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March 12, 2006:
Okay, I deserve it.I've been putting this off while running around the planet doing other things, so now I'm going to sit down and answer – generally - the questions you folks have sent me in the meeting rooms.Sorry I can't answer you directly, but wow, you ought to see how many questions there are!Some of the questions and comments have already been answered quite adequately by other folks who have posted replies, so let me say thank you so very much for participating.Some have written to me just to be sweet, loving, nice, and encouraging, and let me tell all of you that your kind words and comments mean so very much to me.Thank you for the feedback and the affirmation.Some of the questions are so old and/or date sensitive it's too late for me to answer them, so I apologize.This website stuff takes some getting used to, and time can be so precious.
Anyway, I'll take a deep breath – hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! - and here goes:
Anyone and everyone who wants to be a writer, get into writing, get published, get a critique or comment on your work, or get advice, the best thing I can recommend is that you contact the Christian Writers Guild.They are on the web under that name and they are set up to serve, guide, instruct, and help writers, would-be writers, student writers, all kinds of writers.Jerry Jenkins of Left Behind fame runs it, and you couldn't meet a nicer guy.I attended the CWG Writers Conference last year and I was blown away by the skill, competency, and kindness of those folks.Give them a try.
As far as I know, Nightmare Academy is not going to be a movie, but I wouldn't rule out the possibility.Lord knows, and time will tell.The same goes for any further Veritas books.I've got some praying to do to figure out which direction to go next.
The Lord God provides the inspiration for my novels; I write from whatever God has placed upon my heart at that particular time.I've never read the Narnia books, I've always enjoyed Michael Crichton’s work, I don't know the first thing about Paradise Lost, I can't think of a topic for a book that has not yet been addressed.
As for what inspired This Present Darkness, you'll be interested to know that that is the all-time and forever Number One Question I have ever been asked.I have been asked that question millions and zillions and trillions of times since 1986, to the point that my brain shorts out whenever I hear that question and I simply cannot deal with it anymore.Please everyone, for now, forever, do not ask me that question.
Speaking of other questions that I have been asked zillions of times – and not just on this web page, but everywhere, for years and years - here are some front-runners:
When is This Present Darkness going to be a movie?I don't know.20th Century Fox owns the film rights at the present time and I am pretty much out of the loop unless they invite me back in.
Did I undergo any demonic attack while writing the Darkness books?No, nothing beyond the usual stuff we all experience in our Christian walk.
Of all the books I have written, which is my favorite?I don't really have one.It would be kind of like asking a mom or a dad which of their children is their favorite.Every kid is different and you love them for who they are.
Have I written any books for younger children?May I refer you to all my Mr. Henry stuff for the little tykes?There are Mr. Henry videos, DVDs, audio tapes and CDs, and several fun illustrated books.By the way, Mr. Henry is still on TBN every Saturday morning.
Has there ever been any controversy surrounding my books?Oh, sure, but that's as sure a thing as the sun coming up or the grass growing no matter what I do.Google my name sometime and you’ll find all the good, the bad, and the ugly.I guess most people are comfortable with my work.Some of those who have trouble with it may have good reasons and I don't fault them.There are some folks who find fault with anything and everything, so ehhhh, I just have to shrug them off and get back to work.
I'm not sure when I will be coming out with a new novel, but I'm certainly praying about it.Right now I have to discern the Lord's will in regard to balancing my novel writing with my filmmaking.
Why did I write a book with Ted Dekker?Well, Ted and I talked about it, it seemed a good idea at the time, our publisher was hot on the idea, so we gave it a try.I guess it turned out all right.Would I do it again?Uh …. No.It's pretty tough for two geniuses to work together, and as it turned out, Ted is a genius.(chuckle!)By the way, by the time you folks read this, the House movie will be in postproduction.I haven't seen any of it yet, but of course I will be intensely interested to see this movie when it comes out.
For those of you who would like to be involved in a Frank Peretti movie as actors, writers, or any of the production staff, you should definitely be looking for other avenues for your talent just so that you cover all the bases.I really feel a calling from God to pursue film, but I don't know where that calling is going to take me.I'd have to have an actual production in progress before I could hire anybody, and only our precious Lord knows when and how that is going to happen.One step at a time, folks.
Wounded Spirit was a true recounting of my childhood experiences, and also the experiences of others.As most of you know, that book is now released under another title, No More Bullies.
I try to write every day starting at about 10 o'clock in the morning and continuing until I have clocked five hours, not including my lunch break.How many pages I put out varies.Sometimes I have good days, sometimes I have bad days.The point is to get my backside in the chair and keep it there until I get the work done.I brainstorm then outline my books quite thoroughly before I begin writing, I write freely at first, trying not to edit too much in my mind but just keep the words coming, and then I rewrite, being more careful to cut, edit, rework, etc.I not only watch my books in my head like a movie, I also try to smell, hear, touch, and taste them.Mostly, I try to keep my message at the forefront of my heart and mind as I write.
For those of you who are researching and ministering in the area of abortion, God bless you, keep at it.The truth is on your side, and as Jesus said, be concerned if all people speak well of you.
My take on the Da Vinci Code?Pure excrement.I'm glad so many fine rebuttals have already been written about it.
I haven't written any stage plays, although some of my stuff has been adapted for the stage in various forms by private, nonprofit individuals and organizations.
I haven't thought about writing a sequel to The Visitation or The Oath.
Will I be out speaking anytime soon?No, I'm pretty much on hiatus from the lecture circuit for a season.
There might be a third Darkness book.I'm thinking and praying about that right now.
For those wanting to know more about Spiritual Warfare, I would suggest going to your local Christian bookstore and see what they have available on the subject.I can't say that I would recommend everything that's out there.This topic can attract a lot of loonies besides the competent scholars.Approach the topic with sobriety and discernment.
Do I read all the topics?I go through Questions for Peretti and that's why I'm writing this current answering binge.I drop in on the others to see what people are saying, but I usually don't plan on responding unless I think it's really called for.Of course, I always check my private messages (yeah, I know, I’m pretty behind on that.Sorry.)
My anniversary is June 24 (1972).
I started out wanting to be involved in every film adapted from one of my books.Because of other obligations I was not able to be involved in the productions of The Visitation or House, and of course I've lost any claim to This Present Darkness (God’s intervention notwithstanding), but I'm going to take special pains not to let that happen again.As a matter of fact, my new working policy is: Peretti writes, Peretti directs.That should keep me involved, I would think.
Have I ever had doubts about my work or gone through times when I just felt small, inadequate, not as good as all those other writers out there?Sure.But when you have a calling from the Lord, it doesn't matter much how you feel about it at any given time, you just have to grab tightly onto God's hand and keep going.Did God call you to be a writer?Write.
I don't think Sally Beth Roe and Tom Harris are ever going to get married.
Re: making The Visitation or Monster as a miniseries, hey, the way television is progressing as a viable competition to theatrical motion pictures, it's not such a bad idea -- and incidentally it wasn't such a stupid question either.
I believe it is possible that Sasquatches do exist, but of course this has yet to be directly proven.The evidence - and by that I mean the real stuff - is fascinating and compelling, enough to keep me interested and wanting to write a story about it.It's just the kind of "what if" possibility that gets my juices pumping.I just hope nobody finds a real Sasquatch before my movie has a successful run!
The awesome scene of a lady giving her heart to Jesus and being born again is in Piercing the Darkness, and the lady is the lead character, Sally Beth Roe. I've had many people comment on that scene and you know what, it really is a great moment!
All the towns and locations in my books are fictional, though of course they are loosely based on real places I've visited or researched.We can safely assume they take place somewhere in the United States, and I think Monster actually takes place in the state of Idaho, although all the Idaho locations are fictional.It's not safe to place a story in a real location unless the author -- me -- actually lives there and knows the place well enough to write about it.This might be why so many of Stephen King's novels take place in Maine.
Yes, I have written two books about spiritual warfare, but that's all.My other books deal with other topics of interest to Christians or derived from a Christian worldview.At first, I was THE authorassociated with the topic of spiritual warfare, but all that is in the past now and I've moved on.
This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness are works of fiction.While I do try to convey the message I feel God is giving me for any particular book, none of my books are divinely inspired or directly dictated by the Holy Spirit.
What sources did I use, particularly in regard to abortion, when I wrote Prophet?It's been far too long for me to recommend any of the sources I used at that time.But take heart.The pro-life movement is alive and well, and any pro-life ministry, Crisis Pregnancy Center, or pro-life women's health clinic will have all the sources of information you could ever need.Just an added note: I was able to talk with people who were actually involved in the abortion business, and the things they testified of were all the drama and tragedy a writer could ask for.
How do I come up with the names for characters in my books?Hey, I have just as hard a time as you do.Sometimes the names come easily, and sometimes I have to get out those Names for Baby books like you find in grocery and drug stores and just page through them until I find a name that strikes me. As for Sing’s name, I'm still trying to find a more appropriate, Native American name for the movie version.My friends in the Nez Perce tribe don't like the name Sing; it sounds too Chinese.They haven't thought of a better one, but I'll get back to them and see if they've had any more ideas.
What do you do if your child is being bullied in school?Don't stand for it.Speak up.Intervene.If it’s serious, call the police and file charges for assault and battery.Go online and find more resources dealing with the topic of bullying.Talk to and recruit other parents.Change schools.Homeschool.Don't make excuses, don't just sit there, do something!When I comes to bullying, you'll never hear any soft, wishy-washy answers from me.
As far as my two Darkness books coming true in a few ways, I’m currently reading This Present Darkness once again in case I want to write a third Darkness book, and it strikes me how, while in those books the New Age Movement, neopaganism, Eastern mysticism, occultism, etc., etc., were still somewhat secretive and unknown, nowadays all these teachings and ideas have gone mainstream.As I was reading about Marshall Hogan and Bernice Krueger uncovering all this secret occult stuff going on, I found myself asking, What's the big secret?Seems like everybody's into this stuff.
So, as of March 11, 2007, I think I'm up to date.Again, this was a general reply to several pages of posts, all of which were much appreciated.I apologize for the length of this blog.Simple wisdom would say, Frank, if you'd just keep up on things you wouldn't fall so far behind, and simple wisdom would be right.
If you've read this far, I thank you deeply.If you've just skimmed over these answers, I don't blame you.I'll let you know when anything else develops.God bless.
Frank |
