I saw a meme recently. It showed a beautiful, serene photo of a country road traversing through a canopy of trees that displayed all the colors of fall. The caption read: "It's Officially fall!" Then, in a smaller font at the bottom, it said: "Offer not valid in Florida."
Isn't that the truth.
It's been in the low 90s. It's humid. Orlando almost set a record a few days ago, which would have broken the record set back in 1919.
Therefore, if you have any fall-ish weather you want to send our way, please do.
Our next guest on the Florida front porch may welcome this warmer weather, as he hails from West Virginia, which, if memory serves, if a little farther north than Florida. :-)
Please welcome fellow speculative fiction and Scrivenings Press author, Brett Armstrong!
I’m a Christian, thirty-four-year-old husband and dad from small town West Virginia who works with infectious disease data by day and write novels across multiple genres by night. Though lately I’m centered on fantasy and sci-fi. I like gardening, sketching, and race a mean Mario kart.
Brett and I have talked about this before. Being a person who works with infectious disease data for the state, you can just imagine how his last eighteen months of life have been, right? Our hearts go out to you, man.
I’m going to give you a shotgun list of favorites. List your favorite in each category and then tell us in one sentence why it is your favorite.
Favorite
Song of All-Time: "Amazing Grace"—Of course the spiritual context and
beauty of the song would be enough, but it’s also a stark memory I have from
every family funeral I’ve been to (and that’s been quite a few) and because of
that the song keeps me grounded in remembering how much more lies after all our
senses offer us now.
Favorite
Non-Fiction Book (other than your own & besides the Bible): Not a
Fan by Kyle Idelman— Idleman is very to the point and puts things into
perspective really nicely, in terms of the kind of sincere devotion Christ
deserves compared to what is often encouraged in western believers.
Favorite
Bible Verse:
John 10:27-30—I know that’s three, but together they offered me a lot of
comfort as a young Christian and so much more as the years go by.
Favorite
Movie:
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade—This is a tough call between Last Crusade,
Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Return of the King, but the dynamic between Indy,
his dad, Sallah, Marcus, and the message woven into it put Last Crusade over
the top for me.
Favorite
Actor or Actress: Harrison Ford—He’s been in Star Wars and Indiana
Jones and I’ve enjoyed pretty much every movie I’ve seen him in, plus he does
his own stunts.
(Did you know he was a set worker as a carpenter in the making of the first SW Movie, trying to break into show business? He was given a chance to read the Hans Solo part and wowed Lucas.)
Favorite
TV Show:
The Chosen—This was tough, because I’ve seen a fair amount of TV shows and
liked quite a few from Psych to Star Wars: Rebels to The West Wing, but The
Chosen pushes me to mull things over for far longer than any other show to date.
Favorite
Novel (other than your own): The Silver Chair—I kind of surprised
myself with this pick, but there are moments in the story that I carry with me
into life and I could read or hear this book a thousand times and not grow
tired of it.
Favorite Author
(other than you): I fail…it’s a five way tie between CS Lewis, JRR
Tolkien, Timothy Zahn, HG Wells, and William Shakespeare—they’ve all impacted
me so much as a writer and for such diverse reasons that I can’t choose.
Favorite
Sport:
Basketball—I played soccer for my high school, but there were a lot of after
school pick up games and church league seasons that forged memories I still
treasure.
Favorite
Team (Can be any sport, any level): WVU Mountaineers—I grew up a WVU
fan and after spending six years at WVU I’ll always pick WVU to win, no matter
the sport.
Favorite
Subject in School Growing Up: History—I’m an English and Math lover,
but I’m a take-the-history-textbooks-home-to-read-for-fun level History nerd.
Favorite
Subject Now:
Apologetics—I’m cheating here, because it incorporates history, language, math,
science, philosophy, theology, and more into one nice category.
Favorite
Teacher in School: I had too many great teachers from elementary school
through college to pick and I realize that’s a true and rare blessing.
Favorite
Time of the Year: Fall—I used to hate it as a kid, but now I revel in
that crisp chill and the building excitement of the holidays spent with family
from Halloween to Advent in anticipation of Christmas.
(Then, don't move to Florida - fall gets cancelled every year in favor of an extended summer)
Favorite
Place to Vacation: This is another non-answer I suppose, but anywhere I
can be with my family—We’ve been blessed to travel to the Smokey Mountains, several
beaches, historical sites like Williamsburg/Jamestown/Yorktown, and others, but
what makes all of the most special was the people I shared each experience
with.
Favorite
Drink:
Water—I’m so uninteresting, I only drink water and orange juice really, and of
the two one is essential for life.
Favorite
Food:
Pumpkin anything—I don’t understand why people think they have to wait for the
fall to eat pumpkin dishes; it’s a super food, sold year-round, and makes
things delicious.
For all the pet lovers out there, answer this question: Do you have any?
We have the world’s chattiest cat. Like Rambo-machine gun-rapid fire meowing-chatty. But he’s also perhaps the most mild and agreeable cat I’ve ever seen. And we’re pretty sure God sent him to us for a purpose.
For years a gray cat would come to visit our house. Our
neighborhood is pretty rural so most people let their pets wander freely so we
never thought much about him other than he was a nice cat and really liked
hanging around our house (especially since we started feeding him). Late last
year he showed up at our house over the course of several weeks looking matted
and with a bloody ear. We asked around and found out no one knew to whom he
belonged. But after seeing him bleeding with no care, we decided to adopt him.
Little did we know that once he got in he’d never stop talking (he regularly
says what sounds like, “Hello!” and he doesn’t stop until we respond with,
“Hello, Kitty.”). When he wants something, he determinedly chatters at us till
he gets what he wants, particularly his treats. One night though he was
particularly vocal. He came in my bedroom and wouldn’t stop meowing till I got
up and followed him. My son was asleep so I definitely didn’t want the cat’s
noises to disturb him. I started to get him some treats and head back to the
bedroom when I noticed he wasn’t paying any attention to the treats. He was
looking at the door to my son’s room, which was shut (ironically to keep the
cat out) and he meowed at me a couple times. I’ve seen dogs do this, well in TV
shows at least, and thought I would check it out. It was a good thing I did. My
son had a lamp with incandescent bendable lights that he wanted on when he goes
to sleep and that night, they had been bent away so they wouldn’t shine in his
eyes. The lamp’s bulb houses were melting and smoke was rolling off them. I
turned off the lamp and unplugged it right away and went back outside without
my son stirring. The cat was just sitting there expectantly, like he was
saying, “I told you.” If we hadn’t chosen to adopt our new kitty friend and the
lamps had been left alone, I could see how they could have readily started a
fire. And being in my son’s room, by his door that would’ve been terrible. I
don’t know that our cat was intentionally being heroic, but when I explained to my wife what happened she
agreed that our chatty little friend was a gift from God at just the right
time.
What a cool story! My grandson would agree. Cats are the best, he would say.
Of all the stories/books you have written, which one is your favorite? And what compelled you to write this story?
This is a really tough question, because as cliché as it sounds, I do prize each story I write equally. The themes and beats of the stories vary and that means that no one of them speaks more loudly to my heart than the others. Though if I’m really getting into slight diminutions in value, my first published novel, Destitutio Quod Remissio, does feel a little different from the others. It’s the most openly artistic book I’ve ever written, because it started as a short story in a college fiction writing course. I was nervous sharing it in my secular course because it is the most spiritually direct of my stories. It’s about a 4th Century Roman Senator who is a Christian in secret during Diocletian’s persecution and his secret is betrayed, so he loses everything.
To my astonishment my classmates embraced the short story
version enthusiastically and encouraged me to turn it into a novel, even offering
to help however they could. So, when it came time to choose my capstone
project, I knew that DQR needed to be it. Most of my books are sci-fi
and fantasy, because that’s the kind of stories that usually come to me, but DQR
just flowed. I love history and historical fiction, so it shouldn’t surprise
me, but even with genres I enjoy the stories don’t always come that readily.
It’s probably the most impactful of my stories because it’s about persecution,
loss, and choosing to forgive as Christ does. Most of my books address the
notion that Christians must remain faithful to Christ in the face of
opposition. The world and the teachings are Christ are on opposite courses and
at some point, all cultures reach a place of hostility to genuine Christianity.
In that respect I wrote it to encourage believers in the west like me who have
never faced that sort of persecution. But there are places across the globe
where following Christ is incredibly and immediately dangerous. The Bible
instructs to pray for those who are suffering for faith in Christ as though we
are suffering along with them (Hebrews 13:3). So, DQR is also meant to
encourage us in the west to do that for our brothers and sisters abroad.
As a writer, if you had one thing you would do over again, what would it be?
I’ve done so many things wrong in my publishing career it sometimes feels like it would be easier to point out the few bright spots of things that I did right. Among the things that traditional publishing wisdom frowns on is my choice to write two series at the same time. It breaks the established publishing model for a series having quick yearly (or even semi-annual) releases to keep reader engagement and interest high. It also divides your interest and effort and depending on how different the series are can force you to make some giant leaps back and forth between the two. Which if you’re writing different genre series like I happen to be, you’re also going to be breaking the publishing rule about sabotaging reader expectations, because I can attest that not every reader enthused for a dystopian sci-fi series will happily pick up an epic fantasy one. Which is probably what I would change. So, bear with me, because this might not make a lot of sense at first.
I wouldn’t go back and change the series I’m writing or
doing them at the same time or even how far apart the books were published. Quest
of Fire has met the book a year pace so far, but my dystopian sci-fi Tomorrow’s
Edge series had a three-year gap between book one and book two. Book two
and book three will be at least two years and if my day job doesn’t relent from
its added pressures, I may be doing well to get the final entry to readers in
three years as well. What I’ve discovered is that anytime the Lord allows me to
take longer with composing a book there are elements that enhance and enrich
the book far more that wouldn’t have made it into the story if I had kept the
schedule the publishing world and I would like to adhere to. So, it’s not the
what or the when or the how I would change in doing two series at once, but the
who. And by that I mean, I would change myself. If I could go back, I would go
into it without the naiveté. I wouldn’t presume that all readers who like
anything I write will like everything. I wouldn’t assume that everyone who read
and reviewed one book would do so for another and be more proactive in
branching out and forging new publishing world relationships. I’d be
conscientious to market the two series differently, focus less on cross
marketing my two series together and rather find others marketing like books to
work with so each series would get the best chance to succeed respectively. A
lot of publishing and how you view your career is colored by how much pain it
took to get you to where you’re currently at. I think with a bit of knowledge I
could’ve avoided a fair amount of pain, but still produced the books in each
series each of which has been a blessing.
Tell us about what project you are currently working on.
As a writer, what is “success” to you? And has that “definition” changed over time as you have traveled down the writer’s path?
This has definitely changed over time. At varying points I have and still do look at critical success (reviews and contest wins) or financial success (plentiful sales). The problem with those metrics is that often enough I don’t experience what I’m expecting or wanting in those categories and that leaves me feeling like a failure. Yet every time I want to quit and go the Lord and say, “Okay, does this mean I should stop?” the Lord has given me a reason to keep writing or the peace to stay the course until the sting of whatever has laid low my self-esteem. The more I stay in writing and keep going without being sent away from it by the Lord, the more I look to different measures for what constitutes success. Early in my publishing career I prayed that I would write what the Lord would have me to and how and when He lead. I often say I want to be a brush in the Master Artist’s hand. To that end, if He wants to use me for little things which do not garner critical or financial success, then I want to be wholly committed to realizing what He envisions for the projects that I’m given. It isn’t easy to remember that, because I’m a little competitive by nature and the commercialized world we live in really wears at you because it very much offers up success as an intersection of critical and financial wins. Which as I learned from a keynote by best-selling author Brent Weeks, is something of a moving target. The higher you climb, the more aware you become of how many others are higher still on that ladder than you. Keeping a healthier attitude for me then becomes something akin to keeping the lyrics of the Casting Crown song “Nobody” in mind:
“And if they all forget my name, well that's fine with me; I'm living for the world to see Nobody but Jesus”
It’s still a regular struggle, but when I align that to be my metric of success, then I find myself much less stressed and much more grateful for every opportunity I have, however big or small. It lets me treasure when readers say a story challenged them and stayed with them long after finishing or encouraged them in their faith. It isn’t an award or best-seller status, but it is a blessing and privilege and success for me.
If you had one person you could meet (think ONLY Bible characters here) and could spend as much time as you wanted with that individual, who would it be besides Jesus, and why?
I would love to meet the Apostle John. Like nerdy, fanboy level excited to get to talk to him. John’s Gospel has touched me the most deeply of the four. It would be fascinating to get to talk to him about what it was like starting out as a young man following the Messiah and going from someone who wanted to call down fire from Heaven to consume those who mocked Christ to writing in his old age about love being what defines us as believers. To have been the only member of the twelve at the foot of the cross. To have seen Christ personally and been so close as to name himself the beloved disciple and yet be so consumed in awe-filled terror that he collapsed at the sight of the glorified Christ in the revelation on Patmos. The breadth of his experiences and their uniqueness and how it impacted him and how some things like the threats from his people’s leaders, his brother’s execution, and seeing all those who walked closest with Christ in His first coming perish—most martyred—while he lived…that would be truly something incredible. If we are permitted speak with the Apostles in Heaven one day, John is most certainly the one I’ll be making a beeline for.
Why do you live where you live?
Family. I’m an only child of two parents who were coming to a close of their potential window to have children. I was a surprise to them and they most definitely made me feel treasured and loved growing up. Being the youngest member of my familial generation, I’ve also been to a lot of funerals. Some for family members I never really got to know, some for those that hurt deeply to lose and it seems unfathomable to think of the world without them in it. In particular I wish I’d gotten closer to my grandparents.
Small
town West Virginia isn’t a bustling metropolis. I went to undergraduate school
at West Virginia University in Morgantown, and that’s about the closest one
could find to a multicultural and thriving area in the state. Innovation and
expansion abound there and I often miss it and realize my day career would
likely be doing far better by worldly standards if I had stayed there after
graduating. Though it would likely have already led me out of state, because a
lot of the opportunities presented to me during my final semester was for
companies offering jobs in other states and countries. I won’t lie and say that
when I look at my state pay check and think about all of the skills and things
I’ve learned that will likely never get used now, I don’t start thinking about
the proverbial greener grass. But every time I see my son with my parents that
grass looks much less verdant.
We know “Readers are leaders, and leaders are readers.” Is there a book you’ve read in the past five years or so that has helped you become a better you? If so, which one was it, and how did it affect your life?
I’m ashamed to admit it given I’m a fantasy writer, but until five years ago I had only read The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe from The Chronicles of Narnia series. Reading The Silver Chair and The Last Battle in particular have made a huge impact on me. I’ll never forget the first time I completed The Silver Chair. I had just found out that one of my closest friends growing up who had gone forward to accept Christ on the same night I had as kids had become an atheist. In college I saw him reading apologetics books, including CS Lewis’s works. I contacted him right after seeing it and asked if he’d be willing to talk to me about it because I couldn’t believe it.
As
it happened, I had been reading through the Narnia series finally and finished
up The Silver Chair the night before I was supposed to see my friend for
the first time in years. He looked and sounded just like himself. We saw a
movie together, had lunch, and talked for most of the time as we had in years past.
Then the conversation turned to his decision to renounce the Faith. His reasons
didn’t seem as surprising or compelling as I had expected from someone who had
no doubt read the counterarguments to those he presented. Which seemed to
underscore the sequence from The Silver Chair I’d read in which
Puddleglum the Marshwiggle after being browbeaten by a witch who tried to
convince him and the other heroes that everything they believed in was a lie proclaims,
“I’m on Aslan’s side even if there isn’t any Aslan to lead it. I’m going to
live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn’t any Narnia.” It’s all about
faith. After every argument is heard, every evidence examined, there is still
that choice like unto the beginning in the Garden of Eden. We either choose to
believe God or not and The Silver Chair articulated beautifully for me
so many things that I was sorting through at that moment in my life. I pray
that someday my stories can do the same and put to words what someone is
thinking and needs at an important moment in their life. That those words will
help them to stand firm in the Faith and press on to lay hold of “the prize of
God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14)
What Bible scripture has impacted your life the most, and why?
The verses that have most impacted me over the years would have to be John 10:27-30. Early on in my walk with Christ I was really concerned that there was something, anything, I could do to sabotage the new life I had been called to. Whether spiritual forces or my own weakness and foolishness (the latter being my primary concern), I worried I might make a wreck of everything. Before I encountered the encouraging words of Romans 8:38-39, I was directed to Christ’s words in John’s Gospel by an uncle who I respected very much. In some ways though less direct and explicit than the hope-filled promise found in the Apostle Paul’s epistle to the Romans, I find Christ’s words here far more comforting. Perhaps it is because the Creator of the Universe is speaking them Himself. Or the tender imagery of being in the hands that were nail-scarred for my healing and redemption protectively holding me. The notion that I a sheep, given to wandering and utterly without defenses of my own, am securely held in the hands of the One Who formed me and knows every misstep I will take and every trial and tribulation ahead and yet assures me I cannot be snatched out of His holy, holy, holy hands. On the days when I give this passage serious consideration, meditating even for a while on it, I have to admit that the comfort makes facing each step ahead in life easier.
Brett, we're so glad you agreed to be a part of our growing family here at ABTS. Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers about you, or anything we didn’t cover?
Just
that I sincerely appreciate you having me on your blog and those who have made
it this far reading what I had to say. I know I’m a small-time author and not
the most socially vibrant among many by far, so any time I have the chance to
connect with other readers and writers like this, it means a lot to me. It’s a
tall order in our busy world where finding a quiet moment to read anything
seems tricky, but I hope some of you gentle readers will try one of my books,
particularly my most recent release, Quest of Fire: Shadows at Nightfall.
And I hope it encourages and enlivens your faith and sense of adventure. Whatever
the case, it would be great to hear from those reading this and have some
conversations and learn what some of your answers to these questions would be.
It's so rewarding when someone reads our stories, isn't it? Time is precious, and for them to take the time to obtain and read one says a great deal to an author. And when they like it (because let's face it, not everyone is going to like everything we write), and they share that with others, it sends an author over the moon.
Readers, if you want to learn more about Brett and his writing, you can find him at these online locations!
Good Reads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8281587.Brett_Armstrong
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brettarmstrongwv
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BArmstrongWV
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/BrettArmstrongAuthor
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/ChristianKid044
Website: https://BrettArmstrong.net
Most Recent Book: https://scrivenings.link/shadowsatnightfall
Kevin
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