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I remember coming home from first grade mortified that I didn’t know my alphabet. I learned it that weekend — and started writing stories not long after that. By second grade, the radio featured my first science fiction short story, read by a real live adult. By age 13, I had published poetry in our local newspaper, thanks to the support of high school English teacher Mr. Kelly who loved bringing local poets of all ages into the public eye. | 
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After a bachelor’s in World Literature from Aquinas College, I applied to the creative writing program at Western Michigan University. Little did I know that writing science fiction wasn’t appreciated at institutions of higher learning. But the Comparative Religion program that I also applied to granted me a full first-year fellowship. So that’s where I put my energy for the next couple of years—and am very, very glad I did. |
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Despite not participating in the creative writing program at the university, by the time I was in my mid-thirties, I had published yoga and meditation articles, original artwork, research papers, poetry, and a meditation manual called A Little Book of Wholeness and Prayer. |
The same year that A Little Book of Wholeness and Prayer was published, the Skinner House editors
asked for meditations and poetry from some of their authors.
How We Are Called is
the wonderful collection of writing that resulted from that collaboration, and happens to be the title of the
work I have in this anthology. It's a sweet basketful of words for worship or daily devotions.
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You can read excerpts from my speculative fiction series at the website ChildrenOfTheGreatReckoning.com. | ||||
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Children of the Great Reckoning: Firewall: |
Children of the Great Reckoning: Firewall: |
Children of the Great Reckoning: Architect | Children of the Great Reckoning: Operator | |
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At Matthew’s Knee: A poetic commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, Volume 1 represents a different kind of journey entirely. I have been a student of contemplative approaches to life for a very long time, and wanted to see if I could read what some scholars call “the Church’s Gospel” with a fresh eye.
I have often thought to myself that my generation needs new Upanishads — new distillations of the glimpses of Unity in a language that more resembles song than academic scratching.
So, out of curiosity, I began to work through this Gospel, reading each verse contemplatively in the manner of Lectio Divina and then composing a poem that tried to capture the essence of the message as I heard it. While it is a very different journey from writing science fiction, the essential excitement and joy of the work is the same.
 | Easing into the Bhagavad Gita and Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, my most recent non-fiction work, was designed as a simple introduction to both the Bhagavad Gita and Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. Crafted for use in Hatha Yoga studios, teacher training programs and experiential classroom venues, students will find the language of the book friendly and engaging while teachers will find a rich offering of dialogue-encouraging questions and activities to enrich the learning experience. Enlivened by original poetic commentaries and fleshed out with real-world applications of these teachings, this work provides an excellent starting point for the study of Indian philosophy. |
For generations, the Company has produced made-to-order men and women for the jobs humankind itself no longer wishes to fill — soldiers, scientists, and administrators. It depends on the very predictability of what it creates, as does Earth and the far-flung galactic agricultural colonies. But not everyone finds such homogeneity comforting. Joshua 1011 is the living masterpiece of a genius with a singular mission and vision — bring back the ancient genotypes that once were the backbone of creative life. Raised in the tight-knit social structure of the Company’s military line, silently protected by its highest administrator and yet also targeted by those who are threatened by his differences, Joshua must learn what it means to carry not only Administrator and Tech gifts within himself, but also how to simply survive as an individual in a sea of look-alike brothers-in-arms. Matthew Dennon is a simple man, married early into the Core, the ruling-caste of the natural humans of Earth. But as he digs into the secrets kept by the Company, and deals with the repercussions of changes made to his own DNA long ago, he finds himself alone, divorced from the protective rings of power, fighting alongside Joshua. Together they will take a stand against the systems that cage them and the unfolding nightmare unleashed by Joshua’s troubled creator. And as a real love blossoms between himself and the young soldier, they will face decisions that affect not only themselves, but also the entire string of worlds that support the delicate thing called humanity. |
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