The following is a new short story that I intend to turn into part of my project Pilgrim’s Progress novel this summer. Enjoy. The sun baked our brown, supple bikinied bodies, and we reveled in it. Four of us—Marcie, Kimmy, Infinity and me, Ellie—were on permanent spring break. School was out, and we had no … More “The Stranger”
Maybe it’s because 2012 is the end of the world according to the Mayan calendar. But I have certainly seen a lot of apocalyptic stories being circulated out there. Of course, it all depends on how you define “apocalypse.” Most of those these days have to do with zombies (and defining that is another issue, … More What I’ve Learned from the Apocalypse
As I have mentioned here many times before, I’m teaching a Narrative Writing class this semester that is presently winding down. In addition to requiring students to write the first 50 pages of a novel as well as the outline, they will have an essay final. One of the questions on the final I have … More Can you believe it?
I’m the type of author that infuriates publishers. Hence I am publishing my own stuff these days. What I’m talking about it the whole concept of genre. I don’t know who invented the concept, but it didn’t take long for a lot of people to buy into the idea. The intent was to label stories … More Genre? What genre?
A year ago or so I read a book series entitled Coyote, which was a retelling of the Mayflower story in science fiction terms. Some political dissidents steal a space ship intended to start a colony on a distant planet and start their own colony. The story develops from there in many different, interesting ways. … More Novels that Are Short Stories
About two decades ago, I was a book editor at Pacific Press Publishing Association in Boise, Idaho. One of the books that came through for my consideration was a manuscript from my friend Clifford Goldstein entitled “Best Seller.” In it, he tells of his desire to become a world-famous novelist and how he struggled for … More Sacrifice, Surrender and Commitment: A Christian Writer’s Dilemma
One of the first exercises I had the students in my Narrative Writing class do this semester is write about their greatest fear. It was hard; I know, because I did it myself. And I will have to admit that I cheated somewhat. I told the class three things I was afraid of, but the … More Life Outside the Comfort Zone
Yesterday was my first time teaching my new Narrative Writing class. I’m a communication professor, and it’s an English class, so it seems a bit odd. But the English department is excited, I’m excited, and I hope my students will be excited too. Actually, the feeling I got from them yesterday morning was one of … More To be totally honest….
Yesterday I finally got up the courage to publicly announce that I was going the self-publishing route. I gave several reasons for my irrationality. Then after I finished my blog, I thought of some more. Here’s a specific one that comes to mind. Publishers tend to be married to specific audiences. They produce magazines and … More The Island of Misfit Authors
I have wanted to do a graphic novel for a long, long time. Trouble is, I don’t have the money to invest in an illustrator, inker and designer. And as for me, I would have better luck as a jet pilot than as an artist. I paint with words, but I needed someone who could … More The Graphic Novel Experiment
The Great Adventure 