About a dozen years ago, I was invited to team-teach an Honors class at our University entitled “Christianity and Science Fiction.” Some of my colleagues suggested that it should be called “Christianity vs. Science Fiction,” but that was not the point. From my perspective, both inspirational fiction and science fiction deal with the same challenge: … More Why Not Christian Science Fiction?
You know how it goes with brilliant ideas. Sometimes there are…complications. I still think my concept of putting a low-cost e-book on the psychology of writing is a good idea. I think that the fact that I have been writing along those lines for five years in my blog is great. It’s even wonderful that … More A Complication with a Compilation
I feel guilty if I am not making progress of some sort or another. Yes, it’s summer, and as a college professor I am entitled to get away from “work” in one way or another. But since the highlight of our summer will probably be my wife’s surgery, we’re not likely to go anywhere. Meanwhile, … More Sharing the Wealth
I am a product of the Seventh-day Adventist publishing system. For more than 100 years, Adventists have shared their distinctive beliefs and messages through written books and magazines that are published in printing presses around the world and distributed in Adventist Book Centers as well as door to door. My first book, 52 Things to … More Long Time Gone
The phrase “seeing the elephant” or “he saw the elephant” makes me think of old war movies, especially ones with the British Army bivouacked in a remote area, with references to first combat. But as I research it, it actually originates in Georgia (United States) in 1835. The phrase “seeing the elephant” was originally tied … More Seeing the Elephant
I don’t know if it’s because I have a vivid imagination, because I am a writer, or just a blessing by God, but I have always had dreams that present themselves in technicolor. Some are bad, which is understandable, but many are very good. And it has been just the past year or two that … More Sweeping Up Stardust
“Never let the facts get in the way of a good story.” –-J. Frank Dobie, American folklorist I deal with students and student writers everyday. Most of them are interested in writing fiction; many of them want and do write fantasy. In the mind of the common reader, fantasy is one of those genres that … More Truth and Fiction
It is my privilege to teach writing in a university, something I thoroughly enjoy. This semester I am teaching a class called Narrative Writing, which is a lot of fun. We have 10 students who take turns submitting their short stories (at this point; novel pages later) for critique by the class. It’s tough to … More In Search of Intimacy
A few years ago, I can’t remember how many, I wrote a blog about visiting my daughter’s high school in east Texas, where I was the guest of their creative writing club. Seven girls and one boy grilled me about the harsh reality of being a freelance author. Finally, one of them asked me, “How … More Getting Paid
I’m one of those guys who has more ideas than he has time to exploit those ideas. Retirement is coming one of these days, and my hope is that I will finally take the time to turn these kernels of stories into fully fledged novels. In the meantime, I came across the idea of writing … More One Mind, Many Options
The Great Adventure 