Recently, I attended the Realm Makers Conference & Expo 2026. Why? Because of the community - fellow Christians who enjoy writing speculative fiction (aka fantasy, sci-fi, steampunk, fairytale retellings, etc.) - that understand what I write and why I write it. Oh, how I have missed getting to rub elbows in person with so many incredible friends! Why mention this experience? Why point out these people? Because community matters and being understood is a hard experience to explain but one that li…

What do you feel called to do? Write? Paint? Sculpt? Teach? Build? Design? Make? What keeps you up at night? Inspires you? Are you working on it? As you can tell for me, writing is important. It calls to me. Everywhere I turn I see the possibility of a story. The tall pine tree in the back yard - what has it seen? The little boy staring hard at the money bars in the park - why look first and not just climb them? The ladybug tending to the flowers in the garden - what does she see? There are time…

In both life and writing, things don't always work out when we think they will. Some things happen earlier or later or not at all. For example, I got the contract with Elk Lake Publishing, Inc. to publish Sonji in the fall of 2021. Sonji was originally supposed to release in late spring of 2022. It didn't happen. Sonji published early summer of 2023. Why? God's timing is better than my own. Also, my editor Mel Hughes and I both struggled with bouts of COVID-19. I had brain fog horribly for six m…

Getting published is no easy task. People talk about publishers and agents being the gatekeepers - but I've found this to be only partially true. You are the gatekeeper to your own writing. Know who you are pitching to. Know if they print Middle Grade (8 to 12 years) or Young Adult (12 to 18 years) or just Adult (18+ years). I hear complaints now and again from authors about publishers pushing them to add in smut or language, so the book sells better. But that's not everyone. My publisher, Elk L…