Torah Restoration Ministries

SUCCESS!!!!

2006-01-28T00:00:00.000-08:00

Joyous Shabbat Shalom Greetings in the Matchless Name of YahShua!

Although I am now awaiting only 2 more agents to notify of me of their decision on my 3rd manuscript (which, I am now deeming an official lost cause manuscript that will probably never see the light of day), I have had total success with my 4th manuscript, "Secrets".

I finished "Secrets" at 85,000 words at the beginning of January. I emailed hundreds of agents with the usual email blitz. I was overwhelemed by the response.

In just the last few weeks, I have receieved 22 requests from agents to review my manuscript. I have since received 6 rejections and now TWO AGENTS WHO HAVE OFFERED ME CONTRACTS TO REPRESENT ME!!!!!

Wow. I never imagined I would have to CHOOSE which agent to go with!!!! I am amazed.

I won't be making a decision for at least another three weeks, mid-February, because I promised another agent that I would not make a commitment until she had a chance to review the manuscript and potentially make an offer.

I will keep this blog updated. I am very excited. It is certain that by the end of next month I will have a literary agent for my manuscript. It is very likely that within a few more months, I will have a contract negotiated with a publisher and possibly an advance -- hopefully big enough to allow me to quit the housecleaning business and go into the full time campus preaching ministry!

HALLALUYAH!!!

Shabbatting on this shabbat shalom,
Daniel

Standing in Sardis and Update on my Writing Career

2005-12-02T22:15:00.000-08:00

I completed my "firstfruits" manuscript unto YahVeh in early 2003. My writing was rather poor back then, but I have begun to put it up on my website so any might read it for free. I don't think I should try to sell that manuscript. It is entitled "The Heart of A King" and is a historically accurate fiction book of the rise and fall of King Solomon. You can find the link near the bottom of www.TorahandSpirit.com and only the Epilogue and the 1st chapter have been posted; please be patient as we bring the rest of the manuscript on line for your reading enjoyment.

The manuscript is rather poor quality writing as I was a much more immature writer in early 2003 than in late 2005. But it is my firstfruits offering and I have been convicted by the Ruach to stop trying to sell it to publishers. So there it is; free for anyone to read.

The manuscript I am attempting to sell now, my 3rd book since summer of 2004, is entitled "Doorways" and is a modern day science-fiction thriller in the vein of Dean Koontz. I am still awaiting a response from 3 literary agencies on the status of the manuscript.

My 4th book, "Secrets" which I am working on now, is at almost 25,000 words and probably will run to 70,000 or 80,000 words. It is a modern day psychological thriller in the vein of John Grisham or Dean Koontz.

Fueled on by my debate with that apostate miller, I hope and pray that my above two manuscripts will sell in sufficient numbers to enable me to write another historical fiction rather than resorting to the modern day thrillers that one must write in order to become rich and attain a place on the NYC bestseller list.

I hope to, Yah willing, write my 5th book entitled "Standing in Sardis" which will be a historically accurate-fiction-based account of the Protestant reformers.

The premise?

Employing a unique literary device, I plan to parallel several time periods from the 15th century, over arching them and creating a tesselation of story lines to show how each of the reformers adversely affected the other and brought to a crash the very work the Ruach was striving to perform.

The main characters?

Martin Luther
John Calvin
Servetus
Yochanan Ben David
Erasmus

The first parallle time period will be Martin Luther and Erasmas. The story line will show how brilliant and awesome Luther first began, but how his exile drove him into lust, as he lived out the adage "if I cannot get it from the wife, I will get it from the barmaid". It will eventually chart the end of his life as he advocated the murder of Jews and he died a drunkard, filled with anti-semitism and a poor wretch, a sinner who will burn in the Lake of Fire forever.

The second parellel time period will deal with Calvin and Servetus. We will see sins Luther comitited that helped to establish the sins Calvin would commit later in the same century. We will see Calvin beginning as the austeer, genteel, innocent young man who wishes to see reform, but who becomes power-hungry in Geneva, bitter in exile, and then a mad man upon his recall as he murders person after person, beginning the blood bath of what is known as the Protestant Inquisition.

Both parallel time periods -- the Luther one which is set at the beginning of the 1500's and the Calvin one which is set toward middle of the 1500's, will be connected by a fictional man named Yohcanan Ben David, a man who continues to keep the Torah through the power of the Holy Spirit, a man who is secretly hiding in the mountains where the Waldesian Christians have been hiding for centuries. Yochanan will confront both Luther and Calvin and herein the theme will be most fully brought to the fore: that a rejection of moral light ultimately brings darkness upon the hardiest of souls, no matter how good the intentions might be of that soul.

Standing in Sardis will ultimately capture the heart of the message to the congreation at Sardis in the book of Revelation -- having a reputation for being alive but, when it comes down to it, being dead.

I hope to have that 5th manuscript ready for publication late next year.

I implore you for your prayers.

The Onset of Spring and Update on Writing . . .

2005-04-01T07:39:00.000-08:00

I have not updated the blog all winter primarily because I have been so busy writing yet another novel, preaching down at UCLA and taking care of the business.

The lit agency that requested my first 4 chapters at last rejected me a few weeks ago. It was a kind rejection letter, commenting on my "knack" for action sequences, but she said it did not grab her. I have recieved close to 100 rejections for that book and think it's time to put it on the shelf.

I never did send the newly revised edition to the other agency that said I could resend after revision. I suppose that is ONE more thing I could do, but I think the potentional for that mss has just about died . . .

Finished the 2nd book in late February but rather than sending out another 100 queries as I did with the first one, I sent out only 3 (2 of which went to agencies interested in my work before and 1 that is just supposed to be a really good agency). 1 of the 3 already responded by saying they were not taking any new clients. Ironically, this was the one that said I could send my previous mss to them once I completed revisions. Once I hear back from the other 2, assuming they are both rejections, I'll go ahead and launch my 100 agent campaign.

Started the third book on the first of Macrh and am currently at 42,000 words and ready to start chapter 11. I really like this third book because the plot is so creative I really do not know what is going to happen next! I'm excited!!!!

Okay, well the onset of Spring is here. After an extremly rainy winter here in California, everything is so green it boggles the vision. The rain finally cleared out earlier this week and now spring has brought sunny weather, blue skies and it has been in the 60's and 70's. Absolute paradise. California Springs are the best. This type of glorious weather will probably last through the end of May at which point the dreaded hot and brown summer begins. That'll last till October. But in the meantime, I look forward to enjoying paradise Spring.

Daniel

Another Agency Interested

2004-12-07T10:09:00.000-08:00

After nearly 80 rejections, another literary agency has requested an exclusive look at the first four chapters of my manuscript.

Since my manuscript is still being critiqued by the editorial agency, I called them to see if they could at least mail the first four chapters asap so I could implement their suggestions before sending them off to the lit agency.

I think once I have the first four chapters ready to go, I'll overnight them to the lit agency.

This is getting exciting!!!!!

To be continued . . .

More Success!

2004-11-13T13:52:00.000-08:00

Step 1 complete!!! I recieved an impressive 7 page response from the editorial agency and the rate they wish to charge me to critique my manuscript is reasonable and within our means.

First thing next week I plan to mail off the money. The letter stated the manuscript would be fully critiqued within 5 weeks.

After my rewrites are complete, I send it back to them for a final (hopefully) edit.

Then onto resubmitting newly revised mss to literary agency that initially rejected me.

My plan now is to have my fully revised mss submitted and accepted by literary agency no later than next February.

Success!!!!

2004-11-09T20:04:00.000-08:00

I recieved an email response today from the literary agency that rejected my mss last week. They told me that as soon as I have finished revising my mss to email them and set up a time for them to evaluate it once more!

Hope is in the air for this mss once more.

My new plan is as follows:

1. As long as it is not too pricey, have the editorial agency edit my entire mss.

2. Implement edits and changes, completing revision to mss.

3. Email the literary agency that rejected me to notify of the revision completion and pave the way to send my mss back to them for re-evaluation.

4. Send revised mss to literary agency and possibly another query letter with sample chapter to the literary agency that recommended the editorial agency to begin with.

5. Recieve notification from one of the above two literary agencies that they now want to represent my book!

6. Sign a lucrative deal with a major publisher via my agent, securing an advance and my first BIG BREAK!!!!

Manuscript In the Mail Once More

2004-11-08T21:15:00.000-08:00

Well, this morning I called the editorial agency and they told me they could give me a free estimate if I mailed my manuscript to them. This afternoon I mailed it off.

Hopefully this will provide me with some valuable help and insight as to how to make my manuscript more enticing to agents.

As long as it isn't too pricey, I plan to use this editorial service to improve my mss and then send it back to the couple of agencies interested in it.

On Writing, The Onset of Autumn, and Other Random Thoughts

2004-11-07T16:51:00.000-08:00

The weather is perfect. Outside the sky is so grey it looks blue and there is a nice chill in the air. It will probably rain this week and oh how I love the rain. The cloudless blue sky/hot days/yellow grass of California summers get old and it's nice that the season has finally given way to wonderful, rainy autumn.

Sabbath is over and now the first official work day of the week is just about ended as well. Usually I try to devote this day to creative writing but I haven't succeeded in that endeavor today. Right now I am in the middle of doing my 3 pencilings of a chapter I just printed out before moving on in the novel. I've done one edit but have used most of my day to read Dean Koontz.

I am really proud of myself. For the longest time I couldn't remember this movie I watched a long time ago about a group of kids who had this snow ball war and fought from this really cool snow castle and then a dog died which put an end to the war.

Found out, through a google search, that the movie is called "The Dog Who Stopped the War" made in 1984 and was actually a popular Canadian film when it was first released. I'll probably buy it on DVD soon.

I'm at a crossroads in my writing. I finished my last novel and sent out over 100 query letters to agents. As of today, I have 71 rejections and 31 more agents yet to hear from.

One agent requested my manuscript but returned it a few weeks later. They said while I had a shot at success, the manuscript needed too much work for them to represent it. Next day I got a rejection from another agent that recommended an editorial agency for my novel.

I tried calling the agency that rejected me to ask if they would let me give them my manuscript again if I worked on it or even submitted it to an editorial agency. They have yet to respond.

I don't want to put loads of work into it if agents are just going to keep turning it down. Plus I know the editorial agencies can cost a fortune.

My next move will be to email the agency if they don't return my call in the next few days. I also plan to probably call the editorial agency tomorrow and find out more details concerning their fees.

Still not sure if it is worth pursuing it. I might spend my time better by just continuing on this next book I'm writing. We'll see what happens.

But anyway, it's good for rainy autumn to be here . . .

Enlightenment on Embryos: Why I Cannot Support President Bush

2004-11-06T13:37:00.000-08:00

No, I do not support embryonic stem cell research.

And yes, this is why I cannot support President Bush.

Confused?

You shouldn't be. In 2001, President Bush had a decision to make. He chose to prohibit federal funding of continued embryonic stem cell research. Federal funds would not be used to kill human life (embryos) for research.

However, there were embryos that were already dead. Bush allowed research on these embryos. He repeated this fact during the 2nd Presidential Debate with Kerry. The embryos were already dead. Surely research on these embryos would be okay. Right?

Wrong.

In 1930's Germany, European factory workers reasoned that since the Jews were already dead, it was okay to stuff furniture with their hair. They would never condone the killing of Jews, but since they were dead surely it was okay to use their bodies for productive purposes.

We recoil at such reasoning yet this is precisely what Bush has done. Those dead embryos deserve a proper funeral just like any other dead human. Instead they are researched in test tubes.

The door has been effectively left cracked open. Bush should have ended all research and given those dead embryos a proper funeral. That would have been the pro-life position.

The Christian right has either forgotten or ignored this issue. I have not. Ever since Bush made this decision in 2001, I could no longer vote for him.

Many will bring up other reasons why they cannot support Bush. I don't care to go into conspiracy theories or skull and bones membership or any other such thing. For me it is simple. A pro-life President would not allow the continued research of dead humans. Thus Bush is not pro-life and he proved it by his decision.

All Things Political: From a Prophetic Perspective

2004-11-06T13:05:00.000-08:00

The election of 2004 is finally over. The Democratic Party is in shambles, the Republican Party controls the government and the President is ready to begin his second term by spending the political capital, in his words, that he earned during the campaign.

Several years ago I was speaking to an open-air preacher in Portland, Oregon about prophecy and he made the comment that this world would become much more religous as we neared the return of Messiah. I think he was right.

The anti-messiah will be a profoundly religous figure and consolidate his political and military power through religous persuasion, religous acts (such as calling down fire from the sky and healings) and religous spirits.

It would make sense then for this world to become much more religous as we near the end of this age.

In the 90's we were living in a secular country, when the phrase "post-Christian world" was bantered by the social elites with smugness. Peace and prosperity centered many on the economy and having fun. The Christian world had lost its militancy from the 80's and was softening into ecunemical rubbish or Toronto "revival" insanity. In 1992, this nation had a Democratic President along with a largely Democratic Senate and House, something which had been true for the past forty years.

But something has changed. 9/11, the rise of terrorism and other factors have destroyed the secular society and brought religion and morality to the fore. In this past election, most people voted with morality as the top priority.

Bush, running on a moral compaign, and the republicans running on family values and morality, swept the election and marginalized the secular democrats.

The nation is largely red. Red states are anti-homosexual, pro-life, pro-gun and small government. They are, in fact, religous.

And so we now live in "post-secular" nation in which the politicians who captialize on religon and family values have the advantage.

One would think that this nation becoming more religous would be a good thing. But it is not. The morality and religion of this nation is superficial at best, disregarding much of the Bible although acting as if it embraces it all.

In the words of scripture, we live in a nation where they "have a form of godliness but lack the power thereof."

I predict this trend will continue. The "religous right" will gain more power. Bush will continue to fuse government and religion in faith based programs. Remember what happened when the Catholic Church controlled government? Wasn't a pretty picture.

This administration, as it did in the past four years, will be able to do things Clinton would have never gotten away with all because they can disguise it in a thin veneer of religion and values. The Bush power base will strengthen the federal government, strip away more of our freedoms and bolster family values even as the blood of aborted babies continues to spill and the sodomites continue to rise. After all, Bush has no problem appointing sodomite officials to powerful positions.

The Democratic Party will either continue to fade away until it ceases to exist or it will become more centrist and religous to compete with the conservatively religous republicans.

This nation, lacking genuine repentence, will feel good about itself as it becomes more and more "moral" and "religous". But this is only religous masturbation that will lead to more apostacy and sin.

Make no mistake -- the anti-messiah cannot rise to power in a secular world. But a religous world prepares his way.

Introduction: Born to Blog

2004-11-06T12:50:00.000-08:00

I've always been a writer and have always sort of blogged on bulletin boards anyway, so this step was inevitable. I hope that anyone visiting my website, Torah Restoration Ministries -- www.TorahandSpirit.com -- will find this blog interesting and perhaps insightful.

Enjoy the reading . . .

Daniel