Website working again; new poem posted

Yesterday, the server that hosts this website inexplicably shut down. It was down for over  a day. My apologies to you, my readers. Thankfully, it seems the problem(s) have been corrected.

Anyway, I wanted to announce I’ve posted another poem, as promised. This one is entitled “A Psalm,” and that’s exactly what it is. If you’re familiar with the Book of Psalms in the Bible, you’ll know what to expect. I wrote it in the style of a psalm translated into English, however it’s certainly not divinely-inspired Scripture. But then again, I’m sure there were many psalms that were written but not included in the Bible. Regardless, like many of the Biblical psalms, mine is a prayer for deliverance.

You can read more about psalms here.

You can read the poem here.

A new short story will be posted Friday!

A Psalm

A Psalm
By Nathan Marchand

Vindicate me, O God,
Be not deaf to my plea!
My enemy has triumphed over me,
His heart swells with pride at my defeat.

His tongue is forked like a serpent’s,
His words the venom of snakes.
He spits them in my face,
Burning my eyes nearly to blindness.
My dearest friends drink his venom
and are poisoned against me.

Cut out his tongue with Your Sword of Truth,
O LORD God Almighty,
So that he may be silenced.
Be my Shield against his venomous darts
that my integrity will shine.
And be the Serum of Truth
that purges his lies from my friends’ hearts.

My LORD and King,
You are the God of Justice
Before Whom all unrighteousness perishes.
Look upon me and bring me justice
while I am yet in the land of the living.
Then I will proclaim your praises to the peoples,
Your great deeds to the ends of the Earth,
That all may know the glory of my God.
                                                                        Selah

New stories and poems this week!

Hello, “True Believers”! (Stan Lee could sue me for how many times I steal that term). It’s been a while since I’ve posted any new stories or poems, so I decided I would post three new ones this week, starting today. The others will be posted Wednesday and Friday.

Today, I posted a poem entitled “Pearl of Great Price.” It’s a love poem, of sorts, written in a style akin to Biblical wisdom literature, such as the the book of Proverbs. However, the poem was inspired by Jesus Christ’s parable of the pearl (Matthew 13:44-46). You may notice several allusions to these works in the poem. Did I have someone in mind when I wrote it? That’s for me to know and you to find out later. Maybe.

Click here to read it.

Pearl of Great Price

Pearl of Great Price
By Nathan Marchand

Long have you searched the world
Seeking her—the rarest treasure.
She is worth far more than rubies,
But who can find her?

She is a precious stone, a pearl of great price,
Often thrown before swine
And trampled in mud,
But never losing her luster.

Find her while she may be found.
But if you do, you must sacrifice.
Sell all you have, lay your pride aside.
Only then, by suffering, can you pay her great price.

But it will seem like a pittance,
For her beauty is matchless,
And like a snowflake, there is none like her,
And never will be again.

Will you fight to earn her?
Will you prize her, cherish her?
Will you polish her so she may shine?
Do so, and she will be your crown forevermore.

I’m going to Gen-Con 2012

I just finished my registration for the Authors’ Avenue at Gen-Con 2012. I’ll be selling copies of my books there, including Pandora’s Box, Destroyer, and The Day After. The convention will be held August 16-19 at the Indianapolis Convention Center (ICC) in Indianapolis.

Gen-Con is one of the oldest and largest gaming conventions in the world for over 44 years. It showcases the latest movers and shakers in the gaming world and many related products. You can learn more about the convention and register to attend here.

‘Ninjas and Talking Trees’ submitted to Hades Publications

Long time, no update. My apologies, readers.

I have great news. As of last night, I completed the second draft of my fantasy/comedy novel, Ninjas and Talking Trees, and submitted it to Hades Publications, who published my first novel, Pandora’s Box, under their Absolute XPress imprint in 2010. Now I must wait and see if they are interested in publishing it.

This book tells the tale of a young accountant who is transported to an eccentric fantasy world ruled by an equally eccentric tyrant. In order to get home, he must learn “the Ways of Hero-dom” and overthrow the villain. While it isn’t a parody, per se, it does poke fun at some fantasy story stereotypes (and a few from anime/manga), and  it uses many of the genre’s archetypes for comedic effect.

You can read more about the humorous history of the story here. I also have a short story entitled “Bow to Your Sensei” that I wrote as a warm-up to the book several years ago for a blog contest. It’s posted here.

Stay tuned for more updates!

The kid I tutor made a ‘Modern Warfare’ video

I haven’t been talking about it much here, but about a year ago, some fellow TUFW writers/graduates decided to start our own writing business called Breakthrough Writing Services. One of the things we do is English/writing tutoring. I’ve been working with a homeschooled high sophomore named Alec for several months. Recently, he sent me a paper about what he did for Christmas break. He and his friends decided to make a video inspired by the new video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. It was posted on YouTube. I thought it was so good, I decided to share it with all of you. You can watch it below. Enjoy!

Nice work, Alec!

 

New short story artwork for ‘The Hammer’

My brother Jarod has contributed yet another piece of excellent artwork for one of my short stories. This time it was for “The Hammer,” a science fiction story you can read here. The artwork portrays the hero, Matthias Maccabeus, punching out a disguised robot assassin. Check it out:

'The Finishing Blow' by Jarod Marchand

So, if you haven’t read the story yet, I hope you will now. Why would you pass up on excitement like this?

A Man from Another Time Exploring Another Universe