zombietheology.com launch

I have posted "Physician, Heal Thyself," an excerpt from And The Dead Shall Rise First, my zombie novel-in-progress on zombietheology.com. This section tells the story of an East Tennessee old-time healing service gone horribly wrong.

We have also done some other pretty cool stuff with the site:

• Check out the blog for new zombie survival posts.
• My friend Alan has posted "Who's Driving This Thing?" from a book he's writing.
• We have added a short stories section.
• We have updated the Welcome page.

Check it out. Let us know what you think. We are excited about what we want to do with this site and hope that we can get other people involved in writing stories, reviews, and other material relating to zombies and theology.

I'll keep you posted on the major developments as they unfold.

Writing Posts that People (Like Me) Will Read

I have some tips on making it more likely that people will read the contents of your posts, but I can't say that these tips are universal because they are just based on my preferences. So, here are some ideas that will make (at least) me more likely to read your posts:

• First of all, shorter is better. I don't have all day. If it's really long I probably won't read it. Usually you can say whatever you're trying to say in a much more concise way. Try that. If that doesn't work, you should break it into more than one post.
  
• Also I like short paragraphs. It breaks up the post and makes me feel like I'm getting somewhere. One long chunk of text is quite daunting. It's like looking up at a cliff. Is it worth getting to the top (or, in this case, the end of the post)?
  
• Something I like is lists. They are normally very concise and make you feel like you are breezing through the post.
• I also like it when people Bold or underline main points, especially when they do the paragraph type list where the main bullet point is highlighted (through bold and/or underline) and the explanation follows in regular formatting.
• Don't overdo it with bold, underline and other font formatting. It looks annoying and I don't know how to interpret all the different font formats. Why is one section in italics and another bold? Should I whisper one and shout the other? Maybe I should yell one in an angry voice and the other in an excited voice? Keep it simple; don't overdo it.

So that is what I like. I can't say for sure that anyone else agrees with me. I am lazy so this whole list basically boils down to: make it easy for me to read and to read quickly.

First Thoughts on Website

I have been writing a lot for the book over the last couple weeks. I'm getting really excited about it and really enjoying writing it.

I have also obtained a domain for a website to go along with the book. The site is going to be community oriented and will allow people to submit writing pieces on the general topic of zombies and living through a zombie apocalypse.

I hope to also release a few short stories that will be incorporated into the larger novel down the road. This will allow me to get some feedback and allow you an opportunity to get a sneak peak at the book.

I'm looking forward to getting the site up, to interacting with readers and commenters, and to reading some exciting material from you!

The Devel

So I participated in this creative writing thing and I thought it was kinda cool so I figured I would post it here. The assignment was to write something short that contained the following ten words: Gentleman, Develop, Headlight, Teacher, Heroism, Paper, Amplify, Settlement, Express, Garden.

So this is what I wrote:

We are taught in our interaction with our fellow man to be gentle.
Man imitates his father, the Devel.
Open up my head.
Light a cigarette.
Ache relentlessly knowing you’ll never again see her.
“O” is my mouth’s expression as they tighten the strap.
Ape rage fills me as I stamp.
Lif yearns against death’s onsett.
Lement your loss as against you they vex.
Press on until you stop breathing.
Ar dens of thieves worth saving?

Obviously I got unconventional with spelling, and I'm not a super creative writer, but I thought it was fun. You should give it a shot in the comments.

Theological Horror Fiction

Does this genre of literature exist? Well, even if it doesn't, I have started writing what I hope will become a full length novel that would fit into this category. There are a couple things I love to read and write about: horror (specifically zombies), and theology, so I thought that figuring out a way to combine the two would make for an interesting story. It will probably suck. I honestly don't care. I just want to see if I can write it. If people like it, that would be great. If they don't, which they probably won't, then I certainly won't be losing any sleep over it.

Basically the story is about the Church's response to the sudden outbreak of zombies worldwide. Leaders from all Christian denominations and groups are being forced to answer questions of "why this is happening?" and "what is God's plan?" and "is this The End?". I hope to weave a lot of eschatology into the story, like, if the genre of Tim Lehaye met the theology of Augustine which met the gruesome carnage of a Rob Zombie horror film all in one book. Yes, I agree, it should be awesome!

I may post some small parts as I work to see people's thoughts, but I would like to wait until it is done to let people read it. When it is done I intend to share it in serial format online.

Fonts I like and don't like

I like the Birth of a Hero Font. You can download it for free here.


I don't like the Papyrus font. Want to play a fun game? Keep track of all the places you see the Papyrus font used. It will amaze you how many signs, package labels, and websites use this font. My wife even likes to play. Try it, its fun (and annoying)!

Two New Addictions

Donuts and Energy Drinks

For donuts I like the plain ones that come in the Country Kitchen six-pack.

For Energy Drinks I like the sugar-free Amp, but I will really drink any of the sugar-free ones.

These make a great breakfast combo for a full day of coding.

HollowAgain: Misc Thoughts

I have been blogging over at The Ekklesia in Southern Maine, and I have also started a book review blog at Reading in Southern Maine, and just over the last couple of months I have begun to write articles as The Portland, ME Religion and Politics Examiner, So it may seem odd and somewhat ridiculous to try and maintain yet another blog, but that is what this will be an attempt to do.

There are two reasons I am going to do this:

• First - because I have things that I want to say that are not even remotely relevant to either of my other blogs.
• Second - I have had this blog for years now, and I hate to see it sit around without ever being updated so I wanted to use it for something.

So here at HollowAgain I will talk about whatever is on my mind. It may have to do with faith or books or something that I write about in my other blogs, but it also may not. I would like to start writing a fiction story in serial format, but can't promise that will happen or be worth reading, but it certainly is possible.

In addition to books I also like movies and music and sports. I will probably talk about that stuff.

I don't know how often I will write new stuff here. It may be a lot since I am not going to worry too much about the quality of this material, or it may not be very often at all since I have more serious things I like to spend my time writing about at my other blogs.