Stoney M. Setzer's Blog: Zero Hour: Christian Speculative Fiction , page 4

Update

As you may have noticed, it's been a little while since I posted anything on this blog.  I can only offer you this simple explanation: I've been devoting as much time as possible to my writing.  Since my last post:
I've written three short stories, two of which have been submitted while I'm just waiting for the submission window to open for the third.  I've been outlining a novel tentatively titled "Rural Legend," and I've written the rough draft of prologue.  I'm also working on some new publications that I plan to roll out in the near future.  One of them is a short story collection tentatively entitled "Zero Hour II: More Stories of Spiritual Suspense."Working with my friend/fellow writer Lyndon Perry in terms of encouraging each other to keep writing, reading over each other's work, etc.  If you haven't read any of his work, check out the link on his name.I hope that you'll continue to check back (or, better yet, become a follower of this blog) for more updates.  Philippians 4:13.--SMS

"Overgrown" now available for FREE on Smashwords

Hey, just wanted to let everyone know that my short story "Overgrown," which previously appeared in Residential Aliens back in 2010, is now available as a free download on Smashwords.  Here's the link:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/170688

I hope you enjoy it, and feel free to leave me some feedback.  Philippians 4:13.--SMS

Newly Published: "Vultura Returns...Again"

Hey y'all, just letting you know that my most recently published short story, "Vultura Returns...Again" is now on Residential Aliens.  It's a flash fiction (< 1,500 word) story that's a take-off on movie sequels.  Here's the link:

http://www.resaliens.com/2012/06/vultura-returns-again/

Hope you enjoy it!  Philippians 4:13.--SMS

Getting Ready to Write Novel(s)

Just a little word to say that I'm about to start working on a novel.  I actually have two ideas that I will be outlining.  I'll be on blogger periodically, but for the most part I'm going to be busy devoting my attention to these projects.  Hopefully before too long, I'll be on here sharing a finished product with you.  Until thel, Philippians 4:13.--SMS

Free on Smashwords....

OK, I'm trying a little experiment here.  I'm making "The Siege of Peter Marak" available on Smashwords for FREE.  I'm hoping that this will spur more downloads and, maybe, more interest in the rest of my work.  So download your copy in any format you choose (Kindle, iBook, Nook, etc.), share the word, and enjoy!  Here's the link:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/138329

Backstory: "Angels Unawares"

This installment of my "Backstory" series not only celebrates a short story of mine that is now available as an e-book on Smashwords, but it also represents a major step into the "Way-Back" machine.  "Angels Unawares" is the first story I ever published in any form.  It was originally posted onto a site called www.sffworld.com back in 2003 and no longer appears on that site.  Granted, publishing there at the time was really easy: Just post your story.  No editors, no acceptances or rejections.  The first story of mine to actually get accepted by an editor was "The Other Woman," which is also on Smashwords and which will be the next "Backstory" entry.  But I digress.



The story itself was written back in 2003, a very tumultuous time in my life.  A year before, my first marriage had disintegrated, and I was only getting to see my then-four-year-old daughter every other weekend.  Because I was pastoring a church in a small town in western Georgia, I got hit with the additional blow of that career ending, as the by-laws of that and many other Southern Baptist church prohibited a divorced man from serving as pastor, regardless of the reason for the divorce.  In short, my world had been effectively shattered.  I found myself back in my former (and current) hometown of Griffin, GA--working full-time as a long-term substitute teacher in an elementary school special education class, working part-time in a Chick-fil-A restuarant to make ends meet, living in a one-bedroom apartment, and struggling along from month to month.  Though I can say that I never turned my back on my faith during that time, it was a very dark period of my life, with a lot of doubts and questions for God that weren't getting answered to my satisfaction, not to mention a lot of loneliness, bitterness, and depression to sort through.

It was out of this place in my life that the protagonist for "Angels Unawares," Dr. Thom Staples, was born.  "Thom" was a shortening of Thomas, as in "doubting Thomas," and "Staples" came from the S in the name of a former atheist who later became a great Christian author and theologian, C.S. Lewis himself.  I crafted his name to symbolize the doubts I was experiencing, coupled with the hope of Christ making all things new.  Dr. Staples wasn't a likable character, nor was he meant to be.  I wanted him to represent the road not taken, the result of what happens when a faith crisis causes a man to turn his back on God.  Putting all the bitterness and woe into him, and letting it spill over into everything he did, seemed the logical result.

So hopefully you'll check out my first-ever published story and leave me some feedback.  I hope you enjoy it, and thanks for stopping by.  Philippians 4:13.--SMS

"The Other Woman" is now available on Smashwords

One of my earliest published works, "The Other Woman," is now available for download in a variety of e-book formats on Smashwords for $0.99.  The story was originially published in 2005 in Southern Comfort: A Charitable Anthology, and it represents the first of my stories ever to be accepted into an anthology.  The link is as follows:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/145782

A Day Late, but...

Yesterday was Easter, one of the most important days on the calendar for Christians.  We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, from the dead after having given His life on the cross of Calvary for our sins.  I had originally meant to post in commemoration of the date yesterday, but between church and family, I didn't spend much time on the computer at all.  However, maybe there's a positive for not posting until today....



Think about it: Does the date on the calendar change the fact that we are all sinners (Romans 3:23), or that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23)?  Does it diminish the love that God should for us in sending His only begotten Son to die for us while we were still in sin (John 3:16, Romans 5:8)?  Absolutely not!  Nor does it change the fact that calling on the name of the Lord saves us (Romans 10:13), that Christ came to save the lost (Luke 19:10), or that there is no other name that will give us our salvation (Acts 4:12).  It should be this real to us every day of the year.

I issue this challenge to myself as much as anyone else: Let us take the gratitude and appreciation we show to God on Easter and apply it to the other 364 days of the year as well.  Philippians 4:13.--SMS

Free on Smashwords Until March 29

In an effort to promote my stories published on Smashwords, I am offering coupons for free downloads of the four short stories currently available on that site.  You can download in a number of formats (Kindle, iBooks, Nook, etc.).  These coupons are good from now until Thursday, March 29, 2012. 

In return, I humbly request that you post a review of any of the stories that you read and download.  You get free reads, I get reviews; sounds like a good deal, right?  The link and the coupon code are available after the jump.


First, go to https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/smsetzer for my author page and click on the title you wish to download.  Then scroll down and click "buy" on the format you choose (Kindle, etc.).  When it asks for your purchase information, type in the corresponding code.

"The Siege of Peter Marak": UZ46B
"Angels Unawares": KW99J
"Bring Out Your Dead": ZL68B
"The Widows Greer": QP36P

Again, these coupons expire on March 29, and I would appreciate the favor of a review when you've finished reading the stories.  The more reviews I get, the more future traffic I am likely to draw, so we all benefit here :-).  Thanks for your time, and Philippians 4:13.--SMS

Official Smashwords Page

Hey everyone, just wanted to take a moment and let you know about my official page on Smashwords.  Here's the link:

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/smsetzer

So far, you can go here to purchase and download Zero Hour, "The Siege of Peter Marak," "The Widows Greer," "Bring Out Your Dead," and "Angels Unawares" in a variety of e-book formats.  However, there will be more to follow....


The last three titles on that list were also published via Amazon, but I've found that Smashwords is a lot more user-friendly, thanks to the Smashwords Style Guide by Mark Coker (a free download, by the way).  As a result, I was able to fix some formatting errors in those manuscripts that I couldn't completely fix in the editions I put directly on Amazon.  So, in my opinion, the Smashwords editions are superior.

Hope you check it out and give me some feedback.  Philippians 4:13.--SMS