Author Archives: Josh

I’m still not quite used to this blogging business, and so my posts may wind up fairly disjointed and far apart from time to time. That’s fine, I guess. Life is packed with other stuff, and for the past month or so I’ve barely had time to gather my wits about me, let alone document it here. This past month has seen the birth of my new nephew, a visit from my grandparents, my coming down with a severe cold, paperwork trouble with my grad school, the eventual beginning of a new semester, and continued work at the metal shop, not to mention Christmas and all the bustle that goes with it.

Today also marks my second story sale of 2014– two sales in one month may be a new personal best. The first is “Goddess of Our Fathers,” a Lovecraftian piece that was recently accepted to the upcoming Cosmic Horror anthology from Dark Hall Press. The story I recieved my acceptance for today is titled “The Last Kiss,” and it will be featured in a book titled Vignettes From The End Of The World. It’s short, and sweet, and unlike anything else I’ve ever written.

Needless to say, I’m always excited to see myself in print, so a couple of story sales seems like a great way to start off the new year.

My musical tastes lean toward the eclectic (or the weird, as my teenage sister would attest), and I’m very fond of all sorts of unusual stuff. This may sound a bit hipsterish, but it’s just something I’m into– I’m constantly on the lookout for fun new music, so if you have anything to share, please send it my way. The good news for me is that many of the independent artists I enjoy frequently post their music for free on the internet– and a blog is a great opportunity for me to share some of it with you.
Which leads up to today’s post. My iTunes Christmas playlist is over two days long, contining a mix of really traditional stuff with some that is perhaps not-so-traditional. One of my favorite things to do in this season is to set my itunes on shuffle while I work. Christmas music ought to be fun, and to me, there’s a lot of fun to be had in the surprise of seeing what comes up in a randomised playlist. Assuming that you already have access to as much traditional Christmas music as you want, I’ll share a few free albums that I think are interesting. Starting With:

“Willet Snow On Christmas” by Willet

This album contains a pretty diverse blend of rock sounds, ranging from stripped-back acoustic tracks to old-school rockabilly to heavier songs that border on metal territory (their rendition of Carol of the Bells is as intense as any I’ve heard). If you like bands like Switchfoot, chances are you’ll enjoy this one.
http://noisetrade.com/willet/willet-snow-on-christmas
“The 8Bits of Christmas” by 8bitpeoples

It’s only a matter of time before I do a full post here about my obsession with chiptune music, the process of using old computers and video game systems as musical insturments to produce a very distinctive retro elecronic sound. Here is a Christmas sampler from 8bitpeoples, which is kind of a hub for chip artists to post their stuff. Not every track on here is a winner, in my opinion, but all are worth a listen, and most are quite good. The price is right, anyway.
http://www.8bitpeoples.com/discography/8BP038?show=all

“The Apple Tree” by The Sea Wolf Mutiny

Maybe I’m biased because these guys are friends of mine, but I’m a pretty big fan of The Sea Wolf Mutiny. Their sound is a little hard to define, rather unlike anyone else I can compare them to. I would describe their music as a little folky with a moody edge. Anyway, they put out a free three-song Christmas EP a couple years ago, which contains the best rendition I’ve ever heard of the classic Hymn “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent.” Do yourself a favor and give them a listen. Maybe you’ll find yourself better able to describe their sound than I am.
http://theseawolfmutiny.bandcamp.com/album/the-apple-tree

“Christmas Is In December Again” by Floorboard

I’ll wind up this (already far too long) post with a little pop-punk music, because why not? This is pure fun– ubbeat, perky, turn up in your car stuff. If you like bands like Yellow Card and Relient K, you should be pretty happy with this one.

http://noisetrade.com/floorboard/christmas-is-in-december-again

Well, that’s all for now. If I don’t post again before then, I wish you a very merry and blessed Christmas. Cheers.

The past several weeks, I’ve been working in a friend’s metal shop, running a chop saw, drill press, and grinder, carrying beams from place to place, screwing in bolts and popping rivets into holes, and, in general, lending a hand with some of the more mindless aspects of what goes on there. The end products of our efforts form wheelchair ramps which are then shipped nationwide, although I still remain mostly ignorant of how the pieces fit together. As with anything new, I’m still learning what’s what, but I’m getting better. As a result of my efforts, though, my fingers are covered with tiny cuts and nicks; I’ve gone soft during my time focusing on school and lost all the callouses I had built up on my hands. Now, without that natural protection, I have to start from scratch *ba-dum-chhhhh*.

To be perfectly honest, there’s a part of me that’s always been fond of manual labor. As much as I enjoy my more abstract pursuits, I take a lot of satisfaction in the tangible nature of this kind of work– there’s somthing great about being able to see physical progress as one works. There’s something about blue-collar work that has always felt powerful, even manly to me (he said as he brushed aluminum shavings from his beard), and, as much as I’ve lacked for real exercise throughout the school year, a little heavy lifting will do me good. Even the mindless nature of the work appeals to me; I do my best thinking when I’m busy with a simple task (mowing the grass is a great example), and this is a great chance for me to decompress after a trying school semester.

My one regret is that with my schedule I’ve not really had time to do much job hunting or to work on my writing projects. I have several short stories I need to complete, a novella in severe need of some revision, and, of course, the constantly looming novel; We’ll see how much of that I get to over Christmas break next week.

In the meantime, it’s nice to have steady work. Since I had no income during my student teaching semester, my savings are pretty much gone by this point. It’s nice to feel my pockets growing slightly heavier again as a result of my job. Of course, that extra weight could just be from the aluminum shavings.

Yesterday was my last day of student teaching; an unexpectedly bittersweet conclusion as, delighted as I am with my newfound freedom, I actually found myself a little sad to say goodbye to the kids. Maybe this is a further sign (along with others here and there throughout the semester) that the teaching profession is a good fit for me, or that I’m a good fit for it.

To be totally honest, I wasn’t 100% certain of this all semester. I consider myself something of an academic, comfortable with books and school work, but, as many difficult semesters as I’ve had before, I’m not exaggerating when I say that student teaching has, in many ways, been the most challenging thing I’ve ever done. Between my commitments at my high school, preparing for class each day, grading papers, actually teaching, etc, and the additional paperwork required by my graduate program and the state of NC (which practically doubled my work load) I had absolutely no spare time or life outside of my work. I don’t tend to handle stress well, so I thank God for the support of my family and friends, as well as for my excellent supervising teacher, without whom I doubt I would have made it through as well as I have.

This has been an extremely stretching semester for me, and I feel like I’ve grown immensely. I’ve worked like crazy, but when I look back at where I was as a teacher upon first starting compared to where I am now, I can see that it’s paid off, and I know I’m far more qualified for this job than when I first started. It’s been a long, hard road, but looking back it’s interesting to track my progress; it’s encouraging and I can’t help feeling a sense of accomplishment. I’m excited to have the chance to take control of my own classroom, continuing to learn and grow both personally and professionally.

Over the course of my Thanksgiving break from school last week, I had a number of occasions when I thought I ought to sit down and compose a blog post. I certainly wasn’t suffering from lack of material, nor from a lack of leisure time that could be put to such a purpose. I could write about my trip to the Operation Christmas Child packing plant, I reasoned, or about the nice visit I had with my family on Thanksgiving day, or about my first-ever attempt at playing disc golf (I lost. Go figure). Several times, I actually went so far as to sit down at my computer and open my word processor, only to then laugh at myself, turn aside, and proceed with various methods of relaxation: reading comics, playing games, fiddling with my children’s book illustration art project (I’ve now completed eleven out of sixteen planned illustrations… I suppose it’s progress), eating loads of pie, cat-napping, and, in short, doing absolutely nothing that felt truly productive or work-related. It was glorious.

I’m paying for my leisure a little now, of course, as my final week of school has commenced and I have to scramble to finish all the paperwork and things I spent my break actively avoiding. Oh, but it was worth it. So worth it.

Fiction has a unique way of illuminating truth for me, of turning on portions of the brain that otherwise sit idle, helping provide shape and substance for intangible ideas and emotions. This is a part of the reason I like to write, I suppose, and it certainly is a prime reason why I like to read. Stories are entertaining, of course, but every now and then I run across one that turns out to be more than that– something special. Out of the blue, I’ll be blindsided by a book that speaks to me in a unique way. Sometimes it’s a matter of chance (or Providence, depending on your perspective), as I stumble across the right book at the exact right time that provides the exact spur or encouragement I need for my current life situation. Every once in a while, though, I’ll read something that is broader in its scope– a book that feels like the author had a direct insight into my own life experiences, my own secret fears and hopes and longings and doubts– a book written uniquely with Josh Strnad in mind as a target audience. Jayber Crow, by Wendell Berry, which I just finished this morning, was such a bo0k.

As I sit here, still attempting to process the book and compose a coherent review, I’m not able to easily sum up what specifically this book meant to me. Certainly I related to the protagonist’s balance between faith and questioning, and especially his musings on issues such as the meaning of God’s “calling” t0 service (as well as his original inclinations toward and later disinterest in professional ministry).  I identified with the small-town community the story centers around, and even the descriptions of the simple pleasures and small heartaches related to the main character’s bachelorhood. I loved the sense of time and place that the novel conveyed, the way it reveled in the richness and beauty of the world without shying away from its uglyness and sorrow, the way it showed the value of all people, the mild, blue-collar humor and the quiet, steady prose that flows easily and smoothly like the kentucky river or fine whisky from a bootlegger’s still. This is a book with a sort of music to it.

This description is, of course, inadequate, as any description can be. Since different books speak to different people in different ways, I can’t guarentee the same experience for you– but if you’re intrigued, you could do worse than pick up a copy. If you’re anything like me, it may just resonate with you as well.

This is absolutely delightful. I can take no credit for the following chart, but I wish it had been my idea first. Someone has made a periodic table listing various tropes of storytelling, and, althrough it is largely intended as a joke, it can serve as a strikingly accurate way to describe any number of stories, diagramming them like molecules in chemistry. Don’t believe me? Check it out for yourself.

http://aerogrammestudio.com/2013/11/12/the-periodic-table-of-storytelling/

I want a poster print of it to hang in my English classroom.

This is my third first blog post, by which I mean the beginning of my third attempt at blogging.

My first attempt was nearly a decade ago, before Facebook became the gold standard for internet social networking (goodness, has it been that long?). It was a journal of the young-man-spouts-his-unfiltered-emotions-for-everyone-to-read sort, a dour exercise in egocentricism and immaturity that eventually spiraled into a much-deserved deletion. After that ill-fated attempt, I swore off blogging altogether.

My thoughts on blogging changed when I attended a writing conference some years later. I was told that it was essential for EVERY writer, if he or she wants to find ANY success in the publishing industry, to have a blog and to update it DAILY. The content of said blog was unimportant, the speaker (who happened to be selling a book on the importance of blogging for authors, and may thus have had a bit of a bias) said. What was most important was the regularity of the blog’s updates.

A blog, the speaker proclaimed, is a fan-magnet, and is the single thing any author can do to build a readership and a platform for selling books, even if said book is yet nothing more than an idea in the writer’s head. A wannabe fantasy author with an unsold (and very very very rough) novel manuscript, I was led to believe that by blogging I would instantly attract hordes of readers dying to get their hands on my material, not unlike the desperate and shameless manner in which sexy girls chase after Axe body spray users (or so the commercials would lead one to believe… such has not, in fact, been my experience). With that glorious vision dancing like sugarplums (whatever those are) in my head, I started a shiny new blog with a clever title, faithfully posting new articles every day on topics ranging from animated films to church potlucks to automotive trouble—anything to get words on the screen.

Needless to say, my discussions on the merits of Pixar’s most recent cinematic adventure and on my car’s failed transmission did not, in fact, bring me scores of new readers, which was probably just as well. I had fun with the blog, for what it was, but wound up burned out on it. Posting every day was an absurd commitment to make from the start, and it became more and more absurd as I realized that the time I spent composing blog posts was cutting drastically into time I ought to have been spending editing my novel or working on other, more-important writing. I eventually gave up blogging altogether, refocusing all my writing attempts on improving my fiction and toying with short stories. This was about four years ago.

Which leads me, at last, to today, and this first post on the joshstrnad.com blog. If you’re reading this (first of all, thanks!), chances are good you’re a friend of mine and are already aware of my upcoming publishing deal for my first novel, Pantheon (the same book that I had taken to that previously mentioned writers conference, except ten complete revisions later). My publisher, Urania Speculative Fiction, is, needless to say, a modest publishing house without a massive budget for marketing authors. With that in mind, they insist all their represented authors have blogs to use as marketing platforms—and who knows? Although I’m not naïve enough to believe that writing posts about my dentist appointments and obscure indie-rock bands I like will propel me to fame and fortune, I suppose there is a chance that this blog will serve as a fresh means to connect me with the larger community of readers and writers. It can do no harm.

At any rate, I do intend to update here fairly regularly (although by no means with the foolhardy daily commitment of before). Many blogs follow specific topics, building toward a book’s worth of material in themselves. I have no such ambitions for this blog; rather, the unifying theme here will most likely be its lack of a unifying theme.

Posts here will bounce between topics both mundane and the sublime, as the whim takes me. Any given day may provide a window into any number of life experiences or random interests: art and culture, scientific breakthroughs, Christianity and the church, philosophy, music of all kinds, movie reviews, literature, video games, family, friends, and, of course, writing (especially as it relates to speculative fiction).

If this sort of stuff interests you as it does me, then welcome, and thanks again for reading. I’m looking forward to getting back into the blogging groove. Joshblog 3.0 is a go.