New Book!!

It’s been a long time since I’ve had a new release, but I’m excited to announce that Run is finally available through Amazon!

This book is very special, and I’d like to take a few moments to tell you about it, and the person I wrote it with—Jenn Faulk.

Since becoming an author, I’ve had a very hard time enjoying books anymore. I find myself reading everything through a critic’s lens and not approving of most of what I find. Thank goodness for Kindle Unlimited, because now I can try a book and not lose money if I wind up not liking it!

I tried a book by Jenn Faulk about a year or so ago—it was called Best Day Ever. It surprised me for multiple reasons. First of all, it was advertised as Christian Fiction, but the main character was definitely not walking the walk, if you know what I mean. Jenn had me right there because I am so sick of Christian fiction books in which all the characters are perfect and never do anything wrong.

Another reason I was surprised is because I actually got very caught up in the story. Being a complete and total snob about writing now, I have a very low tolerance for mistakes. I encountered a formatting issue, but I was so into the story that I kept on reading . . . unheard of for me! (Jenn would later tell me, “I had no idea it was doing that!”)

Then I read another story or two of Jenn’s. They were just as good as the first. Christian books, but without squeaky clean characters. Real problems. Great, fantastic writing. Another neat thing about Jenn’s books is that they are all tied together, but each one stands alone. My favorite one so far has been Promises Kept, although I'm still pretty mad about something that happened in that one, but that's a story for another time . . .

Eventually I contacted Jenn and talked to her about working together. She waited a good long time before responding (I know she was checking me out online and making sure I wasn’t a psycho!). I guess she must have missed all the psycho warning signs, because she finally responded, and this past spring, we finally started working on a project together.

Jenn asked me what I had in mind, so I tossed out a couple of ideas and then ended with this: “Okay, this idea is really stupid and probably needs to be put off the table right now, but I’ll throw it out there anyway. Did you ever watch Blair Witch Project? My husband and I went and saw it in the theater when it came out years and years ago b/c we arrived late to the theater for the movie we had intended to see. But I digress! Anyway, the budget was super low. They let the three actors who were pretty much the only characters film the whole thing. They didn't really have a script. Their producers and directors would leave them little individual notes giving them tidbits of information to go on and everything was improv. They'd wake up in the morning and find that things had been done to their campsite and stuff like that. But anyway, the point is that they just kind of made everything up as they were going along. Soooooo, the idea was, what if we both wrote a book together - different parts of the same book. Switching back and forth between two POV's. We could just see where the story went . . . IDK.”

To which Jenn responded, “I kind of like the Blair Witch Project idea!” . . . and we were off!

The premise was that my character, Luke, is on death row—convicted of the brutal rapes and murders of his former girlfriend and her roommate. He sends a letter to Audrey—the sister of the roommate’s boyfriend—hoping she will help him find some evidence to set him free. (Warning: due to the nature of the crimes, you may be uncomfortable with some of the details discussed in this novel. If shows like CSI bother you, you probably will want to pass on this story!) 

I (Luke) sent the letter to Jenn (Audrey) who immediately sent me a letter in reply telling me to never contact her again. I (Leeann) messaged her (Jenn) and told her I didn’t know what to do because she’d told me to never write her again! She told me that Luke was on death row and didn’t have anything to lose by writing again, so I did. I mean HE did!

That wasn’t the first time Audrey didn’t respond the way Luke was certain she would. As a matter of fact, unless Leeann specifically told Jenn what Audrey needed to write, neither Luke nor Leeann ever seemed to know what to do with Audrey’s letters!

When you’re reading this book, keep in mind that Jenn had NO idea where things were going. She didn’t know the plot at all. Yet she kept writing away, bringing in characters and situations that were all new to me. Most of the time I was like, “What is she doing?!”

Jenn was equally baffled. She thought Luke was being a jerk (but it wasn’t Luke that was being a jerk, it was Audrey, really!) Despite being taken aback time and time again by one another, we plowed ahead. I heard an actor once talking about improv and how the most important thing was to go with whatever the other actor threw out there—no matter what—and so we tried to do that. Unless Jenn created a situation that simply wouldn’t work with the plot that was in my head, I worked with whatever she made up.

The result was—in my opinion—a rich and engaging novel, and it was the most fun I’ve had writing since I wrote the first three books in the Chop, Chop series nearly ten years ago. I hope that you will enjoy it as much as Jenn and I enjoyed writing it. I also hope that you’ll check out some of Jenn’s other writings and discover for yourself what a great author she is! (Her novel, Happily Ever After happens to be free right now—just saying!)

We wrote another book together this summer and will get that one out to you ASAP, plus I have two more in my head for us to collaborate on that are just bursting to get out. In the meantime, check out Run, and be sure to let us know what you think!

Don't Believe in Evolution?

I just read an article detailing that evolutionist Bill Nye the Science Guy went to visit the new replica of Noah’s Ark on display in northern Kentucky. Apparently he has called the exhibit a danger to science education. Bill Nye, and most evolutionists, have done a great job making people feel as if they are ignorant and deluded if they chose to ignore scientific evidence by refusing to believe in evolution.

And they’re right.

Evolution – by definition – is simply the change in a species over time. If you have a chance to go to a civil war museum such as Fort Macon, take a look at one of the beds that the soldiers slept in over a century ago. They are much smaller than the beds you’d expect to find in our military today because humans have been consistently getting taller. Evolution in action. Our species is changing . . . over time. It is evolving!

So, yeah. Quite frankly, you sound pretty ignorant if you say you don’t believe in evolution. We see species changing all the time. It’s not even a theory. It’s a fact.

So why is it called the “theory” of evolution instead of the "law" of evolution?

To answer that question, we need to examine the theory a little more carefully. There are several components to the theory of evolution. Exactly how many components and exactly what those components are vary depending on what source you are reading. But, for the sake of this post, let’s go with the five different parts found on Regents Prep, a site that helps high school students in New York prepare for their Regents exams.

According to Regents Prep, component number one is overproduction – the idea that more offspring are produced than can possibly survive. We see this playing out in nature all the time. Can you imagine if every acorn produced an oak tree? If every litter of kittens went on to produce six more litters of kittens – every year for ten years? You get the picture.

Another part to the theory, according to Regents Prep, is competition. Individuals struggle to survive. Plants vie for sunlight. Puppies fight over the meat on a bone. Not difficult to acknowledge that this is nothing but truth.

Component number three: Survival of the Fittest. Ahhh . . . now we’re getting into some good ol’ tenth grade biology, aren’t we? It’s basic, common sense. Individuals with genes that allow them to survive in a particular environment will survive. Individuals with genes that don’t allow them to survive in a particular environment, won’t. Again, we can’t argue with this. It’s what happens and is observed every day.

Regent Prep’s item number four is a pretty obvious follow up to number three: If you’re dead, you aren’t going to pass along your inferior genes to any offspring. Only those individuals who have good genes – genes that allow them to survive in their particular environment – will pass their genes on. The bad genes – the ones that prevent individuals from surviving – don’t get passed on, and the idea is that eventually they will get weeded out of the population. We see this in action all the time. Check out the famous peppered moth if you’ve gotten a little rusty on this well-documented principle.

So what is all the controversy about if all of these components are so well documented and so proven? Why do so many people still insist on saying that they don’t believe in evolution – even though evolution is simply the change in a species over time and we KNOW that changes occur in species over time?

Well, it’s because of component number five: speciation. According to Regents Prep, “As time and generations continue, adaptations are passed on and new species may evolve from a common ancestor.”

In case you don’t remember or know, a species is a group of organisms that can mate and produce fertile offspring. The theory is that if a species changes enough, it can become so different from the original species that it can no longer mate with members of the original offspring and produce fertile offspring.

There it is, right there, folks. Speciation states that new species are created from the process of evolution, not from a creator, and this is where all the controversy lies. This is also why the word “theory” must always be added before the word “evolution”. It’s a theory because of the component of speciation. Because it MAY happen. Because it could. It’s never been documented. It’s never been proven. But, theoretically, it could happen.

(I will go ahead and add that there are those who argue that speciation has been observed, but those examples and arguments for or against them are way outside the scope of this particular blog post. I will simply state that there’s a reason why it’s still called the theory of evolution instead of the law of evolution, although I'm sure evolutionist would really like to get that changed!)

As a teacher, I am always very respectful of all of my students no matter what they believe. Whenever I teach the theory of evolution, I always remind them that it’s a theory, and I always tell them, “If you believe in creationism, don’t say that you don’t believe in evolution because we know that evolution occurs – we know that species change over time. If you believe in creationism, what you need to say is that you don’t believe in speciation.”

If you find yourself saying, "I believe in evolution, but I don't believe in speciation," I encourage you to do further research on your own. Don’t be afraid to learn more – science will never disprove the very God who created it!

The Toilet's Always Greener On The Other Side Of The Fence

HB2 was recently passed in my home state of North Carolina. There is little doubt in my mind that you have already heard about it and have an opinion either for or against it, but if for some strange reason you haven’t heard about it, you can click here to read a conservative spin on the new law, or click here to find a liberal one.

From the many arguments I’ve read, a key word to the entire issue seems to be “uncomfortable”. Some folks are “uncomfortable” going potty in a restroom with people who have the same parts they themselves were born with. Some people are “uncomfortable” going potty in a restroom with people who do not have the same parts they themselves were born with. And yes, I know it’s supposed to say, “parts with which they themselves were born,” but I write the way the majority of people actually talk (err . . . speak). Check out my award-winning novel FREE to see for yourself.

(Wow, that was slick, wasn’t it?) Anyway, let’s recap. At stake here is: who has more of a right to be comfortable, and—in doing so—make somebody else uncomfortable? Everyone knows that the squeaky wheel gets the oil, and there’s a whole lotta squeakin’ going on right now. Eventually one side is probably going to get the oil though because they make themselves SO annoying that eventually we will do anything they want if they will please just SHUT UP! But what’s really more important is: who is right? And whose rights are more important?

I definitely have an opinion about this whole issue, although I’ve stayed quiet until now. But this doesn’t seem to be going away like the cake-baking controversy finally did, so I may as well tell you what I think about the whole thing and try to convince you to believe the same way I do (because, ya know, nothing changes minds quite like posting on the Interweb!).

Before I tell you what I believe though, (I know, I know . . . the suspense is killing you!) I would like to mention the fact that I am a HUGE fan of family bathrooms. When my son was younger, it was often upsetting to me to send him into the men’s bathroom all by his lonesome. You could say it made me . . . uncomfortable. But the main reason I’m a huge fan of family restrooms is because I was my father’s primary caretaker during the last few years of his life. Due to mobility issues from Lewy Body Dementia, he couldn’t go to the bathroom without assistance. Our outings and excursions were often dictated by what type of bathroom would be available to us, if his diaper would be sufficient for our trip, and whether or not he was going to have a number two while we were out. So, my devotion to family bathrooms is NOT because I think they are the answer to the whole HB2 issue, but because sometimes two people of two different genders actually need to occupy one bathroom at the same time. (And by the way, if you want to talk about feeling uncomfortable, let’s talk about helping your mom or dad wipe . . .)

Butt I digress, and I'm sorry. I know you're anxious to get to the bottom of things. Okay, those were so bad that my cheeks are flushed. Would you please bare with me for just one more paragraph though? I’d really like to tell you about a few other people who are uncomfortable in the bathroom.

Every year, about 130 million people get dysentery (an inflammation of the intestines causing diarrhea with blood), and about 750,000 die from this disease. More than a million people get colorectal cancer every year and about 750,000 of those people die. Bladder cancer affects over 400,000 people every year and kills over 160,000 people annually. Cholera strikes an estimated 3–5 million people worldwide, killing between 55,000 to 130,000. Across the globe, five million people live with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Up to thirty percent of cancer patients who are undergoing chemotherapy will develop severe or life-threatening chemotherapy-induced diarrhea.

Care how I feel about HB2? There’s so much other crap to worry about . . .