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Chris McClelland, multiple award-winning short story writer and novelist, also sometime writing coach

Chris McClelland's World War Two Romance, IN LOVE AND WAR named a #2 Best Selling YA military fiction e book by Amazon! Star-crossed lov...

Thursday, April 20, 2023

Blog # 85; give aways; various thoughts on matters of spirituality and life in general

 First, I apologize for not keeping you who follow this blog up to date on my writing endeavors in a while.  I see that often many of you come by to visit this website, many daily, and I am sorry I have not kept up my side of the social contract.  I will strive to do better in the future.   For now, I am always reading and writing, whether it be for scholarly or entertainment interests, but I have not produced anything I think would be worthy of your perusal in a while.  I have, for quite some time, been contemplating philosophical questions.  I examine myself, as Socrates suggests, and ask myself questions.  Is it like Montaigne says, that the individual is a body and a soul that must work in tandem?  If so, where does one get spiritual nourishment?  These questions keep me up at night.  Do you look to the scriptures of your faith?  That is what I have been doing lately, especially doing a deep dive on the characteristics of Heavenly Father (God) who I believe made us in his image, both body and soul.  And we are ethical, moral beings.  

 And what does it mean to be human?  To be the best you can be?  There is only one man that I believe lived on the earth and was absolutely perfect.  All of us have failings.  In my writing I like to explore what it means to be human and whether it is incumbent on all of us to follow a set of moral guidelines, if only to go about doing as little damage as possible to the people around us.  Laws are founded for reasons, mainly, for the good of society as a whole, and to protect those individuals (particularly the most vulnerable) who make a society.  It seems to me that for a while now, at least in the United States, not many people are putting a high premium on fairness.  Fairness in how we treat each other, fairness in politics, religion, the law.  It seems as if the last few years have been a slide toward anarchy.  But the time tested wisdom in the books of the spirit, the words of the wise, is what I look to now more than ever.

How do I serve my family, my spouse, my fellow human beings?  How do I at least find ways to not damage people, emotionally or otherwise, as I make my way through this ever more confusing world?

 

Just some random thoughts.

 

The give away this month: this is the biggest give away yet.  It involves all three books I have released that have not been novel-length.  Two short story collections and one novella.  If you haven't read one, or all of these books of fiction, please avail yourself of them.  The give away will last from April 21 until April 23, 2023 (Shakespeare's and Cervantes' birthdays).

 

Happy returns!


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Monday, February 13, 2023

Blog #83; Free digital book February 14-15th, 2023; Swimming Among the Olympians: A Memoir and Collected Stories;

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you can take advantage of this free digital book that I've made available for the next couple of days. I appreciate each one of my readers and am honored when you make the time to read my labors of love. 


From the award-winning short story writer Chris McClelland comes a new collection of short and powerful tales. They are wide ranging and feature intense dramatic situations and engaging characters. From historical fiction and romantic short story genres to his unique literary style stories, McClelland is developing an ever increasing and international audience. With his associations to Narrative Magazine and literary magazines like Puerto Del Sol and Mid-American Review, McClelland's has long been a respected voice in the American literary community. “The journey is always insightful, surprising, and deeply felt, and the reader always knows he is in good hands with Chris McClelland.”—Joe David Bellamy, Editors’ Book Award Winner







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Wednesday, January 18, 2023

Blog #81; Free giveaway, my best selling IN LOVE AND WAR, for the next two days;

 Hi, all!  Had a great reception to my giveaway earlier in the month, and the biggest draw by far was the ever-popular IN LOVE AND WAR, the bittersweet novel of an American WW II pilot and his German love interest.  I have by far had the best reception to this book to anything I've ever written.  Some people have even told me it has brought them to tears.  So, for the next two days, January 19-20, 2023, I am giving it away for free.


Enjoy your day!!

Thursday, January 12, 2023

Blog #80; New giveaway, of the short story collection, Physician, Heal Thyself for Thursday and Friday; also, Thoughts about the spiritual value of literary work

 Hello, all!  I hope your New Year is off to a great start!  To help ring in the new year, I am offering, today and the next day, a collection of my latest and so far best short stories for free.  I hope you take advantage of this offer and experience some of the adventures in my fiction.


Lately, I have been reading a book by the Mormon writer about the best "literary" books that he has read over the years and the spiritual insight and inspiration he has gained from them.  It has become a very interesting journey and has shed light on how I tried to define moral and ethical fiction by LDS writers in a post on the Association of Mormon Letters website last February.  Considering these topics helps me to bridge the gap between purely LDS writing and a more universally appealing, spiritually informed fiction.  The name of the book is OUT OF THE BEST BOOKS, and is written by a guy named Wilcox.  It covers a number of the literary masters from a spiritual perspective and shows how these works teach us further about the Gospel and Christ's teaching.   I highly recommend it!

Please read my work as I give it away for free, and please let me know what you think...



Cheers!



Thursday, December 29, 2022

Blog #79; End of the Year; Digital book giveaway; books I'm currently reading that I got for Christmas

Well, the year is dwindling, and with it days of heavy snow and a certain nostalgia for 2022 and all the people we have lost.   The sadness of loss and the snowy days where from the mountain tops in Provo to the valley below, all is frosted with white.


For the end of the year, all my digital books will be free for the next few days.  Hopefully you will find at least one that interests you.

I got three very interesting books for Christmas that I am in the middle of: A Jane Austen biography (the Lucy Worsley one), with an emphasis on the theme of home; a book about JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, and the rest of the Inklings, and also a book about literary classics with a spiritual bent.  Very much enjoying all of those.  

Enjoy the rest of your holidays, and have a great new year!