Stories from the Psalms, Volume 1: Coffee Shops and Spaceships is a collection of short stories based on the Book of Psalms, sharing God’s message through modern situations and language. Why was this an important book for you to write?

I’ve been writing fiction for about thirty years now. I initially began cutting my teeth writing short fiction in the horror genre, and more recently science fiction, but my long-form works (novels) have invariably explored themes of faith. Along with fiction, I have enjoyed creating other types of writing such as blog entries, film reviews, and traditional devotionals (first for my local church then later my own website). All of these divergent styles and genres eventually brought about the idea (or inspiration) of doing a devotional like this, where the devotional itself would be fiction. To be honest, as much as the idea intrigued me, and as much as it felt more and more that I was supposed to do this, I balked for some time. This would be a pretty public show of my faith after all, not to mention I had no idea if there was an audience for this kind of book. In the end, it was worth it. Whether it resonates with anyone else (which would be really nice, let’s be honest), working on this book felt like a tithing of my writing more than any other work.

What were the morals you were trying to capture while creating your characters?

One deliberate aspect of my characters’ faith lives which I strived in a few stories, was that they would be confident in their relationship with Jesus. Too often, people of faith have been portrayed as the weaker, Ned Flanders-type. That’s not how I see myself, or the many strong, amazing Christian people I’ve known. I enjoyed taking these characters and, sometimes, seeing how they’d react when faced with something working to turn them away from that faith. Anything else, personality-wise, depended on the story. I tried not to hide the brokenness in people as well, like the little girl in “The Snow” who lives her young life weighed down by others’ fears or the sad, forgotten man in the aptly named “The Forgotten Man.”

What experience in your life has had the biggest impact on your writing?

Hmm. Early on, it was probably my introverted nature. I spent too much time in my head. When I realized my rather strange imagination and daydreams were nothing more than the raw material for stories I could write down someday, I was able to silence that inner voice that told me for most of my life I had no stories worth telling. Everyone does. As time has gone on, I’ve become a parent and husband, had my heart broken with both pain and joy. Just as importantly, I have met so many people who have been through so much in their lives, like my wife Linda, yet never let events define who they were, especially in their relationship with God. Life teaches lessons. Eventually, as a writer, these lessons get shared with others.

Can you tell us what the second book will be about, and when it will be available for fans to purchase?

Well, if we’re talking about Stories from the Psalms, Volume 2, I honestly don’t know. That was a big part of the joy of writing Volume 1, everything was spontaneous. At the moment, I’m in the editing phase of the sequel to my science fiction novel Plague of Locusts. It’s being a difficult, petulant child of a book, however. I am itching to jump into Psalm 16 and beyond for Volume 2, as well.

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