Here's my interview on the "Off the Shelf" Podcast

Last week Paul Turner from the Off the Shelf podcast interviewed me about "My Imaginary Jesus: The Spiritual Adventures of One Man Searching for the Real God."



A fun time! Thanks, Paul!

Some pictures from the Imaginary Jesus stage play

I have a lot to say about this last week and all the amazing things that happened while I was in St. Louis for the Imaginary Jesus stage play. I'll need some time to process and write it all up. In the meantime, here are some pictures from the play, which opened to sold out crowds last weekend!

 The show will go on the next two weekends, so if you're anywhere near St. Louis grab your tickets and get over there!

Matt is split in two during the play: Matt the character on
the left, Matt the Narrator on the right.

Daisy the donkey is not amused by Matt and Matt making fun of her.

Here's Krista and Matt together.

Shane the atheist, Portland Jesus and the Matts enjoy
some fancy dessert at the Pix Patisserie.

Video clip from the Imaginary Jesus stage play

Tonight, Krista and I are in St. Louis to watch the WORLD PREMIERE of the Imaginary Jesus stage play! Be sure to get your tickets and we'll see you there! (I'm here all weekend, so if you can't come tonight, come tomorrow or Sunday!

"Classic" Imaginary Jesus in the Wild

My friend Holly Sheldon just sent me this photo from Singapore! On her phone!

Notice the now-out-of-print "Collector's" Imaginary Jesus, an increasingly rare sight around here.

Thanks, Holly!

I particularly like the rainbow "special offer" sign on it.

"Falling" premieres Off-Broadway on October 15

I just got this note from Deanna Jent, the playwright who adapted Imaginary Jesus for the stage. One of her plays from last season is starting in NYC this October!

Hello!  I’m beyond excited to let you know that my play FALLING will be opening on October 15 at the Minetta Lane Theatre in NYC!  Previews will begin September 27.  Below are some links to information about the show – if you could help me out by sending this on to anyone or group that you think might be interested, I’d be very grateful.  We need word-of-mouth to get some attention in the Big Apple.  Also, I’ll be there for all of the preview shows, so if you’re able to come see it during those weeks, let me know!  Also please post on any social media sights you have …. Thanks so very very much!  Deanna

 "FALLING" webpage  
 Facebook 
Article with all the details 

Here's what critics have been saying about FALLING:

“a gripping piece of theatre, emotionally wrenching and theatrically astute”

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“a thoughtful portrait of a family struggling to hold on in particular and challenging circumstances”

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“it will kick your guts”

Riverfront Times

I haven't seen the show, but I did read the script and it is powerful. I cried while reading it. 

And, in case you haven't already made plans to join us, here's the info about Imaginary Jesus, first show November 15th in St. Louis!

Imaginary Jesus Stage Play coming this fall!

Krista and I will be attending opening night at the Mustard See Theatre in St. Louis! Hope to see you there!

My article in Relevant Magazine

It's been uncharacteristically quiet around here, but that doesn't mean I haven't been writing (wait, was that too many negatives in one sentence?).

In fact, if you're wishing you had a little something to read from yours truly, check out this month's issue of Relevant Magazine. I was glad to see the cover article was about the Avett Brothers, a band I enjoy and listen to regularly, and inside (in fact right next to my own article!) was an article about Of Monsters and Men. Nice!

You can see the article online as well right about here (half of it's behind the subscription wall).

Anyway, I have a few other writing announcements coming out this week... keep your eyes peeled (ew, gross) for further announcements.

Imaginary Jesus... THE STAGE PLAY!

This November will be the world premiere of the stage adaptation of Imaginary Jesus!

The adaptation was written by the award winning playwright, Deanna Jent, whose play "Falling" is also opening off-Broadway this fall.

The play will be premiering at the Mustard Seed Theatre in St. Louis. I'll keep you updated on details, but right now it looks like Krista and I will be flying out for the premiere. I can't miss the opportunity to see an actor playing the part of me while I am sitting in the audience.

I've read the first 75% of the script and I couldn't be more pleased. It's clever, true to the source material and adds a few new, enjoyable bits as well. I laughed out loud while I was reading it, and I can't wait to see it live! If you live in the St. Louis area, I hope you'll be there, too!

If you're not in the St. Louis area... well, Deanna will make the play available to theatre companies in other cities, so who knows? You might get a chance to see it, too.

Happy Birthday, Imaginary Jesus!

Two years ago this month, Imaginary Jesus was officially released upon the world!

And there was much rejoicing!

At least at my house, where I took tons of copies of the book and placed them on my bookshelf together with other books I love. Like so:

The Imaginary Jesus audio book came out a little earlier than the physical books, which I had the pleasure of narrating. There's a certain line (uttered by King James Jesus) which I had practiced shouting aloud in my car for weeks.

Overall, I have to say that the whole process has been amazing. Getting interviewed by Writer's Digest was a dream come true, and getting a review from Publisher's Weekly and Relevant Magazine was cool. I wouldn't want all of my dreams to come true, of course, but that was a good one. My author website launched around then, too, and has gone through several changes in the meantime.

Of course, Imaginary Jesus has been recently re-released as My Imaginary Jesus, and I'm excited for this new phase in the book's life.

If you haven't bought a copy of my first novel yet, now would be a great time. It's a great gift for Easter, too! Read the first chapter here.

This month, in honor of the anniversary of the book, I'm planning a few fun surprises. So stay tuned! Or, feel free to leave your suggestions for fun surprises for the month in the comments section.

IMAGINARY JESUS NO MORE!

Saying goodbye can be so difficult....

Back in April of 2010 my first book, Imaginary Jesus, hit the bookstores. It's hard to express how cool that was, and how much I love this book... it's sort of like (in a less significant way) having a kid. I'm proud of this book, even if it never grows up and graduates college and, say, earns me an honorary doctorate. And I'm enormously happy that this book found a publisher and has so many fans.

I love the cover, which has the perfect blend of humor and slapstick graffiti, with the defacing of this poor Aloha-shirted man to make him look like Jesus. I love the design. Some great authors and reviewers said a lot of amazing things about this book (some of them like the book more than I do!).

One of the challenges with the book, however, has been getting it into the right people's hands. We discovered soon after the book came out that a lot of people -- particularly Christian readers -- were a little intimidated by the title and cover. We got questions pretty often from people about whether the book is saying that Jesus is imaginary (Ummm... no. It is, after all, published by Tyndale House, a respected Christian publishing house). It seems that the majority of people who read the book love it, but let's face it, if you're browsing the Christian fiction section of the bookstore, you are probably looking for a thriller or a romance.

I'm not sure that standing next to an Amish romance and a Christian thriller has put Imaginary Jesus into lots of people's shopping carts (yes, I realize that most of you don't use shopping carts at the bookstore but I really like books).

All that to say, some people looked at the book and thought, well, maybe it was too big a risk (I assure you it isn't). Maybe it was disrespectful (it's not). Maybe it's making fun of God (NO WAY! Do you think I'm dumb or sumpthin?).

So. My beloved publisher approached me and said, "You know, let's try again. Your book isn't getting to as many people as we would like. Let's give it another shot. Sort of like how they are completely re-launching the Spider-Man movies." Technically, they did not mention Spider-Man. Of course I was up for that. Here are some of the NEW AND IMPROVED bits you'll notice in the re-release.

One, a new cover:

As you can see, the new cover is designed to reflect the cover from Night of the Living Dead Christian, which should make these books look lovely on the shelf together.

Two, a new, more possessive title: My Imaginary Jesus. This should help clarify that the book is not saying that "Jesus is imaginary" but rather "we all have some misconceptions about who Jesus is." Likewise the new tagline, "The spiritual adventures of one man searching for the real God" should make it clear that the book endorses belief in God.

Third, an introduction by David Kinnaman, author of You Lost Me, unChristian and president of the Barna Group. I just recently read the intro, and it's a lot of fun. I think you'll like it. This should set some minds at ease, too. David is a trusted voice in much of the Christian community and he likes numbers and stuff, which shows that he is smart and a voice of reason.

We've also added in a small group discussion guide (something that I get asked about with astonishing regularity) as well as QR codes that will allow you to be guided through the discussions by YOURS TRULY in a series of videos. That's right people, QR codes. The future is now. I had to go into the computer like in Tron to make this all happen, but that's the sort of dedication I bring to the table in making the new and improved My Imaginary Jesus newer and more improveder.

All of this in an effort to help people see that this book is not only sidesplittingly hilarious, but also a book to be taken seriously... that it has some (hopefully) deep things to say about what it means to be in a relationship with a relationally present but physically absent Christ. Hopefully the new packaging and cover will make it easier for people to give it to a friend, suggest it to their pastor, get it as the church book-club book of the month and so on.

Anyway, to the details:

MY IMAGINARY JESUS releases on April 1st! This is not a joke, and there will not be a post on April first saying, HA HA, FOOLED YOU. No. It is for real.

Also, if you, like me, love the bearded graffiti edition of Imaginary Jesus (soon to be called the Collector's Edition), then now is your chance. You need to stockpile them as soon as possible, because soon the Collector's Edition run of books will be gone!

Goodbye, Collector's Edition Imaginary Jesus, with your hilarious cover and silly antics. We shall miss you! Hopefully your new and improved incarnation will bring us comfort.

Wonderful Wednesday: Four Wonderful Things

Today at Wonderful Wednesday, I am sharing four wonderful things with you. One is a gift for you to take advantage of and pass along to all your friends. One is a sort of geek test I stole off someone's facebook. And two are wonderful things from the internet sent to me by the intrepid internet spelunker, Nurse Shasta.

NUMERO UNO:

For a limited time, in celebration of my second novel, Night of the Living Dead Christian, you can get the IMAGINARY JESUS e-book FREE.

At Amazon!

At Barnes and Noble!

At Christian Book Distributors! 

You can also buy Night of the Living Dead Christian as an ebook at Amazon, B and N, or CBD. You won't regret it.

And if you already love Imaginary Jesus, you'll also love the audio book. It's like a one-man play version of IJ, read by yours truly.



 NUMERO DOS:

 I hate to say it, but if you think this is funny without someone explaining it to you, you are an enormous Geek. I know that's a compliment these days, but it's true. I stole this from Greg Horton on Facebook.

 NUMERO TRES: 

The goats of Morocco like to climb trees. To eat berries. Silly goats! Berries are for kids!

NUMERO QUATRO:

Cows. Do they love remote controlled cars or fear them? This hard-hitting investigative video will answer that question and more:

At UC Irvine last week

Last Thursday night I spoke to a group of students at UC Irvine about our conceptions, opinions, ideas, preferences and misconceptions about Jesus, as well as what Jesus has to say about himself.

The Campus Crusade for Christ staff and students who put on the event did a great job, asking a lot of their friends to come as well as spending much of the week hosting a "graffiti wall" where people could write out their answers to the question "Who is Jesus?"

The event itself went well, and I enjoyed meeting a lot of students and having some great conversations. At least one person said they made a decision to be a follower of Jesus, which was cool. Here are some pictures from the graffiti wall:

Throughout the week, students were encouraged to put their thoughts about Jesus up on the "graffiti wall" on campus.

The team had made great posters and handed out copies of IJ to interested students.

Book Signings are about as much fun as you can have!

s

Me and Hannah McDowell, Super Fan

I enjoy book signings a lot. I like talking to the people buying Imaginary Jesus, and as you can see from the picture, they have so much fun that it makes them grin and give the thumbs up. I also allow pictures, so long as you promise to send it to me later.  This is Hannah, who sent me the picture and a really sweet note as well.  Thanks, Hannah!

BOOKS I LOVE: Win a copy of The Princess Bride by William Goldman

  "Wait a minute... wait a minute... is this a kissing book?"

I am going to give away a copy of The Princess Bride by William Goldman.  I love this book.  Not enough to marry it and be committed to it above all other books, but enough to have consistent, loving and respectful flings together.

You also will love it, unless you are an uncultured Philistine, in which case you will probably only mildly adore it.

Over the next few months I'm going to occasionally give away a couple of my favorite books.  As an author, it's hard not to be influenced by the books you love when you write your own books, and I thought it would be fun to share a couple of the similarities between Imaginary Jesus and the books I want to gather into a big pile and cuddle with.

Here are a couple ways that The Princess Bride and Imaginary Jesus are similar:

1) They're both light-hearted comedies.  Granted, one is about true love, giants and fencing, and the other is about punching a fake Jesus out and chasing it through time and space, but the fact is they're both meant to be goofy, enjoyable books.

2) The author appears as himself.  In The Princess Bride, William Goldman discovers that one of his favorite books from his childhood was actually heavily edited by his father to make it palatable for children, and he sets out to make his own "good parts version" of the book.  In Imaginary Jesus, Matt Mikalatos is both narrator and main character as he sets out on a quest to find an answer to why God has allowed suffering in his family.

3) Both books deal with serious topics in the midst of the craziness.  Underneath all the wackiness, Princess Bride deals with love... True Love in romantic situations as well as the love between parents and their children.  Beyond the talking animals, time travel and legion of Jesuses, Imaginary Jesus looks at the way we make decisions about religion, spirituality and our desire to be connected to God.

4) Both books will make you laugh so hard that you break all the furniture in your house.  Or, if you are a more serious sort, they will make you guffaw in public places.  This is not an unconditional guarantee, and the authors are not responsible for any damage to your furniture or social shame brought on by your public displays of mirth.

HOW DO I ENTER, you ask?

Easy.

1) Link to this post from your blog, twitter or facebook.

2) Leave a comment on this post telling me you've linked it up.

3) I will send a note to the winner on September 29th.  Don't worry, I'll do it using the power of the random number generator.

4) Yes, multiple links will give you multiple entries.  Enter as much as you like.

5) Your chances to win increase with every line from The Princess Bride you quote in the comments section of this post.  Because the random number generator loves that movie.

 And now for the small print: If anything about this contest is illegal or opens me up to lawsuits where you live, please do not tell your authorities or lawyers about it.  Because that will void this contest in your area.  And that would be sad.

UPDATE (9/28): We have a winner!  Congrats to Rahma Krambo!

Do You Hear What I Hear?

A while back I did a phone interview with Jason Coker at Christian Audio. You can download the interview for free, and then listen to me answer Jason's questions while you are jogging. Or, for those of you who have already had knee replacements, while you are surfing the internet.

What's that you say?  You want to spend money at Christian Audio as a way of thanking them for this excellent interview?  Then I would suggest that you buy the spectacular audio book to which I have linked at the end of this paragraph, with "Voice Acting" by the author himself.  It is a treat wrapped in an enigma.

Bold Links, complete with Exclamation Points (!)

KILLER ELEPHANT ON THE LOOSE!

BBC India reports that there is a serial killer elephant on the loose.  He has killed at least 10 female elephants and his signature kill has to do with puncturing his victims with a broken tusk. 

This sounds like a job for... BOBO THE DETECTIVE CHIMP!

If ever there were a time that the world needed a real, live detective chimp, this would be that time.

CONTROVERSY OVER CHURCH NAME SHORTAGE!

You've probably already heard all the controversy surrounding the shortage of church names.  This is by far the best article I've seen on the topic.  It's an important issue that all Christians should weigh in on.

AMAZING SHRINKING HORSE!

BHR correspondent @mrkengos writes in to tell us that horses are getting smaller all the time. Soon you will be able to carry them in a purse or handbag, or carry them on an airplane.  I would appreciate it if no one ever mentioned this to my children.

ROBOTS ARE DESCRIBING IMAGINARY JESUS!

At least I assume it is robots.  It might be poorly paid interns.  Regardless, you can see my careful study of the fruits of their labor here. 

Imaginary Jesus Contest REVEALED!!

At last I can reveal the amazing "My Imaginary Jesus" contest!

You could win a Kindle, an iPod, signed copies of the book or... lunch with me in Portland!  I know some of you who read this blog are thinking, "I have lunch with you all the time here in Portland... and it's AMAZING!"  That's true.  But just imagine someone from some backwoods place like New York City getting flown out here by Tyndale to have lunch with me.  And imagine this... I will convince my wife to come to lunch with us, too!  AMAZING!  I know.  It really is.

All you have to do is write, draw, paint or record your own story about an imaginary Jesus from your own life and send it in to Tyndale and then WIN!

And to get you used to how awesome it is to WIN THINGS here is the first chapter of Imaginary Jesus FOR FREE!

Imaginary Jesus Sighting in the Wild, or, One of These Things Is Not Like the Others

Krista went to the downtown Portland Borders today and saw a copy of Imaginary Jesus in the wild!

Poor Imaginary Jesus.  He looks a little out of place on this shelf.  I mean, there you are, reading the spines and you come across:

Plain Jayne
Cowgirl at Heart
The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow
Imaginary Jesus (?!)
Somewhere to Belong
She Walks In Beauty

That's right, friends, Imaginary Jesus is the book equivalent of that boy that your parents told you not to hang out with in high school.  "Plain Jayne, I told you that Imaginary Jesus boy ain't worth nothing.  And he smokes and chews and goes with girls who do."

But that's where he likes it, baby.  He's going to worm his way into Amish romantic fiction soon.  Awwww yeah!

The Imaginary Jesus Book Trailer

Soon ImaginaryJesus.com will be up and running! April first! And I just saw a sneak preview of the contest website, revealing all the cool prizes.  Reviews are pouring in!  You can buy the audio book for only 98 cents for another 48 hours!  A shot rang out!  Suddenly, a pirate ship appeared on the horizon!

My First Signing (at the Public Library Association)

Last week I was invited to go to the Public Library Association's national conference here in Portland and sign copies of Imaginary Jesus.  The fine folks at Tyndale set it all up, and I had a really great time with Michael, who ran the Tyndale booth.  Krista came, too, which was fun.

Here's a picture at the left of me signing a book.  As you can see it requires a great amount of concentration to sign a book properly.  Here's what I am saying to myself in my mind... "M..I..K..A..L..A..T..O..S.. is that right?"

In case you didn't know this, librarians are awesome.  Most of them love books.  One librarian told me about how she collects signed copies of books.  I asked her what her best book is and she told me she has a signed first edition of Madeline L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time.  (!)  Only one librarian told me that she didn't want a copy of my book because she doesn't like books.  I thought that was just sad.  Or possibly sarcasm. 

For this second picture, Krista told me to stop signing books so I could concentrate on smiling.  That was easier!  I'm sure after some more practice I will be able to smile and sign at the same time.  At one point I saw this long line of people (I only ever had short lines) and I thought, this person must be an expert author, so I snuck to the front of the line to see who it was and discovered it was the free snacks table. 

  You can also see on the right the awesome poster that the Tyndale crew put together for the signing.  It is in my car right now. 

There were these other two librarians who, when I offered them each a copy of my book, said they would just take one and share it with each other.  I knew then they were excellent librarians.  Because libraries are all about sharing.  Or at least lending.

Overall, this was a great time.  I enjoyed getting to know Michael, and I met a lot of cool people while signing books.  Two people wrote me that night that they were already done with the book and had liked it!

I know a lot of you would have liked to have been there for a free copy of Imaginary Jesus, and I wish you could have been there.  The best I can do for you right now is to tell you that Christian Audio is practically giving away the audio book right now for 98 cents.  This is a one-time thing and the offer is good until April 1st at 10 a.m. PDT.

So, to all those librarians out there, thanks for everything you do, and I look forward to hearing from you!