Indigofera Tinctoria Ascending

In June, I had a short story, "Janus," published in Indigo Rising Magazine. In July, I was informed by the editor-in-chief that "Janus" was included in the 19th print edition of the magazine. In this email, he asked if anyone knew of anyone was interested in being a part of the editorial staff. I, of course, jumped at the opportunity and am currently working as the fiction editor. I've included the link to my story on the magazine's site. Feel free to follow Indigo Rising, as it is a blogspot site, and maybe buy a couple of the print editions. I hope to write more here from now on and plan to shamelessly promote IRM lol.

"I, at any rate, am convinced that He does not throw dice."

I recently had an experience that was so unlikely, if I tried to put it in a story, it would be the last page the editor read because it would be too unbelievable to pass as fiction. I can't currently go into detail about it here [ask me if you're curious] but the chances of it happening seem something like hitting a standard bullseye with a dart thrown from an airplane.

The thing is, I was having a pretty difficult day when this blindsided me and, had these million specific positionings happened, or if I didn't recognize the significance, my day wouldn't have changed.

So what am I saying? Something to the extent of "Meeting an insurance agent the day your policy runs out is coincidence. Getting a letter from the Emperor saying he's visiting is plot. A wrecking ball [demolishing your apartment while you're trying to avoid action] is something else entirely." -Stranger Than Fiction.

So whether you want to call it kismet or providence, make sure you don't miss it.




-Caston

Dante, Spectroscopy, and Ethnology

More and more, everything seems to come full circle. Stories classically follow certain cycles. Anyone who studies Shakespeare should recognize the tragic and comedic cycles. The comedic cycle begins with a celebration, gets chaotic, then declines to the point of characters trying to kill each other, then traditionally ends in marriage. The tragic cycle starts with an assassination or a other crime against another character, the system seems to stabilize except in the case of a few characters, then everything starts unraveling until blood starts flowing.

You know when you're watching a movie and in the last moment, there's a twist and you're like, "I barely remembered when that character said that insignificant line that should've reveled the entire plot"? I keep seeing this occurrence in culture, science, history, theology, literature, day-to-day life, everywhere. I spent the day with my cousin and every conversation seemed to pull up a few topics over and over.

This verse is from toward the end of the book of Revelation, written in the first century AD: (ESV) Revelation 19:13 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. While this passage is from the book of Genesis while Jacob is addressing his sons: (ESV) Genesis 49:11 Binding his foal to the vine and his donkey's colt to the choice vine, he has washed his garments in wine and his vesture in the blood of grapes. Here, Jacob is talking about a promised leader that would rule over the tribes of his brothers. These visions seem to book end the Bible.

So is the big story a comedic or tragic cycle? Well, I'd say the creation of the universe was something to celebrate, then a quick decline into murder and chaos, redemption, more chaos, more chaos, then the biggest wedding ever.


-Caston

Contextual Healing

I was talking to this guy who has hated God and life and pretty much everything for years, since his wife killed their son while driving drunk. My mom has been ministering to him to him for almost a month now and he opened his bible for the first time in several years last week. I know this is a blog about writing and I'm getting to that, be patient, the pay off is worth it.
So last night, he opened his bible to a random page, put his finger on the page and read. The reference was Isaiah 49:7-19. This middle-aged construction worker was crying at what it said, saying that it was exactly what he was going through. I pulled out my phone to see what it said, opened my bible app that was already on Isaiah 49 (I had read it the night before because I was listening to a Misty Edwards song based on it).
Pretty much what 7-19 says is Israel is crying out, asking how God could have forsaken them and delivered them into the hands of their enemies etc. All that being said, I can make my point, context is all-powerful in understanding a text. In Revising Fiction, David Madden writes, "Context generates implications whether you like it or not..." In my example, the man was using the context of 7-19 and the implication was that God had forsaken his people and left them to the intentions of their enemies. The problem with this is the rest of the chapter (and even the rest of the book!)
If you read all of Isaiah 49 (or listen to the Misty Edwards song "I49") you realize that, even though Israel thinks that they have been forsaken by God like a "mother forget[ting] her nursing child," they are wrong. Isaiah is sent to proclaim to the people that God cares for them, will redeem them, and will deliver them out of their captivity.
In literature, we often make the same mistake of misreading the context. Since it has been written, people refer to Frankenstein's creation as "Frankenstein" but rightly use his name as the monster. Some one the other day called Casablanca one of the greatest love stories ever told. I asked them if they finished the movie, when Sam denies his love to defy the Nazis.
So I guess my point is, don't jump to conclusions when you see a disembodied piece of text, you have to look at it in its fullness to know what sort of creature it is.