Stone Butterfly Wordcarving

The writing of Dan Mayhew

New from Max Features

By: Dan "Max" Mayhew - May• 17•12

Up to now, my humorous stuff has been available in ebook form only, but all that has changed. The first of several compilations of some of the humor columns I’ve done for newspapers is now ready for purchase.

Max & Burnie Go KAAAFWOOOM! is now available through my CreateSpace estore. Here’s the blurb for the book:

Summer may be lazy and hazy in your world but it’s just plain crazy for Max and his friends. Whether Max is ‘schloorking’ flies, hurling zucchini or reducing his front lawn to cannon fodder, you can be sure that you’ll never see summer in quite the same way. Join Dan “Max” Mayhew in this second book of “The Zootron Chronicles” a series of Barry-esque observations of life on “Planet Zootron,” the alien world “Max” calls home. Dan Mayhew’s columns have appeared in newspapers throughout the Northwest and have been published in the ‘Humor for the Heart’ series from Howard Publishing.

Over the next few months I’ll be putting out several of these short books, part of the Zootron Chronicles series. Here are a few of the upcoming titles:

  • Sound the Holiday Alarm! – The nativities are getting restless.
  • Max Versus the Evil Prince Dunlop – Laughing your way to mediocre health.
  • Roses are Red, but Violets are Cheaper – A husband’s guide to romance and infamy.
  • Diaper Tales and Snot Wars – A parent’s guide to the edge of sanity.
  • Aliens from the Planet Zootron – Family, friends and other domestic life forms.

Sword of Submission Available at Amazon

By: Wordcarver - Apr• 26•12

I have released Sword of Submission on Amazon and other online bookstores. The first run was available here at Stonebutterfly, but now that it’s been out for a few months, I wanted to expand the distribution a bit. So, you can continue to get the ebook for Kindle and at Smashwords, but the paper edition can be purchased here or by clicking the icons below.

 

 

 

 

 

It’s also at Barnes and Noble and other outlets.

Why we wrote Sword of Submission

By: Dan Mayhew - Apr• 13•12

Why would Jody and I write a book called Sword of Submission? Why that particular topic? A few years ago, we were cautioned not even to use the word in the title—something about the kiss of death. Nobody would read such a thing.

Hmm. Why is that?

What would make people want to avoid the subject of submission? You know what we think? It is because Christians have been wounded by it. Many of us don’t trust the word.

Yet many are convinced that being submitted to somebody or some organization—coming under a covering, it’s called—is evidence of godliness. To not be submitted someplace is a sure sign of rebellion, or at least of spiritual vulnerability. Moreover, to question that definition of authority in the church is to be branded a rebel; and rebellion is as the seed of witchcraft, don’t you know…

So, why did we defy conventional wisdom and write it anyway? Because we were tired of the way the so many Christians have come to understand the subject. We wanted to challenge the status quo. Question authority. Think again. Reconsider what we thought we knew. We wanted to object, and to suggest that this subject means far more than most of us think.

  • We wanted to object to the way church leadership uses submission as a way to control congregations rather than release them.
  • We wished to object to churches adopting the pattern of corporate America as the Biblical way of organizing the body of Christ—from the top down. Something is amiss when church structure and corporate structure are analogous—CEO/pastor; VP/Associate pastor; board of directors/elders…who do the hiring and the firing.
  • We object that “submission to leadership” can become a test of godliness.
  • We object that submission and authority are used to devalue some of the gifts in the church and inflate the value of others.
  • We object to the way submission is used to limit the participation of women.
  • We protest that though the apostles sometimes used military parlance to describe the church, hierarchy is not the pattern for church life.
  • We protest that the church is often so busy with allegiance to people that she neglects her submission to God.
  • We protest that the charge of being unsubmissive puts an end to far too many discussions in the church community.

We wanted to protest, but more importantly we wanted to propose that submission, properly understood, looks nothing like the things we just mentioned. It isn’t an end in itself. It is a means to the most important end of all: becoming submitted to our Creator. When we get good at that, we will have reclaimed the power of what it means to be human. That is what Sword of Submission is about.

Dropping the price on the humor.

By: Summiteer - Feb• 26•12

As I put out some new humor stuff, I think I’m going to make ‘em .99. Might even give a couple away as I get a few more formatted. Stay tuned for more merriment from “Max”.

Sword of Submission Study & Discussion Guide

By: Summiteer - Feb• 07•12

Hear ye! Hear ye!

We just put out a free discussion and study guide for Sword of Submission. Several groups have been using the book for Bible study and small group interaction so we thought that discussion questions might be useful for such meetings. Click the image below for a PDF file to use for your group or Bible study.

Thoughts on Smoking

By: Summiteer - Feb• 03•12

Hadn’t posted anything recently here on Stonebutterfly so I thought this worthy of note: 

“Sword of Submission” now available

By: Dan Mayhew - Dec• 19•11

Finally. After nearly ten years of off-and-on working, the book on submission is available for eager readers everywhere ;-) . The first run of the book has arrived. Copies can be purchased here at Stone Butterfly Wordcarving for $13.50, plus shipping, if there is any. *

Several years ago, when we first started shopping around to see if anyone wanted to publish a book on submission, we were warned we should avoid the word in the title. We were told nobody would publish a book about that, much less want to buy it. That’s how screwed up the understanding of the subject has become. Submission, it seems, is a “four letter word.”

After considering this for awhile we finally decided, ahh, what the heck.  We figured we’d use the word in the title anyhow. That’s the beauty of being an indie author/publisher, you can make your own decisions (blunders?) about such things and let the chips just fall.

Jody and I wrote this book in order to address submission in a different way. It isn’t about dominance and passivity. It isn’t about who’s in charge or who’s the boss. It’s about relearning our relationship with our Creator. Moreover, submission is a skill to be used in the battle to restore the relationship between creation and Creator. I hope you’re curious, because we think it’s time to put aside old hierarchical notions about the subject and think “heir-archy” instead. Click here for the back cover synopsis.

Purchase Sword of Submission:

If you’re able to receive your copy personally, we can arrange pick-up or delivery. Send me an email at wings@stonebutterfly.net.

Kindle Edition $9.50 ~ Click Here

Other eBook formats ~ Click Here

New Additions for New Editions!

By: Wordcarver - Dec• 06•11

OK, I pulled the trigger on the next book, Sword of Submission. The first shipment will be arriving in the next couple of weeks. FINALLY! I’ve been dithering over this co-written project for the better part of a decade. It’s about time to throw it out of the nest and see if it can fly. 

In preparation, I’ve been exploring ways to make it available. With The Butterfly and the Stone, I immediately went to market on Amazon. It’s worked well, but this time around I’ve opted to sell right off of Stone Butterfly. Why? Couple of reasons. First, it’s more cost-effective. The balance of distribution to cover price is better — at least for now. In addition, it lets me be more “hands-on” in the process, and since I’m what they call an “indie” author/publisher, that seems appropriate. Doing my own distribution will keep me closer to my readers. After all, one of my reasons for not going the commercial route was that I recognized an immediate conflict of interest: they, the publishers, are in it for the money; I, the author, am ambivalent, even unmotivated, by that aspect — an immediate conflict of interest. So, here I am. Several projects to take to market. 

I’m learning. As I do, things have been taking shape here. For example, notice that I’ve added a shopping cart. Rather than go through a book distributor I’m going to distribute from here. I’ve experimented with a couple of approaches to this and i think I’ve come up with a workable system. Should you happen to purchase one of my books, let me know about your experience. I want things to go well for you. I fear the bumps in the road that often happen as a new system takes shape, so please holler if you encounter any potholes. 

Anyhow, thanks for reading! It’s good to have you visiting Stone Butterfly Wordcarving. Hope to see more of you! 

Quote: On writing

By: Wordcarver - Dec• 04•11

Peter De Vries  said, “I love being a writer. What I can’t stand is the paperwork.”

James Joyce: One day a friend of Joyce’s found the author hunched over his desk. The friend asked, “What’s wrong?” Joyce responded, “I’ve been working all day and have only written six words.” His friend said, “Six words is normal for you.” Joyce replied, “I know, but I don’t know what order to put them in!” 

John Dos Passo: “If there is a special Hell for writers, it would be in the forced contemplation of their own works, with all the misconceptions, the omissions, the failures that any finished work of art implies.”

 

~Thanks to Frank Viola for compiling these quotes and using them in an interview. 

 

 

Sword of Submission

By: Dan Mayhew - Dec• 03•11

The second proof of Sword of Submission is on it’s way from the publisher. I’ll give it a careful look-through and, if all goes well, I’ll release the book on the eStore here at Stone Butterfly, probably at a discount. Shortly after, it will release as an ebook (Kindle, Nook, etc.). Finally, Amazon and other outlets will begin distributing it in early spring. Exciting! 

This book started out as an idea over 10 years ago. We haven’t been working on it steadily for that long, the project has just been simmering, moving forward in fits and starts.

The premise behind Sword of Submission – Reclaiming the power of being human, is that submission, rightly understood, is not a four-letter word. It is not about hierarchy, dominance and passivity. It is a return to the way we were designed to live with God, and it’s the way the human race will return to it’s original destiny. Moreover, if we allow The Seed (Jesus) to teach us the skills of submission, it is the way by which the Creator will use us in the defeat of evil — it becomes the “sword” of submission.