Greg Johnson

Looking to elevate your craft? Since 2011, the WordServe Water Cooler-the official blog of the WordServe Literary Agency-has allowed writers to encourage, engage, and enrich each other on their writing journeys. Now, the best of the Water Cooler's writing on craft has been compiled in one place. Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, have been working on a novel for decades or are just dipping your toes into the world of publishing, the tips and tricks offered here will take your craft to the next level. The easy-to-read, engaging essays cover a range of topics, from organizing and outlining your work to creating powerful characters and dialogue to fine-tuning your language, style, and voice. With proven advice from more than thirty published authors, Excelling at the Craft of Writing moves from the first seeds of starting your writing project up to the last stages of creating a proposal and pitching your work to agents. For any writer hoping to reinvigorate their writing, this is the place to start.

For most students, getting behind the wheel of life-and the Christian life-seems pretty easy. Sure, there have been a few unexpected turns and potholes along the way, but most students have yet to encounter the BIG STUFF in the road.The BIG STUFF, however, IS coming-and it's important to be ready when it does. In this devotional, Greg Johnson offers students 60 readings based on the Psalms to help prepare them for the challenges ahead, from handling peer pressure to controlling anger to dealing with loss. With practical questions that encourage students to think through their own areas of struggle and vulnerability, this is an essential book for navigating the ups and downs of teenage life.

Jonah trapped in the dark, slimy, acidic, putrid insides of the dag gadol - the great fish - where he spiritually wrestled with God; Abraham, dazed and confused, angry and shocked at God's command to sacrifice his only son; Joseph, beaten, abandoned by his family, and essentially discarded as trash only to become the second most powerful man in the most powerful nation on Earth. What do these Biblical accounts, and many others, possibly have to do with the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus? This Messianic novel tells the story of two weary, heartbroken, and bewildered students of The Lord as they traveled from Jerusalem on their way towards Emmaus nearly two thousand years ago, following the unimaginable and horrific execution of their Lord and Master, the One Whom they thought to be the Messiah - the Savior of the world - a stranger appeared to them and began to explain to them how everything in the Scriptures, "Beginning from Moses and all the prophets" pointed to the Messiah, and to the events that they had witnessed during the past few days of their lives. However what this stranger actually said to them was not recorded in the Scriptures, but has remained a mystery through the ages, open to much speculation and interpretation. In this book, the reader is transported back in time to walk along the road with the stranger and the two students of the Messiah, and eavesdrop on what that conversation may have been. As the stranger peels back the years and retells familiar Biblical accounts, yet bringing them to life in new and fascinating ways, the two students are amazed and slowly begin to grasp the significance of everything that had been right in front of them all the time. By the time their conversation is over, their hearts, minds, and eyes are opened to the whole truth, and they see not only the depth and beauty of God's plan, but there, right in front of them, their Risen Lord and Savior, Who had changed their lives forever. Told in a Messianic Jewish style, this story attempts to be true to the historical and cultural "feel" of that day so many years ago in the hopes of presenting the reader with a new and fresh perspective that will enable them to also rediscover for the first time what has been right in front of their eyes all these years. It is the author's sincere hope and prayer that not only will the reader be entertained through these pages, but much more importantly, see the Scriptures, and subsequently our Lord, in a new light, and like those first two travelers, have their lives and faith walk changed in new and unimaginable ways. To all who are eager to take that walk, come along and listen.

Search the Internet for the 100 best songs or best albums. Dozens of lists will appear from aficionados to major music personalities. But what if you not only love listening to the blues or country music or jazz or rock, you love reading about it, too. How do you separate what matters from what doesn’t among the hundreds—sometimes thousands—of books on the music you so love? In the Best Music Books series, readers finally have a quick-and-ready list of the most important works published on modern major music genres by leading experts. In 100 Books Every Blues Fan Should Own, Edward Komara, former Blues Archivist of the University of Mississippi, and his successor Greg Johnson select those histories, biographies, surveys, transcriptions and studies from the many hundreds of works that have been published about this vital American musical genre. Komara and Johnson provide a short description of the contents and the achievement of each title selected for their “Blues 100.” Entries include full bibliographic citations, prices of copies in print, and even descriptions of specific editions for book collectors. 100 Books Every Blues Fan Should Own also includes suggested blues recordings to accompany each recommended work, as well as a concluding section on key reference titles—or as Komara and Johnson phrase it: “The Books behind the Blues 100.” 100 Books Every Blues Fan Should Own serves as a guide for any blues fan looking for a road map through the history of—and even history of the scholarship on—the blues. Here Komara and Johnson answer the question of not only what is a “blues” book, but which ones are worth owning.

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) of 1990 provides a legal framework within which Native Americans can seek the repatriation of human remains and certain categories of cultural objects - including ""sacred objects"" - from federally funded institutions. Although the repatriation movement among Native Americans has heretofore received scholarly attention specifically focused on this act, ""Sacred Claims"" is the first book to analyze the ways in which religious discourse is used to articulate repatriation claims. Greg Johnson takes this act as one instance in a larger context wherein native peoples around the globe must engage legal arenas in order to preserve their heritage. Methodologically, ""Sacred Claims"" is based on a close reading of government documents concerning the law and participant observation in a variety of NAGPRA-related events and provides the background and legislative history of the law, the life history of the act's axial term cultural affiliation (the most delicate and least understood aspect of NAGPRA), and several case studies of highly visible and contentious Hawaiian repatriation disputes. Johnson then moves beyond the strictly legal context to analyze NAGPRA discourse in the public realm. He concludes by way of a theoretical treatment of the foregoing issues, arguing that religious language was the chief means by which native representatives ultimately persuaded non-native audiences of the applicability of widely held human rights principles to their cultural remains. Theorizing modes of cultural vitality in the repatriation context, Johnson argues that living tradition is not found in the objects themselves but is instead located in struggles over them. With the law on the brink of receiving crucial tests, and repatriation issues making daily headlines in Native American and Hawaiian news, ""Sacred Claims"" is a timely and necessary examination of these issues.

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) of 1990 provides a legal framework within which Native Americans can seek the repatriation of human remains and certain categories of cultural objects - including ""sacred objects"" - from federally funded institutions. Although the repatriation movement among Native Americans has heretofore received scholarly attention specifically focused on this act, ""Sacred Claims"" is the first book to analyze the ways in which religious discourse is used to articulate repatriation claims. Greg Johnson takes this act as one instance in a larger context wherein native peoples around the globe must engage legal arenas in order to preserve their heritage. Methodologically, ""Sacred Claims"" is based on a close reading of government documents concerning the law and participant observation in a variety of NAGPRA-related events and provides the background and legislative history of the law, the life history of the act's axial term cultural affiliation (the most delicate and least understood aspect of NAGPRA), and several case studies of highly visible and contentious Hawaiian repatriation disputes. Johnson then moves beyond the strictly legal context to analyze NAGPRA discourse in the public realm. He concludes by way of a theoretical treatment of the foregoing issues, arguing that religious language was the chief means by which native representatives ultimately persuaded non-native audiences of the applicability of widely held human rights principles to their cultural remains. Theorizing modes of cultural vitality in the repatriation context, Johnson argues that living tradition is not found in the objects themselves but is instead located in struggles over them. With the law on the brink of receiving crucial tests, and repatriation issues making daily headlines in Native American and Hawaiian news, ""Sacred Claims"" is a timely and necessary examination of these issues.

Greg Johnson's latest collection of stories offers insights both subtle and startling into the workings of the human heart, from a child's-eye view of marital strife and a thoughtless betrayal of first love to the expansive reveries of complicated, conflicted adults looking ahead to new lives or back on past missteps and misfortunes. Johnson also delves into his literary roots with tales of imaginary encounters with Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath, Emily Dickinson, and Flannery O'Connor--who, in the title story, engages in a fierce battle of wills with a precocious eleven-year-old boy. Through it all, Johnson demonstrates his gift for describing that telling detail--a sentence, a gesture, a memory--that instantly reveals a personality, as if illuminated by lightning. Praise for I Am Dangerous: "A bravura literary performance. He rings a hundred changes on the emotional issues with which he deals, keeping them always interesting, always mysterious, changing and evolving before our eyes."--Pinckney Benedict, Chicago Tribune Book World

Dad, build a lasting bridge to your son’s heart.This critical period when he’s between eight and twelve years of age is the time to build an unbreakable bond with your son. But how do you forge a strong and resilient relationship that can withstand those potentially turbulent teenage years lying just up ahead? Dad’s Everything Book for Sons is a practical, hands-on manual for dads who have the will but aren’t quite sure of the way to give their sons the legacy of a father’s love. John Trent and Greg Johnson know exactly what you’re up against, and they help you rise to the challenge with dozens of ideas to implement in the next five years.This book is brimming with insights and absolutely jam-packed with creative and doable approaches. Here’s just a sampler of the topics and the help you’ll find inside:· Defusing communication killers· Addressing “The Big Four”: body changes, girls, sex, and honoring women· Holding a manhood ceremony· Raising secure sons· Fighting the world’s influence· Giving him unforgettable moments, gifts, lessons, and mentorsTomorrow is coming, so start putting the ideas in this book to work today. Your son will forever treasure the gifts of your time, your heart, and your faith. And you’ll always be glad you gave.

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