I am a lover of stories seeking the miraculous and impossible moments when death and Hell and sin turn back on themselves and are overcome, the awesome moments of transformation that speak to transcendent goodness and mercy and bring hope in the reader. Some of the moments I've found exist only in the stories in my head, and so I also write, trying to bring to birth something that will leave the reader richer for having read.

If you've ever found yourself taking in a story filled with darkness and suddenly crying as a spark of light appears in the perfect place, or wanting to stand up and cheer as a nobody discovers a real reason to be a hero and lay down their life, then you know the moments I'm looking for.

I hope you find some of them here.

Other things you will find in my stories include, but are not limited to:

-Totally boss women characters. Lots of them. My mom is like a tomboy artist cross between the Proverbs 31 woman, Nancy Reagan, Annie Oakley, and Dr. Quinn medicine woman. She thinks nothing of picking up snakes and showing them off to small children with accompanying lectures, and probably does more maintenance on the farm in a day than the average housewife does in a lifetime. So yes. Scads of competent women captains, women space marines, women spies, etc. Long live the brave but complex female protagonist!

-Internal consistency. Sci-fi is my favorite genre, and the one I read the most growing up. I've also taken the punishing, dream crushing independent study course over at http:///public_html/rocket/index.php, had all my dreams of stealth in space and ships that go forever brutally crushed, and recovered with a ton of hard, detailed, consistent excuses why MY ships CAN do stealth... sort of. This detailed approach is in everything I write, even the fantasy, and most of the time if there is something even remotely technical and I am not explaining how it works, it is because I am exercising extreme self control. Don't worry, I am always learning more self control.

-Things blowing up. I like blowing things up. I'm a pyro who branched out into running the yearly 4th of July fireworks show for all my friends. Expect things to blow up in my stories. Or catch on fire. Unless I'm writing about peaceful people who don't shoot things or swing swords, which I sometimes do.

-Demons. The kind you can't see, mostly, but which mess with people's heads and sow evil and dissension and are pure evil. Don't ask why. I do have reasons and they're mostly tied to issues.

-Pain. Life is full of suck. Things get dark. Forget that. Things are mostly dark. I look at all my stories and ask if I'm telling the honest truth of broken life in them, or selling Hallmark cards. If the answer is Hallmark cards, someone is probably going to die. Someone fictional. I'm not a sociopath.

-Hope. See the opening comments. Death and the Devil getting punched in the face is not only awesome, but it's also a cause for hope. Sure it takes a lot of setup, painstaking setup, but a big solid gutpunch to Big D and Little D is what I'm always going for. And the follow through. Don't forget the follow through. "Happily Ever After"? Feh. I'm setting my marks on, "Eternal Joy".

-Redemption. I love redemption. More than anything else, save my Redeemer. It is going to be a common theme in anything I write, largely because it is the only thing that offers true hope for us broken people living in our broken world.

WRITING ADVICE: I will consult on worldbuilding for the fun of it.

FAVORITE WRITING AIDS:
-Two Steps From Hell/Thomas Bergersen: This band does trailer music, which is also known as the really awesome epic music that movies use for giant battle scenes and such. Almost everything they have out is available free and legal for you to listen to on the Two Steps From Hell Youtube channel. I often listen to this music for inspiration. It's also just really beautiful.
-ProjectRho/Atomic Rockets. I already mentioned them above, but here is a fuller explanation. This website, run by Winchell Chung, has so much information useful to Sci-Fi writers it is absurd. I can't even begin to describe how detailed and awesome it is. Did I mention useful? I did, but it deserves numerous repeats. Search ProjectRho and Atomic Rockets and you'll find it right off. The categories are listed on the bottom of the Atomic Rockets pages.