Now for something completely different

Well, it's been a big day. Sometime in the night "A Time for Poncey" went live at Amazon without a hitch, which is a major thing in this time of high-tech. All I'm waiting for now is for it to show up on Goodreads. If any of you like it enough, feel free to rate and review it on Amazon and Goodreads. Here's a hint for all you insiders: The first free giveaway will be this Thursday.

Now it's off to the next project, in earnest. It will be another collection of Southern Gothic stories exploring spiritual themes, but these will have no connection to each other. I'll also throw in some poetry for good measure. The flagship story, which I think will be called "Little Egypt Ain't Home," will be available for free online soon. I'll post a link here so all my devoted blog fans can find it. Also included will be "Spinning Wheel," which is now available for about a quarter at AlfieDog.com. A few of the stories are written and ready to go, and I've spent a good part of today sending them to literary journals. If any see the light of day, I'll let you know.

With that I wish you all a wonderful Labor Day weekend. I'm going to take a nap.

The big day approaches

Well, tomorrow is the big release day. To get the direct link to Amazon first, join our Facebook page. "A Time for Poncey" will be available only in .mobi, the Kindle-friendly format. However, the first story, "You Can't Count What Isn't There," will continue to be available on Smashwords for the next few months, and it will be posted as a free download at St. Celibart soon. It is also still part of "The Job: Based on a True Story," "Feallengod" and "Wars of the Aoten." Yesterday was another free giveaway of "The Job" through Kindle Select, and more than 500 copies were taken. So thanks to everyone who's got a copy, and I hope you're blessed and see your relationship with Christ more clearly. Same goes with "Poncey."

More good news for Nooks

For those of you who use Nooks, you'll be happy to know that "Feallengod: The Conflict in the Heavenlies" is again available for you at Barnes and Noble online. And it's free! It was my first book, and I still believe it is my most important writing - I took all the instances in Scripture where Satan is seen overtly active and wrote them into a single narrative. At the same time, the story is staged at a human level to illustrate how the Church is involved in spiritual struggles even in our material existence. Barnes and Noble shoppers have been very kind to my study on Esther, so I hope you'll try out "Feallengod" also. And be sure to check out the pronouncing appendix at nearly the end.

Also, "You Can't Count What Isn't There" is included in the current edition, which is at the very-most end of the book. It's the first story from "A Time for Poncey - And other Stories out of Skullbone" (in case you haven't been paying attention) which is coming out for Kindle in four days!!!! Join us for the big galactic release at our Facebook event.

Facebook release party

I've set a worldwide release party for "A Time for Poncey" on Facebook at this link. If you are as excited about this as I am - and who wouldn't be? - join me for the global celebration. Click on "going" (or "join," I don't remember which), and the event will show up on your friends' news feed, and the word will spread. And by the way, the 2 a.m. start time means nothing. I hope you're all snugly asleep in your beds at that time. But please help me spread the word. Thanks!

First 'Poncey' review raves

I didn't expect to get any reviews of "A Time for Poncey" in before the release, but the Midwest Book Review really came through. It is a group that for almost 40 years has reviewed independent books, and is highly respected by libraries and other bibliophiles. The group gave a glowing review of "The Job," so I was hoping for similar results for "Poncey." Here it is:

"A touch of the unusual can revolutionize our perspectives of the world. 'A Time for Poncey - And other Stories out of Skullbone' is a collection of short fiction from Craig Davis, touching on the nature of Southern Gothic culture and exploring our world through a metaphysical lens, providing strange humor and thought equally. 'A Time for Poncey' is a strong pick for short fiction collections."

So thanks to Midwest Book Review - you guys show a thoughtful appreciation for writing that goes beyond genre and formula. The stamps are in the mail.

"Madness Is In Their Hearts"

Dr. Hurley's Snake-Oil Cure has posted the first part of "Madness Is In Their Hearts," so please give it a look. Even if you don't want to read it, click on the link and give them a page hit. The story is part of "A Time for Poncey," for which I will soon start turning the marketing gears, looking at a Sept. 1, 2012 release. It's classic Southern Gothic writing based on Ecclesiastes, with a wicked twist of humor. So please help get the word around by directing folks to Dr. Hurley's. I think you'll find some other interesting arts there as well. Thanks.

The King and the Kingdom

Well, the wedding's over, and presumably everyone survived. I suppose it's to be seen if Harry lives through the after-party.

I've never been much of one for the Royals -- I thoroughly avoided the Charles/Di debacle thirty years ago. It seems to me that the hype this time around was much less, possibly because Pr. William has not bandied about for fifteen years as an eligible bachelor like his father. I also have detected more cynicism about this wedding, which shouldn't be surprising from my seat here in the U.S., and I think it's political in nature.

Since the royal wedding thirty years ago, a lot has happened in the world besides the royal blowup, namely, democracy is rampant. The Eastern Bloc and even (for Pete's sake) the Soviet Union have fallen apart, majority rule came to South Africa, de facto representative governments stuck their heads above water in Afghanistan and Iraq, who-knows-what is trying to overthrow dictators in the Middle East and North Africa, and even China has granted economic freedoms. Monarchies and other authoritarians are becoming more and more of an anachronism.

Which poses a question for Western Christians -- how ready are you to bow to the King? Does it seem odd to think of being under absolute authority? Even decisions in most of our protestant churches are made by committees or direct election, not by elders as scripture directs (and the U.S. is definitely a protestant nation in nature.) The church in the West has no inkling of what it means to fall to your knees before one you call Lord. Something to think about.

Oh yeah. Buy my book.

Living in a Fallen World

This weekend seems to be as good a launching point as any to consider life in a fallen creation. A congresswoman is gunned down in a public forum in Arizona, and a federal judge, a 9-year-old girl and four others are randomly slain just for being there. At this point the shooter appears to have been motivated only by mental illness, but many with an agenda immediately tried to score political points off this personal tragedy. From beginning to end these are demonstrations of the corrupt, fallen nature of the world and the people who dwell upon it. Only one question can express a rational reaction to this: How can God allow this to happen?


The violence in Arizona is only a microcosm of what has gone on in the world throughout recorded history. It is a tiny example of the distortion humanity is capable of, and many worse incidents have happened since then that the American media is unaware of. These events are shocking only when they happen in our backyards, or happen to people we know or think we ought to know (like elected officials). So how can God allow these things? A better question is, why does God remain patient with humanity and not wipe out everyone?


Central to our situation is that the Fall was a foregone conclusion. God has set up a stage for a great battle that rages in the Heavenlies, a conflict that led directly to and revolves around the Cross. For more on this thesis, check out this essay. "Man is born to suffer as the sparks fly upward" -- these are words from the oldest writing in Scripture, Job. They have rung true since the Fall, and will remain so until Christ returns. This then can be our only real comfort in times like these, that we believe and pray urgently that the demonstration to God's enemies will be complete, that Christ will return again, He will claim His bride, He will claim His kingdom, and He will set things right again.

Suffering and Spiritual Warfare

This from my talk with the local newspaper:

"In my Scripture study a number of years ago, I was struck by Eph. 3:10 - "... so that through the Church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the powers and principalities in the heavenlies." I thought this said a lot about suffering in the world and the spiritual warfare, which we can't even see, that goes on around the Church. Then I saw how the verse applies to Job, who literally was the subject of a wager between God and Satan, and whose unwavering belief through incredible suffering served to humiliate Satan, though Job never did learn what was behind it all. It seemed to me that Job was every man, and the suffering of believers in particular serves the same purpose as his did. ... And telling the story with humor would be totally unexpected."

This is my hope with The Job, that the reader will come away with an insight into what goes on around us in the spiritual world, the battle believers are central to even though we can't see it. To read the rest of the Q&A, follow this link.

The Problem of Suffering

Joe B. enjoys the sweet life as a vice president at a huge conglomerate, Universal Whirligig. But along with the Big Boss’ favor, he has also gained the notice of a bitter human resources manager, Luci Fernandez. Hateful of any success but her own, Luci manages to get him demoted to the mailroom! A rollicking comedy of errors follows as Joe B. tries to figure out what's happened to him, and attempts to get a meeting with the Big Boss.

Joe B.'s great expectations have taken an all-over twist. His family is forced to make a series of hard adjustments, and he gets only lame comforts from a string of the worst friends anyone could have. Will he finally track down the cause of his frustrations? Or will he only learn a lesson about what it is to be the boss, and that what is apparent is often only a shadow of a greater ongoing good?  The Job: Based on a True Story (I mean, this is bound to have happened somewhere) is a modern parable, a comic tragedy of ancient troubles and truths.

The Job is available in paperback and for Kindle from Amazon and can be had in other e-book formats from SmashWords.com.