The Evangelist

I wrote The Evangelist back in 2015, back when I was all filled with writery hope following the signing of my first bona fide publishing contract. Yay! I was going to be an author, with lots and lots of books!

But that ain’t how the industry works, kids.

Getting your first novel published is hard. Getting your second novel published is just as hard, unless you’re blessed with a multi-book contract or are capable of mind control.

You loved this manuscript. It was much better than Harry Potter. You’re going to read it again and again.

The Evangelist didn’t go anywhere, despite the best efforts of my agent. This, in retrospect, is not a surprise.

It was and is a peculiar novel.

On the one hand, the central protagonist is a deeply faithful evangelical Christian, whose voice is represented as respectfully and authentically as possible. Darren is deeply earnest, gentle of spirit, and genuinely believes that Jesus Christ is his Lord and Savior. He’s a basically decent human being, whose faith I share, even if I express it in different ways. So at some points, yeah, this will read a bit like “Christian fiction,” because it is. Secular publishing houses really really don’t grok to that.

On the other hand, it’s also filled with non-Christian characters, who speak and act in ways that are, again, as real as I can make ‘em. Meaning, they don’t say “dang it” and “gosh diddly darn it” when they’re frustrated or angry or afraid. There are “bad words,” which pretty much rules out Christian publishing houses. That, and it’s sci fi.

I mean, real hard science fiction. With aliens. And multiverses. And H.P. Lovecraft references. And it’s overtly political, in a way that would make Christians gullible enough to buy into Christian nationalism and kleptofascism a bit uncomfortable. And it’s short, barely more than a novella.

Finding a publisher willing to take a swing at such an odd fish of a novel? Lord have mercy, but that didn’t work.

I’ve ended up repurposing scenes, characters, and relationships from this novel for other manuscripts, but I still like *this* story. It’s set in Poolesville, the sweet little town where I’ve been in ministry for the last 15 years. And though it’s over 10 years old now, it tracks a ginned-up “emergency” a fascist president uses to justify ending the rule of law, free speech, elections and the like? It doesn’t seem far-fetched. Except for the aliens.

Also, years ago, I promised a church member that I’d write her into a novel manuscript as part of a fundraiser. Which I did.

I Bezos-published it on the cheap a few years back, but you can now have the entire thing gratis on substack if you’re willing to read it online. Enjoy!