S.D. Smith's Blog, page 18

A wonderful conference in my “neighborhood” is happening this week, on Friday and Saturday. Here’s the best part. You’re invited. It’s HopeWords and it’ll be online and I have a discount for my friends (like you). It’s 25% off if you use the code EMBER.

Andrew Peterson is the keynote this year. He’s great. I know lots of you are fans of his Wingfeather Saga and you should be! There are other wonderful speakers and I’m stoked to be there. If you know others who you think might enjoy hearing some wonderful talks on writing, let them know.

We will have some folks present and in-person at HopeWords, but it’ll be a much smaller group than usual and all the necessary precautions are being taken. I’m pleased to be going and honored to be speaking.

You going to check it out?

The post Andrew Peterson and Me and You–THIS WEEK! appeared first on S. D. Smith.

“I don’t know why you say goodbye, I say hello!” —The Beatles

I love saying yes. Yes is often scary, but it’s the way I want to be. I want to show up and be faithful and hopeful in my callings.

The main thing “yes” people have to do, I think, is say “no.” Because when you say YES, you are saying NO. You’re saying no to all the things you’re not going to do in order to do what you most must do. It can be a seasonal no (no TV or ice cream for a month), or a permanent no (I’m getting married and now she is my only YES). 

I’ve decided to take time off from social media during Lent, a season where Christians practice fasting (saying “no”) in order to say “yes” to more intentional faithfulness to Jesus in some way or ways.  

I understand the concerns of those who scold people who announce social media fasts, but sometimes it’s kind to let folks know what’s going on. My heart for my readers has always been deeply concerned with hospitality and generosity. So, I’m letting you know I won’t be active on social media except a short time on Sundays, maybe. (Sundays are traditional feast days, even during a long fast.) There’s also the possibility of scheduling posts for a special event, or of someone else posting on my account. (My wife, who sometimes takes over my social media stories to great effect, has always had access to all my social media accounts and so does my brother/partner Josiah. They may post at some point.) 

I won’t bore you with all my reasons for stepping back from social media for a while. I have wanted to for a long time. I will say that I have been reluctant to, because my work is often shared that way and that’s how our small/family business functions. We don’t have publicists or marketers or anything. It’s just us. So, there is a real financial concern, but I believe the YES outweighs the NO in this case. (I also firmly believe that God is our provider.)

I believe that this will allow me to say a better YES to my calling as a storyteller, a better YES to my calling as a husband and father, member of my church and community, and many other crucial areas of my life. 

Most importantly, I am a follower of Jesus Christ and an imperfect disciple who wants to grow more and more faithful to him in his way of love. As Peter says, where else can I go? Jesus has the words of eternal life. There’s nowhere else to go. Jesus is life. I belong to him forever. 

I am aware of the spiritual and mental health costs of regular social media attention, culture-wide, and with me. I am giving up what Cal Newport calls “digital maximalism” for Lent. I feel like it’s important to back up and experience what life is like without a daily habit that includes access to the infinite scrolling always available for any bored moment. 

Boredom is crucial for creativity of all kinds. It is absolutely essential for storytellers. (Ever wonder why you get your best ideas in the shower? No phone.) For the first time in history, we have to really fight to make space for boredom. We have to cultivate boredom. This is a small example of the YES I’m seeking with my NO. There are others. 

I hope this makes sense. I believe I am saying NO in order to say a better YES. I am saying “Goodbye” so I can say “Hello.”

I want to say once again how grateful I am for you. Thanks for reading my books and sharing your enthusiasm and encouragement with me! 

God bless you during this season and always. 

Your friend,
Sam

Recommended Books:

Andy Crouch’s The Tech-Wise Family

Cal Newport’s Digital Minimalism (and Deep Work) 

The post Saying Yes By Saying No: Taking a Social Media Break appeared first on S. D. Smith.

It’s my 44th birthday!

It feels like I am older than ever before. 

I was born in a blizzard. Interestingly, we are also having weather today! 

It’s going to be a good day. I want to say four things I’m thankful for because (A) you can’t stop me—nice try, sucka—and (B) forty-four things is too much for me to manage at this age. 

1) I am so grateful for my mother! Barbara Smith is wonderful. She literally gave me life forty-four years ago (in a blizzard; did I mention that?) and she has been a wonderful mom and the earliest advocate for me as a storyteller. Without her, there would never be a Green Ember or anything else. It’s HER birthday! Happy Birthday. I love you, Mom!

2) Oreos. 

3) The Book of Common Prayer.

4) You. You! Thanks for caring about me and my stories. I probably love you. I’m almost positive I do. 

Thanks, everyone. Happy Birthday from me to you!

The post S. D. Smith’s 44th Birthday is Happening Today On His Birthday (Today) appeared first on S. D. Smith.

Making. Believing. Make believing.

Make Believe HQ for me? The Forge. We converted a little garden shed to a writing hut/office. It’s ten feet from the house, so my commute ain’t too bad.

I’m grateful for this modest little spot. I’ve written some books in there (the first, I think, was Ember Rising) and it’s been a good and useful place for me. It’s useful, but not essential. I still write in the house pretty often.

Don’t get too hung up on worrying about having a “spot.” Don’t add that to an endless list of why you can’t begin to make. Make space to make, whether or not you have a perfect spot. If you wait for perfection, in your work or in your space, you will never get around to making or sharing your work.

Don’t let honest aspiration become a paralyzing perfectionism. Still less, envy.

You probably have what you need to begin or continue the work of creation you’re called to. Don’t wait for permission, especially from your inner critic—or inner snob.

Start where you are. Make something. Later, make something to help you make things.

Don’t wait. Create.

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My son, Josiah (not to be confused with my brother of the same name) made this dope image. If you were a kid in the eighties, you probably recognize the style of NES game design.

Would you like to see this on a shirt?

The post Picket Packslayer NES Game? appeared first on S. D. Smith.

“I am trying to recover a respect for the life of the Spirit that is revealed in Jesus and the Scriptures in contrast to a life that is defined by consumption and achievement, competition and psychological profiling. I am trying to develop an imagination that is immersed in the operations of the Trinity so that I will not be constantly seduced into thinking that spirituality is a way of managing my own life and the lives of others, my life with me in charge with an occasional assist from the Spirit. I am trying to practice a way of language that is personal, particular, relational, a language of poetry and parable and metaphor, a language that welcomes mystery and counters the bullying, propagandizing, sloganeering, cliched and abstracted use of language that dominates our schools, our workplaces, our media, and, sadly, our churches.”

Eugene Peterson

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Sam enjoyed talking with military family adventurers and homeschoolers Nathan and Anita for their podcast recently. I hope you’ll give it a listen.

Note: Here’s a link to a bunch of S. D. Smith interviews.

The post S. D. Smith Talks To Military Family in New Podcast Interview appeared first on S. D. Smith.

The whole sky was grey,
Almost,
The whole sky was almost grey,
Almost, the whole sky was grey,
But not all the way,
Not today.
Because this little space,
This window to another place,
Showed up,
And we saw it,
Were in awe of it,
Because it was plain beyond the break of grey,
Bright and high and blue,
The sky!
Still alive,
Though rumors of its grave demise,
Multiplied.

So we were glad,
Happy at this foggy port,
Clearing for the appearing,
Of a glimpse of baby blue heaven,
On an Appalachian highway,
This pandemic winter,
When so much has been obscured,
And so much light and love,
Is hidden behind clouds,
Of cold and dark and selfish,
Snarling.

This bared blue sky finds me,
And tenderly reminds me,
To look for breaks in these grey days,
To search for sky despite the frightening,
Density of cloud,
The purple, pulsing crowds,
Whose hunger to devour,
Every bit of my attention,
And turn it to their purpose,
Abounds.
But I found this sky,
Blue and bright,
A happy sight.
For these tired eyes.
Surprising,
Out of and into the blue.

The post The Greybreaker appeared first on S. D. Smith.

These lovely sisters from the Phillipines are big Green Ember fans, and the youngest composed an original tune to accompany a song from Ember’s End: The Green Ember Book IV. Well done!

This sweet tune joins a growing catalog of poems, songs, original art, and fan fiction being created all across the world. Kids find The Green Ember world is a fantastic and hospitable “world” to play in and create in. Do your kids create and/or play Green Ember?

The post Sisters Sing a Beautiful Green Ember Song! appeared first on S. D. Smith.

Last year was tough for most of us, and so many continue to struggle through sickness, loss, economic instability, and other divisions and uncertainties. It’s been a painful opportunity for growth, and I’m hopeful about how God will use this chapter in our lives.

The story isn’t over.

As for us, we had our coast to coast book tour cancelled, which was a bummer because we wanted to see lots of you all in person. Instead, we released the conclusion to The Green Ember Series with Ember’s End from our worldwide headquarters in southern West Virginia—that center for literature and culture. We got the book out a little early in an effort to serve folks who were looking for hopeful, faithful stories during a scary period.

I’ve had the profound blessing of hearing from lots of folks who said that the book (and series broadly) was an inspiring and encouraging spot in a difficult (sometimes tragic) year. I thank God for that gift.

We planted a garden as a family, and the boys and I built a fence for it. That was a fun learning experience, and had some correspondence with the events of Ember’s End—if you know what I mean, jellybean. We played a lot of soccer and took lots of walks. We identified birds and raced stick-boats with elaborate names in a creek. We met neighbors on long walks and had fires and hot dog roasts and watched movies and read books. We hugged a million times. We laughed so often. We cried some too. I wrote some poems. We exercised. We went to church. We ate lots of cookies.

Gina and I celebrated TWENTY years of marriage in June. I’m so grateful for her. 

I did hate to miss the tour, but I also loved being home. And our home was a good place to be. Our family grew closer together and we experienced a lot of grace and goodness from God, even through trials. Our little church got a new pastor (arrived here in March 2020), who is an incredible gift I continually give thanks for, and our church grew.

We worked pretty hard. So much effort had gone into planning the tour, that we had to make some significant pivots as a small, family business, to survive. My brother and partner, Josiah (not to be confused with my son, Josiah) was a super star. He helped guide us through this challenging year in so many ways. He’s been a crucial character in our story and I love him so much. What a fella!

We started working with a distributor for shipping and that has been a huge answer to prayer. We worked with a literary agent for the first time and that has been a good experience that really forced us to evaluate more seriously just what our priorities are and what value we place on our work. There have been other cool developments that we’ll be able to share more about later. But overall, we have so much to be thankful for.

I wrote more on my book for writers called Make. Believe. Then I realized I needed to go back to more basic ideas and I wrote a lot of introductory material for writers that I aim to make into a course.

I wrote a short novelette roughly based on some of my experiences as a kid visiting several predominantly black churches in Appalachia as we prepared to move to Africa. I hope that will get out to you someday in the not too-distant future.

I also wrote The Archer’s Cup, the third book in the Green Ember Archer Trilogy (and the ninth Green Ember book overall). I wrote it and we published it soon after, and it was in readers’ hands before Christmas. I loved this book. It was a pretty significant departure from the other Green Ember books. It’s a mystery and it deals centrally with love. It was a fun challenge and I’m grateful that the feedback has been so good.

I can’t tell you what an honor it is to be writing a book about a rabbit archer and to feel a kind of absurd confidence that, even though you’re writing something that’s pretty significantly different from what is being published by every publisher out there, you know there’s a home for it with other weird and wonderful people who will get it—people who love new stories with an old soul. I continue to be surprised and delighted by the way you all have welcomed me and my stories into your lives. It’s like meeting thousands of friends you never knew you had. Thank you!

So many of you have reviewed my books! Thank you so much. That means an awful lot to me. It helps so much. It also helps if you go to The Green Ember on Amazon and scroll down and mark the good reviews as “Helpful” and IGNORE the critical/political ones.

You know what else would help? If I would wrap this epistle up. I think we’ve all heard enough from Mr. Smith. I’m sure I missed important things, but there are worse things and besides, there’s a cookie in the other room I need to examine.

I’m so grateful for you. Thanks for reading this and for being such an encouragement to me and my family.

God bless you and keep you. May this year be a memorable one, full of adventure and woven through with grace.

Stay cool forever,

Sam

The post 2020, Am I Right? A Brief, Grateful Remembrance appeared first on S. D. Smith.