I watched an episode of The Walking Dead the other night. The story was absolutely intriguing: what would the world be like if a disease turned almost everyone into zombies? The problem was, I couldn’t stomach the head shots or the body parts trailing behind the corpses. So I only ended up watching one and a half episodes. But it made me start thinking: All of us are zombies. Huh? I work with junior high boys and we always end up talking about interesting things (surprising, right?). One night we talked about this verse: “And you were dead in your …
Echoes of God
One of my favorite perks about reading and writing science fiction and fantasy is with every new story, I get to discover and explore whole new worlds. And with every new world I encounter through a book, movie, or game, I get to encounter a new echo of God. I believe as beings created in the image of God, it’s only natural for echoes of our Creator to resonate through the worlds we build, whether we try to do so intentionally or whether there’re just clues and themes left behind allowing readers to find an echo that resonates for them. …
Zombies, Star Wars, and God
I watched an episode of “The Walking Dead” a couple weeks ago at the suggestion of a friend. “The Walking Dead” is a story centered on a handful of humans trying to survive in a world that has succumb to a disease that turns people into zombies. It’s graphic. It’s gory. And, strangely for me, it was very sad. Half of me was horrified of the zombies. Their decayed bodies, their thirst for living flesh, their pack mentality. The fear that once you are bit, you will become one of them. Yet there was a part of me that felt …
In Darkness There is Light
This is not only a tagline for the kind of fiction I write, it is a tagline for my life. When my husband was laid off and went almost a year without work, there was light. When my son became so ill he stopped breathing and had to be lifeflighted to Portland, there was light. When a lump the size of a golf ball was found in my breast, there was light. It wasn’t a blazing light; it wasn’t a burst of sunshine. The darkness that filled my life during those times felt so overbearing that I felt I would …
God and the Writer
God. Just that one word calms me, reminds me why I write, and that He is in control, even when everything is spinning the other way. When I worry about what others will think of my book, I remember I am writing for an audience of One. When I worry about juggling work, family, and writing, I remember how many times I have placed my work in His hands and that He has always provided time for me to write without neglecting family or job. Lately, I have found myself praying to God more about my writing. I now have …
I have Stubbornness Issues
For any of you who have watched How to Train Your Dragon, you’ll recognize my post title (actually, the exact quote is “Vikings have stubbornness issues”). Lots of good quotes in that movie. If you haven’t seen it, you need to check it out. Anyway, this quote always stuck with me for two reasons: a) most of my family is Norwegian descent, thus making me viking, right? and b) I definitely have stubbornness issues. I have a hard time letting go. Sometimes that’s a good thing, and sometimes that’s a bad thing. How can stubbornness be good? It can give …
God, the Author of our Lives
Hi, my name is Morgan L. Busse and I am one of the new authors here at Marcher Lord Press. I will be blogging about God, faith, and the speculative here on the new website. This first post I wrote back on January 1st, 2011. Much has happened to me since that day almost two years ago. But one thing has not changed: God is the Author of my life. Here is my post. I have been writing for a couple years now (make that seven this up coming spring). During those years I have wrestled with characters, plots, journeys, …