• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content

C.S. Elston

Worshipper, Husband, Author, Screenwriter, Home Cook, Fan

  • About C.S. Elston
  • Life of Elston
  • C.S. Elston Books
  • Contact

Time Is NOT Money

May 17, 2018 By C.S. Elston

 

The old adage that “time is money” is dead wrong. Sure, they have things in common. For example, they can be spent both wisely and foolishly. They can be used selfishly or to serve others. And, in both cases, some of us have more than other people.

However, the differences far outweigh the similarities. Money can be saved up to be spent at a later date. Time, on the other hand, is spent with or without our consent and no matter how hard we try to keep it from happening, ultimately expires for each and every one of us.

Time is far more precious than money. It’ a non-renewable resource. How are you spending yours? I purposely made this post short so I didn’t waste any of it.

If I were you, I’d spend the time I spared you wisely . . .

Filed Under: About Me, Blog, Home Tagged With: money, philosophy, priorities, time, wealth, well-being

People Pleasing

April 19, 2018 By C.S. Elston

 

“Those who please all men at all times ought deservedly to look on themselves with suspicion.” — Johann Albrecht Bengel

There is nothing wrong with wanting to make people happy and it is completely natural to want to be well-liked. However, the goals of pleasing everyone and remaining someone who is honest both with themselves and those around them cannot co-exist. For me, and most of us, I presume, the latter is the priority.

As a Christian, my absolute highest priority is actually trying to please God. And, if I’m being two-faced, I’m failing in that primary goal. Two-faced people are not authentic people and God demands authenticity. After all, authenticity is truth and Jesus told us that the truth shall set us free. If pleasing my God is my top priority, I must be striving to please Him in every conversation I have. Therefore, I can’t be one person with my church friends and another with my school or work friends. I have to remain that God-pleasing person in every public situation, as well is in private. My inner person must match up with my outer person, always. That’s authenticity.

As a writer, trying to please everyone is the kiss of death. Different people like different things. Therefore, I write things that I would enjoy reading. When I do, I accept that some people will also enjoy the things that I do. I also accept that some people will not. That’s okay. Unfortunately, I even have to accept the fact that there will be people who actually hate what I do. That can be tough to swallow but, when it comes right down to it, it’s natural and, therefore, it’s okay, too. After all, if I write a piece about Jesus being the Son of God, I can’t expect an atheist to appreciate it. And, if I write something to try and get everyone to love it, chances are very few people are even going to like it. I’ll take 100 five-star reviews and 100 one-star reviews over two hundred three-star reviews because I know 100 people are going to want to read what I write next.

At the end of the day, the truth is, what I really want to do is to write things that please God. If He likes it, I’m happy. If He can use it, He’ll guide the right people to it. In other words, I must only strive to please God at all times and He’ll take care of the rest.

Filed Under: About Me, Blog, Faith, Home, Writing Tagged With: audience, authentic, authenticity, author, book, Books, Christian, christianity, critic, criticism, critics, faith, God, Jesus, Johann Albrecht Bengel, people pleaser, people pleasing, quote, review, reviewer, reviewers, reviews, self-awareness, trust God, truth, two-faced, writer, writing

What’s so good about ‘Good Friday’?

March 29, 2018 By C.S. Elston

 

Most of us are aware that Good Friday commemorates the crucifixion and death of Jesus. So, shouldn’t we be mourning rather than celebrating? Shouldn’t we be sad and full of sorrow rather than glad and full of joy? This was something I had a hard time understanding when I was younger. But, as I’ve matured in my faith I’ve come to realize that Good Friday is good specifically because it includes all of those emotions.

I have seen the movie “The Passion of the Christ” numerous times and I have yet to watch it without weeping. The images of the only perfect, sinless human being brutally beaten, mocked and painfully executed do induce much-warranted grief. After all, it was my sin, my inability to obey God’s laws, that put him there. I was hopeless until Jesus hung on that cross. We all were. Which, means, we’re all to blame. So, we should feel that sorrow. It’s what 2 Corinthians 7:10 refers to as godly sorrow.

However, the fact that Jesus loved me so much he willingly submitted to such horror also fills me with godly joy and gratefulness. The best part is, it was for all of us. Even the worst of us. It was for the criminal who hung on the cross next to him. It was for the Apostle Paul who, before he was the Apostle, was Saul, the ultimate persecutor of those who loved and followed Jesus. It was for me. And, it was for you. There is no greater love than what God has already shown to each and every one of us and that, coupled with the promise of death’s ultimate defeat that we’ll celebrate on Easter Sunday, is what makes Good Friday so good.

Filed Under: Blog, Faith, Home Tagged With: Christian, christianity, Corinthians, cross, crucifixion, Easter, faith, God, Good Friday, holy week, Jesus, Jesus Christ, resurrection, The Passion of the Christ

What the World Needs Now

March 14, 2018 By C.S. Elston

 

After seeing the title of this post, you’re probably singing “is love, sweet love” in your head. Or, maybe you’re not keeping it inside and you’re belting out the 1965 Jackie DeShannon hit to either the delight or severe dismay of those around you. Perhaps you’re by yourself, in which case I say go ahead and belt it out. I’ve convinced myself that God loves the sound of my voice, even if no one else does. I’m sure the same is true for you.

Love, sweet love is synonymous with how I would finish that sentence with or without the song. After all, God is love. And, we’re not seeing enough love these days, are we? The culture seems to be in a state of chaos. It seems like there’s another school shooting every other week, another terrorist attack just as often, and we’re in danger of adding more wars every day. Yesterday it was with North Korea, the day before that it was Russia, and this morning it’s Syria. Dare I even mention that the current political climate has the United States of America more divided than ever?

So, what is the answer? Border Walls? Gun control? Mental health mandates? How about our spiritual health? Let’s take it back to love. Let’s take it back to the cross. Why? Because I whole-heartedly agree with both William Barclay who said, “Jesus’ coming is the final and unanswerable proof that God cares” and the late, great Billy Graham who said “God proved His love on the Cross. When Christ hung, and bled, and died, it was God saying to the world, ‘I love you.’”

I look to the cross and there is nothing that anyone can say or do to make me believe that God does not care about the chaos in our culture or that He does not love me in a very personal and direct way. He’s already proven it.

So, why don’t more people see it that way? Well, quite simply, we’ve pushed him out of our lives. We’ve put ourselves on the throne where He rightfully belongs. We see it all around us every day. Sadly, even often at church. Therefore, I would argue that it is our spiritual health that is in crisis and if we can fix that, everything else will fall into place.

Obviously, we can’t remove sin from the world. The world will be restored but it will be God that does it. Which is all the more reason to look to Him now. We need a revival. We need repentance. We need to make holiness and righteousness our primary goal. We need to put God back on the throne of our lives and, by extension, our culture.

I am convinced that with true, Christian revival would come a drastic reduction in murder, terrorism, war, racism and the indiscriminate shouts of hatred toward others that we see on the news every day and night.

Respect for God means we respect what God respects and love what God loves. God is love and He loves each and every one of us. That means that if we would wholeheartedly turn to God and changed our lives to reflect our love and respect for Him, we would almost automatically love and respect each other. If we respected each other, we would stop breeding hatred and, ultimately, stop killing one another.

In other words, passing all the laws in the world can’t do what turning to God can do. You might say, what the world needs now is Jesus, sweet Jesus. Perhaps now more than ever before.

Filed Under: About Me, Blog, Faith, Home, Politics Tagged With: Billy Graham, border wall, chaos, Christian, christianity, Christians, cross, crucifixion, culture, divided states, God, God cares, God is love, gun control, hate, holiness, Jackie DeShannon, Jesus, Jesus Christ, mental health, murder, news, North Korea, politics, Racism, revival, righteousness, Russia, spiritual health, Syria, terrorism, U.S.A., united states, USA, war, what the world needs now, William Barclay

My Intended Audience

March 2, 2018 By C.S. Elston

 

I have slowly been rolling out my answers to questions I received in an interview I did on Twitter back in November for #MounceChat / #HealthyFaith. This post is a continuation of that rollout.

A little over half way through the interview, a participant named Rachael Colby asked me, “Who is your audience? What age? Are they written for the Christian market, secular or both?” Here is how I responded:

I’d say “The Four Corners” series is written for kids older than eight. My wife is a teacher and she helped me put together a literary unit for schools which is a free download on the publisher’s website. We wrote a group Bible Study for families for that one, as well, which is also a free download. And, for the record, I know that a lot of adults have enjoyed the book, too.

Similarly, “The Gift of the Elements” series is written for teenagers and above but, I’ve had adults tell me that “The Gift of Tyler” is their favorite book. Hopefully, they feel the same way about “The Gift of Rio” and the others that haven’t come out yet.

The next series I’m planning (which is several books away) will be mostly for adults but,

I do like writing for a younger audience. Also, my hope (carried over from the earlier questions about faith and defining Christian novels) is that my books can be enjoyed by both Christian and secular audiences but, my faith is so much of who I am that I have reached a point in my life and my walk that I refuse to hide it and I’m sure some people will be turned off by that while others will identify with and appreciate it.

At this point in the interview, a participant called @mim526 joined in and asked, “I noticed in the description of The Gift of Rio that it’s chronologically book 1. For someone new to your books, do you recommend reading it first or after the Gift of Tyler?” Here is how I responded to their follow up:

The first four “The Gift of the Elements” books are stand-alone stories that are all connected but can be read in any order. “The Gift of Tyler” was the first book but the events in it technically happen fourth. You’re good either way.

I hope those questions and answers clear things up for people. More (from both the Twitter interview and elsewhere) to come!

Filed Under: About Me, Blog, Faith, Home, My Books, Writing Tagged With: audience, author, book, Books, healthy faith, healthyfaith, interview, marketing, mounce chat, MounceChat, target audience, the four corners, The Gift of Rio, the gift of the elements, The Gift of Tyler, twitter, twitter chat, writer, writing

Defining a “Christian” Novel

February 15, 2018 By C.S. Elston

I’m continuing to slowly rollout my answers to questions in an interview I did on Twitter back in November for #MounceChat / #HealthyFaith. This week’s post is a short but sweet one. A writer from Montana named Carol Buchanan asked me, “What defines a ‘Christian novel’?” Here is how I responded:

I’m sure it is defined differently by different people. For me, a Christian novel represents Christianity in a positive and honest way through character development and storyline and points people to the truth of God.

Someone whose primary concern is the marketing aspect of the literary world would tell you that it is definitely a genre of its own. But, for me, as the writer, I would say it’s the spirit that pervades the story. I don’t think there’s a strictly right or wrong answer. But, the latter is where I land.

Adding to my answer from back in November, I’ll just say that I don’t believe all of my own work would be called “Christian” by Christian film/book marketers and/or sellers although I also know that some of it certainly would be. However, I do believe that all of it represents Christianity in a positive and honest way and points people to the truth of God. I’m sure of this because I know I write honestly and from the heart and I have personally witnessed the power of Jesus Christ to change lives.

The more mature I become in my faith, the more that truth will reveal itself through my writing because it becomes increasingly intertwined with who I am. If you’re writing honestly, who you are shows up on the page every time. So, if you’re a true follower of Jesus Christ and you’re writing a novel from a heart transformed by the Holy Spirit, you’re writing a “Christian” novel whether or not you set out to do so.

Filed Under: About Me, Blog, Faith, Home, My Books, Writing Tagged With: author, bill mounce, book marketing, Carol Buchanan, character development, Christian, Christian books, christian fiction, Christian film, Christian literarture, Christian media, christian movies, Christian novel, christianity, faith, God, healthy faith, healthyfaith, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, literary world, literature, marketing, mounce chat, MounceChat, novel, storyline, twitter, writer, writing

Some of My Favorite Music From 1960-1964

February 6, 2018 By C.S. Elston

Although it’s been a while, this is the third installment of the “Some of My Favorite Music” series. We’re heading into the 1960s now, which may very well be my favorite decade for music and I think it’s time to start splitting those decades in half. So, this time, I’ll be focusing on the 1960-1964.

Chuck Berry, songs: “Nadine (Is It You?),” “No Particular Place to Go,” “You Never Can Tell,” “Little Marie” and “Promised Land” (1964)

Ben E. King, songs: “This Magic Moment,” “Save the Last Dance for Me,” “I Count the Tears” and “Spanish Harlem” (1960,) “Stand by Me” and “Amor” (1961,) “Don’t Play That Song (You Lied)” (1962) and “I (Who Have Nothing)” (1963)

Johnny Cash, songs: “Seasons of My Heart” and “Second Honeymoon” (1960,) “The Rebel – Johnny Yuma” and “Tennessee Flat Top Box” (1961,) “The Big Battle,” “In the Jailhouse Now,” “Bonanza” and “Busted” (1962,)  “Ring of Fire” and “The Matador” (1963) “Understand Your Man” and “The Ballad of Ira Hayes” (1964)

Nat King Cole, songs: “Time and the River” (1960,) “Ramblin Rose,” “Dear Lonely Hearts” and “The Christmas Song” (1962,) “All Over the World,” “Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer” and “That Sunday, That Summer” (1963) and “My True Carrie Love,” “I Don’t Want to Be Hurt Anymore” and “I Don’t Want to See Tomorrow” (1964)

Howlin’ Wolf, songs: “Spoonful” (1960,) “Wang-Dang Doodle,” “Goin’ Down Slow” and “The Red Rooster” (1961) and “I Ain’t Superstitious” (1962)

Etta James, songs: “All I Could Do Was Cry” and “My Dearest Darling” (1960,) “At Last,” “Trust in Me” and “Don’t Cry Baby” (1961,) “Something’s Got a Hold on Me” and “Stop The Wedding” (1962,) “Pushover” (1963) and “Loving You More Every Day” (1964)

James Brown, songs: “I’ll Go Crazy,” “Think,” “You’ve Got the Power,” “This Old Heart” and “The Bells” (1960,) “Bewildered,” “I Don’t Mind,” “Baby You’re Right,” “Just You and Me, Darling” and “Lost Someone” (1961,) “Night Train,” “Shout and Shimmy,” “Mashed Potatoes U.S.A.” and “Three Hearts in a Tangle” (1962,) “Like a Baby,” “Prisoner of Love,” “These Foolish Things” and “Signed Sealed and Delivered” (1963) and “Oh Baby Don’t You Weep,” “Please, Please, Please” and “Have Mercy Baby” (1964)

Ray Charles, songs: “Let the Good Times Roll,” Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Cryin’,” “Just for a Thrill,” “Tell the Truth” and “Come Rain or Come Shine” (1960)

Sam Cooke, songs: “Wonderful World” and “Chain Gang” (1960,) “That’s It, I Quit, I’m Movin’ On” and “Cupid” (1961,) “Twistin’ the Night Away,” “Bring It on Home to Me,” “Having a Party,” “Nothing Can Change This Love,” “Somebody Have Mercy” and “Send Me Some Lovin’” (1962,) “Another Saturday Night,” “Frankie and Johnny” and “Little Red Rooster” (1963) and “Good News,” “Good Times,” “Tennessee Waltz,” “That’s Where It’s At,” “Cousin of Mine,” “Shake” and “A Change Is Gonna Come”

B.B. King, songs: “Sweet Sixteen, Pt. 1” and “Walking Dr. Bill” (1960,) “Someday” and “Peace of Mind” (1961,) “My Sometime Baby” (1962) and “How Blue Can You Get,” “Beautician Blues,” “Help the Poor,” “Rock Me Baby” and “Never Trust a Woman” (1964)

Elvis Presley, songs: “Stuck On You,” “Fame and Fortune,” “It’s Now or Never,” “A Mess of Blues,” “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” and “I Gotta Know” (1960,) “Surrender,” “Lonely Man,” “Flaming Star,” “I Feel So Bad,” “Wind in the Country,” “(Marie’s the Name) His Latest Flame,” “Little Sister” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love” (1961,) “Rock-A-Hula Baby,” “Good Luck Charm,” “Anything That’s Part of You,” “Follow That Dream,” “She’s Not You,” King of the Whole Wide World” and Return to Sender” (1962,) “One Broken Heart for Sale,” “(You’re The) Devil in Disguise,” “Bossa Nova Baby” and “Witchcraft” (1963) and “Kissin’ Cousins,” “It Hurts Me,” “Kiss Me Quick,” “What’d I Say,” “Viva Las Vegas,” “Such a Night,” “Ask Me” and “Ain’t That Loving You Baby” (1964)

The Shirelles, songs: “Tonight’s The Night” and “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” (1960,) “Mama Said,” “A Thing of the Past,” “Big John (Ain’t You Gonna Marry Me)” and “Baby It’s You” (1961,) “Soldier Boy,” “Welcome Home, Baby,” “Stop the Music” and “Everybody Loves a Lover” (1962,) “Foolish Little Girl” and “Don’t Say Goodnight and Mean Goodbye” (1963)

Nina Simone, songs: “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out” (1960) and “Trouble in Mind” (1961)

Ike & Tina Turner, songs: “A Fool in Love” (1960,) “I Idolize You” and “It’s Gonna Work Out Fine” (1961,) “Poor Fool” and “Tra La La La La” (1962)

Jackie Wilson, songs: “A Woman, a Lover, a Friend,” “Night,” “Alone at Last,” “Doggin’ Around,” “Am I the Man” and “(You Were Made For) All My Love” (1960,) “My Empty Arms,” “The Tear of the Year” and “I’m Comin’ on Back to You” (1961) and “Baby Workout” (1963)

The Crystals, songs: “There’s No Other (Like My Baby)” (1961,) “Uptown,” “He’s a Rebel” and “He’s Sure the Boy I Love” (1962) and “Da Doo Ron Ron (When He Walked Me Home)” and “Then He Kissed Me” (1963)

Del Shannon, song: “Runnaway” (1961)

The Beatles, songs: “My Bonnie” (1961,) “Love Me Do” and “P.S. I Love You” (1962,) “Please Please Me,” From Me to You,” “She Loves You,” “Roll Over Beethoven,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “I Saw Her Standing There” (1963) and “From Me to You,” “All My Loving,” “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “Twist and Shout,” “You Can’t Do That,” “Do You Want to Know a Secret?,” “Thank You Girl,” Ain’t She Sweet,” “A Hard Day’s Night,” “I Should Have Known Better,” “I’ll Cry Instead,” “And I Love Her,” “If I Fell,” “Matchbox” and “Slow Down”

Patsy Cline, songs: “I Fall to Pieces” and “Crazy” (1961,” “She’s Got You,” “When I Get Through with You,” “So Wrong” and “Heartaches” (1962) and “Leavin On Your Mind” (1963)

Marvin Gaye, songs: “Stubborn Kind of Fellow” and “Hitch Hike” (1962,) “Pride and Joy” and “Can I Get a Witness” (1963) and “You’re a Wonderful One,” “Once Upon a Time,” “What’s the Matter with You Baby,” “Try It Baby,” “Baby Don’t You Do It” and “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)” (1964)

The Isley Brothers, song: “Twist & Shout” (1962)

Booker T. & the MG’s, song: “Green Onions” (1962)

Louis Armstrong, songs: “Mack the Knife” (1962) and “Hello, Dolly” (1964)

The Kingsmen, song: “Louie Louie” (1962)

The Rolling Stones, songs: “Come On” and “I Wanna Be Your Man” (1963) and “Not Fade Away,” “Tell Me,” “It’s All Over Now,” “Time Is on My Side,” “Little Red Rooster” and “Heart of Stone” (1964)

Martha and the Vandellas, songs: “Come and Get These Memories” and “Heat Wave” (1963) and “Quicksand,” “Live Wire” and “In My Lonely Room” (1964)

The Animals, song: “The House of the Rising Sun” (1964)

The Four Tops, songs: “Baby I Need Your Loving” and “Without the One You Love (Life’s Not Worth While)” (1964)

Little Richard, songs: “Crying in the Chapel” (1963) and “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” “Goodnight Irene” and “Blueberry Hill” (1964)

The Kinks, song: “You Really Got Me” (1964)

The Righteous Brothers, song: “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” (1964)

The Shangri-Las, songs: “Remember (Walking in the Sand),” “Leader of the Pack” and “Give Him a Great Big Kiss” (1964)

The Sonics, song: “The Witch” (1964)

The Supremes, songs: “Where Did Our Love Go,” “Baby Love” and “Come See About Me” (1964)

The Zombies, song: “She’s Not There” (1964)

Well, now you probably understand why I decided to start cutting the decades in half. So much great music . . . And, so much more to come . . . After all, the early 1960s primarily continued the pop and rock ‘n’ roll trend of the 1950s but the second half of the 1960s would see the evolution of rock.

Filed Under: Blog, Home, Music Tagged With: (Marie’s the Name) His Latest Flame, (You Were Made For) All My Love, (You’re The) Devil in Disguise, 1960, 1960-1964, 1960s, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, A Change Is Gonna Come, A Fool in Love, A Hard Day’s Night, A Mess of Blues, A Thing of the Past, A Woman a Lover a Friend, Ain’t She Sweet, Ain’t That Loving You Baby, All I Could Do Was Cry, All My Loving, All Over the World, Alone at Last, Am I the Man, And I Love Her, animals, Another Saturday Night, Anything That’s Part of You, Are You Lonesome Tonight?, Ask Me, At Last, B.B. King, Baby Don’t You Do It, Baby I Need Your Loving, Baby It’s You, Baby Love, Baby Workout, Baby You’re Right, band, Beatles, Beautician Blues, Bewildered, Big John (Ain’t You Gonna Marry Me), Blueberry Hill, Bonanza, Booker T. & the MG’s, Bossa Nova Baby, Bring It on Home to Me, Busted, Can I Get a Witness, Can’t Buy Me Love, Can’t Help Falling in Love, Chain Gang, Chuck Berry, Come and Get These Memories, Come On, Come Rain or Come Shine, Come See About Me, country and western, country music, Cousin of Mine, Crazy, Crying in the Chapel, Cupid, Da Doo Ron Ron (When He Walked Me Home), Dear Lonely Hearts, Del Shannon, Do You Want to Know a Secret?, Doggin’ Around, Don’t Cry Baby, Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Cryin’, Don’t Say Goodnight and Mean Goodbye, Elvis Presley, Etta James, Everybody Loves a Lover, Fab Four, Fame and Fortune, Flaming Star, Follow That Dream, Foolish Little Girl, four tops, Frankie and Johnny, From Me to You, Give Him a Great Big Kiss, Goin’ Down Slow, Good Luck Charm, Good News, Good Times, Goodnight Irene, Green Onions, Have Mercy Baby, Having a Party, He’s a Rebel, He’s Sure the Boy I Love, Heart of Stone, Heartaches, Heat Wave, Hello Dolly, Help the Poor, Hitch Hike, How Blue Can You Get, How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You), Howlin Wolf, I Ain’t Superstitious, I Don’t Mind, I Don’t Want to Be Hurt Anymore, I Don’t Want to See Tomorrow, I Fall to Pieces, I Feel So Bad, I Gotta Know, I Idolize You, I Saw Her Standing There, I Should Have Known Better, I Wanna Be Your Man, I Want to Hold Your Hand, I’ll Cry Instead, I’ll Go Crazy, I’m Comin’ on Back to You, If I Fell, Ike & Tina Turner, Ike and Turner, Ike Turner, In My Lonely Room, In the Jailhouse Now, Isley Brothers, It Hurts Me, It’s All Over Now, It’s Gonna Work Out Fine, It’s Now or Never, Jackie Wilson, James Brown, Johnny Cash, Just for a Thrill, Just You and Me Darling, king of rock 'n' roll, King of the Whole Wide World, kingsmen, kinks, Kiss Me Quick, Kissin’ Cousins, Leader of the Pack, Leavin On Your Mind, Let the Good Times Roll, Like a Baby, Little Marie, Little Red Rooster, Little Richard, Little Sister, Live Wire, Lonely Man, Lost Someone, Louie Louie, Louis Armstrong, Love Me Do, Loving You More Every Day, Mack the Knife, Mama Said, Martha and the Vandellas, Marvin Gaye, Mashed Potatoes U.S.A., Matchbox, Music, musical group, My Bonnie, My Dearest Darling, My Empty Arms, My Sometime Baby, My True Carrie Love, Nadine (Is It You?), Nat King Cole, Never Trust a Woman, Night, Night Train, Nina Simone, No Particular Place to Go, Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out, Not Fade Away, Nothing Can Change This Love, Oh Baby Don’t You Weep, Once Upon a Time, One Broken Heart for Sale, P.S. I Love You, Patsy Cline, Peace of Mind, Please, Please Please Me, Please Please Please, Poor Fool, Pride and Joy, Prisoner of Love, Promised Land, Pushover, Quicksand, Ramblin Rose, Ray Charles, Remember (Walking in the Sand), Return to Sender, righteous brothers, Ring of Fire, rock, rock 'n' roll, rock 'n' roll music, Rock Me Baby, Rock-A-Hula Baby, Roll Over Beethoven, rolling stones, Runnaway, Sam Cooke, Seasons of My Heart, Second Honeymoon, Send Me Some Lovin’, Shake, She Loves You, She’s Got You, She’s Not There, She’s Not You, Shirelles, Shout and Shimmy, Signed Sealed and Delivered, singer, Slow Down, So Wrong, Soldier Boy, Somebody Have Mercy, Someday, Something’s Got a Hold on Me, song, songs, sonics, Spoonful, Stop the Music, Stop The Wedding, Stubborn Kind of Fellow, Stuck On You, Such a Night, supremes, Surrender, Sweet Sixteen Pt. 1, Tell Me, Tell the Truth, Tennessee Flat Top Box, Tennessee Waltz, Thank You Girl, That Sunday That Summer, That’s It I Quit I’m Movin’ On, That’s Where It’s At, The Animals, The Ballad of Ira Hayes, the Beatles, The Bells, The Big Battle, The Christmas Song, The Crystals, The Four Tops, The House of the Rising Sun, The Isley Brothers, The Kingsmen, The Kinks, the man in black, The Matador, The Rebel - Johnny Yuma, The Red Rooster, The Righteous Brothers, The Rolling Stones, The Shangri-Las, The Shirelles, The Sonics, The Supremes, The Tear of the Year, The Witch, The Zombies, Then He Kissed Me, There’s No Other (Like My Baby), These Foolish Things, Think, This Old Heart, Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer, Three Hearts in a Tangle, Time and the River, Time Is on My Side, Tina Turner, Tonight’s The Night, Tra La La La La, Trouble in Mind, Trust in Me, Try It Baby, Twist & Shout, Twist and Shout, Twistin’ the Night Away, Understand Your Man, Uptown, Viva Las Vegas, Walking Dr. Bill, Wang-Dang Doodle, Welcome Home Baby, What’d I Say, What’s the Matter with You Baby, When I Get Through with You, Where Did Our Love Go, Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On, Will You Love Me Tomorrow, Wind in the Country, Witchcraft, Without the One You Love (Life’s Not Worth While), Wonderful World, You Can’t Do That, You Never Can Tell, You Really Got Me, You’re a Wonderful One, You’ve Got the Power, You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’, zombies

The Influence of My Faith in My Storytelling

January 26, 2018 By C.S. Elston

 

I have been posting my answers to an interview I did on Twitter back in November for #MounceChat (which I believe has since merged with #HealthyFaith.) As I mentioned previously, this started because a participant, Rachael Colby, suggested I turn some of the questions and answers into blog posts. Solid advice. Since the third question was on a topic I have covered in a previous blog post, I’m going to skip ahead to the fourth question I was asked which was, “How does your faith influence your writing?? Here was my response:

C.S. Lewis said, “To love at all is to be vulnerable.” I think the same can be said of writing because to write at all is to expose yourself to your reader. My faith is who I am so, it comes out very naturally in my writing.

I grew up thinking that Christian music, movies and novels were mostly pretty cheesy. And, to be fair, a lot of it is. Certainly, a lot of it was. But, when I was younger, that caused me to run away from it instead of becoming someone who could try and improve upon what was out there. In my youth, I said I would always be a Christian and a writer but, I would never be a Christian writer.

So, on a number of projects I actually made an effort to write and keep certain things from coming off as “Christian.” But, it always felt dishonest because I was holding back a huge part of who I am. I used the excuse that Jesus came to heal the sick, not the healthy. It’s a truth Satan can twist to distract us from our mission.

Shortly before I started writing novels I began to realize that’s the same excuse people use when they water down the gospel or become preachers for selfish gain instead of fully giving themselves over to the Lord to be used by God the way God chooses. Contrary to what our attitudes sometimes suggest, He doesn’t need any help in deciding how to handle anything. To suggest otherwise would be to pretend we belong on that throne. Scary thought.

It’s a struggle everyone has because it’s the essence of sin itself. It’s pride and it’s wrong. What He wants, instead, is for us to let go and allow Him full access and full control. So, I’ve finally embraced it. It’s a decision that brings peace.

I’ve been encouraged as Christian music and even Christian movies have gotten better. But, I’ve also gotten closer to the Lord since I got married and now it feels like to hide that part of who I am would be to hide the whole of me. Quite frankly, if I did that, I don’t think my writing would be any good at all. I think that embrace really shows in my most recent book, “The Gift of Rio” more than in anything else I’ve ever written. Some of the people close to me, who have read most of the things I’ve written over the years, have told me that they think it’s the best thing I’ve written to date. I know this, it’s the most personal. And, that typically makes the writing better.

Filed Under: About Me, Blog, Faith, Home, My Books, Writing Tagged With: author, bill mounce, C.S. Lewis, christian fiction, christian movies, christian music, faith, fiction, four loves, Gift of Rio, Gift of the Elements, God, healthy faith, healthyfaith, inner peace, interview, mission, MounceChat, movies, Music, novel, novels, peace, pride, quote, quotes, Rachael Colby, sin, twitter, twitter chat, writer, writing

The Kind of Stories I Most Enjoy Telling

January 12, 2018 By C.S. Elston

 

 

As I mentioned a few posts ago, I did a #MounceChat interview on Twitter back in November and a participant, Racheal Colby, suggested I turn some of the questions and answers into blog posts. This is the second time I am taking her advice. The second question I was asked was, “What kind of stories do you most like to tell?” Here was my response:

I’ve always had a wide array of tastes. I like music from just about every genre (as is evident in a number of my blog posts) and the same is true of books and movies that I read and watch. So, of course, that greatly influences what I write.

As a screenwriter, I had the opportunity to try my hand at just about every genre out there. I hope that the same can be said when I’ve written all of the books I’m going to write. However, so far, with only three books under my belt, I have pretty much stayed in the fantasy lane. Not Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones type of fantasy – although I am a big LOTR fan – but fantasy nonetheless.

My first book, The Four Corners, I’ve always put in the same category as the Narnia books. Others have compared it to Bridge to Terabithia and A Wrinkle in Time. I hadn’t read either of those when I wrote it but, I’ve read the latter since and I can see why that comparison has been made.

The Four Corners starts with a family that is falling apart at the seams. The parents have essentially fallen out of love with one another and the oldest child, their daughter, is practically raising her younger brother on her own. When the young boy, Kinsey, hears the word “divorce” finally uttered in the midst of a screaming match, the emotions he has been bottling for years finally explode out of him and open a door that transports him to another world. When his sister and his parents go looking for him, they are transported to that world as well.

In this strange place, controlled by a demon named Raum, they are all separated onto different islands where they meet other people in their own gender and age categories who are also separated from their respective families. This gives them the opportunity to realize how much they love and miss one another and it becomes a story of finding their way back to one another.

My 2nd and 3rd books are a little trickier when it comes to finding comparisons. They are each part of the same series and I haven’t found too many novels that I think are accurate comparisons. They blend elements from stories in other media forms that I think work better. An example would be the 1995 movie Powder and even some comic books like Spider-Man, Superman and the X-Men.

In a nutshell, each of the first four books in the series are stand-alone stories about one person per book who begins to develop the ability to control an element. The first two are Tyler, who controls earth, and Rio, who controls water. Next will be Mattias who controls fire and then Amanda who controls the wind. It’s their journey in discovering who they are and why they were created. Their purpose is to show this fallen world that miracles still happen and that God, who gave them these abilities, still loves us.

But, I also have books I plan to write that are nowhere near the fantasy genre. I just haven’t gotten to any of them yet. I’m a planner by nature so, I already know the next 5 books I’m planning to write and one of them does happen to be one of those from outside of the fantasy genre.

Stay tuned . . .

Filed Under: About Me, Blog, Home, My Books, Writing Tagged With: A Wrinkle in Time, author, blog, blog posts, book, Books, Bridge to Terabithia, C.S. Lewis, Chat, comic books, comics, demon, earth, fire, Game of Thrones, God, Kadosh, Kinsey, Kinsey Snyder, Lord of the Rings, LOTR, miracle, Miracles, Mounce, MounceChat, movie, movies, Narnia, powder, Racheal Colby, Raum, screenplay, screenwriter, Snyder family, Snyders, Spider-Man, stories, story, Superman, the four corners, The Gift of Amanda, The Gift of Mattias, The Gift of Rio, the gift of the elements, The Gift of Tyler, twitter, twitter chat, water, wind, writer, writing, X-Men

2018 New Year’s Resolution

January 1, 2018 By C.S. Elston

 

 

I’ve never been much for new year resolutions. In fact, I specifically used to avoid them because I thought they were silly. The only one I ever really made and stuck to for any length of time was to get healthier. But, even that one petered out before the end of summer. Besides, why wait for a specific day on the calendar to make a positive life change?

While I still don’t think it is necessary to wait for a specific day, there is something refreshing about the clean slate that comes on January 1st. So, I’ve decided to make a simple, yet potentially profound, resolution for 2018. Through both good times and bad, I am going to live the truth of King David’s words in the following verse:

David wrote those words in a moment of time when he knew his own son, Absalom, was on his way to kill him and assume his throne. If David can hold on to that kind of faith during such a tragic, lonely, and terrifying period, so can I.

Who’s with me?

Filed Under: About Me, Blog, Faith, Home Tagged With: 2018, Absalom, david, faith, God is good, king david, new year, new years resolution, psalm, psalm 3, trust God

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Go to page 4
  • Go to page 5
  • Go to Next Page »

© 2023 C.S. Elston · Log in