April Update

As most of you have noticed, I've been away from this blog for the past couple months. It's a very long story as to why I was MIA from social media in general, but for the moment I'll simply give all of you an update on what I'm currently working on and what projects are on the horizon.

Most of my time at the moment has been spent getting settled in California. Back in August, my wife and I were called to become part of a church plant in San Francisco called Canvas. Canvas won't officially launch as a church until September, but 25+ people from Arizona are in the process of relocating to the Bay Area to make this plant happen. My wife and I just finished securing our new place in Daly City, and we'll be moving in there next Monday the 15th. Once I'm completely settled, I'll be getting back into the full swing of my blogging routine, and I'll be plugging back into my online venues such as The Crossover Alliance and my own website.

Another piece of news is that today I'll be sketching out an outline to a brand new non-fiction project - a novel that details the journey of faith my wife and I have been on over the past few years. I've been meaning to begin this project for a while now, and I figure now that I'm finally getting settled with things I have the time to dig into it. This non-fiction novel is tentatively titled "Never Forsaken" - a title based on Psalm 37:25. A release date for this book has not yet been determined. For those of you who have been waiting for the third novel in my Expired Reality series, fear not because I am going to be working on it side-by-side with my new non-fiction project.

Over the course of the next month, I will be revamping many of my online channels. I'll be using MailChimp to help me craft and manage better email newsletters, Weebly or Moonfruit to help me streamline and polish my website, and Hootsuite to help me manage my FB and Twitter feeds more productively.

That's some of what I'll be working on over the course of the next couple of months. In the next couple weeks I'll be getting back into my blogging groove, and as soon as my aforementioned channels are updated, I'll let everyone know.

Crazy Faith

Crazy faith.

It's a term I've heard thrown around lately, and I can't help but wonder if it's actually more demeaning than it sounds. Some try to put a positive spin on it and call it 'Extreme Faith', somehow implying that there are levels of faith that eventually reach a plateau in the preposterous. But it's the same idea - faith that looks somewhat ridiculous because it goes beyond the norm or expectations of society.

When I have the time to reflect on my life, I come to many interesting conclusions about God, faith, and life here on this side of eternity. One of those conclusions/observations is that God, over the years, has been calling me and my wife to walk across narrower and narrower ledges of faith. In simple terms, He's been calling us to give more of our lives over to Him and trust Him - have faith in Him - to do more with those areas of our lives than we could possibly do.

Isaiah 55:9 - "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts." 
 
Ephesians 3:20 - Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us...

It should be no surprise to fellow Christians that God wants ALL of us. Every part of us, every nook and cranny of our lives, every single thing. This simply means that we trust - or have faith - that God will take care of the things/people/situations that are precious to us. Surprisingly, not many Christians walk this out - at least not to the fullest. I'm here to challenge people to wake up and take stock of what God is requiring of us.

Let's look at it this way - if God can do immeasurably more than we could ask for or imagine, and if His ways are higher (infinitely better) than our ways, then why wouldn't we want to abandon all this stuff to Him and allow and trust Him to make it better? It sounds like a decent trade - our crap for His best. But not many look at it like that. In fact, many people (yes, even fellow Christians) look at giving things to God as foolish...

We give 10% of our income believing - in faith - that God will do more with that 10% than we could ever do with the 90% that's left over. We look foolish because this 'theory' does not follow the mathematical equations this world is built around.

We quit high paying, stable jobs to follow God's calling, sometimes into the unknown. We look foolish because giving up a sure thing that gives us economic security to walk out something in faith goes against our base human survivalist and materialistic tendencies.

We save ourselves sexually for marriage because we have faith that God has the perfect individual for us - when His timing is right. We look foolish because sex is given as a free commodity on the world market. I mean, who turns down pleasure that's free?

Walking out in faith in a world that's consumed with solid, material things that can be seen almost always looks foolish to those who don't add the "God factor" to the equation. And what's funny, is most of the time when Christians see other Christians walking these things out - things they themselves wouldn't walk out if called to do so, they slap the "Crazy Faith" or "Extreme Faith" label on it, as if that justifies their own lack of faith to walk out the same.

I've had many people shake their heads at me when I tell them half the stuff my wife and I are called to on a daily basis. I got into a discussion with a good friend of mine recently and out of it came the theory that perhaps my wife and I are actually called to live out more extreme faith than other Christians, that there is a wide path, a narrow path - and then there's us walking out on the edge of the narrow path.

I guess I wouldn't go as far as saying we're called to that type of faith. In reality, I think faith is faith, and how far and wide your faith stretches all depends on your perspective of God. Do you trust him with a little, with a lot, or with everything? There's a big difference between those three. I don't want to keep ANYTHING from God. I'm not saying it's easy to lay everything down at His feet on a daily basis, but I am saying that's what God is expecting from us.

And that's not cray cray faith, or extreme faith, or super faith. That's faith. That's trust in God. That's confidence in His ability to do more than we could possibly imagine.

The End Of A Season

It's been a long season, spiritually speaking, filled with discipline, learning, growth, and dream-shaping.

It was 3 1/2 years ago when I was wrongfully fired from my 9-5 data entry job. It was then that God set me on a path to pursue my writing career. 7 books later (6 novels, 1 novella), and I cannot even recognize who I was at the beginning of this path.

When God whispered the promise that that particular data entry job would be the last conventional job I would work in before my writing took off, I wasn't aware of the context God spoke the promise in. I figured the day I walked out of that building was the day I would see my sales soar and my income balance out to where I could at least pay the electric bill with one of my royalty checks.

But God had other plans.

And isn't that how it always ends up? Very rarely - if at all - do I find that I completely understand God's intentions when He gives a promise. I had no idea it would take 3 1/2 years for my wife and I to get to a place where we would be able to handle my writing career taking off. This season has been the most difficult of my entire life, a constant stretch and pull of my spirit. My intentions have been questioned and refined, my purpose has been chiseled and hacked, my perception of who God is and what He really wants has been clarified.

I've been caught up in reflection lately, looking back over my shoulder to take account of the path God has brought me along. I see now how the pieces of my life fell perfectly into place to bring me to where I am now. I see now how God guided me along some ridiculously narrow ledges, how He carried me over dark pits I didn't even know were there, and how He comforted me when I had to give up some baggage - like bad friendships, counterfeit opportunities, and selfish motives. The path, stretches back farther than I can see, revealing to me that He was working even in my childhood to bring me to this day, to this spot in time.

Ephesians 2:10 - "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them."

And now I'm at the end of this season. I know it in the very core of my being. The door that I've been standing in front of all these years - the door I've been knocking on until my knuckled bled, the door I've attempted to pick the lock on at times, the door which I spread my tears upon, the door I've attempted to kick down in my darkest hours - it will be opened. The door will be opened, and this dream will be birthed, and it will happen quicker than I could have imagined, and it will bring about a fulfillment of the promise greater than I could possibly have fathomed.

Habakkuk 2:3 - "For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay."

Today marks the end of one season, opening the way for a new season. Opening the way for the fulfillment of a promise.

Anaisha

In today's post, I want to talk a bit about Anaisha - the planet my Expired Reality series takes place on. Anaisha's origins are a mystery, but the manner in which humanity built a civilization upon the planet is not. It is revealed through the Black Earth series (which is a prequel series to the ER series) that Strangeways Silver, owner of SilverTech Industries, 'founded' the planet and claimed it as humanity's next inhabitable world. For years, Mr. Silver sent teams of scientists, architects, builders, and other personnel to begin establishing a major city on the planet. This city is Lysallis.

Lysallis eventually stretched into outlying areas, and after some time the continent of Enera was colonized. During the events of the Black Earth series, Legion and the Dark Army invade Earth and humanity is forced to flee in SilverTech shuttles to Anaisha. The ER series takes place 80 years after this event, and by this time most of Enera is populated and under a government that mimics much of the government in our own United States, with a presidential elect, and a solid judicial system.

Anaisha has a sun much like Earth's, and a blue moon. The planet enjoys a steady pattern of four seasons. Anaisha's atmosphere is filled with an element known as rhodenine - possibly debris from a recently destroyed planet, and the continent of Enera is dotted with wedge-shaped machines called Anaishan Purifiers which were put in place to clear the air of the harmful chemicals that were released while SilverTech Industries colonized Enera.

Enera isn't the only continent on Anaisha though, and as the series unfolds, new areas of the planet will be revealed. So far the Far Lands has been mentioned. This is an area of extreme wilderness where very few venture and even fewer return from.

Fun fact: When I penned the first novel in the Expired Reality series - Endangered Memories - I had originally spelled the name of this planet ANASHA. My intent has always been for the middle 'A' to be pronounced the same way the 'A' is pronounced in the word 'Aim'. But when people started pronouncing it as it's spelled, I realized I needed an 'I' in there to correct things.

When We Least Expect It

Over the last year, I've really been getting into the Old Testament. I find many of the stories incredibly relevant to our times, and I realize as I read through the OT that I gain a better understanding of God's character and a better view of the plan of salvation He had been putting together to save humanity with the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Last week I read through 1 Samuel. Samuel was a prophet over the Israelites, and by chapters 8 and 9 his sons have turned away from God, and the Israelites themselves are in fear of their future - they don't fully trust that God will continue to lead them once Samuel passes. So, they ask for a king. And after warning them what will come with having an earthly ruler, God rolls out a plan to bring them a king.

The scene shifts to Saul, who has been sent out by his father to find their missing donkeys. After traveling a while from town to town, and finding no sign of the missing animals, he comes upon the the land of Zuph where Samuel resides. It is mentioned that the day before, Samuel was told by God that the same time the next day, the man to become king (Saul) would enter the town Samuel was in.

What I absolutely love about this passage - and about God - is that Saul was busy doing something mundane - searching for missing donkeys - when God decided to interrupt his life and make him king. Saul was going about his day-to-day business when God changed the course of his life forever.

Many of us who are waiting for God to move, to do the miraculous, to pull us out of the mire, to bring us into our next season and give us rest from the harsh weather of this season - sometimes we all stand, stop what we're doing, and look to God, waiting for Him to move. And sometimes that's what God wants us to do. But I think there are many times God chooses to bring about His promises, to fulfill our greatest desires, to open the door to the next season, when we are simply living our lives, day to day, doing what we're called to do.

I remember I was barely a teenager living in New Mexico when a brand new video game system had just come out: the Nintendo Entertainment System, complete with Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt. Having grown up with a Commodore 64 and an authentic Atari 2600 system, I had an appreciation for video games. When the NES came out onto the market, I almost peed my pants with excitement. And I remember begging my parents to get me the system for my birthday.

It was well before my birthday the day my parents left me at home while they ran errands, and I remember sitting in front of the television watching some old black and white horror movie about a giant spider attacking a house. There was nothing magical or spiritual about what I was doing. I was simply watching a movie, holding onto hope in the back of my spirit that when my birthday did come around, I would get the NES I had asked for. That day, while I was in the middle of watching the spider movie, my parents came home and surprised me with an NES. They got a kick out of how much I screamed and jumped and raced around the house, excited to play Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt. It was a day - a moment - that is burned in my memory forever. It was a day that the unexpected and incredible happened while I was living life.

And I think many times, God wants so bad to surprise us. Matthew 7:11 asks if we as human parents know how to give good gifts to our children, how much greater are the gifts that God gives? I think that's why many times our breakthroughs happen when we let go of trying to control the when, the how, the why. When we leave it to God to surprise us, and we focus on the things we're called to focus on - like helping others, working, cleaning, raising our children, loving our spouses, being involved in the church - then God is open to surprise us and bring about a joy we had no idea was coming. He wants to blindside us with gifts, with His promises.

Today I want to go about my life and do what I do best and let God do what He does best.

An Introduction To The Expired Reality Series

Many of you have enjoyed the books in my Black Earth series, and for that, I am grateful. What many of you may not know is that the Black Earth series isn't where I began my story telling. When I was eleven, back in 1990, I began penciling a story about a young boy - David - who crossed paths with a criminal mastermind - Mr. Big - and stopped him from kidnapping his sister and killing hundreds of innocent people in a hotel bombing.

That story eventually became the very first novel I finished when I was only sixteen - Mission: Australia. And over the years, Mission: Australia has evolved in the Expired Reality series. The Black Earth series is actually the prequel series to the ER series, as it details the destruction of Earth and how humanity came to be on the planet known as Anaisha.

I figured it was about time to properly introduce all of you to the ER series. This series has gone through many revisions, and a number of cover designs. For a very long time - since its creation - the series was touted as young adult. Then, as it evolved, content cropped up in the series that was not so young adult - suggestive content, torture, violence. After taking a long look at my Black Earth series and then figuring out where I want to go with the ER series, I realized I couldn't keep the young adult moniker on it any longer, and now it is filed under the genre known as Edgy Christian Speculative Fiction. For a detailed description of what this genre is all about, go here.

Different cover designs for the first novel in the series (Endangered Memories)

The Expired Reality series takes place nearly 80 years from the time Nathan Pierce (from the Black Earth series) battled the alien entity Legion, and Satan's Dark Army, in their attempts to destroy Earth and all of humanity. Through great struggle, bloodshed, and terror, humans managed to flee the planet in space vessels that brought them across the universe to an earth-like planet called Anaisha, where they settled and began to rebuild.

Now, humanity's close call with extinction is but a memory. Legion's suffocating alien darkness and any reference to the Great Witch Evanescence - lieutenant of the Dark Army - are but a terrifying memory to those who are able to recall their dark past.

Despite the fact that Anaisha was founded and colonized by the sadistic madman, Strangeways Silver, to be a utopia, the planet - especially the main continent of Enera - is far from flawless. In the years prior to the Expired Reality novels, criminal mastermind Mr. Big has set claim to the city of Lysallis and its outlying areas, filling the community with acts of violence and fear.

On one fateful day, one teenager - David Corbin - interrupted Mr. Big and his plans to murder hundreds of people in a hotel bombing. David's interference that day created a chain of events that put the child hero and the notorious villain head to head for many years to come. Eventually, David - at this time the head of a team of teenage heroes known as the Lazerblades - captured Mr. Big and detained him in prison, bringing virtual peace back to Enera.

The Expired Reality novels begin at the end of this virtually peaceful period, when Legion - the same alien entity responsible for Earth's destruction - reveals its presence upon Anaisha, and the Great Witch Evanescence actively seeks to satisfy her hunger for humanity's ultimate extinction. The teen heroes are called on once again to save the world, as ancient artifacts, humanities ugly past, and otherworldly species intersect in a final battle against the forces of evil.

The Expired Reality series is a series of novels, short stories, and novellas that can be read completely separate from the Black Earth series, and is a long-running series that will stretch out into many mediums of entertainment for many years to come.

In coming posts, I'll be introducing some of the characters from this series, discuss the layout and structure of Anaisha, detail some of the religious beliefs in the world, and give some sneak peeks into where I plan on taking this series in the near future.

What To Expect...

As many of you know, my Black Earth series has come to its conclusion (in regards to full-length novels) with the release of Exodus. However that doesn't end the story of humanity's struggle against the alien force known as Legion or the Dark Army under Satan's command. Planets are still being engulfed in Legion's darkness, and the Great Witch Evanescence and her cohorts are still pushing  creation toward the brink of extinction.

The storyline that the Black Earth series set up continues in my other series, Expired Reality. Expired Reality is the series that I first began writing in when I was eleven - back in 1990. The characters, the plots, and the main feel of the series has gone through many revisions, but now that the Black Earth series has been established as a foundation for the master storyline, I know (for the most part) what direction I want to go with the Expired Reality series.

In the upcoming weeks, I'll be writing posts that give you more information about my Expired Reality series, including -

- An introduction post to get you acquainted with the series as a whole, including a brief intro to certain events and characters that carry over from the Black Earth series.

- Character introductions which will include background on many of the main characters of the ER series, including David Corbin, Carrie Green, Turquoise-Wedge, and Mr. Big.

- Posts that go into depth regarding the world structure of Anaisha (An-ā-sha) - the planet that the ER series takes place on (initially).

- Posts that go into the religious (or lack thereof) aspects of Anaisha.

- Other fun/interesting posts that come to mind.

I will also be cross-referencing my posts with the official Compendium, so if you ever want to reference the topics discussed in the future, they will be easily accessible from the official website. Additionally, I will be continually adding to the official timeline - a handy reference for those of you who are fans of both series and are interested in having a visual guide to where each of my books fits (chronologically) into the Black Earth/ Expired Reality universe.

I'm looking forward to bringing everyone up to speed on a series that has been close to my heart since I was a mere child. Stay tuned for the posts to begin next week!

The Abortion Of A Dream

To be honest, if there's one thing I never want to carry with me through this life, it's regret. Regret tastes sour in my mouth, and leaves me with an acidic sensation in my stomach. As I've matured (spiritually) over the years, I've learned to build my life around a particular attitude: live with no regrets. This doesn't mean I party like there's no tomorrow. It means I never want to look back at my life and wonder what could have been. What could have happened had I just taken step #1001 and passed into the great thing God had been preparing for me the whole course of my journey instead of giving up and calling it quits at step #1000?

Travis Clark, the pastor of Canvas - the church plant my wife and I are taking part in in San Francisco - came and spoke at our church a number of Sundays ago, and he went into detail about how King Saul threw away the things God had for his life because he wanted things his way and not God's way. The pinnacle of Saul's downfall can be found in 1 Samuel 13, but the verse that gets to me is verse 13 - And Samuel said to Saul, "You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, for now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. (Taken from the New American Standard edition)

Samuel's statement is pretty clear - God would have blessed Saul's reign as king over Israel forever. FOREVER. But because he disobeyed God and moved in fear and impatience, God stripped him of what could have been. Those words are painful. What could have been. It indicates something in an alternate reality, or in a black hole somewhere - something that could have come to fruition, could have come into existence, but didn't. The abortion of a dream. Of a purpose. Of a plan. God's plan.

In verse 14, Samuel continues - "But now your kingdom shall not endure. The Lord has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as a ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you."

I don't want to be the subject of why God had to turn to someone else to get His will done. Because make no mistake, God's plans will come to pass regardless if He has to go through a million people to make it happen. But I want to be the man after His own heart, I want to be the one God turns to to walk out His will, to be given responsibility over His people, His things, His blessings.

My heart broke when I read that verse the same way it broke when I read the verses surrounding Moses and the fact that he was able to see the Promised Land from a distance but was not allowed to enter it. Because of disobedience, these two men were never able to experience the full beauty of the promise that God had been leading them towards.

How unfortunate and depressing.

I don't want to live my life, to walk this narrow path, to obey rather than sacrifice, just so I can see God's fulfillment of His promises from a distance. I want to be in the center of them, dancing, singing, and praising God for coming through in everything He said He would.

I've heard from many pastors over the years that many people never make it to their Promised Land because they give up along the way. They either succumb to thinking that God won't come through, or they get tired and lazy and complacent and give up. Some follow different paths to disobedience along the way. Others simply think they can do things their way without direction from God and still reach all that God has in store for them.

I want to reach the other side. I want to breathe in the air of a new land, to see all that God birthed in my heart so many years ago come true. I long for the fulfillment of God's promises in my lifetime. I don't want to be like David and leave the completion of the temple to my children. I want to take part in it with them.

As the end of this season in my life draws near, I know - KNOW - that God is about to move in a powerful way in my life and the life of my family. And when He does, that movement is going to impact everyone around us. I've been waiting for so long, I've been praying for so long. I've been obeying for so long. And I know I will see the Promised Land, I know I will dwell in the midst of the fulfillment of God's promises, because He is not a God who would allow us to be deceived all these years, and He is not a God who lies, and He is not a God who does not know how to give GOOD gifts to His children.

As the pages of this chapter in my life come to a close, I eagerly and expectantly turn the page to the next chapter in my life - the chapter of God's blessings. I don't have to worry about what might have been. I don't have to look back on my life and wonder what God might have done had I only walked in obedience and right relationship with Him. No. I have run the race, and I will now grab hold of the prize...

Picture Perfect Now Free!

Now that my Black Earth series has come to a close - at least in regards to the full-length novels - it's time to pick up the torch that is the Expired Reality series and start busting out more of the storyline that began my entire writing career.

Last week I released the new cover designs for the first two novels in the series - Endangered Memories, Lost Birth - along with the new cover design for the first novella in the series - Picture Perfect.

And in celebration of the reemergence of the Expired Reality series, I've made Picture Perfect available for free via Smashwords. This is a permanent price change. For those wondering, Picture Perfect is a novella set before the Expired Reality series and gives background to Drather, a bounty hunter from the series.

My hope is that Kindle and Nook follow suite by making Picture Perfect available for free - neither site allows an author to set their books for free as a permanent price - however most of the time they will price match, so once they realize Picture Perfect is free on Smashwords, hopefully they will fall in line. The good news is you can grab any and all digital versions of the novella at Smashwords, including Nook, Kindle, PDF, Apple, Kobo, etc. Go grab your copy here! And enjoy!

New Expired Reality Covers

With my announcement a couple weeks ago regarding my exit from the young adult genre and the pulling of the young adult labels from my Expired Reality series, I've been at work on some new cover designs for the series - simple, colorful, and easy to create as the Expired Reality series continues to grow over the course of the next decade - at least.

Here's the brand new cover I designed for Endangered Memories (book 1 in the series)

The new cover for Lost Birth (book 2 in the series)

And the new cover for Picture Perfect (a novella in the series)