Greetings, friends! It’s been a little while since we’ve provided you with an update on our Green Ember: Helmer in the Dragon Tomb progress. Things are clicking along nicely. The book is currently with our printers and will soon be winging its way into your eager hands. The game is also almost ready for release….
This story features a nasty type of giant that is helpful to portray. It is the classic story of King Arthur and the Giant of Mont Saint Michel. There are many versions you can find online. Some good. Some not so good. This particular one is meant for the ear, which might make it less…
There is a thought I hear quite often. It’s presented with such confidence that those who say it seem to think the matter settled. This is how it goes: humans are most human when they surrender to their appetites and abandon all to instinct. To resist one’s impulse is to deny one’s self. Remarkably, this…
Editor’s Note: Here’s another archival post worth revisiting. Enjoy! I recently spoke with a nice woman who works in publishing. I asked her why publishing has abandoned timelessness in favor of timeliness. I will summarize her answer: Librarians used to drive the market. That explains the success of Robert Lawson, Eleanor Estes, and Richard and…
There is a calico cat that treads about our backyard like a fancy hobo. He’s scrawny and haughty both. I did this picture after a conversation my wife and I had about him. If you are the parent entrusted with bedtime story duties, perhaps you might conjure up a journey for him and see where…
Stained glass windows do not make us treasure glass as much as they make us treasure light. The glory of stained glass windows, like the glory of creation, consists in showcasing that which shines through it. There are those who spend a great deal of time persuading others that the world around us is opaque…
Fantasy is a two-edged sword. It can amplify our disenchantment with the world, or refresh our appreciation of it. William Jay Smith does a great job communicating the romance of domesticity and refreshing our appreciation of life in his poem, “The Toaster.” He uses the unfamiliar (dragon) to refresh our wonder at the familiar (toaster). Tolkien…
Some months ago, my wife and I were reading Eleanor Estes’ charming book Rufus M. We were amazed at one story where Rufus (the youngest of the Moffats and the title character) found some money frozen in the ice. While the rest of his family were busy trying to manage a frozen pipe under the…
One of my birthday presents this year was soap. My wife bought me No. 6 soap from the Caswell-Massey company. It is the same soap George Washington, John Adams, and the Marquis de Lafayette used. The scent profile is strange. It smells medicinal, woodsy, and a little floral, and I’ve grown to appreciate it. This morning…
Editor’s Note: This article by Zach Franzen, his first on StoryWarren.com, was posted four summers ago and remains one of my favorite (and SD Smith’s most-quoted) articles, by anyone. I recently read an article urging Christians to be more countercultural. By countercultural I think the author meant that Christians ought to get arrested more often…
Some months ago, my wife and I were reading Eleanor Estes’ charming book Rufus M. We were amazed at one story where Rufus (the youngest of the Moffats and the title character) found some money frozen in the ice. While the rest of his family were busy trying to manage a frozen pipe under the…
I walked up to the registration table at a conference for children’s book writers and illustrators. The lobby was filled with teachers talking to one another about their schools, their principals, and common core. A few talked over their manuscripts. The woman behind the table was cheerful and warm. She smiled at me like I…
