A novel… a raft of hope, perception, and entertainment that might help us keep afloat as we try to negotiate the snags and whirlpools that mark our nation’s vacillating course toward and away from the democratic ideal. – Ralph Ellison, introduction to 1981 edition of The Invisible Man (1952).
“Words on Paper” is a metaphor for a response to the drawbacks of the Postmodern Era and the digital age. It looks forward to a restoration of values such as truth, trust, credibility, faith, and hope, yet seasoned with honest questions and skepticism, or a sort of informed or wise naiveté – the so-called Metamodern Era. Post topics include philosophy, faith, history, and current events. Of course, you are reading this on a screen, which symbolizes the synthesis of the Postmodern and Metamodern Eras, appreciating the best of both, words printed on paper or on a screen. I hope you enjoy reading these! If you have any questions or comments, please respond. Thanks! – Forrest
Being mindful of what lies beyond – As mainline church attendance declines, interest in God and spirituality rises
Morgan Freeman interviews Tulku Lobsang Rinpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist teacher who appears in “The Story of God” series, discussing Buddhist views on the divine. (National Geographic photo in Variety).
It’s Sunday morning. I’m looking out the window at snowflakes falling sideways, trying to rest my eyes and brain from screen time on research about God. The inspiration for the topic arose from a recent edition of Lauren Jackson’s “Believing” newsletter in the New York Times.
Under the title, “God As Black,” Jackson wrote: “Kwanzaa is a weeklong holiday honoring African American heritage, observed by people across religions. It was conceived during the Black Power movement in the 1960s as a shared holiday that would give people a way to express independence from white cultural norms. This week, in honor of that history, we’re looking at churches that have depicted God as Black.”
If that wasn’t enough, I had just watched several episodes of National Geographic’s rebroadcasts of “The Story of God with Morgan Freeman.” If you were ever to envision God as Black, it would be Morgan Freeman, the voice, mostly.
The NatGeo website states: “Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman explores the meaning of life, God, and many big questions in between in an effort to understand how religion has evolved and shaped society. A different divine subject is covered in each hourlong episode, titles of which include “Creation,” “The Devil Inside,” “Afterlife,” “Apocalypse,” and “Who Is God?”
“In some places I found answers, and others led to more questions,” Freeman says. “The constant through it all is that we’re all looking to be part of something bigger than us. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that we certainly are.” Another example in popular culture comes from the success (200 to 280 million viewers globally) of “The Chosen,” the streaming series about Jesus and disciples. This is one side of a great paradox.
Spiritual interest
As polls, pundits, and scholars suggest a growing appeal of spirituality, at the same time we are being told that overall church attendance is dropping. “Religious leaders say they’re observing a hidden trend among younger Americans,” states a Dec. 9 headline in the Washington Post. “Religious affiliation has been dropping among young people for decades, but examples abound of surging interest on college campuses and in cities like D.C.” Considering the world they are inheriting, that is understandable.
I hope that the renewed interest is for the right reasons. Medieval crusades and violence seeking earthly power in the name of religion, or ‘converting’ others to one’s ‘true religion’ throughout history have only given it a bad name. We are seeing that again with “Christian nationalism” attempting to control the U.S. government. It is troubling to see this movement entrenched in some charismatic ‘mega’ churches.
If religion encompasses humankind’s efforts to reach out to God, being receptive to spirituality may be God’s way of reaching out to us at a personal level. About his book, God – A Human History, Iranian American scholar and TV host Reza Aslan, says “It is we who have fashioned God in our image, not the other way around.” In the book he writes, “We are, to put it simply, born believers. Whether we remain believers is nothing more or less than a choice.”
Beyond All That Matters
Aslan’s book is one of several that I read as research about the theme of my fourth novel, Beyond All That Matters. Intrigued by the nexus of religion and science, physics and metaphysics, faith and facts, along with a curiosity about quantum physics, I attempted to use that tension to build the story. Some background about this appears in my Dec. 11, 2024 post, “Religious literature a vast resource about human condition.”
The main character in the novel is a middle-aged engineer with a state highway department. Single, self-sufficient, empirical, his social circle outside of work revolves mostly around a passion for fitness sports. He spends little time worrying about the ‘big questions’ in life. His intelligence for the sciences contrasts with a degree of myopia about human relationships and subjective matters.
An awareness of the big questions begins to surface when he begins to receive text messages from a good friend from years ago, who, he learns later, has died. The friend “from beyond” leads him on a journey across South Dakota, where he encounters the friend’s family, their faith, and also Indigenous spirituality. Somehow the friend, who in life appreciated learning about quantum physics, had achieved some synthesis of faith and science, and more so from “beyond.”
The book list included: A History of God, by Karen Armstrong; Quantum Mechanics and the Philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead, by Michael Epperson; Quarks, Chaos, and Christianity, by John Polkinghorne; The Language of God – A scientist presents evidence for belief, by Francis S. Collins; Quantum Leap, How John Polkinghorne found God in science and religion, by Dean Nelson and Karl Giberson; and God Is Red – A Native View of Religion, by Vine DeLoria, Jr. In his book, The Courage To Be, Paul Tillich proposes a “God above God,” the ultimate divine being. (See my Jan. 22, 2025 post). Reading the books helped but came nowhere near the level of genuine scholarship.
Christian rationalism
It might be better for everyone if we tried to offset Christian nationalism with some Christian rationalism. While the latter may be seen by some as heretical, in my understanding it attempts to understand faith and metaphysics in the context of the physical, ‘scientific’ world. DeLoria seems to do that in God Is Red: “The principles used by Indian tribal religions have tremendous parallels with contemporary scientific experiments.”
Bible Hub, which appears to be a privately funded, evangelical resource in Pennsylvania, says “Christian Rationalism is a perspective that emphasizes the use of reason within the framework of a divinely revealed truth. It maintains that logical thought is not contrary to faith but is a God-given tool for understanding the truths presented in Scripture… (it) finds its grounding in the biblical call to love God ‘with all your mind’,” as well as your heart.
It should be noted that many Indigenous people converted to Christianity, yet we can appreciate their deeper relationship and understanding of the natural world, which God created, and if you consider North Whitehead’s process theology, continues to create. The more that humankind pursues science, the more we learn about it.
Throughout the year I try to attend about half of the services at a small, rural ELCA Lutheran church. While attendance has declined over the years, the congregation remains active with good demographics. Were it not for the snowstorm that Sunday I probably would have attended the service. It would have been much easier to sit among the parishioners, recite the liturgy and apostles’ creed, listen to a sermon, share the peace, and receive communion, than to try write this.
The ICE Man Cometh – But not in a Chinook helicopter, at least not yet
In the wake of political rhetoric, nearly 150 people descended on a Somali restaurant to have lunch and write notes of support.
It was a bit of a relief to learn the explanation for the Chinook helicopter I saw hovering near the local airport about two weeks ago. The twin rotor Chinook can carry a payload of about 15,000 pounds, enough for a couple of SUVs. At the same time social media posts told of the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in our small Midwest city.
I had contemplated including this in a news story about a community’s response to reports of ICE assaulting immigrants. It wouldn’t have surprised me if there had been a connection between that and the helicopter. There wasn’t, at least not yet. However, it was a good example of the need for fact-checking. Posting something could have launched a thread of false information.
The guy I called at the airport seemed amused when I asked about the helicopter. He said the Air National Guard uses the airport for training missions from a nearby city, landing, taking off, that sort of thing. The only cargo reported by the airport guy was a bag of deli sandwiches. The father of a crew member lived in town. Once when the big chopper landed they opened the big ramp and picked up the sandwiches he had brought.
Not amusing, is the thought that there could have been a connection between a Chinook and ICE. They certainly could have afforded the expense. The initial ICE budget runs around $10 billion annually. A supplemental appropriation in 2025 adds nearly $75 billion through 2029. A Republican bill would direct another $75 billion to ICE through 2029, including $45 billion for detention expansion. That could pay for operating big helicopters.
Eugene O’Neill’s play, “The Ice Man Cometh,” first staged in 1946, could be a metaphor for some of the political and cultural morass experienced today, including the assault on immigrants. Its bleak themes portray “self-delusion, despair, and the human need for illusion in order to cope with life’s harsh realities.” The self-delusion and despair could resemble MAGA mania. The need for illusion could be their worship of a fraud who seems all powerful. They want Just ICE; we in the majority want justice.
Christmas spirit
With the message of Christmas upon us, there couldn’t be a greater contrast than with the anti-immigrant evil excreting from the minds of those now in charge of the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security, and those above them. Those who claim to follow the Christian, Jewish, or Muslim faiths exhibit profound hypocrisy in the face of their teachings about welcoming the foreigner.
In the Old Testament: Psalms 146 verse 9: “The Lord watches over the foreigner, and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.” We’re still waiting for that last part to happen. And Leviticus 19:33: “When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. 34 The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the native-born among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”
While most Americans are celebrating Christmas with family, thousands of immigrants to the U.S. are being illegally imprisoned by ICE. Of the nearly 70,000 being held, more than half have no criminal record, according to The Guardian. In total this year ICE has detained 328,000 and deported 327,000.
Several of the recent detainees were abducted by ICE from the small Midwest city visited by the helicopter. If they were imprisoned at the local county jail, they could have been among those receiving holiday greeting cards sent by local citizens. The card-writing represented a variety of support activities.
Embracing diversity
About a week before the ICE visit, the community was still processing hurtful and false rhetoric spewing from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue about people from Somalia. The community (pop. ~22,000) is home for up to 2,000 residents from East Africa, primarily Somalia. Immigrants are major players in the local economy and public services. The rhetoric, followed by the ICE invasion, brought a surge of fear and absences from schools and workplaces.
In a county where a majority favored the authoritarian wanna-be, the community has a long reputation and practice for supporting racial and cultural diversity over past decades. (See my Aug. 22, 2025 post). They showed that Dec. 6 in support of a local Somali business.
Responding to a social media post, about 150 people showed up at a Somali restaurant to have lunch and show their support. That included writing notes expressing support, which were posted at businesses and offices around town. A video of the event went viral on Instagram drawing more than 17,000 views.
A week later several dozen showed up at the county library to write greeting cards. They were delivered to the county jail, which is used by ICE to imprison up to 150 immigrants. The event was sponsored by the local Indivisible chapter and the ACLU, which sent the follow-up note:
“Thank you so much for attending yesterday’s holiday card writing event! It was heartening to see how many community members wanted to send messages of solidarity to people in ICE detention… As ICE continues to have an increased presence locally, we encourage you to keep having conversations with each other and your elected officials about your concerns.”
In small Midwest cities, ice – frozen water – is welcome on the lakes, but not on sidewalks and roadways, whether in the frozen water form, or in the heavily armored, poorly trained, overpaid, and deeply misguided form that represents Americans in fearful attack on the new Americans. Our nation has enough substantive issues to address that far outweigh the overwrought focus on immigration.
Facing off on social media – Content analysis shows contrast between hate and hope, facts and fear
A Facebook post announced this candlelight vigil in front of a county jail, where a minister spoke to the group in support of people being detained by ICE.
When we survive the current assault on our representative democracy in America (and we will), it will take years, decades perhaps, to clean up the mess. A big part of that will be the need to rehabilitate the beliefs and misbeliefs of people who have succumbed to a political cult, a vacuous populism enthralled by a demagogue.
The key will be to find a way to replace the irrational and emotional mindset with one more realistic and rational. Some will never recover, due to personality, biology, and life experiences. Many will respond to compassionate re-education. Evidence of the two mindsets is on display in a brief content analysis of Facebook posts by local political groups.
In the days when newspapers, news magazines, and television newscasts mattered, students and scholars studying a particular outlet would conduct a content analysis. They counted and categorized all the stories in each day’s publication or broadcast. The following analysis helped to make judgments and better understand important issues in society, and the particular news media’s role and position on the issues.
Today, content analysis must be directed at social media. (My limited use of Facebook lands mostly on news about close family and friends. I avoid the feed and start with Search to see if family or friends have posted anything. Occasionally I will use it for research about an individual or group, understanding that any information gathered has not been fact-checked.)
It took some determination to conduct a very brief, informal content analysis of the Facebook pages of the local Republican and Democratic parties, and the county’s Indivisible chapter. It offers clues to the underlying beliefs and values of their respective positions. One seems to revel in hate, fear, and if not ignorance, surely misinformation. One shows greater hope, progress, and community values, while the third shows a more militant side of that.
Plethora of posts
Strident and often nasty posts on one page bashed state leaders about fraud claims or going too easy on immigrants, rejoicing that ICE really going after immigrants, chastising the ‘violent left’ for harassing ICE, reposting HodgeTwins calling voters morons who support an automatic weapons ban, the flood of undocumented criminals, thank you to ICE, attacks on mail-in voting, posting the ICE tip line, wanting more ICE raids, blaming illegals for high costs, reposting a Breitbart bash of a Somali politician. (16 posts about ICE-immigrants)
Posts on another page featured a coffee gathering for veterans, a school mass e-mail about immigrant rights, county food shelf info, community grants info, support for a congressional candidate, a quote by Dan Rather about a certain president who doesn’t really care about people, happy Hannukah greeting, story about Somalis being key to local economy, Chamber of Commerce accepting nominations for leadership awards, Grace Strobel-words do matter, community holiday celebration, CURE nature photos, county commissioner of the year award, Latino holiday celebration, Chamber job opening. (3 posts about ICE-immigrants).
The third organization Facebook page posts included: News story about local ICE arrests, children hiding in fear, ICE vehicles spotted in town, writing holiday cards for ICE detainees at the local jail, video supportive of local Somalis, caring for others over the holidays, Abrego freed from federal detention, stop ICE light vigil Dec. 19, Indiana rejects GOP map, Republicans at breaking point-Stuart Stevens, Oxford school shooter parents cited, GOP Jim Abeler comments in support of Somalis, Maya Angelou quote, GA Dem flips house seat, Twin City ICE raids, Mindful Christianity quote about Good Samaritan. (9 posts about ICE-immigrants).
Pop quiz! Before offering a little analysis of the content, see if you can guess which collection of posts can be attributed to which group: County Indivisible chapter, county Democratic Party, or county Republican Party. You already know the answer.
Tough nut to crack
Creating a list and categorizing content is easy compared with analyzing it in terms of the beliefs, values, knowledge levels and psyches of their respective followers. One major factor is the prevalence of digital media. Never before has any individual had the power to disseminate information worldwide just by hitting ‘Enter’. This enables people to remain anonymous while spewing lies and hate. Once that power is tasted, it becomes addictive.
With no constraints, such people are free to indulge in logical fallacies to argue their case. It’s this part that I find most difficult to manage. In the few cases where I’ve had some discussion with a cult devotee I try to remain rational and factual. The adversary runs rhetorical circles around me with logical fallacies such as hasty generalization, slippery slope, circular reasoning, ad hominem attacks, cherry-picking, or guilt by association.
All of these are good cover for people who really don’t know the facts or the truth, and receive most of their information from Fox, Breitbart, OAN, and other extreme right ‘news’ outlets. This could relate to another perspective on the human psyche, the Dunning-Kruger Effect.
Basically, people who know the least about something believe they know the most. Conversely, those who know the most about something are less likely to admit that because they know more about complexity and nuances. As I once said to a supervisor at a job during my college years, who asked me if I was learning anything. I replied that I was learning how much I don’t know.
Tide is turning
If the political tide is turning back towards representative democracy and some measure of normalcy, we must be ready to welcome back those who are ready and willing to redeem themselves. With rejoicing and not ridicule. If this sounds condescending, it’s no more than I have felt under the mocking and arrogant looks from people of the current populist cult – what a wimpy liberal! (In truth, I am neither.)
Seeing this swagger in the ranks of ICE, it is appalling that large, burly (or just fat) men decked out in camo, ammo, and masks succumb to violence against unarmed, often innocent, immigrants. They are intoxicated by power and vastly overpaid. It would be interesting to know how many were at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Maybe someday, given enough rehabilitation, some may realize what they have done.
It’s good to see you – ‘Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle’
Conversation at annual picnic of a small community service group heard expressions of ‘good to see you’ and ‘how are you doing’, which, in at least one case led to sharing a deeper personal story.
In recent years, upon meeting acquaintances I hadn’t seen for a while, I have finally erased the habit of saying ‘how are you?’. Instead, I have been saying ‘it’s good to see you’. With the latter greeting, no matter what their circumstances, people seem to respond warmly: ‘Good to see you, too’.
Saying ‘good to see you’ fits better with the famous quote, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” If you haven’t been updated on the person’s current welfare, asking ‘how are you’ can sometimes become embarrassing or awkward, even though it was intended sincerely with kindness.
I had always believed the conventional understanding that the ‘be kind’ quote originated with Plato or Socrates. It certainly sounds like something they would have said. A bit of research turned up the name of Rev. John Watson as the source.
A late 19th Century Scottish theologian and author, he wrote under the name of Ian Maclaren. His original wording is said to be, “Be pitiful, for every man is fighting a hard battle.” Revising that to say ‘kind’ is a good improvement.
Being a theologian, Watson’s words certainly must have been inspired by Jesus. The Gospel of John includes several passages where Jesus commands his followers to ‘love one another’. In his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul writes ‘you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another’. And they mean everyone, not just people like oneself.
Watson-Maclaren’s books are available online at Project Gutenberg. Scroll down the page to Maclaren, Ian, 1850-1907, and 19 of his books. One of his most popular books (sold about 700,000 copies), Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush, is a collection of short stories “set in the rural Scottish parish of Drumtochty, where it explores the lives and struggles of its inhabitants through the lens of community, education, and personal growth.”
‘Tis the season
Out shopping for a Christmas tree recently I encountered the garden center proprietor, a good acquaintance whom I hadn’t seen since the previous year. We have very different personalities, I am a quiet introvert, he is a gregarious extrovert. Our greetings of ‘good to see you’ were genuine and seasoned with affection.
Even if someone hasn’t experienced some obvious misfortune, asking ‘how are you’ may leave them feeling awkward. How am I? I don’t know. What should I say? The usual response is ‘Fine. How are you?’ That puts you on the spot. Both responses seem trite and shallow. If there is a tale of woe in the background, and someone cares to share it, you have the opportunity to listen and help them share the burden with someone who seems to care.
One past encounter might have gone in that direction had I said ‘good to see you’ instead of the other. Attending a business conference, I met an old professor from my college days. Still in awe of his academic prowess, I blubbered something along the lines of ‘how are you?’ He looked at me with a blank expression that caused me to wither.
In my defense, I did not know at the time that he just had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. He graciously said ‘fine’ and moved along. I felt like an idiot. Had I said, ‘good to see you,’ he likely would have said the same. He seemed to show a searching look as if trying to decide if I cared or could be trusted with the whole story.
Two other encounters where that happened included both ‘how are you?’ and ‘good to see you’. They ended with expressions of hope and prayer. At a local 5k run, one of my running ‘friends’ from another city showed up, although not wearing race gear. Only later did I fully realize that he drove 70 miles early in the morning to see his old running friends as a way of saying goodbye. I don’t recall how our conversation began; it ended with him sharing the news that he recently had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
A similar encounter occurred out on a ski trail meeting a friend and his wife, who shared similar news about her husband’s fate. In both cases the stunning news left me almost speechless. I may have said ‘it’s good to see you’. I recall trying to say something sincere and meaningful, that I would pray for them. Both times it felt awkward, yet they seemed grateful.
A dash of dissonance
I confess to saying ‘good to see you’ a few times when my affection for the person is compromised by something from past experience, or a distinct personality difference. Even if you have to force the greeting, it’s still worth doing. If a little cognitive dissonance kicks in, it just might nudge your feelings in a positive direction.
The conventional psychology and behavioral pattern – cognitive-affective-conative (think-feel-act) – falls short when negative feelings get in the way of doing the right thing. Alter that sequence to begin with conative-act, saying ‘nice to see you’, and it can sometimes lead to improving, if not your feelings, at least relationships with people you don’t ‘like’.
This lesson in found in the well-known book, Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis. I read the book long ago and recall the feeling of affirmation for a practical, sincere, and meaningful set of beliefs. For any further assessment here, I must yield to the ChatGPT note:
“Lewis wrote that Christian love for others is not primarily a feeling, but a steady choice of the will. He argued that you do not wait to feel affection before acting with charity. Instead, you treat others with kindness and justice, and the feelings often follow. He stressed that love in this sense means seeking the good of the other, even when you dislike their behavior. By practicing this disciplined goodwill, he believed people are gradually transformed, learning to see others as God sees them.”
This holiday season, out in public encountering people from all religious and political beliefs, all races and cultures, all conditions of wealth or poverty, saying ‘good to see you’ will be welcomed. It can lead to ‘how are you’ and generate trust that helps build bridges connecting all humankind.
That may seem hopeless in these times of intense political, religious and cultural division and disarray, but as individuals trying to make things right, it’s one of the few things we have left. Collectively, citizens must generate the power to propel our political leaders to go beyond saying ‘it’s good to see you’, and ask, ‘how are you doing?’
Babbling book blurbs – Humorous history of glowing adjectives on back covers
Bookshelves at A Novel Idea Book Shop in the Middle Fork Café, Willmar, MN. Inset: Miss Belinda Blurb, fictional namesake of the blurbing tradition in the publishing industry. I will be signing books at Middle Fork Café 10 am-noon Saturday, Dec. 6.
With three to four million new books published each year in the U.S. (no one really knows for sure), how do you narrow that down to a handful that you might want to read, or give as gifts? Narrow that down to fiction-only and you’re still looking at around 11 percent of the total, or up to 440,000.
You are browsing among the shelves at a bookstore, overwhelmed by the vast array of books and their dramatically designed covers. Taking one from the shelf, what is one of the first things you look at? For many prospective readers it’s the back cover, the so-called “blurbs” that you hope will help you decide whether or not the book is worth your time and money.
My interest in the matter of blurbs landed on a Nov. 23 story in the Minnesota Star Tribune. Interim books editor Chris Hewitt writes: “When book lovers grabbed William Kent Krueger’s early novels because of Lee Child’s praise on the cover — ‘Krueger hits the sweet spot every time’ — there was just one issue: Child hadn’t read the books.”
So begins Hewitt’s story entitled: Book cover blurbs: Can they be trusted? It’s a good idea to read with a skeptical eye author praise of another’s work. “Writing glowing praise for the cover of a book, or ‘blurbing,’ is common practice in the publishing industry…. blurbing helps create a ‘literary ecosystem that often rewards connections over talent’. That struggle is real, says Krueger — who, for the record, says he only blurbs books he has read.”
Miss Belinda Blurb
Not only should blurbs be authentic, they should also have another, more literary and less clunky name. A little research explains its origin. At the 1907 annual dinner of the American Booksellers’ Association, humorist Gelett Burgess is credited with creating the term and its use.
Merriam-Webster says, “Burgess prepared a mock jacket of his latest book Are You A Bromide?, featuring a doctored picture of a woman that he had lifted from a dental advertisement. The woman was dubbed ‘Miss Belinda Blurb’, and she was shown in the picture as calling out a ‘blurb,’ indicated by the caption ‘Miss Belinda Blurb in the act of blurbing’.
“Seven years later, Burgess officially defines the word that he had coined in his eponymous Burgess Unabridged: A New Dictionary of Words You Have Always Needed.
“Blurb, n. 1. A flamboyant advertisement; an inspired testimonial. 2. Fulsome praise; a sound like a publisher. “Blurb, v. To flatter from interested motives; to compliment oneself.
Two blurbs
After learning all that, I am less concerned about recruiting some literary notable to write blurbs for my novels. Although, if the opportunity came along I would have to reconsider. And I confess to reaching out once to a big name seeking such. More on that below.
I have written blurbs for books by two other authors; I actually read the books. One was referred to in last week’s post, “Go with the flow.” It helped sell at least one copy of For Love of a River – The Minnesota. A friend said he bought a copy when he saw my blurb on the back cover.
My other blurb appears on the back cover of a novel written by Dana Yost, author friend and former newspaper colleague. Before I Get Old is inspired by the life of his grandfather, who after youthful adventures, returns to family and farm in western Minnesota.
After reading a pre-publication draft and even providing some constructive feedback, I was sincere about blurbing, “The story is memorable and the prose a pleasure to read, at times like poetry that you want to read and re-read, savoring the words and feelings they evoke.” Dana’s primary literary sphere is poetry. More information can be found here: https://danayostwriter.wordpress.com/.
Begging for a blurb
In a desperate attempt to connect with an agent or publisher, or secure a major blurb for my fourth novel, Beyond All That Matters, I reached out by letter and email to a nationally known author and scientist. I included one of my Substack posts that referred to his books. “I reached out with the slim hope that you might be interested in my fourth novel in which the plot includes quantum physics in a nexus of faith and science.”
Upon seeing my message, he responded, “It was great to meet you at ….., and I love this posting – and not just because you highlighted my two books, but because of the thoughtful content.” He believed that he was responding to someone else that he knew, and with a name similar to mine. I replied, apologizing for the mix-up and promising to keep the exchange confidential (well, mostly).
His reply showed the grace and humor with which he has met major and contentious national issues: “Thanks for your note, and my apologies for the mix up. I guess you could say I got lost in the Forrests.” I will treasure his comments, even if not directly related to me, more than any back cover blurb.
Better in person
In judging books and trying to decide what to read, one form of communication far exceeds reviews, blurbs, and even input from trusted friends. You can meet authors in person at various book fairs and festivals.
Over the past several years I have set up shop at about 10 book festivals. I didn’t sell many books, but I enjoyed meeting readers. In one case a man stopped at my table with the usual opening question, ‘so what’s this book about?’ After doing my best to tell him, he smiled and said, ‘you sold me’, and bought a copy.
If you’ve read this far I am obliged to announce other opportunities to meet the author. From 10 a.m. to noon, Saturday, Dec. 6, I will have my four novels at Middle Fork Café, 309 Lakeland Dr. SE, Willmar, MN. There you will also find many good novels on the shelves offered by Nicole Twedt’s A Novel Idea Book Shop.
Jan. 17, 2026, Dana Yost and I plan to be in Marshall, MN for talks and book signings 1 to 3 p.m. at the Lyon County Library. In the morning 10 a.m.-noon I may be at the at the Marshall Area Fine Arts Center. At these events I hope to do better than when I attended the Des Moines book festival several years ago and sold one book. At least now there will be much less driving mileage.
Since she purchased the book shop in October 2022, Nicole has done a great job with well-organized shelves laden with about 2,500 quality books, most slightly used and all relatively inexpensive. The total is about 3,500 including books at Middle Fork Café’s location in Prinsburg, MN, and at Nicole’s hair salon, Hair Stories.
I asked Nicole how she chooses her inventory. “It’s really best guess as to what people will enjoy reading,” she said. “I’m fairly knowledgeable about what’s trending so I look for those specifically, then do my best to make an educated guess for the rest. As long as I choose a variety, there’s something for everyone.”
Note: This content was created by a human being with a soul. No use of artificial intelligence other than occasional questions to Alexa or Google-Meta about specific facts.
Column topics: 1. Words on Paper overview. 2. Literature expresses and influences society, the Great Conversation. 3. The Human Condition. 4. Story-telling: Power of the Narrative; Information is Power. 5. Aristotle and Plato: Cave to the Light. 6. Religious literature: Vedas, Bible, Quran. 7. What is Art?: Visual, drama, literary. 8. Important books that shaped and reflected America. 9. Authors, who are they? eg. Ellison, Carson. 10. Same old same old: Persistent topics. 11. Challenging challenging books, banned books. 12. Gutenberg to Zuckerberg: Digital world pros and cons. 13. Old world mass media (Newspapers, magazines, broadcast). 14. Benefits of reading vs. viewing: High and low involvement. 15. Why write fiction? Writing with a purpose. 16. Literary fiction, genres, aboutness. 17. Writing process, story structure, In the Beginning. 18. Resources, opportunities. 19. My journey as an author. 20. My novels. (As the need arises, columns on other topics may be interspersed among these.)