I finished reading Taps: a Novel by Willie Morris last night. Actually, to be more accurate, it was early this morning. I had been working on it for a while now, sneaking in a partial chapter at lunch (Morris seems to prefer long chapters), or while waiting at the doctor’s office, or while Sharon perused clothing in a store while I waited in the car and read. Life has been busy lately, and I don’t get as much reading time as I’d like. Somewhere around the midpoint of this 338 page novel (a point I reached Saturday while sitting in the car waiting outside the dress shop), Willie Morris managed to get his characters so thoroughly embedded in my imagination that it was hard to put the book down to drive (though Sharon insisted). Last night, I probably wouldn’t have been able to sleep if I hadn’t finished, and finish I did, around one o’clock in the morning, in tears.

Taps is a powerful yet tender story of a young man coming of age during the Korean war in the small Mississippi delta town of Fisk’s Landing. Sixteen-year old Swayze Barksdale is pressed into the solemn duty of playing “Taps” at the funerals of the young men who perished on the Korean battlefields. Swayze’s father had died some years before, leaving him with a neurotic mother who taught tap dancing and occasionally drank too much. At a time in his life when young Swayze most needed the counsel and guidance of a wise man, Swayze was fatherless, sickly and surrounded by tap dancing women.

His unexpected call to duty thrust Swayze into new situations and new relationships, at times hilarious and at others tragic, always thought provoking and real. Willie Morris did a masterful job of opening Swayze’s heart to the reader, accurately depicting the inner thought life and sometimes gut-wrenching emotions of this boy on the cusp of manhood. Gradually, Swayze learns about some of the stark realities of life, some taught by his experience with the WWII vets and funeral workers with whom he serves, some by young men who came home from the war maimed and scarred, and some by the young men who returned to Fisk’s Landing in steel gray boxes with official documents attached. In the course of the year, Swayze learns what it means to be a true patriot, to serve selflessly even to the point of death. He learns about being a son, a friend, and a lover. Swayze learns what it means to be a man.

Taps  is a unique product of Willie Morris’ passion for writing. He conceived the idea very early in his writing life, even before he published his first book, North Toward Home,  in 1967. Willie spent over thirty years working on Taps, literally the rest of his life. When Willie Morris died in August, 1999 at the age of sixty-four, one of his last requests made of his wife was that she “get Taps  together.” Those who knew him personally have said that Taps  speaks powerfully to Willie’s core beliefs and values, that it contains his heart and soul. I, of course, never knew Willie Morris personally, though after reading My Cat Spit McGee and Taps I can honestly say that I wish I had. I can somehow see myself sitting on his porch in Mississippi and drinking sweet tea while talking about writing and ideas and life. I feel as though I would be a welcomed guest there, as long as Spit McGee approved.

If you love novels with powerful word pictures that can “suck you in” and be hard to put down, I heartily recommend Taps: a Novel by Willie Morris. Click here to order Taps from Amazon.com.

CAUTIONS:

To the vocabulary-challenged reader, Willie Morris’ writing style can be either educational or difficult. Morris was a complex man, a “good old boy” with an impressive literary pedigree. Every time I read his writing, I add a few words to my vocabulary and gain experience with my favorite on-line dictionary. If you don’t like learning new words, you won’t like this book. Than again, you probably wouldn’t have read this far, either.

Taps is not a CBA book. If you are easily offended by coarse language or the things high-school age jocks brag about in locker rooms, you might find this book offensive. There were no words used in the book that I hadn’t heard many times over by the time I was Swayze’s age, with the possible exception of the word Yankee as a derogative. The language didn’t offend me in the least, in fact without it the situations would have seemed inauthentic. Your mileage may vary, so if you’re easily offended you’ll want to read something else instead.

D.

It’s been a little over a week since I returned from the 2006 Sandy Cove Writers Conference. I’ve finally decompressed a bit, paid my “vacation tax” at the radio stations (or at least made a some substantial payments), and have caught up on my rejection letters and current writing projects (or at least as caught up as I’m ever going to be). I can finally take a moment to reflect on the conference and the lessons I learned there.

It was a great week overall, even though I was sick with a bug of some sort that had me coughing and hacking through the whole conference and kept me semi-mute (believe it or not). I think it was God’s way of saying “Dan, shut up and listen a little more.” I did just that, although some of the attendees might not agree (imagine how mouthy I would have been with my whole voice!) Still, there is a theory that learning can only happen when one’s mouth is shut, and I did learn some things at Sandy Cove.

One thing I learned on my way home is why the attendees who have been to Sandy Cove in the past and flew in for the conference all flew in to Baltimore (BWI) instead of Philadelphia (PHL), even though BWI costs a little more.  I learned the hard way that PHL has horrible problems with outgoing traffic. Apparently only one of PHL’s runways can be used for outgoing flights because of noise issues. My 6:32PM flight didn’t leave the gate until a little past 7 PM, and spent the better part of an hour waiting in line for the departure runway. I missed my connecting flight in Cincinnati (the last flight to Little Rock that day), and got to stay the night at a cheap, seedy motel courtesy of Comair.  Next time I go to Sandy Cove, I’ll fly through BWI.

But enough about the travel. Let’s talk about the destination.

The Sandy Cove Conference Center is a wonderful place to be, whatever the event that brings you to this bay-side haven of rest. In addition to the full schedule of conferences and special events, Sandy cove is a great place for a group or personal retreat. I met a number of folks who were there for a night or two under the “Bed and Breakfast” program, and if we lived closer, I’m sure we’d be among them occasionally.

Every Christian Conference Center has its own unique personality and focus, and I couldn’t help but note that there seems to be a pattern of guests coming to Sandy Cove after traumatic or stressful seasons of life for a time of healing and restoration. The Cove has an impressive program called Operation Oasis that allows servicemen returning from deployment in the Middle East to enjoy a time of restoration and reconnecting with their families–free of charge. There’s also an impressive scholarship assistance program to help those with financial challenges to attend programs and events at Sandy Cove. I heard that over $8,000 in scholarships were awarded for the Writers Conference alone, and over 40 attendees were there thanks to the Scholarship program. The Sandy Cove staff is one of the most helpful, servant-hearted crews I’ve ever known. It was quite apparent to me that ministry is the top priority across the board at Sandy Cove. It’s a wonderful place.

Writers Conferences also have unique personalities and flavors. The Sandy Cove Writers Conference has a very distinct spiritual focus, one that draws the participants to consider their writing–even writing in secular environments–as a calling from God, a mission to “Take the Word to the World.” There is, of course, also coverage of the business and financial realities of the publishing industry and writing in general. Sandy Cove is a good conference for newbies to the world of Christian writing/publishing, and there was a remarkably large number of attendees who were at their very first writers conference, many who were green as grass and still figuring out whether or not God is calling them to write. I know for certain that there were some who left knowing that they are not and never will be writers. The faculty was gentle and sensitive about that, emphasizing the importance of pursuing your individual calling and being who God made you to be. The faculty was warm and personable, very approachable, and obviously loved sharing their passion and spending time with fellow wordsmiths.

The conference wasn’t perfect, but then again neither am I. They tried a new idea this year, a concept that included “homework” assignments in the morning sessions that were reviewed during the afternoon “mentoring” sessions. There was some miscommunication among the faculty, and not everyone was on the same page, resulting in a less-than-optimum, somewhat confusing plan (or lack thereof).  I suspect that the 2007 conference will deal with this better. If I have a complaint, it would be that most of the sessions (in the non-fiction track, at least) were rather elementary, and I would have appreciated a little more “meat.” My favorite session was a continuing class taught by Doug Newton, senior editor of Light and Life magazine. The class was loaded with practical teaching to help improve our writing, but we were just getting into “the good stuff” when we ran out of time. It would have been valuable to split the non-fiction track into beginner and intermediate/advanced tracks. I also found it troubling that there was some misinformation presented in one of the mentoring sessions in response to a some entry-level questions about writing for magazines. It wasn’t deliberate misinformation in my opinion, likely just an area where the mentor’s experience was limited.

But, don’t get me wrong. My “complaints” are relatively minor overall. The Sandy Cove Writers Conference was a great experience, and I recommend it heartily, particularly for beginning or unpublished writers. One of the best things about writers conferences is the opportunity to gather and build relationships with editors and fellow writers, and in that sense Sandy Cove was an absolute home run. I came away with many new friends, and relationships that will last as long as I do, or perhaps longer. Some of my contact with editors has opened some interesting doors of opportunity. More important than all that is that God spoke to me at Sandy Cove. He spoke through editors, writers, and even through an agent, believe it or not. He also spoke to me directly, as I sat alone in the late-night moonlight by the water’s edge and allowed Him to restore my soul and revitalize my vision as a writer.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention an add-on session that wasn’t affilliated with the writers conference (other than by the fact that the teacher is the assistant director of the conference). AuthorizeMe is a workshop designed to get the book idea that’s been rattling around between your ears out of your head and onto paper in the form of a book proposal ready to pitch to an editor or agent. Sharon Norris Elliot teaches the use of storyboarding for capturing, analyzing and organizing those book ideas, as well as explaining the required elements of a non-fiction proposal. AuthorizeMe is usually a two or three day seminar, and trying to cram it all into a single 10-hour workshop was challenging but not completely impossible. There were eleven students in the class–ten women and me. Fortunately, I’ve been in the deep end of the estrogen pool before, so I handled being the minority representative without much trouble. Sharon Elliott did a fine job, and her capable assistant Jeanette Scott (one of my favorite faculty members) was a real asset who offered valuable input and insight. One of the most valuable parts of the process was the time we spent working around the room analyzing each other’s proposals. I started out with a unique (aka ”strange” if you’re linear) idea and ended up with three different book concepts that grew out of the workshop. The one I decided to pursue at the conference is a humor book (not at all what I started out to do) that generated a lot of interest among the editors. I’m going to be submitting it to one of them as soon as I finish some polishing and fine-tuning.

Did I get my money’s worth out of AuthorizeMe? Yes, I think I did. There was nothing taught that I didn’t already know, but it was a good refresher course and the group dynamic with twelve women who didn’t know me or my previous work helped bring some things to the surface that may have stayed hidden otherwise. If your writing vision includes a non-fiction book and you don’t have a clue how to make it happen, AuthorizeMe is exactly what you need, and I recommend it highly.

I’ve got to admit that I miss Sandy Cove. I didn’t get nearly enough of the place to suit me, but I got what God wanted me to have from the place, and now I’m back on the firing line again, “taking the Word to the World.” 

Thank you, Lord, for Sandy Cove. You can feel free to send me back there as often as you would like. Via BWI, please.

D.

I actually discovered that Cingular’s 3G HSDPA data service was up and running a while back, and verified that it was there (testing if nothing else) when I got the new Dell Latitude D820 with its built-in HSDPA card. It worked pretty well back then, and it’s still working well today. The difference is that I have reasonable evidence that Cingular is about to admitthat it’s up and running. My first indicator was a chat I had the other day with a Cingular tech at one of their cell sites where I have a radio transmitter on the same tower. The second indicator is that I installed a Cingular-branded Sierra Wireless Aircard 860 3G PC card modem for one of our on-air talking heads who will soon be yakking about the new service on the radio. He’s about as technically astute as a pan of macaroni and cheese, but he’s a “Personality,” so it’s assumed that his endorsement will move consumers to flock to their favorite Cingular store and snap up those $49 cards ($149 with $100 rebate) and $79.99 Laptop Connect plans. They may be right, although I’ve observed that there are a lot of tech-savvy types who will quickly see through the “personality with talking points” endorsement. That could work against marketing to that segment. I once proposed doing some endorsements from a more techie person with on-air experience — such as myself — but it never got past the station sales types, who generally think “personalities” are better than “people who know what they’re talking about.” Go figure.

I’m waiting patiently (well, alright… notso patiently) for Cingular to release their Cingular 8525, a WM5 PDA phone with HSDPA. It will be the first actual hand-held data device (I don’t count phones with WAP browsers as data devices) to use the new 3G service. I want one. I can’t stomach Blackberry’s devices, because they have lousy web browsers and no third-party software. WM5 isn’t the best thing on the planet, but it’s manageable and there are lots of excellent applications, many that I already have on my Dell Axim X50v PDA.

Hey, Cingular… want a real-world beta tester? Maybe a technically-qualified endorser? An engineer with a big mouth?

So far, HSDPA has been encouraging. I’m looking forward to experimenting with using it for remote broadcast audio — it could be just what we’ve been waiting for in Little Rock.

D.

I’m writing from gate E1 at the Philadelphia International Airport. There’s a lovely WiFi signal here, and it’s free in a few hotspots on concourses B abd C. However, it’s eight bucks a day here in concourse E, and I’m just too cheap for that. Cingular 3G to the rescue! I’m getting a great 3G signal here, with good throughput and consistent speed. Not the fastest I’ve seen anywhere, but still a great step up. It’s a beautiful thing!

It’s always sad when something wonderful comes to an end, like a great film or a pint of HaagenDas Sorbet. The Sandy Cove Writer’s conference is over, and that is a sad thing in many ways. I have some wonderful new friends that I won’t see again for a long time, and I still haven’t had my fill of the magnificent views of the Chesapeake Bay that are such an integral part of the Sandy Cove experience. On the other hand, I really miss my beloved Sharon and the kitties. I’m not looking forward to Little Rock’s heat (it’s 91 there now, 74 at the Cove), but I can’t wait to be back home with my soulmate and our little friends.

There’s so much I want to say about Sandy Cove, but I’m too tired to do it justice. I’ll hold off on anything further until I’ve slept and decompressed, lest an editor happen by and see anything less than my best work. But make no mistake — I’m going to miss Sandy Cove and the wonderful new friends I made there. If you’re one of them, give yourself a hug for me.

 D.