Ramblings of the random kind

There are times when i really do not have any idea of what i am going to write about on my blog. No really. I know this will come as a shock, but there are times when i just sit down and start typing and see what comes as i go. Other days i don't have a lot to say about whatever it is i do know what i want to write about. On those days i just start a new entry and put down some cryptic sentence, and then when i have between 3-5 of them i begin. If i remember what i mean all the better. Today is of the later... The Carolina Panthers have their 'by-week' early this year. I am very grateful for that as they head into it with a record of 0-3. *sigh*. Heading into the season their scheduled was considered the 2nd hardest so that is not really raising my hopes for them getting to 9-7. Granted, they play the Bucs (twice), the Redskins, and the Miami Dolphins. I am pretty sure they will win at least one of those. I have seen Coach Fox turn this team around before, and i am not really confident that they are as bad as their record currently shows. But they are going to really have to come out of the gate of the by-week and win at least three out of their next four for me to change my feelings on this. Yesterday i had some maintenance work so i came into work about a half hour before midnight and worked until i was done. Which in this case was only about two hours - a real blessing. Not knowing how long it was going to go i asked for a personal day off during my regular shift and used up some comp. time. I would like to say it was spent with my beloved on a romantic luncheon, but it was not to be. I knew i had things to do at the local government offices, and i had to get the grass cut (hopefully for the last time of the season), but then my poor love has come down with my summer cold. So i made her some tomato soup and got my errands done. When i finished the lawn i realized i still had about a dozen or more logs left to split for our firewood stock so i knocked that out too. There is something therapeutic to me about chopping wood. I have no idea why. I may need some more so i need to contact my friends who own a full size pickup and several acres north of where i live. See about getting another dozen or so logs... While running my errands i was thinking a little bit more about my 'novel'. Thinking over where i want to go with it, some more personal background information on the characters (most of which will probably never be "seen"), etc. i began to wonder if there were other Christian writers of science fiction out there. I've never really scoured the local Christian book store for such books. I've seen different genres, but it's just not a place i've thought of to go for recreational reading. Deep theological sure, but not for casual stuff that doesn't really matter. So last night, as i am running around getting the last few items done before (the kids) bedtime i typed in a quick Google search "Christian Cyberpunk". I am not sure why i chose that particular group of words, but there you have it. The first interesting return gave me Frank Creed ~ he has written a book titled FlashPoint: Book One of the Underground. When i read the summary it sounded a little too much like the Left Behind series. I like that series, but i was looking for cyborgs and that kind of thing so my search continued. I clicked on a few more links and i was beginning to get discouraged. I read about a few titles but all of them (so far) have very similar settings. Formal religion is being severely suppressed. Not just Christianity, but Islam and Judaism too (and probably several others). The hero is a non-believer who is actually a "Paul-like" character who has some sort of conversion experience and then champions the cause for Christ. This is beginning to sound a lot like Contemporary Christian music back in the early '80's ~ or at least my perception from back then. There is only one real 'flavor' and there is really not much depth to it. I continued on and found another author, Kirk Outerbridge, who has authored Calamity Falls. I've read the Chapter One and his 'hero' character reminds me a lot of the Deckard character from Blade Runner. I like how it starts so far, but i am not sure i will buy it though. One thing i did notice was that all of the Christian Science Fiction sites i found did not refer to themselves as Science Fiction writers, but writers of 'Speculative Fiction'. Really? I know that science fiction in general can get pretty raunchy. (I SO wanted to like and watch the Sci-Fi Channel series Battlestar Gallactica, but had to stop watching it because of the incredibly overt sexual situations), but why such a hard push to differentiate? There is probably a reason for it, but i've not discovered what that reason may be yet. I did find, what i hope to be, a good writing source/support page: The Lost Genre Guild. It is a blog for Christian writers of 'Speculative Fiction' (aka Science Fiction). There are several resources there like a mentor and critique group, a writers tool kit page, and a "Library" (a list of books published by fellow members). Overall a nice find as an encouragement for me to help stay grounded in my Faith, while exploring my interest in writing science fiction.