, and not for publication (though I admit I wouldn't turn that down if it fell into my lap), I'm just as happy to post my stuff here as go through the hassle of selling it someone, and promoting it, and all that. (I will mention here that while this is true of my prose, I'm more interested in publication when it comes to my poetry. If the site's still up - I don't know whether it is - you can see some of my older work at www.sondra.net, and I'm actively, if slowly, looking for other places where I can electronically submit my poetry. If you force me to choose between "fictin writer" and "poet" for a label, I'll choose the latter.)

I've decided to not only continue the Carpenter novels in order, as I was doing before the hiatus, but to also begin posting other novels which take place in the Carpenter universe but aren't part of the Carpenter series. All my fiction connects - every single story in some way involves MJT Christian Fellowship here in Albuquerque, the fictional church where the Carpenter family has been since 1994 (and Darvin as a single man since 92). In some that's the only connection there is, while in others some or all of the characters know the Carpenters. But they're all in the same universe.

The non-series stories are explicitly Christian. I'm a Christian myself, and according to the original definition of the term "fundamentalist" (someone who believes the five fundamentals of the faith, as set forth in a series of articles under the overall title of The Fundamentals) I am one. I'm calvinistic and baptistic - that is, I subscribe to the TULIP of Calvinism, without the hierarchal church government and creedalism which is part of (most) Calvinism; and my doctrine and practice are in accordance with those of the Particular Baptists, though I haven't been a member of a Baptist church in several years.

In the Carpenter series I don't hide my faith. The Carpenters are all three Christians, and they discuss Christian doctrine and practice from time to time, and are active in church, and behave - to the best of their ability - as Christians ought to behave. But those stories are about the relationship between Darvin and Cecelia, and then Darlia, and they're "Christian fiction" in a sense only because I refuse to hide my light (such as it is) under a basket.

The non-series stories I'm going to begin posting are very much Christian stories. I try not to pontificate (which is not the same as preaching, though some people use the latter term to designate the former practice), but I make explicitly Christian points. If you can't abide Christianity, then you probably won't be able to stand these non-series stories (and I'll designate them as non-series when I post them, so that those who don't want any Christianity can avoid them...among other reasons). But if you're willing to tolerate (if not agree with) the Christianity in them, then I think you'll find that they're among my best writing. I put most of my effort into the Carpenter stories, for various reasons, but there've been times in my non-series writing that I've found myself wishing I could write that well - because usually I can't. I know exactly what Ernest Hemingway meant when he said that he always wrote the best he could, and sometimes had luck and wrote better than he could; I've had the same experience in these non-series stories.

I'm going to post them in roughly chronological order - only roughly because they overlap a lot. The furthest back they go is 1993, but that one goes up to 1999, while the second in line covers the years 1997-1999. That's two, and all of the remaining five overlap at least a little. They're not following a family through the years, and so I didn't pay quite so much attention to the years, nor did I make it a point to write them in "real time" as I do with the Carpenter stories.

Taking them, then, in this way, I'll begin with Flower In the Wind. I could outline the plot here - indeed, I began to - but I find that it'll make more sense if you read it than if I try to boil down all that happens into a few sentences. I'll just say that this is one of my favorites out of everything I've ever written, and Al McGee is one of my favorite characters.