Slaughter Of The Fattened Calf (Short Story Publication)

One of my short stories was recently published by Agape Review. Read the full story here. Sarah sat at the dinner table as if returned from the dead. I might have fallen over if Dad hadn’t run over, hugging me and yelling, “Isn’t it wonderful!” “Delightful,” I mumbled. “Hello, Davey.” She did her best to …

The Best Science Fiction Novels You’ve Never Read

Everyone knows cool sci-fi universes like the galaxies of Star Trek and Star Wars, and fans of the classics know Asimov's Foundation Trilogy. But one of the best science fiction universes is a little more obscure: C. S. Lewis's awesome (though uncreatively titled) Space Trilogy. You mean Lewis wrote books other than Narnia? you may …

“Remembrance of Earth’s Past” Trilogy Review (No Spoilers)

I recently read Cixin Liu's Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy--The Three-Body Problem, The Dark Forest, and Death's End--and was it ever fantastic. Overall, it's one of the best science fiction series I've ever read with good characters and some of the most creative and original concepts I've ever seen in any science fiction piece. It's …

What the Astronaut Thought With 3% Oxygen Left in His Tank

People aren’t meant to be alone because we’re made in the image of a God who is never alone. It’s the Trinity—the one God is three persons. And for all eternity, they’ve loved one another. I watch the ship’s rockets ignite and realize that I will be dying alone. The decision had seemed so easy. …

Prologues and Openings

As a child, I didn't like writing the beginning of a story. To me, the beginning was a long, boring sequence of character introductions labeled exposition that I had to get out of the way before the fun could start. One book I wrote had random action sequences (staring different characters) that had almost nothing to do …

Please Write Responsibly

I was reading an story the other day that imagined an alternate history in which President Kennedy survived his assassination attempt, but had severe brain damage, leaving him childlike. While the story was really good, I had to ask myself: is this respectful? Kennedy was a real person who really died not that long ago. He has living …

Marketing and Publishing Tips for Authors from Expert Sara Wigal

Do you ever stare at the books on your shelf and wonder how you get to there from where you are now--how to get to published. Recently, I interviewed Sara Wigal, the Senior Manager of JKS Communications and publishing professor at Belmont University. According to her, there are two routes for authors--traditional publishing and self …

Don’t Start With an Info Dump

Recently, I was looking back over a short story I wrote in high school and realized how slow the opening was. People don't have long attention spans, so grabbing them in the first couple sentences is critical. So what does this story do wrong, and what can I learn about good openings from its failure? …

13 Social Media Tips for Authors

Social media has never come naturally to me. In fact, I much prefer anti-social media like books. Maybe you know the feeling of staring at your Twitter or Facebook page (or your blog) and feeling like you have nothing important to say. My social media class has pushed me on this, and I recently went …

Why is There so Little Christian Science Fiction?

There's C. S. Lewis's Space Trilogy (highly recommended). There's Madeline L'Engle's books. A couple of Jerry Jenkins's book are dystopian. And that's about it. I'm sure there are wonderful science fiction books with Christian themes out there that I've just never heard of, but they seem to by a small, small minority. As a Christian …