Selected Nonfiction

In P.D. James' recent book, The Children of Men, she tells of a future where humans have lost their ability to procreate and are fighting in vain to continue the race. This frightening portrait of a world without a next generation captured the attention of readers and reviewers alike. But is it merely a fiction? Or are humans, hot on the trail of greater technology, unwittingly destroying the one thing we've always taken for granted?

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originally published in the November 1996 edition of Chicago Life magazine

There have been only a handful of times in my life when I have concretely felt the call of God to do something specific. While I’ve never heard an actual voice or anything like that, there have been a few moments where I suddenly and unmistakably felt a pull that I could not otherwise explain. The first time I heard that our church was going to be partnering with Royal Family Kids to put on a week-long summer camp for foster children in Los Angeles was one of those times.

Whether you're working on your novel in the early morning before the kids are awake, polishing up a proposal to send out to prospective agents or even meeting with an editor to discuss your work, chances are your ultimate goal is to find a publisher. You revise your first three chapters until they're letter-perfect, slave over a fantastic cover letter and read every book on the market about how to get published. If you're talented – and lucky – all of this work pays off. You find an agent who believes in your project, and a publisher begins to express interest. But while this may seem like the final inning, it's really just the beginning of a whole new ball game.

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originally published in the April 2003 edition of The Writer magazine

Less than two months into a new year that has looked eerily similar to the two previous ones, some of us feel slow and sluggish, filled with an ever-present low-level anxiety that keeps us tired and worn. Part of us just wants to curl up into a ball and wait out whatever part of the storm remains. Some of us, on the other hand, feel like the sun is finally starting to come out after a long winter. We’re more than ready to dive back into community, adventure, and full-throated life, and we’re increasingly frustrated by the things still holding us back.