The First Blog Entry from CTJ Since, Like, the Paleolithic Era

In 2014, I realized that if God found it necessary to rest on the seventh day of creation—literal, figurative, or otherwise—I might do well to take a few deep breaths, too.

That being said, last year I resolved to slay fewer word dragons, eased up on my overeager social media output, read more (I even finished Dune, for crying out loud), dug in deeper on the domestic front as a stay-at-home dad, and grew tired of the Internet’s knee-jerk reactions to anything and everything. Which brings me to 2015.

Instead of descending into the Interweb’s innumerable rabbit holes and reading reactionary content and terrifying news updates when I have a free moment, I am reading the Bible instead, and all the way through. I thought I would be bored by it, considering my status as a minister’s son who has been surrounded by scripture of all of his life. But thus far it has been the source of much excitement, many questions, and countless potential essays. Thanks to my friend, Crystal Shaver, for challenging me to read the Word through in 2015!

Last year I also shaved my head, dropped some libbies (lbs., for the uninitiated), and felt like giving up on writing more times than I could count. By the year’s end, however, I found renewed purpose, and am forging onward, confident that I know what I want to write and why.

That being said, I have taken the liberty of updating the list of 2014’s published pieces on my “Read Saint Upid” page here. This list does not include pieces I wrote in 2014 that are slated for publication in 2015. I want to thank Michelle Patterson Hindman for indirectly challenging me to get my online act together again after a year or so of shirking my duties on this front.

In recent news, I appeared on Marcia Epstein’s radio show “Talk with ME” on LawrenceHits.com for an hour-long interview on Monday, January 26th. I read “My Wife, the Black Hole,” from Nightmarriage, and answered a whole lotta’ questions. Listen to the broadcast, download, and comment all you like, folks! 

“Chad Thomas Johnston is an author, sonuva’ preacha’ man, PhD-dropout, singer/songwriter, music producer/sonic reducer, daydreaming doodler, gorilla/guerilla publicist, cinemaddict, & pop-culture obsessive. He is represented by Seattle, WA-based literary agent Jenée Arthur, who is currently shopping his debut manuscript to major publishing houses.

Follow Him on Twitter: @Saint_Upid