Back to Blogging!

Hey guys!

          It’s been months since I posted a blog and I really miss it. I’ve been reminded recently how beautiful it is just to write something as goofy as a blog, even when you are busy with something else. I’ll be posting more often, and I hope some of my readers are still around to keep up with me.

          So what have I been up to? Not that you care all that much haha… As I said in my past blog I’m working on my book. It’s a beautiful thing to finally be actively pursuing your dream, and to have a team of people around you who are behind you. I got my dream agent, the very same individual who works with several of my favorite authors, and that fact alone has me on cloud nine! I also just got back from New York City recently. It was my first business trip and hopefully not my last.

          Now for a bloggy thought… Over the past six months I’ve been obsessed with the idea of change, evolution, adaptation, and I am curious how individuality effects this process. I’ve been questioning so many things this year, and it has transformed my faith and my life. I won’t talk about many of these changes yet, but I will blog about them soon.  SO I pose this question to you. How do you process change? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

          One last thing. I am trying to reach out to the blogosphere and find 500 bloggers to write reviews of my book, to be timed with its release next year. If you are interested, please let me know. The idea is to flood the Internet on a grass-roots level when the book comes out, inundating google, twitter, facebook, myspace, and independent blogging sites (wordpress, typepad, blogspot, etc) with reviews and interviews. 

          I missed you guys! I’ll write more soon (this week)!

 

In Him,

Timothy Kurek

aka @timkurek (twitter s/n)

Life Update!

          I just wanted to update all of you as to why I’m not blogging! I have been working on a book for the past several months, and now have an INCREDIBLE agent! We met tonight and it was almost overwhelming. My dreams of being a writer, full time, are coming true, and I am working harder than ever on this book.

          But I had to post a blog tonight and say this… God is the force behind this blessing, and I am so humbled that He would allow a stubborn 22 year old, with no college degree, to do what I’ve dreamed of doing for a long time. The Bible says that, if we acknowledge Him in all our ways, HE will direct our path. I testify that this is the truth, and am excited to tell you that He makes good on His promises.

          GOD THANK YOU! THANK YOU FOR DIRECTING MY PATH! MAY YOU GET ALL THE GLORY FROM THIS NOVEL, AND MAY YOUR NAME BE PRAISED!

          Love you guys! I’ll post again soon. I’m most likely headed to New York City in the next three weeks for meetings. Pray for me.

Book Review: The Unlikely Disciple

          As a writer, I love to read books that have just come out. It’s a ritualistic way, I believe, of supporting my peers, sharing with them in the accomplishment of publishing their unique literary art.

          But one peer, in particular, has published something near and dear to my heart. A book about my former college, Liberty University. His name is Kevin Roose and he is a 21 year old senior from Brown University. In an effort to bridge the cultural divide, Kevin attended Liberty for a spring semester, hoping to learn about a group of people that is stereotyped as much as any other. And fortunately for us, he wrote his experiences for us in a book, called The Unlike Disciple.

A few notable points about the book:

1. Kevin is fair, careful not to perpetuate the harmful stereotypes of Liberty Students.

2. His writing is spot on! Every page made me want to see what happened on the next, a trait that he has no doubt learned from his boss, A.J. Jacobs (author of “A Year of Living Biblically”).

3. He has a very enlightened sense of humor, and is very quick to paint a picture within every scene.

4. He talks about both Jerry Falwells, the Jerry that was widely seen as the bigot, and the Jerry that was a grandpa, of sorts, to every one of his students.

I highly encourage all of you to pick up his new book, and to leave positive feedback on Amazon.com for him! You can also follow him on twitter, by searching for KevinRoose (one word).

Click the picture below to purchase the book from Amazon.com!

UPDATE

I am currently working in West Palm Beach, Florida and am away from blogging until I get on a normal schedule…

Please be praying for me! I need it.

~Tim Kurek

Back to blogging!

          As most of you know I’ve been taking a nice vacation from blogging! Well I’m back now, so I will be updating much much more regularly!

          This past Sunday was my last time at Crosspoint Community Church in Nashville, for the next 2 maybe 3 months. It was sad because I’ve really grown to love the people at Crosspoint, and the staff. Blake Bergstrom, the new campus pastor, is an incredible guy. His heart for God and for people astounds me! I’ll be praying that I hit my goals so I can return promptly!

Where am I going and what am I doing?

          I’ll be moving to Florida to begin another, albeit shorter, selling season. My goal is to sell 2 accounts per day, and to hit at least 80 by May 1st. This would mean that I would not only be paying back my advances from my last contract, I would also be able to make some good money in a time of recession. The problem with Pest Control sales, or door to door sales in general, is my utter distaste for pressure selling people at their own homes. I’m almost dreading this season, but know that I have to go because of my early departure from Texas last summer. But it has all made me realize something about myself.

          Sometimes we have to do things we don’t like to do. And sometimes those things are incredibly difficult. I’m fully capable of being a star salesperson, but I’ve never tapped my true potential. Why? Because of my dislike of the job itself, and the laziness that I’ve exhibited both years I sold before this one. I think I’d rather suffer from a bad injury than have to do this job. But God is blessing me with work, and I get to explore a new place.  The Bible says to do ALL things to the glory of God, and it is my prayer that I will finally be able to do that even if I dislike what I’m doing. I guess this is just another element of growing up. Please pray for me as I resume my “Florida Chronicles” and know that I’m praying for you!

A Writing Challenge…

          Most of you know that I have been working on a book for some time now… But as it sometimes happens I am behind my self-imposed deadline for February. Those of you who know me probably aren’t shocked, however I believe that sometimes life happens in such a way that it can’t be ignored or put on hold, especially to write a book. This past month I lost a dear friend of mine, and her death has really put a damper on my writing. But it is in her passing and the memories of the challenges she regularly threw out at me, that I have decided to create a little test for myself.

          My writing challenge is going to go as follows.  I am going to take two days next week, Sunday and the following Saturday, to try to jump start my creative brain and catch up with what I am behind on.  These are the days I usually don’t write. This is how it will break down.

• Sunday I will be writing in two time blocks. These blocks will each be 3 hours in length and will be undertaken in the morning and the evening.
• Monday-Friday will be spent much like a typical writing day however I will be adding an hour to each typical writing session. I typically write (when I’m on it) for 3 hours during the early afternoon, or before bed. This means that I will be adding 5 hours to my weekday schedule.
• Saturday will be a repeat of Sunday, with a 3 hour morning session and a 3 hour evening session.

          It is my hope to complete a pretty lengthy chapter during this week, and by complete I mean write, edit, polish and file. I am praying that the added 17 hours of writing will be enough for this to be accomplished. This challenge will not be possible without my good friend coffee and her little sister Vault. Uncle Sparks might also make an appearance, but you never know!

          If any of you writers are interested in undertaking this challenge with me, I would be GLAD to have the company. If  you are local to the Nashville Area we could even meet at Starbucks or Cafe Coco’s and work on our respective projects together. Just e-mail me at timkurek@gmail.com if you are interested.

          Think about what you could do if you added 12 hours solid to an already difficult writing schedule (And to those of you who are already published and writing for money I would hope your schedule would be double mine)! 

          I hope some of you will let me know if you are interested, and will join me as I try to make my dreams and my calling a reality. Love y’all!

Happy Valentines Day…

          Happy Valentines Day everyone… This video is for you and it’s amazing…

To my brother..

          It’s only the 11th and I’ve already put my brother through a lot; however, asa younger brother it is my right and responsibility! Andrew is the best of my family. He’s intelligent, dedicated, and is a very loving husband. Today is his birthday and it is my duty to use my personal blog to wish him the best on this special day.

          Andrew, I love you bro! Have an amazing day and make sure you actually eat some super unhealthy birthday cake! I know you are a personal trainer and all, but learn from your brother… It’s worth it!

          http://SourceFitness.wordpress.com is Andrew’s blog. Check it out for an insightful, original look into the life of a personal trainer!

Andrew, I hope this makes you laugh!