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Posts tagged ‘books’

Dec 17

20 Comments

Movie Quote Monday – The Hunger Games

I’ve been on a Hunger Games kick here recently, so I’ve seen it several times in the past few weeks. This scene jumps out at me each time:

President Snow : Hope.
—Seneca : Hope?
President Snow : Hope. It is the only thing stronger than fear.

I have strong feelings about hope, a strong belief in the power of hope, and so that small exchange made an impression on me from the first time I saw it in the theater.

If you look at The Hunger Games trilogy, Katniss is considered a representation of hope by both sides. Rebellion leadership uses her as a propaganda tool, a beacon of hope for the masses, an incitement to war.  Snow continues to see her as the embodiment of a hope that needs to be crushed.

But when I look at Katniss, I don’t see hope outright.  I see defiance and will, compassion and love. Determination. I guess what I mean is Katniss doesn’t feel like a particularly hopeful character to me, and she doesn’t seem specifically motivated by hope. In fact, she sometimes operates from a place of despair – the opposite of hope.

And yet her actions incite hope.

Her acts of will unleash something stronger than fear in the hearts of others: the realization that things can change, that there is hope.  If Katniss Everdeen can stand up against the capital, maybe I can too.  

It’s interesting.

So, what do you think? Is hope the only thing stronger than fear?

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Items of Interest:

Hope Springs Eternal

Is Hope Important?

Nov 1

7 Comments

The Undead Interview, Part Two (with Clay Morgan)

Today I present to you  the last of the Undead Interviews.  Well, interviews I’ve done, anyway.  In this one, Clay Morgan and I dig a little deeper into his book, including talk about pop culture, spirituality and the divinity of Christ. Oh, and zombies.

Fair warning: I overloaded this one with the quotes.  There are just so many great things to pull out of Undead.  Here’s a favorite quote that I didn’t find a space for:

Positive changes begin when we finally start to realize who God actually is rather than many of the misconceptions we carry around.  God and reality come together.  The world begins spinning with the power of that endless revelation.  Earth-shaking stuff.  Then he breathes life into us in a way we have never encountered.  When we move out of the darkness and toward him, the light will hurt our eyes.  It might not be pretty, but there we are.  Alive.  We hear an unfamiliar heartbeat and realize that the pulse isn’t even coming from inside of us.  It’s the heartbeat of God, and we’re hearing it for the first time.       (pg 178)

I love the idea that we can hear God’s heartbeat.  Here’s more from Clay:

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So, I’ve had Clay’s voice in my head for a month now, and I’m sure I’ll go through a little Clay withdrawal now that this is all done.  But that’s okay, because soon enough I’ll be back to normal – you know, with only the two voices in my head.

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Check out Undead at claywrites.com/Undead.  Hang out, read a few reviews, watch the book trailer…

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Oct 25

4 Comments

Revived and Resuscitated

I was supposed to have part two of Clay Morgan‘s interview ready for posting today, but it just didn’t happen.  That’s what I get for ending part one with “tune in next week; same bat time, same bat channel.”  Holy shucks, Batman!

But I do have something great for you!  

In today’s video, Clay gives us an overview of the six individuals in the New Testament who were brought back from the dead.  Going through them one by one, he shares what he was thinking about each of these cases as he wrote about them in his new book, Undead.

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I don’t know about you, but I watch every single extra feature that’s offered on a dvd.  And I listen to the commentary, too.  That’s how this struck me, that it’s interesting to see a little of what the author was thinking and intending.

If you’re interested in reading more about Undead, or purchasing a copy, visit claywrites.com/Undead!

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Oct 18

18 Comments

The Undead Interview, Part One (with Clay Morgan)

So, on Monday I shared a little pop culture quiz that I did with Clay Morgan.  Today I have something bigger to pass along.  Literally and figuratively.

Clay was gracious enough to answer a lot  of questions, talking to me about himself and his book Undead as I stumbled my way through my first interview ever.  (My plan was to ask more questions than I needed and then edit down, but I can’t bring myself to cut anything.)  Thank you so much, Mr. Clay Morgan, for indulging me, for being patient, and for being such an interesting person to interview!  

Here is part one of the interview; I hope the rest of you enjoy it as much as I did.

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I thought about posting the second half tomorrow, but I don’t like to wait – so I won’t.

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Audio File: 

Tune in next week for part two, where we dig into Clay’s awesome new book, Undead!

Just as an aside…

As I’ve been editing these pieces, a lot of things kept running through my mind:

  1. I totally feel like Yzma from The Emperor’s New Groove, “Is that my voice?  Is that MY voice?”
  2. Is Clay a mind-reader?  He keeps answering my next question before I ask my next question.
  3. I really want to put up the Clay and Michelle icons so they can have some fake conversations, basically to let out the running commentary in my head about how awkward I am.
  4. Yeah, so I use about 10 words where 3 would do just fine.

What’s running through my mind right now is, “Only one of those things is about Clay and the actual interview; you’re, like, completely self-centered.”  The worst part is that the little Michelle icon is saying it.  *sigh* I’m thinking there’s something really not right about that.

Anyway…

Don’t forget to check out Clay’s Undead page at ClayWrites.com/Undead

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