In his review of Ex Machina Guardian writer Martin Robbins hones in upon “a funny symmetry in our attitudes to God and AIs.” In Artificial Intelligence: Gods, Egos, and Ex-Machina, Robbins sets up his reason thusly: When our species created God, we created Him in our image. We assumed that something as complicated as the world [...]
Back in the early 2000s, I had a letter to the editor published in the Los Angeles Times. At the time, I thought it signaled I’d arrived. I was a beginning writer and had had a dozen (or more) letters published in the local paper. So I started aiming for the “big time.” In that [...]
On their Facebook page, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America recently posted about a Kickstarter project for “Blacktastic: A Podcast of Black Scifi and Fantasy Stories.” From the Kickstarter: “People from all background are starting to realize there is a need for diversity in Science Fiction and Fantasy and demands for a change are [...]
Back in August 2012, Publishers Weekly declared that Christian YA Fiction [is] Coming Into Full-Bloom. Christian teen fiction is coming into its own these days as sales rise for both digital and traditional books, and as publishers look for the next bestselling series. While Christian publishers haven’t found juggernauts that compare to Harry Potter, the [...]
C.S. Lewis famously, albeit flippantly, cautioned, “A young man who wishes to remain a sound atheist cannot be too careful of his reading.” Lewis made this remark in his autobiography, Surprised By Joy, in which he chronicled his move away from atheism to Christianity. That move began, oddly enough, through fantastical literature. For example, during [...]
I’m thrilled to announce that my first full-length self-published novel was listed by Publishers Weekly as one of the best self-published titles of 2015. The Ghost Box, first book in my paranoir series about the adventures of paranormal reporter Reagan Moon, was recently selected by Publisher’s Weekly as one of the Self-Publishing Stars of 2015. [...]
I kept my relative distance from the whole Sad Puppies / Hugo controversy. While I definitely find myself on the Puppies side and even have a few writing / publishing friends who’ve suffered backlash from the overt politicization of the awards, I personally have no dog (or puppy) in the fight. The gist of the [...]
If you’re looking to become a full-time author, you’ll find plenty of advice out there. How I Became a Full-Time Writer. How I Make a Living as a Writer (and You Can Too). How To Make a Living as an Author. Articles like these abound. It’s unusual to find someone who loves to write, but who [...]
I heard a preacher once say cynicism was a sin that Christians should repent of. I immediately distrusted the man. Okay. That’s a bit of an exaggeration. I just took everything else he said with a grain of salt. You see, I have come to view cynicism as a rather healthy reaction to the state of [...]
Western civilization’s drift from a predominantly Judeo-Christian worldview to postmodern relativism has had a significant effect on our storytelling. Any appeal to Good and Evil, Right and Wrong — a universe where absolutes exist — is intrinsically tethered to a Judeo Christian worldview. And without that worldview and a context of Moral Absolutes, stories lack logical [...]
