Who am I, anyway?

a little housekeeping

The other day I received a reader email that, in the nicest way possible, said “I cannot figure out who you are or what you are doing in this substack. I started reading because I liked Tolkien but now you are doing… something else?”

Yes, reader, I am certainly am. I wish I had found a way to write through Tolkien every year, forever- I found it extremely fertile literature to think with. But all good things must come to an end, and this substack began explorations of other things.

Here are a few things about me. They may help you understand who I am and why I write.

1. I earned a Phd in 2014. I am a theologian by training, but I am also, by training, a poor writer. Academics are taught to write in a way that is obscure and (I think) somewhat pandering- we are haunted by our interlocutors and their objections. This means that it is not uncommon to write an entire academic essay without really getting to the point. I noticed these tics in my own writing, and I wanted to find a way to unlearn them.

2. I chose the Lord of the Rings for very impulsive reasons. In my circles, Tolkien has a cult following and LOTR is a beloved text. I had never read it, and I thought it would be fun to have a text to work through as I stretched my writing muscles. It turned out to be much, much easier to think with than I’d expected. I hope to return to it with a few longer essays on what I learned.

3. The substack now is supporting my thinking as I work on one book project, which is under contract with Baylor University Press. I am rounding the corner but it is going to need a complete overhaul once it is finished. I also have a few other projects in the works.

4. I will never charge for this substack. I think paid substacks often encourage our worst intellectual habits. I will be asking you to buy my books.

5. The truth is, I’m terribly concerned about the state of the local church. I think much online writing and ruminating makes it harder to pastor a church, and even harder to be a Christian. This is why I’ve taken up this read-through of the Nature of Doctrine. I think that this book helps to situate some of the problems that American Christians face while also suggesting a way forward. Here at In Particular we are all about constructive solutions, so I am going to offer some bonus content on the Lindbeck, for those of you who want to read along. Just let me know in the comments and “watch this space”, as they say. As always, I won’t charge for any of this.

6. I also write occasional essays and responses on this substack that are not about Tolkien or Lindbeck. Sometimes I do not feel like pitching things to a magazine (the lead time is sloooow, and you often miss the news-cycle if your response is time sensitive), and sometimes I just can’t find the right place to send something. So think of this substack as befuddling, just like its author.

7. I do see a scarlet thread that runs through what I am thinking about and what I write about- a multi-year “project” of sorts. I know where I am going, and I use this substack to drop bread crumbs. Or Easter eggs, like Taylor Swift- she and I are basically the same in that way.

8. I have three kids who are growing like weeds, a husband and a dog- the latter two who seem to have colluded, on matters that have yet to reveal themselves. The dog is a Nova Scotian duck tolling retriever and fails at all of the skills the breed ought to have. The husband’s skills are also constantly assessed, much to his chagrin.

If you subscribed to read my thoughts on Tolkien, that project is now complete, and can hit “unsubscribe” if that was the main draw for my substack. Thanks to those of you who have taken a chance on me and hung on.

I love to hear from you. I brag to my writer friends that I have the best comment section on the internet. Thanks for reading.

KHS