More Stories Behind the Curtain

Hello and welcome to my end-of-month blog post! You can read last month’s newsletter here.

Following the very loose pattern I decided to set, these posts are a chance for me to write about stories and what I love about them. They’re also a chance for me to talk about the stories that I’m currently working on. With six months of 2025 in the books, I figure this is a good opportunity to give you some writing updates!

(The first time I did this, I titled the post “Pay Attention to the Stories Behind the Curtain,” which is why this post is titled similarly. I shudder to think of what I’ll have to come up with for a title in June 2026, God willing. Even More Stories Behind the Curtain? What would I do in 2027 then?) 

But I digress… 

Man, this has been a wild six months. At the tail end of last year, I sat down and gave myself some goals that I wanted to shoot for in 2025, and I’m happy to say that I’ve stayed on track (and even exceeded my expectations in some areas).

Briefly, since January, I was able to start four new projects, write their rough drafts, and begin edits on three of them. I also started writing some short stories set in the world of Minz for the blog. My good friend and series editor for The Tale of Rose and Ed, Nic Gartner, and I completed the major round of edits for the final book in the series. And I published the third book in the Tales of Minz series, A Librarian’s Tale.

I’ll be honest—I’m feeling it. I get excited about the projects I’m working on and sometimes I tend to overextend. That changes what I had originally planned on doing with the next six months of 2025, but that’s okay! There’s still plenty to keep me busy. ☺️

Here’s a little more of a peak at the stories behind the curtain, so to speak. I’ve arranged them in their *tentative* publication order. See if any of them interest you, and keep an eye out for upcoming releases!

Can Evil Wizards Make Balloon Animals? (Summer 2025) 

No, this isn’t a new collection of short stories. (Sorry!) It is, however, a reformatted edition of my previously published book, Collected Short Stories, with a brand new cover. 

Why the new edition? 

I’ll touch on a similar question in another project’s section, but the short answer is that I’ve learned a thing or two about formatting (still have a lot to learn!) and want my stories to look as nice as I can make them. I’m also doing more with the design work, so a project like this is a relatively low-stakes way for me to sharpen those skills. 

Aside from finalizing the cover design and formatting, there isn’t a whole lot of work to do on this project, so you can expect to see the new edition up on the site within the next month or two. 

A Christian’s Survival Guide: Wearing God’s Armor Every Day (Fall 2025)

A lot of what I write is fiction. It’s pretty much what you’ll find on this website. 

However, if you know me or have read my short biography, you know that I didn’t go to school to be a writer. I went to school to become a pastor. I graduated with my Master of Divinity, but I decided to do something else instead. (I currently work as the copywriter for my church body’s publishing house, Northwestern Publishing House. ) I still write devotions for their blog site (Check it out here!) and make use of what I’ve learned because I want to share what I know. 

That’s how this book came about. 

A Christian’s Survival Guide isn’t fiction. It comes from the greatest true story ever told: the Bible, which reveals God’s great love for all people in sending his Son Jesus to save us from our sin and rescue us from darkness. I won’t try to convince you of that if you think otherwise, but I believe that it’s true.

I’d been kicking around the idea for this short booklet for a couple of years and finally sat down to write it. Here’s a brief synopsis from the back cover:

Dear Christian, this is not a self-help book. In these pages, you won’t find “Top Ten Ways to Resist Temptation” or “Three Ways to Stop Sinning” or anything like that.

This is a survival guide for life here on earth. Brief, devotional, and practical. After reading this book, you’ll:

– Know Your Enemy

– Know Yourself

– Know Your Savior

We’ll also briefly look at the arms, armor, and aid God gives us, his dearly loved children, to take our stand against the schemes of the devil and against the spiritual forces of darkness in the heavenly realms. Because our God does not leave us defenseless against our enemy. He does not leave us alone.

This is A Christian’s Survival Guide: Wearing God’s Armor Every Day.  

Let’s get started.

Despite its title and subject matter, you don’t have to be a Christian to read this book. I wrote it as an honest, heartfelt expression of what I know to be true, sharing that knowledge in the way I know best.

I’ll be posting more about this project as it gets closer to its Fall release. Right now, it’s in its second round of edits, and I’m pleased with the progress so far.

The Tale of Rose and Ed: Book 3 (Fall 2025) 

The end of the road draws near.

I started working on this series near the end of 2018. I wrote the first book (A House Named Haven) in 2019 and then, after a quick round of edits, shared it with my good friend, Nic Gartner, thinking it was pretty much ready to publish right then and there. 

It wasn’t. 

And Nic was kind enough to help me see that! Even more so, he has been kind enough to spend the last six years working on editing this series with me. We’ve honed our system of asynchronous editing during the second book (The Storytellers), and now I’m pleased to announce that our last major round of edits to the final book in The Tale of Rose and Ed is complete. 

If you’re unfamiliar with the plot for the first two books, I won’t give any spoilers away here. If you are familiar… Just know that The Tale of Rose and Ed reaches its dramatic conclusion on the final page. Will it be a tragedy or merely contain tragic elements? Dear Reader, I guess you’ll just have to read on to find that out. 

What’s next?

Aside from layout, cover design, and line edits to make sure we didn’t miss anything, we’re in a pretty decent place with this project, and I’m feeling good about announcing a Fall 2025 release date. I’m also excited to announce second editions for the first two books with new cover art and interior design to be released in connection with the third book! 

Why? 

As I wrote above, I’ve learned a thing or two about formatting books since I released A House Named Haven. I still have a lot to learn, but I’d like to apply what I know to my books going forward and make them look as good as possible, and the release of this final book in the series is a good opportunity to update them all in one go. 

As with everything related to my writing projects, stay tuned for posts on the blog with updates, cover and title reveals, and a teaser as the release date gets closer!

Tales of Minz: Book 4 (Winter 2026)

I started working on the rough draft for this story on and off in late 2024. I put pen to paper and really started working on it in earnest beginning in January 2025 and finished it by the end of March. (That’s metaphorical because I actually typed it up.) 

It’s a short little book, slightly different in tone and style that the first three books in the Tales of Minz series, but I’m really happy with where it’s at, which is to say that I’m putting it through its first round of edits and wondering how many footnotes are acceptable to include… 

I’ll reveal more about the story—and its title—as it gets closer to publication, but I’m really excited about this project. My plan with the Tales of Minz series is that I want to try to release a new book each year, so you can expect to see this one sometime in early 2026.

Untitled Children’s Fantasy Book (Summer 2026)

You probably realize that this isn’t the title. (Can you imagine if it was? How crazy would that be?!) I know what I want to title the book as of right now, but want to make sure the title fits for sure before I say anything. 

This is the first book in a brand new series and fantasy world. Reminiscing about my own adventures in fantasy worlds and stories in grade school, I wrote this book for middle school aged kids, but there’s honestly something in it for everyone of all ages. (That’s right, it has a 9-99+ label on it.) Story elements and tropes will be familiar and recognizable from fantasy stories, but the story itself doesn’t go the way you might expect! 

I finished the rough draft for this project in April and I’ll start editing it once I get some other projects off my plate. (I’m looking at you, three projects above this one!) 

Expect some more updates and information in the coming months with a tentative release date in Summer 2026.

Untitled Theological Project #2 (TBD) 

I believe I’ve mentioned this project once or twice in previous posts. This book takes a look at foundational aspects of thanksgiving and what it looks like to thank God more and more with our lives.

I wrote it with the intent to submit for publication through Northwestern Publishing House, and I’m happy to say that as of this month, I sent it in with my initial edits complete. This will mark my first time working with a publisher, so I’m excited to see what that process looks like—if my manuscript is accepted and approved, of course. 

There’s no tentative publication date on this project, for obvious reasons. It’s out of my hands at the moment. As I know and am able to share more about the project, I will most certainly do so! 

What do the next six months look like?

I had a tentative plan at the start of 2025 that I’ve since revisited and reassessed. Some of it had to do with what I wanted to accomplish in 2025 yet, and some of it had to do with what I wanted to start in 2026.

If I’m being honest with you, I’m feeling the wear and tear of these past six months. I’ve written four drafts, a number of short stories, published a novel, and done work on several more to get them ready to release this year. That’s no small thing.

But I’m also ready to take a beat and just breathe for a bit. I’ll still be putting out a new short story every month and editing my current projects, but I haven’t decided what I want to tackle next as far as new projects go.

Maybe I’ll start the fifth book in the Tales of Minz series. Maybe I’ll write some poetry. (Nic, if you’re reading this, relax, I’m joking.) Maybe I’ll outline a new project. Maybe I’ll get back to the growing pile of unread books that are on my TBR list and add to my Book Appreciation posts. Who knows? Who knows…

Regardless, as I look back on the past six months, there is much to be thankful for, and I’m so thankful to you for being a part of this journey.

Writing and telling stories truly is a joy and privilege. I don’t take it for granted, nor do I take it for granted that you are here. Thank you. And if my stories have been able to bring a smile to your face, however briefly, that is no small thing. Truly, thank you. 

Until next time,

Al