Fantasy life of the runaway

Last weekend I took some time to do a little beginning research for the sequel to The Runaway Pastor. Since Trent--the main character in my novel--seems to be dealing with an escape fantasy, I began there. What I discovered was not all that new to me, but the way it came to me was like a formula; like a two plus two equals four. All I'd seen before was a two and another two--without the four.

First, Neuro-psychology teaches us that practiced patterns become ingrained habit. If you play golf or tennis or if you type or drive, you know what it means to be able to do something without really thinking about it. "I could do that in my sleep," we often say. And it is true. Rehearsed patterns become ingrained.

They also become default behaviors. Like a water drop falling down a windshield; once a certain path is cleared, it becomes the easy way...the default pathway for other drops. We don't think about how we type our email address, it just pops out of our fingers. We don't plan to go (or remember going) to the fridge, but we find the ice cream sandwich right there in our hands. The neuron trail has been blazed, and we follow it by habit.

The second truth is that articulately and meticulously imagined actions are indistinguishable from real actions. It is true. Our mind cannot decipher the difference between a real action and a well imagined one. We've heard that before regarding violence in movies and video games. Perhaps we believe it to an extent. However, our mind has the capability of producing much more realistic "movies" than does the movie industry. Our fantasies are more real to us than video representations of reality.

So those two points are "two" and another "two." But the "four" had never accurred to me.

Well imagined actions, which are imagined over and over, become ingrained in our thinking. They form true neurological pathways in our brain, and become default reactions to certain settings. When Jesus said that lusting was indeed adultery, he wasn't kidding. When we read in scripture that "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he," it is mirroring contemporary teaching.

It seems the secular world has a hang-up on pushing fantasies. But what I am reading tells me that fantasies can lead to realities. And realities that we imagine are not nearly as exciting and joy-filled as our imaginations allow us to believe.

Jesus said "The truth will set you free..." Chasing fantasies down pathways of pleasure is not the way to freedom.

People have often asked me how Trent so easily left his wife, church and home. In my mind, he had already dreamed it into reality. I've been asked why Natalie was unfaithful to him. She had fantasized such betrayal over and over. How far do our habitual default responses carry us in our living?

My next research interest? How does one reset/retrain their imaginations and ingrained habits?

Runaway Characters are Acting Up Again

The writing of The Runaway Pastor was quite unintentional. There were agonies and feelings that needed expression. So many pastors were sharing their stories, that I decided to write a journal entry about a guy running away.

After writing a few pages, I saved the file as "Trent's Very Bad Day." (I was thinking of a popular children's book title.) And I thought I was finished. The next day I pulled out the lap top to add another bit to the story, and the characters just started appearing and doing things that people do.

I had often toyed with writing fiction. I once even had nearly one hundred pages into a pretty cool story set overseas. But a crashed hard drive, and a very full time job kept me out of the writing business. Then "Trent's Very Bad Day" became The Runaway Pastor, when I could not remove myself from the story; the story wrote itself, as the people did things people do. I too was often shocked at what happened.

This is why it has been so tough to write a sequel to the story. I've often told those who ask me about a sequel that I've "had that fit," and I don't feel the need to write any longer about those people. However this week, the TV in my brain went back to San Diego and Baylor's Bend, and I was surprised to see what was happening once again.

So a couple of days ago I started a sequel. And yesterday I tried to capture the half-hour of ideas that flowed through my brain on paper. It is in nothing like outline form. But there are scenes and glances, and conversations, and locations and all sorts of things happening. My friends in The Runaway Pastor are back at it. And so as I'm able, and with their permission, a sequel just may be on the way.

Thank you to all of you who encourage me! I still hear from a new reader of Runaway about two times per week. Pass the word along. Consider going to Amazon from my link--above and on the right--and buying a copy for a birthday, or begin your Christmas shopping now. (Later on, you'll be glad some of those gifts are already purchased!) Your pastor or church friends will like the book, but I'm finding many strong reviews from those outside of the church...and Trent seems to perk-up their interest in spiritual conversations.

Thank you again for all the ways you have encouraged me.

THE RUNAWAY PASTOR Feedback

I get a lot of questions about the price of my book The Runaway Pastor on amazon.com. Several different booksellers are there offering the same book for various discounts (or premiums) as well as varying levels of shipping costs. Yeah, I don't know. All I can say is that I'm amazed at the intricacies of how this business operates. And, I guess I'm just glad that it does.

First of all, this online bookstore (known as the largest bookstore in the world) provides an easy way for a book to be purchased almost anywhere in the western world. They receive the mother of all discounts when selling a book, leaving publisher and author with a very small cut on the deal--so to speak. The large discount they get from the publisher is a small price to pay when compared to the service they provide. Besides, I have no illusions of making money on this book.

Second, the feedback system is amazing. Of course there is the review system. Readers are provided the opportunity to give each book sold there a rating between 1 and 5 stars, then they write and record their thoughts and put them up for anyone to see! If you have read the novel, and if you have ordered from amazon.com before, I would invite you to review the book there. Thanks to all of those who have.

Another aspect of the feedback system is something I'm just beginning to understand: The book ranking. Each day on the book's page at amazon.com there is a ranking that shows. At first these rankings seemed insulting. But there are millions of books in the system, and being ranked in the hundreds of thousands, isn't bad I guess. (I've had an occasional gust of the low 20 thousands.) This project is one with no marketing budget, no paid advertising, etc. So if it grows, it will be because one reader recommends it to another, and slowly it gathers a following.

My only hope is that the messages of the book will get through to those who need to hear it. Soon there will be questions for discussion at runawaypastor.com and bulk discounts from the publisher so reading groups at churches or elsewhere can discuss them. Each one will be keyed to a paragraph or chapter reading from the book. These questions give me hope that people will wrestle with the message of the book. (If you have a suggestion for a question, please send it in.)

Thank you for reading here. Occasionally I will update you about the book project at this place, and more often I'll just write about life from my perspective. Eventually I may use this site for the book, and start another to do such writing. At this point in my life, I feel an urgency for the message of The Runaway Pastor to get out there. And I'll follow that leading as long as I must.

(NOTE: Please check out Zee's blog. She is an incredible young writer I met when she was a little girl in Kiev, Ukraine. Just click on her name in the comment column, and follow through her info to her blog.)

THE RUNAWAY PASTOR: First Shipment Arrived!

Yesterday, on a beautiful fall day in Brown County, the UPS truck dropped-off my first order of The Runaway Pastor. An hour or so later, my son got home and we opened the first box. So, there it was.

Now if you've known me for long, you know that I am truly unique. (I almost wrote "weird.") I've been known to say on a Tuesday, "Wow, I'm really starting to enjoy that trip to the museum last Saturday." Or, "That concert last week really was good." And it will be the first time I've had either thought. People think I should be excited about stuff, and wonder why I'm not. I don't know, maybe I just have a slow processor or something.

So last night I went to a couple of meetings with friends, and I smuggled one book to one friend, but otherwise ignored the subject. Then today, I went to meet with a large gathering of pastors that I had spoken to last year on the subject of burnout. I was told I should give a copy of my book to the couple that was speaking at the event. So I did. And while there, the leader of the gathering asked me if I wanted to offer to sell my books there. I hadn't thought about that. I stammered a bit, and then gave some lame response, and said "Sure." And I've just returned after signing more than a dozen books...it all got a little more real to me then. Maybe in a few days I'll start enjoying it all. In the meantime, life is good anyway.

Not sure when Amazon will post the books for sale. As of this writing, it isn't there yet. Hopefully soon...keep looking for The Runaway Pastor there.

Grace and peace to you.

THE RUNAWAY PASTOR Release, and First Book Signing

This is the week! My publisher tells me that this is the week when Amazon will begin receiving orders for THE RUNAWAY PASTOR, by David Hayes. Keep checking-in on Amazon.com and you may be the first to find it there. I'd like to ask you to email me when you see it up on Amazon! I'd be excited to know who was first to find it!

I am scheduled for my first book signing on Sunday, November 1st, from 2-4 in the afternoon at THE BOOK LOFT, a hometown bookstore in Nashville, Indiana where I live. It is in beautiful Brown County, and the leaves may just still be good. They are still changing as I write and it is beautiful.

You can still read the pre-edited copy of the first seven chapters by clicking on the book cover to the right, if you'd like to get a jump start on the book.

Keep me posted!
David

News About Runaway, and a Sequel on its Way!

Thanks to all of you who have been linking this website to your facebook, myspace, twitter, email and other online messages. The traffic on the site is growing quickly and that is helping to get the word out. Not only is the traffic up, the number of "new visitors" is increasing rapidly.

If you are a follower at this blog, I would love to have your contact info so that I can let you know when things are happening. Send me an email. My contact info is on the right side panel. If you haven't joined yet, it is free of course, and you are still welcome and invited to join as a follower.

I gave myself an hour or so the other day to take time away from my work, and to do some writing. A preface and first chapter of a sequel to The Runaway Pastor are underway! It felt good. My wife and one other reader I allowed in at this early stage have been very complimentary. And it felt good to be back in the world of novel creation, instead of editing and planning.

Did I mention to you that I got a really nice endorsement, and it is (at this point) the lead on the back cover of the book. Those things should be tied up by early next week when I have a quick meeting with my publisher and agent.

Thanks for following along, and for helping me get the word out about The Runaway Pastor. To this point, you are the only marketing staff I have. And you are doing a great job.

My grand daughter just came over--and writing this dropped off the priority list. Later!