Over five years ago, I started what ultimately became Thoughts; A Flame—a project that has lived under many names, and carried many different kinds of content—poetry, songs, web design tips, theology, personal stories, everything but recipes and child-rearing advice.
And now it is coming to a close. Not because I have any shortage of things to write about (I still have 15 ideas sitting on virtual sticky notes on my computer) but because my priorities are taking a dramatic shift over the next year. I have a limited amount of time for writing, along with the various other tasks I pursue, and I am taking on a fairly significant endeavor for next year: writing a novel. The hook is half science fiction, half drama, and all intriguing—everyone I have talked to, even the people who don't enjoy science fiction, think it's a solid idea. So I am going to write it. Unfortunately for this blog, however, that means that all my non-novel time will be very small, and all of it devoted to Pillar on the Rock and 52 Verses.
The decision to shut down this blog may seem sudden, but it really isn't; it's a thought I have been quietly chewing on for the last several months. As much as I enjoyed my spate of daily blogging in October, it highlighted for me just how adrift this blog's content has been. That lack of focus is not necessarily a bad thing, but when I get back to blogging (probably in a year or so; we will see), I intend to write with considerably more focus. Secondary topics will get split off onto their own blogs so that theology is not mingled with Blogger tips. Even if I were not going to write a novel next year, I would almost certainly be putting Thoughts; A Flame to rest for that reason alone. As it is, I simply will not be blogging at all.
That may prove quite a challenge, as many of you who know me will understand—but I really do need to devote all of my spare writing time to the novel if I am going to do a good job with it. It really is my aim to write the sort of book that I can publish, God willing!
You can expect exactly one more post in this space: a follow-up to last year's 12 Days of Christmas project—this year, James has upped the ante to 25 days, and the project is already live. You can see the first art here.
If you want to see what I'm thinking about and follow my writing over the next year, your best bet will be Pillar on the Rock, as I will continue writing regularly and serving as one of the general editors there.
With that, God bless. It's been fun, and I will always treasure everything I have learned writing here.
The site will of course remain online, with relevant posts available for the searching, seeing as there are several pieces of content here that remain highly trafficked.
