Category Archives: Writing

Catholic Geek Lecture on the Hero’s Journey

This Saturday (yes, it’s short notice; sorry about that), I’ll be giving an online lecture through the Catholic Writers Guild. The topic is on the Hero’s Journey, a concept invented and popularized by Joseph Campbell. Here’s the blurb: March 24 … Continue reading

Posted in Blog News, Fiction, News, Personal Posts, Plugs and Promotions, Resources, Writing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

ANNOUNCEMENT: Tales of the Once and Future King Anthology is here

Okay, to be perfectly technical, the anthology Tales of the Once and Future King is only available for preorder. And, as of this exact minute, only available as a Kindle.Yeah. I know. Don’t look at me, I’m not in charge of this … Continue reading

Posted in Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Romance, Science Fiction, Writing | Tagged , | Leave a comment

DragonCon 2017: The Logic of Magic

A panel on developing magic systems, with Jim Butcher, Kathryn Hinds, Faith Hunter, and Elizabeth Moon. Yeah, sorry about the audio on this one. Turn the volume up to maximum, and concentrate real hard. Otherwise, you may not be able … Continue reading

Posted in Fantasy, Fiction, Writing | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

DragonCon 2017: Keeping the Peace: Liaison Characters in UF

Whether striving to improve communication & relations between supernatural & human communities, or between different groups within the supernatural world, our panelists’ characters often find themselves in the position of peacemaker. Panelists: Patricia Briggs, Jim Butcher, Delilah S. Dawson, Kim … Continue reading

Posted in Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

DragonCon 2017: Magnificent Men of Sci-Fi/Fantasy Panel

The top men of our genres discuss their careers & offer advice to new writers. Panelists: Kevin J. Anderson, Jim Butcher, Larry Correia, Peter David, and Larry Niven. Yes, it’s audio only. Sorry, again, this isn’t mine, so no, I … Continue reading

Posted in Commentary, Fiction, Science Fiction, Uncategorized, Writing | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

DragonCon 2017: From the Beginning: The Evolution of the Urban Fantasy Protagonist

The authors on this panel have played vital roles in the advancement of the Urban Fantasy genre. We’ll discuss how their seminal characters have developed & changed over time, all while continuing to influence the field.Panelists: Patricia Briggs, Jim Butcher, … Continue reading

Posted in Fiction, Writing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Writing for Astounding Frontiers #1

At least one review of Astounding Frontiers #1: Give Us Ten Minutes, And We’ll Give You a World, has noticed that I stole elements of my short, “According to Culture,” from a historical incident. This shouldn’t surprise anyone, I’m a historian. As … Continue reading

Posted in Fiction, Writing | Leave a comment

The Epic Conclusion to the Dragon Award Nominated series

Live and Let Bite is the second book of the Love at First Bite Series to be nominated for a Dragon Award. Yes, when half of my quartet is nominated for an award, it’s “the award nominated series.” So what does … Continue reading

Posted in Fiction, Horror, News, Personal Posts, Thriller, Writing | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

A Pius Man, Chapter 3: A Pious Visitor

Yup. Here we go again. I’ve done Chapter 1 and was chapter 2, and now we continue with your look at the new edition of chapter 3 for  A Pius Man: A Holy Thriller. By now, you’re probably well aware … Continue reading

Posted in Fiction, Thriller, Writing | Leave a comment

TONIGHT, on the Catholic Geek: A Rambling Wreck, with Hans Schantz

The Catholic Geek: A Rambling Wreck, with Hans Schantz 06/25 by We Built That Network | Books Podcasts://percolate.blogtalkradio.com/offsiteplayer?hostId=533877&episodeId=10103181 Hans Schantz joins host Declan Finn to discuss Social Justice in Science, and how it relates to his books ‘The Hidden Truth’ … Continue reading

Posted in Fiction, Science Fiction, Writing | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Catholic Dragon Award Suggestions

Since we have not mentioned this since February, It’s occurred to me that the first post was probably a little too cavalier in that Dragon Award post. We should spell out what the bleep is going on a little bit … Continue reading

Posted in Analysis, Commentary, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Mystery, News, Romance, Science Fiction, Superhero, Thriller, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Pius Man, Chapter 2, A Pious Mercenary

Yup. Here we go again. Last week was chapter 1, and now we continue with your look at the new edition of chapter 2 for  A Pius Man: A Holy Thriller. By now, you’re probably well aware my yanking this … Continue reading

Posted in Fiction, Historical, Mystery, Plugs and Promotions, Thriller, Writing | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

A Pius Man, Chapter 1: A Pious Cop

Yes, you’re reading this right. You’re about to get a look at the first, redone chapter of A Pius Man: A Holy Thriller. Imagine if every thriller that had “history” of the Catholic church were both well-written and historically accurate. Basically, a … Continue reading

Posted in Fiction, Historical, Mystery, Thriller, Writing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

A Pius Man: What is it?

The other day, it was mentioned that A Pius Man: A Holy Thriller was coming soon from Silver Empire Press. At which point, I’m certain that the first question on everyone’s mind is simple … starting with, “Why is pious spelled … Continue reading

Posted in Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Uncategorized, Writing | Tagged | 12 Comments

Silver Empire To Re-release Declan Finn’s A Pius Man

Before Declan Finn became a Dragon Award nominated horror writer — before there was even a Dragon Award — he wrote a thriller series that’s been described as “the anti-Dan Brown,” or perhaps, “The Da Vinci Code — but not … Continue reading

Posted in Fiction, Historical, Mystery, News, Personal Posts, Romance, Thriller, Writing | Tagged | 2 Comments

Dragon Awards Are Live

Last year, we released footage of the first annual Dragon Awards, the official award of DragonCon, one of the world’s largest SFF conventions. And now, the Dragons are once again upon us. The nominations process has begun. However, I don’t recommend … Continue reading

Posted in Fantasy, Fiction, Gaming, Horror, News, Romance, Science Fiction, Tabletop RPGs, Thriller, Video Games, Writing | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Fisking: “What Are White Writers For?”

For the record, this is not a joke. This is not a satire. This title HAPPENED. This article HAPPENED. It happened in The New Republic, so no one is surprised at all. Ever. And, like most idiotic things from this … Continue reading

Posted in Commentary, Culture, Fiction, Fisks, Writing | Tagged | 1 Comment

Continuing a Catholic Romance Novel

I had a great many reactions to my novel Honor At Stake. If you read the original Lori review on this site, you may have noticed in is that it’s a romance. It’s also one that doesn’t follow the standard … Continue reading

Posted in Fantasy, Fiction, Personal Posts, Plugs and Promotions, Writing | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Where does Marvel go from Civil War?

Everything below will spoil the franchise to date. If you’ve seen Civil War, the only spoilers will be speculation I might get correct. Also, spoilers for a comic book here or there. Now that Doctor Strange is nearly upon us, it is time … Continue reading

Posted in Superhero, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Military SF Tech @DragonCon, 2016

This was a fun little panel that I was surprised by — mostly that I got such good video feed. “There’s an awful lot of high tech in military science fiction. Some of it is solidly based on current science/tech. … Continue reading

Posted in Fiction, Science and Technology, Science Fiction, Video Games, Writing | Tagged , , | 1 Comment