Category Archives: Steel Chronicles
Wow! Thanks for the Review!
Just noticed this review on Amazon for “The 11th Demon: The Ark of Chaos”:
Hennigan continues his series that brings supernatural fiction back to its roots. Before the fascination with vampires and the like, back in the day authors like Frank Perretti were writing about the supernatural wars. Those tales are somewhat dated now, but Hennigan’s Jonathan Steel, demon hunter, is bringing a more realistic feel to the battle between good and evil. Here, in book 3, each character is presented in the first person. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. The author also manages once again to weave in a few discucsions on issues of religion without coming across as a lecture. Yes, the author writes from a Christian perspective, but doesn’t every author write from their belief system? It’s all on how they present it, and many want to hit you over the head with it, yet the religion-haters complain if Christian authors don’t put a disclaimer on the book. Nonetheless, this is a solid series that most supernatural fans will enjoy. Hopefully the series will continue to go upwards in terms of conflict and peeling back the veil from evil. And, of course, it is always best to start with book 1.
Check it out at this link.
Fighting The Christmas Blues!
I have a confession.
I suffer from depression.
It has been a constant companion my entire adult life. Sometimes, it is quiescent, hiding away in some dark corner of my mind. It seems at times that it is patiently waiting for me to be at my happiest, most joyful, most peaceful frame of mind before it pounces from its den. When it comes, it doesn’t always sneak up on me. Most of the time, I can feel its hot breath on the back of my neck and I get this feeling of dread as if something horrendous is about to happen. It is then it hurls its dark, cold arms about me and pulls me under; smothering me with joylessness and despair. My energy is sapped away like some greedy sponge soaking up droplets of water in the desert.
As you can tell, I’m very familiar with depression. And, this time of the year I fight it every moment of every day. In fact, I haven’t posted a blog on this website since Thanksgiving. Why? I’ve been barely keeping my head above water! Sometimes, I feel like I’m just barely surviving. It seems I’ve been in survival mode far too long. But, it’s Christmas and I want to do more than just survive. I want to thrive!
For many of you suffering from depression, this is the hardest time of the year. So, I want to suggest something. Do more than just survive. Thrive! And here are some strategies I talk about in our book for helping you get through these tough times.
First, find a creative outlet. Wait, Bruce. I don’t have a creative bone in my body! If you have an imagination, you have creativity. Don’t sell yourself short. Got created us in His image and He is the Creator. For this Christmas season, try creating a gift for your loved ones. It may only be a cut and paste Christmas card or print out your favorite Bible verse and frame it. There are many outlets for creative endeavors. And, using the part of your brain that is creative counteracts the part of your brain that is wallowing in depression. For instance, this year I decided to do something very creative for my family. It has to do with music and writing and story and images. I can’t talk about it because they might read this! Once I’ve surprised them with it, I’ll tell you all about it! And guess what? After getting into this project the first of November, I discovered that creature, depression has stayed mostly in its cave.
Second, turn off the tech. This may sound somewhat contradictory at first. But, just because we are connected doesn’t mean we are communicating. Our technology has allowed us to be more connected than ever. But, in the process, it has left us more isolated than ever. So, turn off the tech and engage in the real world for a change. Go for a walk outside. Read a REAL book. Go to a Christmas concert or musical and listen to LIVE music! And, while you are at it, meet up with REAL people. Which leads me to number three.
Third, take those virtual relationships I talked about above and make them REAL relationships. Go to church and worship with others. Find a Bible study group and participate. Make an effort to repair those damaged relationships with those people you are dreading to meet at Christmas time. My wife has met many friends online playing bridge and she has turned many of those connections into real, lasting friendships. This past March, we traveled to New Zealand at the invitation of one of my wife’s friends and made friends with Alex and Grant for a lifetime.
These are just a few suggestions on taking those holiday blues and turning those frowns upside down into smiles.
And, for a moment, pause and remember that God, the Creator of our universe, made himself a tiny baby. That baby was born to a peasant woman in the tiny, obscure town of Bethlehem in the darkest time of mankind’s history. Reflect on the love God had for you! Christmas is for you! And me! And, all of us loved by God. That should make you smile! Have a Merry Christmas!!
Don’t forget to order your copies of the Chronicles of Jonathan Steel in time for Christmas delivery at 11thdemon.com. And if you are suffering from depression or know someone who is, check out conquering depression.com for information on ordering our newest book, “Hope Again: A 30 Day Play for Conquering Depression”.
A Disney Christmas!
I just returned from a six day trip to Walt Disney World. Every other December, I take my immediate family to Disney World in Florida. The trip is normally for me to attend an annual radiology educational meeting. This year, I chose to take to take my family for fun and joy. Going in December to Disney World is not for the faint of heart. It is one of the most crowded times of the year. This year was no exception.
There are some definite events we attend on these trips. We go to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at the Magic Kingdom. This event is a special ticketed night in the park. We also attend the Candlelight Processional at EPCOT. Sometimes, we attend the Holiday version of the Hoop De Doo Revue at Fort Wilderness. We also see the light show on New York Street at Disney Hollywood Studios and sadly, this will probably be the last year for that event.
As a Christian, Christmas is a very important event for me. It is a time to pause and celebrate the birth of the Savior, MY Savior. I usually begin my Christmas celebration on November 1st when I begin listening to my Christmas music. Each year, I collect new albums and recordings of Christmas music. I was so excited to listen to Z88.3 on the FM radio in Orlando. This year, this predominantly Christian music station chose to play Christmas music, both secular and Christian around the clock.
Unlike past years, I don’t sense a great war on Christmas this year. Merry Christmas is displayed in public places, stores, and in the park. The political correctness that threatened to remove the name of Christ from Christmas celebrations in the public sphere seems to have backed off a bit. However, I was disappointed at the changes in the ending of the Candlelight Processional with the removal of the powerful poem, “One Solitary Life”. And yet, I have to continue to be excited that the scriptures of the birth of Christ are read in their entirety during the wonderful musical presentation of the Candlelight Processional. The Gospel is still proclaimed loudly each year in the Disney parks through this event. This year, we once again had the opportunity to have Edward James Olmos as our narrator in a very moving and touching reading of the Nativity account from the Bible.
And, at the lights on New York Street, there is always the quiet corner where the Nativity is portrayed for all the world to see.
There are themes that resonate from the Gospel accounts. Peace. Joy. Goodwill to all Men. Kindness. Love. Amazement at the wonders of our universe when the star is seen in the night.
This year was no exception and I enjoyed a wonderful week with my family during this holiday season. No matter what your religious affiliation or lack of any commitment to the world of the supernatural, I don’t think any of us can disagree with the need for more Peace, Joy, and Goodwill to All Men. If you do not know the Savior, at least know these virtues transcend all worldview and we need more and more of those values in our daily lives.
May you find true Joy, Peace, and Hope again in this Christmas season.
As always, if you are looking for Christmas gifts, check out my Chronicles of Jonathan Steel books at 11thdemon.com and our new depression book, “Hope Again” at conqueringdepression.com
Avoid the Black Friday Blues!
Escape from the confusion of Black Friday. Go to 11thdemon.com and order any or all three of the books in the Chronicles of Jonathan Steel. I have a special sale on for the holiday.
Or if you are suffering from depression or know someone who is, order them a copy of “Hope Again: A 30 Day Plan for Conquering Depression” along with a set of Life Filters at conqueringdepression.com.
Thanks to all of my readers for their support. I hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving!
A Taste of “The 10th Demon”
I’m pushing my book series for Halloween. Scary books with demons and vampires and ghouls and . . . well go the order page and check them out! And, for those of you who are faithful readers here is Chapter One of the upcoming “The 10th Demon: Children of the Bloodstone”
30.495352,-87.251186
7:46 A.M. CDT
Quantum flux surveillance
Grimvox Mammalian Neural Interface
Subspecies “Canine”
Chapter 2
“Animals, especially dogs and cattle . . . have shown noticeable agitation in the presence of UFO phenomenon.”
Hugh Ross
“So, this here lady says she’s lost her ‘Poopems’?” Theo King asked Jonathan as they stood on the perfect lawn of the small house. In contrast to the tiny gnome guarding the flowers around the front porch, Theophilus Nosmo King towered over six and one half feet tall and tipped the scales at three hundred fifty pounds. Very little of his mass was fat. He wore a black and gold Saints football jersey and long athletic pants. He pulled off his sunglasses and wiped sweat from his face. “Who would call their husband Poopems?”
Jonathan Steel put a piece of gum in his mouth and looked up at his partner. “We are what we do.”
“Ah, I get it. He’s like Cephas. The old man shouldn’t eat cabbage.”
“He likes cabbage.”
Hope Again is Here!
This is the week our new book on depression launches. There are two events so check them both out.
Our book launch is Friday night and snacks and coffee are complimentary. Also, if you want copies of my Jonathan Steel Chronicles, they will be available at special prices along with complimentary tee shirts.
BUT, if you can’t make it Friday:
Come out and support our local LifeWay Store.
And, here is another perk. If you are one of the first 15 buyers for Hope Again, you will receive a complimentary copy of our Deluxe LifeFilters. (Additional sets can be purchased at the Well ONLY on Friday for $5). All others buyers will receive a complimentary set of our regular LifeFilters.
We’ll see you there!!!!
Miscellany
I haven’t posted on my website in a while. It is because I’m working so hard on my other website, conqueringdepression.com. The release of our new book is just around the corner and I’ve been busy with social media and tweaking our blogs.
I just finished writing a scathing review of self-publishing companies and decided it was SO negative, I couldn’t go through with it. I’ll just say this. Self publishing companies make their money up front and if you fail, they still succeed. This is the win/lose scenario and many times we are the other end of that equation. So, beware.
I do have faithful readers waiting for book number 4 in the Jonathan Steel Chronicles. I plan on working on it in September and finishing up a re-edit now that I don’t have to worry about the word limits imposed on me in the first two books. But, I still don’t know how this fourth book will reach my readers. I am considering starting my own independent publishing endeavor. For what I’ve spent on self-publishing I could have released my next three books on my own with stellar independent editing and a killer book cover. So, don’t despair. You haven’t seen the end of Jonathan Steel. I’m just getting started on his story and the fourth book promises to up the stakes considerably!
For the next three weeks, check out our daily content at conqueringdepression.com.
The Clock Strikes Twelve!!!!
I came home late this evening. Darkness had already fallen and charcoal clouds churned across the sky against a new moon. My loved ones had left the light on for me so I could see to get into my home. So tired from a15 hour day at work, I could barely hold my head up as I slumped out of the car and trudged toward the front door. I paused to fish my keys out of my pocked and looked up to see this:
Don’t blink!
If you don’t know what that means; if you didn’t get a chill down your spine just then how can I explain my incredible excitement over the events of this coming weekend?
I kept my eyes on the weeping angel and I DID NOT BLINK! I made it through the door and locked it behind me only to turn around and find something evil; something vile; something foul waiting for me in the foyer!
Okay, so this Dalek is a little bloated and overweight. Maybe too much rock salt! It seemed to be dormant so I made my way around him and looked in the kitchen. No one was there. The house was empty. Even Romeo was gone! Where could they be?
I slowly made my way to the bedroom, making sure not to wake up the sleeping Dalek and this is what I found:
So, that explains it! Well, I won’t have to wait for Saturday to meet the twelfth doctor! He’s waiting for me along with my friends and family. And, not to worry! It’s bigger on the inside! Don’t miss the new doctor Saturday night! We’ll see you in the TARDIS! I hope he didn’t redecorate!
Guardians of Imagination!
I sat in a dark theater embraced by the cool dankness waiting for what was promised as a miracle. I had suffered through the drought of science fiction films from 1968’s 2001 and Planet of the Apes until the late seventies and this movie promised to end that drought. I doubted it. No one had any idea of how to make good science fiction movies anymore. Spielberg had approached that possibility with Jaws, but it wasn’t really a scifi movie. Would this obscure George Lucas deliver?
I sat slack jawed, weepy eyed and stunned through my first viewing of Star Wars. In 1977 the scrolling introduction mentioned something about a “new hope” but I had no idea this would be the fourth installment in what would become six films. I just knew that everything had changed and nothing would ever be the same again. Over the next 12 months, I returned to my local cinema (this was in the days before VHS so movies would stay in the theater for months) and watched Star Wars over 33 times. Sometimes, I would show up in the middle and watch to the end. Sometimes I would watch until the trash compacter scene. It was pure scifi addiction.
In the years that followed, the movie studios tried to reproduce Lucas’ achievement and failed. Star Wars knock offs proliferated but they never got it right. What made this movie work so well?
First, Lucas just dropped us smack into the middle of a galaxy far, far away. He did not explain the alien lifeforms, the planets, or even the politics. He allowed me, the moviegoer, to join him in the work of figuring out the backstory and setting. He trusted me to figure out the story without having to feed it to me. This was classic “show, don’t tell”.
Second, he created characters who were real and stand alone and defied stereotypes (Leia was the first female action movie figure instead of a typical damsel in distress) and at the same time had enough of the scifi tropes in their personalities that there was a sense of familiarity. Take the cliche and adopt and adapt it.
Third, he used classic storytelling elements — a beginning, a middle, and an end.
Fourth, he created moments of hilarious humor followed by deeply moving emotional moments. The scene where Luke gazes over the dead, burning bodies of his foster parents and then looks away in disgust is still simple yet emotionally gut wrenching.
Fifth, he gave us the Laurel and Hardy comedy pair in the droids. One of them was over the top silly and the other silent and subversively serious. R2D2, would save the day always with his hidden talents.
As I have watched the stories unfold regarding this new movie, “Guardians of the Galaxy” I began to sense the same kind of potential. Here was a movie based on a very obscure Marvel comic book line. There would be no familiar characters from the rest of the Marvel Universe. And, there would be no anchor of familiarity with the galactic civilization in which this story was based. But, I knew, in my heart and in my soul and in my mind this movie could be another “Star Wars”. I could only hope and I think I was right.
I took my daughter, Casey and our friend, Lisa to the first showing last night. There were no scrolling narratives at the beginning but the opening 5 minutes were some of the most gut wrenching introductions to a movie I have seen since J. J. Abrams killed off James T. Kirk’s father in “Star Trek”. Wow, I was stunned at the depth of this scene and I knew, I just knew that this movie would play off of that opening scene and if it pulled that off, it had to be great.
I laughed. I laughed some more until it hurt! I clapped with joy. And, I wept more than once. All of those classic elements from the original Star Wars were there but in their own, unique and singular fashion. The musical score from the 70s and 80s was perfect. I found myself singing along as Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord mimics Karaoke with a handheld critter. Don’t ask. It was brilliant! And, the comic team of a certain genetically enhanced raccoon and his friend, a walking plant took the relationship with C3PO and R2D2 to a new level. In fact, everything about this movie was familiar. But everything about this movie was totally foreign and different. They pulled off one of the most daring and risky moves in recent history.
I predict Guardians will make the most money of any of the recent Disney/Marvel movies. I predict that moviegoers, like me will go and see it over and over and over to enjoy every nuanced line, every missed moment because our eyes were watering with joy, laughter, or sorrow. I predict Guardians will usher in another round of wannabes, but they will be pale reflections.
I was concerned about the future of space opera scifi when Disney announced new episodes of Star Wars. But, the team from Marvel that worked with the team from Disney has created such an epic, classic movie with Guardians I am now in eager anticipation. I can’t wait until I can sit down in front of a dark screen and listen for that familiar fanfare and see that scrolling intro to J. J. Abrams’ next Star Wars installment. The fact that Marvel/Disney has reached out to young, enterprising directors who think outside the box for the next few Star Wars movies as well as these wonderful Marvel movies gives me hope that imagination is new again; that nostalgia has been resurrected and given a new hope, a new skin for future generations.
I cannot give Guardians of the Galaxy enough positive stars. It was fantastic, fun, moving, exhilarating, alien, bizarre but the most satisfying movie experience I have had in many years. Go see it and bring lots of tissue. You’ll be laughing so hard you’ll cry and then you’ll be crying so hard you’ll laugh!
The Warden and the Wolf King Book Review Part 2
Bitter disappoint burned in my chest. I had just found out I was being released from my 5 book contract with Charisma after my second book. It was late on the first night of Hutchmoot 2012 and I wandered the beautiful grounds of Redeemer Church in Nashville crushed and weepy. I made my way back into the sanctuary to listen to our hosts regale us with song and sat on the last pew. In front of me, a young girl, probably 5 or 6 squirmed on the pew beside her mother, restless and bored. On the stage Andrew Peterson was about to sing a number from his newest album, “Light for the Lost Boy”. He told us this story:
An artist told about growing up without knowledge of God. But, somehow he knew there was Someone to watch over him, a secret Companion. Later in life, this man came to know Christ and realized that God was always with him in the quiet, desperate moments of his life. Andrew decided to write a song about this secret companion. Then, he paused and called out to his daughter. The girl on the pew in front of me snapped to attention and with great delight ran up to the stage to sing with her father. As they sang, “The Voice of Jesus” I wept silently with joy that even in the midst of my depression and disappointment, the voice of Jesus still whispered hope and love. When she joined in with her father at the end of the song, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room and a hushed, reverent stillness gripped us all. In that moment we heard not just the voices of Andrew and his daughter. We also heard the Voice of Jesus. My despair lifted and the music calmed my soul and brought me a measure of sorely needed peace.
I tell you this because when I read of Leeli in “The Warden and the Wolf King” I hear the voice of Andrew Peterson’s daughter raised in song. In fact, song and music are integral to the story of this novel and permeate throughout the narrative. This shouldn’t surprise me. Andrew Peterson’s songs are more than catchy tunes. They are deep, thoughtful reflections on our life in this imperfect world and the redemption we find in Christ’s love.
Song is so important to the story of “The Warden and the Wolf King”. I remember reading “Lord of the Rings” as a teenager and being impatient when I came to long verses of song lyrics. Most of the time, I skipped over them. And, although the songs’ words gave some framework for the world of Middle Earth, I could have done without them.
Bruce Hennigan 
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