Stories/Artwork

     While I have a passion for Zambia and for ministry, I also have a passion for writing fictional stories. I'm an author at heart. I always have been, and I always will be. If I ever stopped writing, I would probably go insane and start having more voices in my head than usual... *u*

     My first story--transcribed by my dad when I was four--was titled, "Snip, Cougar, and Cheerio Went for a Walk in the Hot, Winter Sun." It was an ingenious work about three cats running away from a man who ran away from a monster, and then the monster got eaten by bugs, and (in an ironic twist) the cats ate the bugs. There was also a snowman in there too somewhere.

    More seriously, though, I now have several novels in progress, all at varying degrees of completeness. I like to call my main genre "Character-driven Fantasy". With regard to the hearts of the characters, it's realism. With regard to the world, it's fantasy. I've built an entire world around most of my stories, which is inhabited by three sentient races: the Men, the Satyrs (goat-people of Greek legend), and a beautiful, long-lived, magical race of my own invention. There's also a fairy folk called the Wols.

Known colloquially as Squirrel-Elves

     What I love most about my stories is, of course, the characters. People! I love people. Sometimes I love people so much that I don't know what to do about it. In any case, my characters are my own people, and I absolutely adore each and every one of them. I believe the main thing in writing a good story is for the author to love his or her characters. Of course, grammar is important too, and good story structure, and original ideas, but really if you love your characters, you'll want to do your best for them--so those things will follow naturally.

A Philosopher and a King

My dear, mocking, magically-talented Toymaker

    I hope to begin publishing sometime, in order to share my stories with the world, and also to make a little extra income for my ministry in Zambia. In fact, I have one story which I really think is ready to send to an editor, but since I'm in a time of transition right now, I'm making myself wait. Eventually, I hope this blog can become one outlet for publicizing my stories, so in the meantime I'll just give you a teaser of what you can hope to find on the market someday:

Tir-nan-Og
A kids' series of novellas about a Faery who feels others' emotions as if they were her own. She lives in a land filled with good, mythical creatures, but they are in conflict with a dark land filled with evil, mythical creatures.

Heron at Sunset
Two countries in my main world are at war. A spy from one country falls in love with a girl from the other and finds his loyalties divided.

Nostalgic for Terror
A girl in an oppressive dictatorship is arrested and forms a special bond with a member of the Secret Police. However, the man's dark past cannot be so easily escaped.

Lost Melody
In a world where the sun, moon, and stars have been swallowed up in a maroon sky, a man with an obsession finds the only person who can bring them back.

The Marvellous Adventures of Neforio Hans
A kids' series of short stories about a daring ship's captain who sails the seven seas with his eccentric crew, discovering all the beautiful lands and magical secrets of my world.

The Crystal Flute
A poor girl with a talent for the flute is offered a job and finds herself dragged into an adventure filled with magic and demons and a plot to overthrow the evil king.

Midnight's Call
The twisting tale of the only Satyr in my world who ever fell in love with a human woman--and who faced the wrath of his people and the fear of hers as a result.

The Heir of Kitachi
A responsible peasant girl falls in love with a pale, young man at the well but finds that he's not who he says he is, and that he's suffering from a serious illness.

The Heart of Valor
Seen from the perspective of an army commander in my world, this is a story of war and friendship, loyalty and betrayal, and a country's fight for independence.

The Spirit of Eialarinn
A orphaned, little girl is given into the care of her rich uncle, who lives in a mansion in the shadow of a deep, mysterious forest. Neglected and feeling that her uncle hates her, the girl runs into the forest, but the man--and the forest--harbor grief and dark secrets that she never could have suspected.

Unwillingly Bound
A young woman is forced into an arranged marriage with the rich landlord of her village. He loves her with a sincere heart, but her affections are for another man.

The Rich Young Man
A kids' novel about hardworking girl who grew up in an orphanage. When she's sent to a rich, foreign household to be their maid, she finds that it's full of odd, eccentric characters--especially the master of the house.

Deepening Dusk
A cruel philosopher murders his way to the throne and begins conquering kingdoms--all with the goal of massacring the third and most beautiful, magical race of my world. Several perspectives are explored, including that of the philosopher, the king of the beautiful race, a revolutionary who tries to stop the madness, and the only person who cares about the philosopher.

The Tale of Piebald Bear
A kids' novel about the only survivor of the massacre: the Toymaker. In his wandering, the Toymaker stumbles across an isolated village and decides to craft a living teddy bear with his magic. Trouble occurs when the children of the village begin disappearing, and the landlord blames the town doctor. Can Piebald Bear find out the truth and save the day?

The Mephinch
A kids' novel about a 6-year-old girl who tumbles into another world and finds herself face-to-face with a Very Odd Creature! It's all fun and exciting until she discovers she can't get back home.

The Toymaker
The philosopher from Deepening Dusk returns and wages war against the whole world. Only the Toymaker can defeat him, but a battle of hatred and forgiveness boils beneath the surface.

Travel With Me
Con-temporal with The Toymaker, a ship's navigator who lost everything in the war sees a strange shooting star. Upon closer inspection, he finds that it's a kind of ship--with an alien inside! The alien takes the man back to his homeworld, and they get caught up in a battle between planets.

Stirring the Ashes
Set in modern America. A girl's journey through high school and college, and the pain and loss of innocence she suffers in our morally-decaying society.

The Empty Set
Also in modern America. A mathematically-minded, atheistic, middle-school nerd becomes strangely obsessed with the answer to a math problem. As the answer continues to bother him, he begins to feel that something is terribly wrong in his life.

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That's all! If you would like to have a taste of what my writing is like, I've posted a few stories (that I don't plan to publish) here: Young Writers Society - Songmorning
And here: Wattpad - Songmorning