The Godfather who made me a Pastor

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The Godfather made me a pastor. No, really. Working for the Godfather helped finance my theology degree. In an interview with Authority Magazine, I described how I worked for Marlon Brando, the actor who played the lead role in the 1972 hit movie The Godfather. I’m not going to tell you how or why. You’ll have to read the article to find out. I can say this. When I started working for him, I was as surprised as you. Authority Magazine publishes feature interviews of people who are authorities in Business, Film, Sports and Tech.  In this article, I shared what I’ve learned about writingRead More →

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In: Novel, Uncategorized, Writing

I had the pleasure of being interviewed on the Douglas Colman Show. This is my first video interview, and I found it easier than expected. About half of the questions were personal and half concerned his upcoming novel The Healing Stone and the Shadows of Time series. When asked where my stories come from, I said, “As a kid, I had a fascination with science fiction and history. Shows like the old Star Trek, Star Wars, Dr. Who – these were the ones back in the late 70s and early 80s – these shows fascinated me. I wondered if I were to write an episode,Read More →

Cartoon drawing of Batman's best villains

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In: Writing

To drive story tension and conflict, every main character (protagonist) should have a villain (antagonist) of equal or greater ability. Ability That ability could come in the form of raw strength, cunning, knowledge, or any other skill that pins them against each other in a battle on a knife’s edge. The skill doesn’t even need to match. They don’t both have to be equals in strength—it often works better if their skills aren’t the same—but what does matter is that the protagonist and reader aren’t sure of victory. Nature The antagonist doesn’t need to be a human being. It could be an animal or anRead More →

Child of the Stone - featured image

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In: History, Short Stories, Writing

 New short story Child of the Stone released as an ebook on Amazon. Child of the Stone Discovering a Relic of Time Travel Avar-Tek Event 4 eBook – Short Story When an old peasant in medieval Spain unearths an ancient box, he discovers a power that will change his life. A silver plate promises to bring him and his wife out of poverty, but the true treasure lies hidden in another artifact: a simple stone. Once he discovers the stone’s powers, he must either tell the truth and forfeit it to the authorities, or let his greed corrupt it. Preview       Mud, heavyRead More →

Say what?

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In: Theology, Writing

Swear Words in Christina Literature I’ve always been a clean guy. Well, at least my language. And hygiene, I mean … I shower also. So, when it comes to writing a story, should we have our characters cuss or curse or use those words our mothers told us not to? To a point, yes. Here’s my reasoning. If, for example, your character is in prison and he’s going to talk to someone, they’re going to cuss. Sorry. That’s the way you roll in prison. The most common word is Mutha-Fudga. What is a mutha-fudga? Honestly, I’m not sure. It must be something cold as inRead More →

The Apprentice Stone cover close-up

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In: Novel

Eye Catching Cover The cover art for The Apprentice Stone is complete! A shout-out to the artist who did a wonderful job. I would recommend Rebeca from RebecaCovers to anyone because she is flexible, quick, and talented. Mysterious Elements The knight on the cover is the main character Francisco when he’s in his early thirties. Francisco is 12 to 16 in this novel. The castle in the fog behind him is Almovodar Castle near Cordoba, Spain. Francisco spent some time here with Angelo as a captive of Prince Sidi Abbad ben Ali. As a result, this gives the cover a sense of realism and mystery that catches the eye. Blurb on theRead More →