My 4 year old constantly amazes me with her theological musings

Sitting with my 4 year old at the end of the day, waiting for her to fall asleep. 

Her: Daddy, I have something to tell you.

Me: What is it?

Her: Jesus really loves you a lot.

Me: Aw, thanks, sweetie.

Her: Jesus really loves Hello Kitty a lot, too.

Me: Oh.

.@SFSignal reveals the new "Dark Expanse" cover and TOC with stories by me @kyliu99 @nancyfulda and more!

You can see the whole post here, with the complete table of contents and the cover in all its glory.

Aw, I'm gonna put the cover here, too, because I can't help myself. Here you go:

I'll let you know when it's available for purchase!

I don't remember Family Feud being this funny when I was a kid

I wonder what number one was?

"Do you speak English?" Hilarious video about speaking multiple languages.

When I travel overseas, I'm almost certain this is happening sometimes.

My parents sent me this email about pole dancing. It made me laugh.

Here's the email they sent me.  A first grade girl handed in the drawing below for her homework assignment.  The teacher graded it and the child took it home.  She returned to school the next day with the following note:  Dear Ms. Davis,  I want to be perfectly clear on my child's homework illustration. It is NOT of me on a dance pole on a stage in a strip joint surrounded by male customers with money. I work at Home Depot and had commented to my daughter how much money we made in the recent snowstorm. This drawing is of me selling a snow shovel.  Sincerely,  Mrs. David Duncan

I guess we're all going to have to go see Guardians of the Galaxy now that we've seen the trailer.

Right? Who's with me?

This is how jet lag makes me feel

I swear I am trying to catch the ball. I really am.

Greetings from the Middle East

Note: I meant to post this the day before yesterday, but had some issues getting the pictures in! So this was when I first arrived. I'm headed to the mountains to stay in a Maronite convent now, and will send another update when I'm able!

I'm overseas right now for a youth workers conference for ministers in the middle east. It's been a great time so far, connecting with new friends as  well as old.

It has been a fun trip so far. I was picked up by two friends at the airport, who immediately got in a long argument about the best place to take me for dinner. They finally agreed on a great place where we had some excellent chicken and hummus and various other great things.

I slept well my first night, other than the normal jet lag induced dehydration and the subsequent constant need to use the bathroom after super hydrating every once in a while.

This morning I went to hang out with some new friends at their office and was asked to share some thoughts about the Bible. We talked about the parable that Jesus tells in Matthew 13 about the different types of soil, all of which respond to the good news about God's kingdom in different ways. It was an interesting conversation.

After that I went to lunch with some of my friends. They wanted to try a new place and I said that was fine with me. We caught a cab and it pulled over... at the same place I ate last night!

The food here is awesome, people.

Here are a few pictures from my first 24 hours here:

The view off the balcony at the apartment where I'm staying.

Here's a car for a company that will teach you to drive... IN FRENCH!

In the airport in Germany... where the bakeries are still amazing.

I walked through this hallway maybe ten times in Frankfurt.
Delirious with jet lag, I decided to take a picture so I could always remember it.

It's very rude to turn down drinks or snacks offered by your hosts.
So I have a new morning habit: super strong coffee.

p.s. Right now I'm using the wi-fi at a Starbucks. There's a stray cat who keeps trying to sneak in, but there's a Starbucks security guard who keeps picking him up by his front legs and kicking him out again. It's like a sitcom almost.

The tiny building in the foreground is a Maronite church right next to my apartment.
They hold services every weekend. It might have room for twenty people in it.

Update on "Armies of the Crimson Hawk"

I've been getting a lot of emails and tweets asking me about the status of "Armies of the Crimson Hawk," the sequel to the "Sword of Six Worlds." I wanted to give you a little update.

One, it is still being written, so don't worry about that! I've had some other projects which have had to take precedence, which has slowed me down in getting it done. But it is on the way, never fear.

Two, it will be worth the wait. Validus and Alex go to a new world, one full of troll armies and warrior princes and magic and talking cats. It's full of adventures and laughs. You're going to like it.

Three, because you're all being so patient, I asked M.S. Corley, the cover artist for Sword of Six Worlds, to put together a little teaser art for us. Which you can see here:

Mr. Corley also thought that you might want a matching cover of "Sword" so he did a little extra work to provide us with this matching cover:

Hang in there friends! I have a book coming out in June, which I've just done final edits on, and another due to the publisher (Baker) this summer. But "Armies" is definitely on my to-do list.

I'll try to keep you updated every once in a while!

Google Translate makes the world more amazing.

I got a note from my friend Rute in Brazil this morning.

It said:

Matt, reli o livro A Noite do Cristão Morto-Vivo, é maravilhoso! Obrigada, por nos presentear com seus dons!... Jesus blesses you!

Which, as you may have noticed, is largely in Portuguese. I was able to puzzle out part of it, but Google Translate helped me with the rest. 

Then I was able to send her a note in reply!

Here's what I said:

Obrigado, Rene! É sempre bom ouvir que alguém gosta de meus livros. Tenha um dia maravilhoso e que Deus abençoe você!

I'm guessing there might be some awkward Portuguese there, but it's way better than me guessing at it and trying to put some words together. 

Um. Then I noticed I had misspelled her name, so I had to send one more note. 

Desculpe, Rute, eu mal escrito o seu nome!

Oops. Sorry, Rute!

Still, pretty neat. Thanks, Google.

My new story "Pranked by a Pixie" is up at @flashfictionmag

This month on Flash Fiction Online you can read my new story PRANKED BY A PIXIE. No pixies were harmed in the making of this story. In fact, there aren't any pixies in the story at all.

Be watching for the reality show to debut sometime in the near future.

If you want to see more of my professionally published short work, you can find some links here.