The Grand Conspiracy, Part 1: Malice or Incompetence?

Remember the time before the pandemic, when “conspiracy theory” was still a dirty word? It still is in some quarters, but for many of us the term is now closer to “spoiler warning.” After all, what are we supposed to believe: that Epstein hung himself with a bedsheet that couldn’t hold his weight, from a… Continue reading The Grand Conspiracy, Part 1: Malice or Incompetence?

Toward a new writing technique

For the last year, I’ve been struggling to write this novel (Children of the Starry Sea, Book 2 of the Outworld Trilogy) according to my new novel writing method, which I’ve been developing since about 2017. The method involves creating a rigorous scene-by-scene outline and cycling through each scene multiple times, so that you basically… Continue reading Toward a new writing technique

The Burden of America

The prophecies of Isaiah were written around 750 B.C. and pertained primarily to the major powers of his own day, but if you tweak them just a bit, they apply remarkably well to us. Believers will say that’s because his prophecies were laced with intentional double-meaning, but you don’t have to be a believer to… Continue reading The Burden of America

What do you want to see more of in author group promotions?

For the last several months, I’ve quietly been running these Christian Author group promotions on Book Funnel and Story Origin. I started them in response to some other group author promotions that I saw floating around on Facebook, with banners that have the standard woke progressive litany. You know how it goes: in this home,… Continue reading What do you want to see more of in author group promotions?

Taking Bringing Stella Home off of Permafree

I have a lot of free and permafree books. Most of them are short, though: short stories under 10k words, with one novelette between 10k and 20k words and one novella between 20k and 40k words. Until now, I had only one permafree full-length novel: Bringing Stella Home at just under 100k words. (As a… Continue reading Taking Bringing Stella Home off of Permafree

What’s really behind the “Mormon Church”‘s stance on the Respect for Marriage Act?

Earlier this year, the US Supreme Court overthrew Roe v. Wade in the Dobbs v. Jackson decision. This was a major legal and cultural earthquake. A big question that arose from this decision was how will this affect Obergefell v. Hodges, which codified same-sex marriage as legal back in 2015? Most of the conservative justices… Continue reading What’s really behind the “Mormon Church”‘s stance on the Respect for Marriage Act?

Is politics the problem?

Steve Deace made an interesting point on his show today. They were talking about the tendency for some people to vote purely along cultural lines, even when they disagree with almost everything that “their” candidate stands for—or in other words, people who vote Democrat “because we are Democrats” or Republican “because we are Republicans.” In… Continue reading Is politics the problem?

New free short story!

Hi guys! I am very excited about this new short story that I just published this week, which I’m hoping to turn into a series (and possibly a novel). It’s called “Christopher Columbus, Wildcatter” and it’s an upbeat, action-packed space adventure. Check it out!

Is this the worst possible election result?

As I write this, it’s the morning after the US 2022 midterm elections. The results aren’t totally in yet, but it appears that the Republicans are going to have a slight majority in the House, while the Senate is poised on the edge of a knife and could go either way. Republicans had convinced themselves… Continue reading Is this the worst possible election result?