You Can Be a Winner!
Friday, January 8, 2010
Win autographed copies my novels! Tim George, over at Unveiled, has a great contest going. Here’s a quote from his blog:
“To kick off 2010, Unveiled is going to give an autographed library of Athol Dickson novels to one lucky winner. Each week two questions will be added to this page. Points will be given for correct answers and comments left at appropriate reviews posted throughout January. Just follow the link after each question to find the answer. Email your completed list of answers no sooner than Feb 1st and no later than Feb 5th, 2010. Be sure and leave a comment to let us know you plan on entering the contest.”
So far there haven’t been many comments, so I’d say your odds are good... Have fun!
Posted byAthol Dickson at 3:49 PM 2 comments
Labels: About Athol, Lost Mission, River Rising, The Cure, Winter Haven
In Mexico
Monday, December 3, 2007
Research for a novel is always interesting, but that word doesn’t come close to describing my experiences over the last week. While working on background for a story I’m calling Lost Mission, I traveled to the state of Guanajuato, Mexico. There I stayed in the town of San Miguel de Allende (pictured here) and made side trips to nearby villages and cities. In the midst of our nation’s concerns about illegal immigration, more U. S. citizens should travel beyond the usual beach towns and visit Mexico’s interior to learn about the history and culture of our beautiful neighbor to the south. A little less fear and a lot more friendship would go a long way to finding solutions everyone can prosper from, in my opinion. But I won’t get political here, not when there are so many more interesting things to say.
The town where I stayed most of the time, San Miguel de Allende, was renamed in the early 1800’s, retaining the name of the priest who first settled there (Fray San Miguel) but adding the village’s favorite son and one of Mexico’s founding fathers of the Mexican War of Independence (Ignacio Allende). “San Miguel” as the locals call it, is incredibly photogenic. This blog includes a few shots I took there, but go to this link and scroll down to the “Galeria Fotos” 
near the bottom to click for more lovely visions. Believe me, the images you will see there (and here) are unretouched. Even with nothing but a disposable camera, anyone can take of perfect photograph in that glorious place!
The sense of history in the state of Guanajuato is everywhere. I was honored to visit the little town of Dolores Hidalgo where Father Miguel Hidalgo gave his famous El Grito de Dolores (The Cry of Dolores) speech to rally the people and begin the struggle for independence from Spain. Looking at those famous church steps, I had the same sensation of awe I have experienced at the Alamo and at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Hidalgo, along with Allende and two other leaders of Mexico’s war for independence, were captured and executed for the cause of freedom, a price every signer of our own Declaration of Independence knew he might be called to pay. (Learn more about Allende and Hidalgo here.)
I also visited the Valencia Hacienda (now a restaurant) in Guanajuato, where the Valencia family lived across the street from their own private cathedral (see photo at left). That’s right: they had their own personal cathedral! The Valencias were among the richest people on the planet at that time, in direct control of 25 to 30 percent of the silver produced in Nueva Espanola, or “New Spain”. When you consider that New Spain accounted for about two thirds of all the silver mined on earth, the Valencia’s wealth defies imagination, easily reaching the level of Bill Gates and Warren Buffet today.
Guanajuato itself has a lovely European ambiance, with pedestrians wandering cobblestone streets lined by limestone and stucco facades, and drivers navigating a strange underground road system created by the miners who originally gave the city its wealth. 48 kilometers of tunnels under the city left the downtown area free of the noise and exhaust 
that plagues so many other towns. Diego Rivera was born there (on the right is a photo of The Lovely Sue and Yours Truly in front of Rivera’s boyhood house), and a major university is right downtown, which may explain the sense of creativity and energy I felt throughout the city.
The strong connection between my country and Mexico reveals itself in the strangest details. For example, did you know the Mexican Revolution was initially led by Francisco Madero, who studied at the University of California, Berkley? In San Miguel I attended a world class jazz concert along with an elegant crowd of well heeled people from all around the world. This, in a theater marred by bullet holes in its limestone façade, evidence of the firing squads that operated with ruthless efficiency there during Mexico’s revolution early in the last century. What a surreal contrast between that grim reminder of Mexico’s bloody history outside, and the sublime gypsy-swing music of the Hot Club of San Francisco on stage inside! I also had a chance to see Doc Severinsen play with Gil Gutierrez and Pedro Cartas (the classical guitarist and violinist duo known as “Gil and Cartas”). These three guys were awesome together, with beautifully arranged music spanning from straightforward jazz, to moments of classical Spanish guitar, to Django 
Reinhardt type “gypsy jazz.” I’m listening to one of their CD’s as I type these words, and if you can get a copy, you should listen, too.
All of this in only one week, and believe me, this description barely scratches the surface of the sights, sounds, and people I encountered. Mexico. What a beautiful, amazing, and fascinating country it is! I went south unsure of the final direction I should take with Lost Mission, and came home overflowing with grand ideas and creative energy. Now at last after months of preparation it’s time to do what writers do and . . . write!
Posted byAthol Dickson at 10:04 AM 7 comments
Labels: About Athol, Lost Mission, Writing
Goddess Versus God
Friday, August 10, 2007
See, this is why we need Jesus.
I finished work yesterday and grabbed my keys to go run a few errands and when I stepped outside, I saw this. That's my driveway in the photograph. The only way in or out. And that is not my car. I don't know the owner of that car. After a few visits with the neighbors, it seems nobody around here knows the owner of that car. Someone just thought it would be okay to park there while they went down the hill to have a good time in town. (In the lovely little village where I live, the streets are solidly lined with parked cars every evening as people come to visit.)
Anyway, I had no choice. I called the cops. They came. They towed.
And then . . .
Last night about nine, the woman showed up. She had a conversation with The Lovely Sue.
"Hey! Did you tow my car?!?!?!"
"Yeah. Sorry about that. We had to get out."
"@^%*&! It's street parking here!"
"Not in front of my driveway."
"You B^%*&! I can't believe you towed my car! F%@# you!"
Clearly, from the things she said and how she said them, this woman knew exactly where she had parked, and why her car was towed.
So, this morning, I'm thinking about what it must be like to think life owes you a parking place, even if it means leaving total strangers stranded in their own house. What it must be like to do that to a person, then cuss them out because they don't sit still for it. I tried to get my head into a place where I could understand a person like that, and suddenly it hit me.
That car belongs to a Goddess. She is the center of the Universe.
Everything revolves around her, and we--you and I--are mere creatures to accommodate her every beck and call. I'm sure humility forbids her to admit this, even to herself, and yet of course her superpowers cannot be denied. She parks, therefore she is.
Poor thing. What will happen when she finally understands there really is a God, and He is not her, and He has certain expectations of her which will be met, one way or another? Will she bow, or will she break?
Please join me in praying for this young woman today. I don't know her, but I do know this:
She needs Jesus very much.
Posted byAthol Dickson at 8:59 AM 4 comments
Labels: About Athol, The Jesus Way
On Writing - INFUZE Interview
Monday, July 30, 2007
Are you interested . . . in the creative writing process, or in the state of Christian fiction past and present? If so, you might want to surf over to Infuze magazine, where Senior Editor Matt Connor interviewed me recently. Today they posted the conversation. You can read it here. I hope you find it thought provoking, and would love to read your own comments about any of the issues Matt and I discussed.
Posted byAthol Dickson at 7:41 AM 1 comments
Labels: About Athol, Writing
My Backstory
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
FaithfulReader.com just published an interview with me, in case you're interested. They got me to talk about a few things in my past I don't usually discuss, and we had time to explore some of the themes in The Cure a bit.
If you'd like to know a little more about me, or if you're wondering if you should read The Cure, why not run over there and take a look?
Also, Cindy Crosby comments on The Cure at a different place at FaithfulReader.com. As you may know, Cindy is a frequent contributor to the book review section at Christianity Today magazine, so again, I hope you'll check it out. She made me blush!
Posted byAthol Dickson at 2:20 PM 2 comments
Labels: About Athol, The Cure
