New Web Site

I am in the process of creating a new website - an author's site at http://www.tlgray.net .
If you get time, go check it out, but remember it is still a work in progress - so excuse the mess.

I still have my Necromancer website at http://www.thenecromancers.com and this blog site (which won't change), but I wanted a place to showcase the different stories that I've written. I was inspired when I completed Milledgeville Misfit and had no where to showcase her.

I still have a few pages to add, like a bio page. What do I put in a bio page? How can I write novels, yet stumble over something as simple as listing my writing credits and personal information. Perhaps I'm like Junebug and prefer the impossible over the rational? I blame that on Jesus. He's the one who said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible," and "Everything is possible for him who believes." However, Paul warns that while all things are possible, not all are beneficial.

I will keep those words in mind as I work on my new web page, go through the final edits on Milledgeville Misfit and then ship her off to my agent to shop to publishers. I still have several crits to do with my critique group and a party to attend this evening. So, looks like I'm in for a busy day... but all things are possible. LOL!

Till next time,
~T.L. Gray

BTW - I watched Smallville and Supernatural last night. Man, do I miss those shows! Thanks to a good friend who keeps me updated, the new season should start in mid-September. I suppose I'll have to be content with Medium, The Dead Zone, Psych, Kyle XY and 4400 till then. (Does anyone see a patterened theme?) Does anyone know about the new show coming this fall called Heroes? It looks awesome! I watched Fallen last week and it was pretty good too.

Milledgeville Misfit - I'm Done!

I wrote the last chapter to Milledgeville Misfit yesterday and I cried, yet I was so excited.
It feels good to finish something, yet sad at the same time, because that adventure is over - or is it.

The way that I left the book open - there's room to write more stories in this adventure if I want. I think I'll leave it as is, go through one more round of edits and then send her off to my agent and see what happens.

Now I have to write the outline, synopsis and blurbs. I suppose I need to create my own website to showcase the many different stories that I have. I have a website designated specifically for the Necromancer series, but I suppose I need one for me, as an author.

Anyway, I'm happy to have completed another story. I don't think I'm going to write anything new until I complete The Year of the Unicorn. I'm currently at the half-way point with chapter fifteen.

Have a blessed and fruitful day.

Till next time,
~T.L. Gray

Supernatural - The Production

Things are moving along quite well with this production.

• I've already selected the song titles, burned copies for the singers and musicians and ordered the sheet music.
• I've made arrangements to have (10) ten swords made from a woodcarver. (They're going to be awesome!)
• My list of props, cast and budget is filling up everyday. (I'm going to rummage through the props we currently have in storage to find what I can. What I need most is fog machines, black, strobe and spot lights.)

I'm excited about it and the people seem to be excited about it, too.

I had a dream about this production - and it was awesome! I was standing outside of the double doors that lead to the sanctuary. There was a golden sign above it that said, "Welcome to the Supernatural" and in front of them, with his head held high and his expression fixed, stood a georgous angel. His hair was spun gold, his eyes blazing fire. He had a gold band around his forehead and he held a golden sword by the hilt with his arms extended evenly across his chest. His lashes glittered in the light.

The angel stepped aside and let me pass. When he moved, the doors swung out and I stepped through them - into another world. It looked like the santuary I've worshipped in for the past ten years, but it was transformed. A dense, billowing fog hugged the ground. On the right side against the wall stood five angels, evenly spaced apart down the length of the room. Mirroring them stood five angels on the left side. Their white rainment illuminated, yet they stood perfectly still. I watched one closely to see if it breathed, but I saw no movement. His eyes glared straight ahead.

Beautiful music filled the room. It's golden musical notes, weaved in and out of the chairs, as if it floated with an invisible current. Hundreds of people stood with their hands raised and were praising God. However, they weren't alone. Also weaving in and out of the people crawled small demons and imps. Dressed in black, they had white words written across them like "hate, jealousy, lust, deception, religion, unbelief, anger, doubt, dispair, pride & oppression." The people didn't seem to notice their presence.

(Supernatural) I whipped my head around and stared at the angels, urging them to move to intercept those demons, but they remained perfectly still. I looked down from their eyes and noticed they all wore these white sashes that read, "love, relationship, belief, truth, self-control, peace, trust, hope, passion & faith."

One by one, as the people bowed in prayer, the angels moved and fought with the demons until the room cleared.

(Prodigal) Upon the stage staggered a man, withered and worn, crying. He's surrounded by demons, tormenting him. His robes are torn and he's covered in mud. He calls out to his father for forgiveness and drops to his knees. When his knees touch the ground, the statuesque angels instantly move and surround him, sending the demons fleeing into the shadows. The man is restored to his father and they walk off together.

(Susan Rager) Beautiful white-robed ladies fill the front of the sanctuary with colorful silk scarves. The angels turn their attention toward the movement and they begin to weep. When the dance is finished, they all have bent to one knee. There room is silent.

(Set Me Free) I looked upon the stage once more and saw a man full of demons. Chains bound his hands and feet and the demons yanked him down everytime he tried to pull away from them. He cries out into the night for help, but no one hears. Then in the back of the room enters a man with people surrounding him. The demons instantly scatter, shriek and scream. They try to pull the man away, but he notices how the man affects them, and cries out to the man, "Jesus, save me."

Jesus grabs his chains and lifts a key into the air. He asks the man, "Do you want to be free? Lift your chains, I hold the key. All power on heaven and earth belong to me." The demons that are attached to him by the chains desperately pull on them to get out of Jesus' way, but they cannot. The man clings to Christ and he opens the lock on the chains and sets him free. The demons scatter into the shadows. Christ turns toward the crowd and asks them the same thing. Several within the crowd lift their own set of chains and they break open. Jesus exits out the back, followed by the now freed man.

(Praise You in This Storm) Thunder roars, the room is shaken and peals of lightning crash to the ground and then silence, except the sound of a woman crying. Suddenly, we see a woman holding the body of her dead son, Jesus. She sings the song, "Praise You in This Storm", while images of Christ's life and crucifiction flash upon the screen. The angels kneel around the broken body of Christ. They lift him up and carry him out and the room fades to dark, except the illumated angels that remain. More thunder and lighting ensue. The demons begin cheering, but their cheers are silenced and they begin running for the exits. Standing upon the stage is radiant Christ - glowing in white rainment with a crown upon his head and a scepter in his hand. He takes a seat on his throne.

(Jean's song) The people worship him and sing praises to him. The angels bow down before him. The Pastor and his wife bow down before him, followed by the elders and deacons. The musicians offer their instruments. The saxophone player lays his instument before the Lord. He blesses it and the saxophone player picks up his gift and plays before the lord. He is followed by the guitarist, bassists, keyboardest, congo player and drummer (who lays his sticks before the Lord). Each play before him and then they play together. Then the singers (including Rebekah) gather around him and he blesses them and they each sing to the Lord. The the whole congregation bown down before him. They then lift up their heads and their hands and they sing praises to Him.

(Supernatural)

Pastor concludes the service and the people walk out the door, back into the natural realm. The angels follow some, but so do the demons.

So, as you can see - I'm excited and can't wait to see that dream made into a real production.

Superman - Human or Alien?

There is a debate going on throughout the Superman fan community resulting from the new movie's portrayal of the Man of Steel. Many, including myself, have expressed their disappointment with the effort to humanize Superman in the film, while other's protest that he's already human and his actions are not surprising.

I must disagree. Superman is not human. If he was human, he wouldn't be Superman. It's because he's not human, doesn't succumb to all of humanities weaknesses, but rises above them because of the confidence and knowledge of who he truly is - makes him super.

The word 'super' means - above, beyond, over, superior, exceeding the norm, exessive in degree or intensity. So, as a human I expect my 'alien' superhero with the name Superman to be above, beyond, over, superior and exceeding the norm of the wiles of humanity with an excessive degree of intensity. I don't expect him to be just like me, to think just like me, to act just like me or overcome - just like me. If that were the case, I wouldn't need a hero. Superman would just be a man flying around in his pajamas doing what everybody else could do if they truly wanted to.

This of course, is in the world of fantasy. In the world of reality there are many human superheroes that I run into or hear about on a daily basis. A soldier fighting on the battlefield, a mother thinking of the welfare of her child above her own selfish desires, a dad who walks with integrity and honor, a teacher who dedicates themselves to enriching someone else's lives with their widsom, a police office fighting to protect and serve and on and on and on.

What makes them a hero? They go above and beyond was was necessary and do what must be done for the benefit of someone else.

The greatest superhero of them all is Jesus Christ - who gave his life to save us all. He overcome all our weaknesses, endured our heartless, evil acts and still loved us in the face of our sin. He was 'super' in every sense of the word.

So, do I love superheroes, yes! Should they try to make Superman human - no!

This, of course, is just my own opinion. The funny thing about opinions is that everyone has them.

Till next time,
~T.L. Gray

Pirates Vs. Superman

Over the weekend I watched Pirates of the Caribbean and I loved it. I loved everything about it. It was funny, adventurous, wild and exciting. I saw my favorite characters from the first movie return and not once during the movie did I find myself bored, frustrated or confused.

This was not the experiance I had when I watched Superman the weekend before.

So, I've thought about what made the difference.

Pirates stayed true to its characters. It didn't try to change them to conform to the wiles of society. The pirates were pirates. Captain Jack Sparrow was Captain Jack Sparrow and the rest ended up as true pirates, especially Elizabeth Swan and the former Commodore. It was what truly lay in their hearts- and they gave into what that heart desired - to be a pirate (in every way). The movie was awesome!

Superman tried to change from what he truly was. It was his morals and virtue that made him super - to rise above the frivolty of the ever-changing humanity. The movie tried to make him just as human as you and me - which made him dim in his greatness. A constant in a world that's ever-changing is super - not changing with it.

While I loved both movies, Pirates won my heart. I'll probably see it a half-dozen times before it goes to DVD, which then I'll own.

I don't think I'm alone in my opinion - the box office sales seem to tell the same story.

Till next time,
~T.L. Gray

A Prophetic Word - July 5, 2006 - The Prophet Elijah

A word of prophecy was spoken over me yesterday, so I wanted to write it down.

The battle that I'm going through right now is a physical manifestation of a spiritual battle and my strength lay in my praise. This battle is an intercessory battle and I will prevail.

I know there are no coincidences when it comes to God. Over the past few weeks, as I've struggled through this ear infection, I've been pulled into the Word and have been studying about Elijah and Elisha, two great prophets. So, I do not find it strange that as I study of prophets, I receive a word of prophecy. But, how does this all relate to me? I haven't received the revelation of it, yet.

Elijah is a great prophet of God. Through him, God did amazing things and showed the might of his power. He also showed the might of his mercy. I used to think that I didn't have anything in common with Elijah, but as I've been reading - perhaps I do.

When Elijah displayed God's power and might to the people by calling down fire from heaven and it burned up the soaked altar before it - convincing the people that Jehovah was the true God and Baal the false god - and Elijah killing all the prophets of Baal - that was a great moment. However, I was astounded to see that immediately following that great display of power and surety, Elijah ran for his life in fear of Jezebel. This I find truly amazing.

I'd like to think that I'd never do that. I'd like to say that had I just seen God perform all these great amazing displays of power and had been so sure of His word and will that I killed all of the prophets of the enemy - I wouldn't worry what some old witch said about me. So, Jezebel threatened to kill him? Who hadn't by this time? The life of a prophet is not easy. They are hated more than praised. I'm astounded to see a man of God, who continually speaks with God and to kings is suddenly so afraid that he sits down under a tree and falls into a depression so deep he wants to die, because some woman (whom God has already prophesied to die) wants to kill him. I'd like to say that'd never be me. But, I won't.

I know I'm capable of the highest act of weakness, even had I just been in the presence of God. I know that even if God pulled me into a quiet place, showed me a mighty wind, sent me an earthquake, a burst fire from heaven and then whispered in my ear, that I could still be whinny and selfish instead of relying on the strength and power that He has given to me and hidden within my praise.

So, I accept the word of the Lord from my sister-in-Christ - and know that this battle I now fight is not physical, but a spiritual battle of intercession, and my strength to it's victory is hidden and found in my praise of God.

Till next time,
~T.L. Gray