John Stanko

I see that Ian Smith, last white prime minister in Zimbabwe, passed away at the age of 88. If you want to read about Smith's role in Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia when he was in power), you can read it here.

If you need encouragement to write, then today's post Six Weeks to Go from Diana Scimone is a must-read. In fact, you need to consider purchasing her e-book that she mentions in her entry. Or you can also check out her series of articles on writing found on her blog under the category The Writer's Workshop. I will be starting another series on creativity in my weekly Monday Memo soon, so thanks, Diana, for the head start on that topic.

At one time, Diana and I kept track of how many people said they were going to write a book and how many actually did. Of the 50 or so who told us they were going to write, only four actually wrote one to the best of our knowledge. That's only 8%. Are you among the 92% who claim they will write a book one day and then never seem to find a way to make that "one day" happen? If so, then Diana can help.

And finally, check out Bill Kinnon's latest post, It Isn't All About Me, on the issue of consumerism in the Church. Bill's blog, Achievable Ends, always has such great material and cross references. He, like many of us, is concerned with the direction of the North American church and has decided to do something about it; he decided to write. What a novel (pardon the pun) idea! He took Diana's advice long before Diana ever wrote it. Keep up the good work, Bill, and thanks for encouraging me to blog, and for helping to set up my site two years ago.

I wish all my American readers a Happy Thanksgiving. On Friday, I am off to Kenya and then Zimbabwe. I will be home on December 11.

Technorati Tags: Bill Kinnon, Diana Scimone, Zimbabwe