Monthly Archives: December 2012

2012 in review

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Brenton Dickieson

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: 4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 26,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

A Year of Reading

Posted on December 28, 2012 by Brenton Dickieson

It might be a first, but I managed to keep one of my New Year’s Resolutions for 2012. In January, I resolved to read 50 books or articles related to my research and writing on C.S. Lewis, and I hit … Continue reading →

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The Inside is Bigger than the Outside: A Christmas Thought from Narnia for Our World Too

Posted on December 25, 2012 by Brenton Dickieson

“Always winter and never Christmas.” This is the condition where we first discover Narnia in The Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe. It is not so much blanketed in white as smothered in it, frozen by it. Anyone in my … Continue reading →

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My Santa Manifesto (Santa: Don’t Read This!)

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Brenton Dickieson

This article appeared first in the Nov/Dec 2011 edition of Island Family Magazine. Few figures stir up as much controversy in certain circles as Santa Claus. You may find it hard to imagine why this jolly old elf inspires any … Continue reading →

Posted in Creative Writing, Reflections | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Drawing the Hobbit

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Brenton Dickieson

I am ashamed to admit I have yet to see Peter Jackson’s first installment of The Hobbit, and it has been out for four days. The purists among my colleagues, blogmates, and digital friends are horrified at Jackson’s adaptation. Many … Continue reading →

Posted in Memorable Quotes, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

C.S. Lewis’s Faerie Lecture, and a Prince Edward Island Folktale

Posted on December 14, 2012 by Brenton Dickieson

C.S. Lewis gave a lecture on Faeries at the oldest and (arguably) most prestigious university in the English world. He did this lecture often, and he did it with a straight face. It is, of course, perfectly normal for universities … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 39 Comments

Do I Pass David J. Parker’s “Fantasy Novelist’s Exam”?

Posted on December 10, 2012 by Brenton Dickieson

I follow There and Draft Again: A Fellowship of Fantasy Writers. As is clear by their title, they are writers who draw from stream of fantasy literature that Tolkien and a few of his friends carved out of the rocky … Continue reading →

Posted in Creative Writing, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 28 Comments

Theological Pantsing, or the Moral Problem of Hell (Hell Series Part 3)

Posted on December 6, 2012 by Brenton Dickieson

At the close of the 20th century Stephen King wrote that if he were a different kind of writer, “I might never have … gotten a letter from some helpful fundamentalist fellow who wants me to know that I’m going … Continue reading →

Posted in Thoughtful Essays | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 23 Comments

A Peak Around the Corner: My NaNoWriMo Reflections

Posted on December 3, 2012 by Brenton Dickieson

It has been a difficult month since I first posted my Prewriting for NaNoWriMo and launched the challenge to write 50,000 words in 30 Days. I find autumn hard, the dying light, our world plunging into darkness. While most people … Continue reading →

Posted in Creative Writing, Reflections, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments