My Desert Island Top 10 List

Many people have a desert island list, the list of albums you'd want to keep handy if you ever found yourself stranded on an island. I'd never compiled one before but thought it would be fun to see what would wind up on it. Perhaps it would shed some light on the perspective or tone of my books, who knows! It wound up as diverse as my music shelves.

These are the CDs I've tended to dig up often to play in the car. So at the risk of causing some laughter out there, here is my own Top 10 Desert Island List, in no particular order:

Rumours - Fleetwood Mac
Automatic for the People - REM
Labour of Love II - UB40
Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 - Janet Jackson
Lift Him Up - Ron Kenoly
August and Everything After - Counting Crows
Listen Without Prejudice, Volume 1 - George Michael
So Close to You - Kent Henry
What's Going On - Marvin Gaye
One More Story - Peter Cetera

On a book note, if you haven't picked up my free e-book 8 Reasons Your Life Matters, it's available now. Amazon has also marked it free for a limited time, and it's currently #2 on its (free) Christian Inspiration list and in the top 10 of the Motivational Self-Help list.

Thanks readers. Love ya.

Never give up!

John Herrick
johnherrick.net
johnherricknet.blogspot.com

NEWS | Novel Updates

I’m in the planning stage for a fourth novel. No details on it due to my creative paranoia—the fear that if I talk too much about it, I won’t complete it. It’s not done till it’s done. Anyway, I believe it’s a concept ripe for mining, with a rich, layered main character to explore. The concept stirred in me back in 2011. To be honest, it’s a book I didn’t want to write but, like From The Dead, I found myself drawn to the character to the extent of, “I must tell this character’s story.” When a character latches on to my heart like that, I believe it’s God giving you a story and it’s your responsibility to write it. That said, it will be a very vulnerable, uncomfortable book to write. Those seem to be the most effective stories to write, but this story will push the envelope in particular ways. If all continues to run smoothly, I could start writing the first draft this autumn.

Regarding the third novel, the poor thing has suffered so many delays! I started sketching it in late 2005, added some more in 2008, then finished planning it and completed the first draft during 2011-2012. I call it my Artist Novel, because I’m still undecided on a title. It needs to go through the revision process, but is on the back burner so I can focus on the fourth novel mentioned earlier. (Confused yet?) It hasn’t disappeared by any means, but it probably won’t see bookshelves for a few years. It’s a fun love story, but when a character grabs you like the fourth novel’s character—well, you sense God’s destiny at work. So it’ll probably be a reverse-order release, just like From The Dead was released before The Landing, the opposite order of their creation.

In the meantime, be sure to check out my latest (nonfiction) book, 8 Reasons Your Life Matters. It’s available only as an e-book, but you can grab it for free from most retailers.

Thanks so much for sticking with me, readers! I truly appreciate you all. Love you guys.

Never give up!

John Herrick
johnherrick.net
johnherricknet.blogspot.com

Today’s Playlist:  Making Mirrors by Gotye