This morning I took my first crack at the fifth workout of the CrossFit Open. Up until this point in the workout, I’d been doing reasonably well for having only done it “full time” for  three months. I was in the middle of the pack in my division. Workout 13.5 let me know that my...

We live in a conflict-avoidant culture. One man goes to the bar to numb himself instead of facing his angry wife and having that necessary fight. A couple sits down with a financial planner to map out the early retirement and idle time. I can’t speak for you, but when I allow myself to day dream about...

Lo: There are six injustices a righteous author cannot tolerate. No, strike that. There are seven. Seven is the number of abominations which mightily chafe the jockeys of aspiring authors: Info dumps, split infinitives, idiots with agents, self-publishing success stories, clichés, and ham-handed symbolism....

I shared a review of Troy Bronsink’s excellent book Drawn In  over at the Englewood Review of Books. For my money this single quote is worth the price of the entire book: Art can accomplish this [shared risk between the artist and the audience] by creating a shared experience that places all...

I recently joined a Crossfit gym, mostly on a whim. It was a chance to mix things up in my workout and add some plyometrics to the routine. Just a few weeks prior to joining I didn’t know that plyometrics was a thing. I don’t know, maybe its not. Perhaps, its one of those Madison square avenue problems...

I pulled into the coffee shop, double-checked the time on the dashboard, and cursed myself. I arrived an hour earlier than needed. I used the sprint through the rain as an opportunity to chastise myself for being careless with my alarm. I decided to use the extra time to knock down a few loose projects...

Gil Evans Centennial: The Newly Discovered Works of Gil Evans (Artist Share) I stumbled upon the genius of Gil Evans several years ago when writing my third book. The act of changing genre and therefore audience left me anxious and taut. Each morning at 4 AM I stepped out of bed into a pool of anxiety....

Back in April the Burnside Writers Collective had a bit of a reunion in Grand Rapids, Michigan, when we met up for the Festival of Faith & Writing.  Most of the time, we work independently, ping-ponging emails from locations with skyscrapers, cacti, cornfields, and rivers, Skyping with background...

  Shields of faith forged on youth’s anvil Amid the hammerings of spaking and understanding Proudly carried in plains of battle Absorbing fiery darts so effortlessly That one doubts the archers’ malice More than a conqueror until the day its weight Wraps around the warrior A cicada shell Whose...

While many of us held our breath for the Blue Like Jazz movie to release on April 13, I found myself wondering why its so darned hard for Evangelicals to express a sense of humor in our art. I’ve sat through one or two Christian comedy acts. Enough to know that I wouldn’t willingly do it...