I am the faculty sponsor of the Rough Writers, the student creative writing club here at Southwestern Adventist University. We’re pretty open and loose about what people can bring to the group to be critiqued, and inevitably there is at least one or two writers in the group whose favorite genre is fantasy. Many would-be … More When Nonfiction Becomes Fiction…and Vice Versa
People occasionally ask me how many books I have written, and my usual response is, “Written? Or published?” Because there really is a difference. Every writer has ugly stepchildren: those stories, articles, books and other projects that started off as grand ideas but never saw the light of day, and in the end, the writer … More Ugly Stepchildren and Other Beginnings
I’ve been asked what the hardest part of writing a novel is, and my answer tends to be directly related to how well my novel-building is going at the time. My dad used to have a saying: “Some days you eat the bear, and some days the bear eats you.” Some books come together quickly … More Brick By Brick
I was watching The Late Show with Stephen Colbert the other night when the actor Paul Dano was being interviewed. Stephen Colbert talked about how “intimate” his acting roles tend to be, and it got me thinking about writing (of course). Intimacy. Privacy. Vulnerability. It’s what we all resist sharing, and yet it’s what we … More The Yin and Yang of Storytelling
Constitution: Book 1 of the Legacy Fleet Trilogy by Nick Webb. Amazon Digital Services. 362 pages. Decades after a war against aliens almost destroyed the human race, the last of the old line of fleet ships who held the line against the invaders is about to be turned into a museum. And with it, the … More Review: “Constitution” by Nick Webb
“This is the way the world ends….not with a bang but a whimper.” –T.S. Eliot The other night I noticed a trailer for another dystopian movie coming out soon, this one “The Fifth Wave,” a so-so story about an alien invasion that comes in waves of devastation. I got hooked on the storytelling a couple … More It’s the End of the World As We Know It…
Deepsix by Jack McDevitt. Eos Books, 426 pages. It’s great when you can find an author who can write a really good book. It’s wonderful when you buy a second book from that same author and find it better than the first one. I’m hooked on Jack McDevitt. Jack McDevitt writes hard science fiction. But … More Review: “Deepsix” by Jack McDevitt
The Engines of God by Jack McDevitt. Ace Science Fiction. 419 pages. I loves me a good hard science fiction book. Jack McDevitt delivers here. The story is set in the year 2203. Earth is struggling with overpopulation, its natural resources are pretty well depleted, the effects of global warming have set in, and scientists … More Review: “The Engines of God” by Jack McDevitt
This is for those who showed interest in “Tesla’s Ghost.” Here’s the next part to the story. Enjoy. A pack of wild dogs skittered across the wild landscape, the wreckage surrounding them reminiscent of a not-too-distant past when man had reigned supreme on the Earth. Broken and rusted cars lined a dusty street with … More “Letters from the Dead”
Mercs: Crimson Worlds Successors (Volume 1) by Jay Allan. 286 pages. System 7 Publishing. I’ve been a good boy lately and been reading books that most people would consider socially edifying. But once in a while I have to eat a little ice cream along with my vegetables, in this case, military science fiction. Jay … More Review: “Mercs: Crimson Worlds Successors I” by Jay Allan
The Great Adventure 