Welcome!

Hi! I’m Jonathan Lovelace, an aspiring author, self-published poet, amateur game designer, technical writer, and software developer. Welcome to the Shine Cycle Online!

From 2010 through mid-2014, I tried to feature a new post in each of four “departments” here every week, and thereafter the schedule loosened but the same principle continued. Since this organization appears to confuse some readers, I thought it best to introduce myself, the blog, and its subjects—briefly here, and in more detail “below the fold.”

From childhood, I’ve had a story in my head that I feel called to write. That “big work,” tentatively titled “the Shine Cycle,” is the original nominal topic of this blog, but now is only one of the four “departments.” This part of the blog, which originally ran on Mondays, contains largely background essays about the story and its world, including a planned series outline and character profiles, as well as two complete stories, a few additional excerpts, and occasional “writing status updates”.

I’ve also had poetry “come to me” on occasion since high school. For a while—from late 2009 on—I posted a new poem here on the blog each Friday, and I continue to post them when I have new ones to post. This is the most popular “department” of the blog. Many of these poems are collected in A Year in Verse, now available on Kindle and in print. Most of my poetry is blank verse.

In the process of developing that collection, as I’m a notoriously bad critic of my own work, and most subscribers started reading this blog long after I began posting poems weekly, each Thursday from mid-2011 to January 2013 I asked for feedback on a few poems from my archive.

Posts about Strategic Primer, a turn-based strategy/simulation game, originally ran on Wednesdays, but now only appear on its own blog.

The last “department,” which originally ran mostly on Saturdays, is “miscellaneous”—usually essays on a variety of topics.

I’ll describe each of these “departments” (and that term itself)

“Psalm 31”

O Lord, you are the refuge where I hide;
Let not my soul ever succumb to shame!
Bend down a gracious ear to hear my cry;
In righteousness come quickly to my rescue!

You are the stone from which salvation comes;
Because of your great name you guide my steps
And free my feet from every hidden snare.
Into your hand, O Lord, I press my spirit,
You who have ransomed me, the faithful God.

“Four Questions”

“This night—why is it not like other nights?”
A child may ask, confused or in delight.
A parent may reply, with age-old words:
“We once were slaves, and helpless in our bondage,
Till, with mighty hand and outstretched arm,
God lifted us and set his people free.”

“Sleep”

Sweet slumber lingers just beyond my reach.
Not quite my master, for I can resist
The drawing of my eyelids down like shades
At need or whim—nor is it quite my servant,
As sleep too long delayed dulls every sense
Until it has prevailed for long enough.

“Psalm 30”

Lord, I will praise you; you have lifted me
And did not let my foes exult in triumph.
When my severe distress had laid me low
I lifted up my voice to you for help,
And you redeemed me from the shades of death,
From perishing among the senseless throng
Who stumble headlong down into the pit.

Jonah Makes a Splash

Rachel Newhouse has started the third arc of her Red Rain series with a bang. Jonah is the longest installment yet, and brings back the elements that have made earlier entries in the series top Amazon’s sales charts in their categories: frantic action, suspense, twist after twist after twist, and bombshell revelations dropped in the middle—all carried along by Mrs. Newhouse’s trademark narrative voice, so once I picked up the story I couldn’t put it down.

“Winter Twilight”

As twilight beckons, and the dusk draws near,
Thick swaths of purple and of crimson light
Sit piled on the horizon all around,
As though the Earth were given a swaddling-band
Of warmer cloth, to shield against the cold.
Soon—overnight, perhaps—more snow may fall
To nestle like a garland round the hills
And sparkle in the golden rays of sunrise.

I began this poem in early 2015, and it sat there in my notes unchanged and unfinished until I thought of a way to bring it to something of a conclusion a few months ago. I don’t remember whether the opening lines were prompted by a particular sunset I saw, by an evocative photograph, by memory, or only by the sound of the words.

I always welcome your comments, questions, or other feedback about this or any other part of my work. If you’d like to read more of my poetry, you can get my book, which contains over sixty of my best poems; browse my archive, much of it also broken down into more-manageable groups; or follow this blog for new poetry (among other things)—at least two poems per month through November. You may also share this poem with others, subject to my sharing policy.

“Psalm 29”

Give highest praise to God, all stars of light;
Give glory to his name, you angels bright!
Proclaim aloud the glory he deserves,
His splendid majesty and mighty strength;
Bow down before him, clothed in holy splendor!

“Turning”

One civil year has turned, and one begun;
Another Christmas season’s nearly past.
All gifts unwrapped, it but remains to write
Our gratitude to those who sent their love,
And to—as any milestone makes us do—
Take stock of where we’ve been, and where we stand.

Some plans succeeded, better than I dreamed,
While others lie in ruins round my feet,
But trusting that my Maker’s way is best
I turn my gaze again with renewed hopes
To face the rushing flood of coming days.

Though hopes were dashed, though happiness abounded—
Yet even so, what’s past is truly past,
So let me stand, and courage seize again
To, ready, face whatever unknown challenge,
Whatever great adventure, God may send.

I began this poem almost exactly ten years ago; when I committed that first stanza into my records, the associated comment I included with it was that “posting it will have to wait until next year,” but it took until about two years ago for me to write a second stanza, and I finished the poem last summer.

I always welcome your comments, questions, or other feedback about this or any other part of my work. If you’d like to read more of my poetry, you can get my book, which contains over sixty of my best poems; browse my archive, much of it also broken down into more-manageable groups; or follow this blog for new poetry (among other things)—at least two poems per month through August. You may also share this poem with others, subject to my sharing policy.

2023 Year-in-Review, Hopes for 2024

A year ago, I summarized the past few months’ activity on this blog as a return from “what might have been its most silent hiatus yet … if not with quite the frequency or regularity of posts that I used to have.” 2023 saw a continuation of that return to activity, enough that readers who missed a post at the time might not notice it scrolling back. So let’s take a look back over the past year’s posts; I will also briefly discuss my hopes for the year to come.

“Emptying”

How can the mighty Maker of all things,
Whose conscious, sovereign will fills every place,
Be rightly said to “make himself as nothing?”
He cannot cease to be eternal God.

Such condescension, marvelous to tell: