The Moving of the Spirit

My dad was fond of saying things like "if the spirit moves me" when talking about doing this or that. He was not a particularly religious person, attending church when it was expected of him but not letting that affect his life too much. So I don't believe he was talking about God's Spirit, the Holy Spirit, when he said that. It was more a way of saying if and when he felt like doing something, he would do it. Possibly it was a slight nod to the idea of inspiration rather than to duty.

Yesterday our new youth pastor filled the pulpit, as our pastor was away with a work and witness team, en-route home from a week in the Dominican Republic. We are in the midst of a sermon series titled "You Were Made For More," based on the early chapters of the book of Joshua. Whenever our pastor has another staff member fill the pulpit, that staff member continues witih the sermon series in progress.

Aaron didn't exactly do that, however. Oh, he read the right scripture, and expounded it somewhat, but he veered off—at least to me it seemed he veered off—to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Certainly God was directly leading Joshua and Israel as they crossed the Jordan and came to the fortified city of Jericho. And we have a great example of what happens when an entire nation does what God tells them to do. Still, Aaron took considerable liberty with the sermon series topic.

That was actually fine with me. I enjoyed the message and saw the applicability to where I am in my writing life. For the last year I've been working on a plan. First one book, then another, then going back to yet another to modify it. Filling the time and making some money by also writing some articles. Modifying the plan according to an immediate need, such as an encounter with an agent or editor who wanted a submission.

That time of planned writing is close to coming to an end. I have one more e-book to get up, In Front of Fifty Thousand Screaming People, and three print books to get out, two of which are just about ready to order the proof copies. The third print book, Doctor Luke's Assistant, may actually never happen due to the length and cost, but sometime this week I'll begin to look into making it a print book and see where the cost comes out.

So it's not too far away that I will be working on some new writing project. I've been anticipating this time for some time, and blogged about it before. I actually started on a new short story project on Saturday, and added a little on Sunday. I could finish it in about three evenings; it should end up between 4,000 and 8,000 words. I'm sure I'll get at least one of these self-published, and ideas for a series of twenty or so have been flitting through my mind. Short stories don't sell all that much, it seems, but it's just something I want to do.

This whole "what should I write next" thing is where I need the leading of the Spirit. I'm pleased with the way DLA has had a positive impact on several readers who describe themselves as either non-believers or not particularly religious. That was one of my hopes for that book. I believe In Front of Fifty Thousand Screaming People might have the same result, and I'm anxious to get that published.

I also have The Gutter Chronicles that have been burning up my mind lately. These would never be a best seller, but I have the first volume, at novella length, pretty much done. I could have them up as an e-book quite easily. Even if they only sold to engineers, it seems it would be worth it to have another item on my list. The "conventional" wisdom among self-publishers remains that you have to have a decent list of titles to cross-promote each other. Of course, mine are so different at this stage, I'm not sure how much crossing between there will really be.

So where will the spirit lead me? Or, I should really say, what will the Holy Spirit lead me to write next? To publish next? It's going to be an interesting month.