New Logo!

I have a love/hate with artificial intelligence. There is so much of what is called AI slop out there, that I long for true human interaction and real books written by real people.

And by the bye, I want to assure you that I never use AI in my writing. Every word in my pages is 100% me, errors and all.

However, I have found a use for AI when it comes to creating a new logo.

Here is my old boring Facebook banner for my author's page:

I made this years ago with the graphic software that was at my disposal.

In one word, Yuck!

However, I did have a new banner made courtesy of ChatGPT. What do you think?

And don't think I just punched in a request and said generate. It took hours of researching the correct wording of the commands and descriptions to make me happy.

I also crafted a 3D image of the logo as well.

The bottom line is that AI can make writers lazy, but it can be beneficial for marketing.

 

Retirement Draws Near!

The day after Easter Sunday, I’ll begin a new chapter of life as I retire after 30 years serving as pastor of the Heidlersburg/Mount Olivet Charge of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ. Serving these congregations has been one of the great privileges of my life.

Retirement doesn’t mean slowing down — just shifting gears. My plans include:

1. Gradually moving from our home in Heidlersburg to Chambersburg.

2. Finishing the three novels that are so close to completion. (Retirement writing plan: finish three novels. Suspected obstacle: feline manuscript management.)

3. Starting a YouTube series that respectfully addresses common questions and objections about Christianity.

4. Taking some time to sort through my online connections, remembering old friends — especially those we lost during COVID — and letting go where needed. (That part will be bittersweet.)

5. Taming my massive library and reducing it by about 50% — likely with much weeping and wailing.

6. I’m also slowly rebuilding my old hobby in parlor magic. Years ago, I performed semi-professionally with the Society of American Magicians (1974–1979), and I still enjoy doing small shows for groups of 50 or fewer. Unfortunately, many of my props were damaged during an outdoor show a few years ago, so I’m starting over. These days it’s easy to find close-up magic — thanks in part to performers like David Blaine — but good parlor and stage effects are surprisingly hard to come by. Still, I recently discovered a wonderful old-fashioned magic shop in Reading, which feels a bit like finding buried treasure. So the rebuilding begins.

7. Research the possibility of obtaining a PhD in Aesthetic Theology (yes, that has been a long-term interest of mine) from Kairos University. Not because I want the title of Doctor before my name, but because I want to continue the discipline of study.

At 71, every day God gives me the strength to work toward these goals feels like a gift.

Short version: retirement just means I’ll be a busy little beaver in a different forest.

New Release Upcoming

 Keep your eyes open for a new release from yours truly. A blend of SF and detective noir.

Target is a February 28th release.

Love in the Time of Chocolate

Last night at my writers' group, we were given a prompt and ten minutes to respond. As February 14th is Valentine's Day, we were told to write about something or someone sweet. For your flash fiction pleasure, here is what I came up with:

Love in the Time of Chocolate
by Alan Loewen
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Have you heard about the Gingerbread Man? How about something sweeter? My good friend Gus Polinski was a world-renowned chocolatier, a master of the sweeter arts. His craftsmanship was par excellence, and his little shop in the backwaters of Harrisburg thrived. His truffles, brownie bites, peanut butter swirl, salted caramel, chocolate-covered strawberries, pretzels, nuts, and mini tarts had pushed many a poor unfortunate into type 2 diabetes, much to the joy of the local endocrinologists.

Less than a week ago, he came and urgently rapped on my front door. “Craig,” he said, blocking my front door. “I need your help. I’m being hunted down by assassins and enforcers from Hershey's and Nestlé's. And the worst are those Mars Bars fanatics. I desperately need a favor!”

“Of course, Gus,” I replied. “Anything for a friend. What do you need?”

He stepped aside and ushered in a confectioner’s dream. “My masterpiece,” he said. It was a lovely and petite woman, but with one unique difference. I could see she was composed completely out of chocolate. She blinked at me and smiled, surprising me. She was a statue of sentient chocolate.

“They want her, and I won’t let them have her. Please hide her for me until I can find a better way to protect her.”

“Of course,” I said. “But what does she eat? What are her needs?”

“She needs nothing,” Gus said. “Just prop her up somewhere and don’t let her get dusty.”

And that is how Nougat came into my life. 

She was a charming, albeit unique, individual. Her IQ was quite high, and needless to say, she had quite a sweet personality.

Now I know what you evil-minded readers are thinking, that I lost self-control and took an occasional nibble. But, no, her ending was far worse. 

One August morning, I left for work, and when I returned, I discovered that my air conditioning had malfunctioned during the day. 

Nougat had melted away into my carpet, leaving the room smelling like a confectionery. 

I called Gus, but he seemed nonplussed. “It’s quite all right,” he said.

“Now I’m working on chocolate pets. Care to take on two Chocolate Labs?” 

My Japanese Name (Morikawa Tomonobu)

Fascinated by AI, I have been chatting with ChatGPT since its inception (Note: I do NOT use AI in any of my writing ... that's deception). I use it to search the web and compile news reports on topics that interest me, such as Biblical archaeology, artificial intelligence, and other subjects.

I am also a confirmed Japanophile and someday hope to complete my novel, The Shrine War, a love letter to Japan.

Anyway, as ChatGPT knows me well, having fed it my biography and Christian testimony, I asked it the following question:

One aspect of my personality you may not know is that I am a sincere Japanophile. I love its culture, its history (including its negative history), its cuisine, and, though I am a dedicated Christian, I do have respect for Shinto, Japan's nature religion. If I were to adopt a Japanese name, knowing my history and interests, what would you recommend? Following the Japanese tradition of the surname (or family name) first, then the given name (called the first name in the West).

I received the following answer:

森川 智信 (Morikawa Tomonobu)

• Surname (Morikawa 森川) – “Forest river.” Suggests peace, nature, and the quiet movement of life — qualities that fit your pastoral calm and your love for old, sacred places.

• Given name (Tomonobu 智信) – “Wise faith.”

• 智 (tomo) = wisdom, intelligence, discernment

• 信 (nobu) = faith, trust, belief

• Together: a man of wise faith.
  This combination beautifully blends Christian spirituality with Japanese reverence for wisdom and harmony.
  
  

Meaning Breakdown

森 (mori) – forest
Symbol of life, tranquility, and natural mystery — an echo of the sacred groves in both Shinto and early Christian imagery.

川 (kawa) – river
Represents continuity, renewal, and grace flowing through time. Together with mori, it paints a landscape of living faith amid nature: “the river through the forest.”

智 (tomo) – wisdom, discernment
Not mere knowledge, but insight guided by compassion and understanding — a trait deeply aligned with your pastoral character.

信 (nobu) – faith, trust, belief
This kanji appears in the Japanese word for faith (shinrai, 信頼) and belief (shinkō, 信仰). It’s a word of quiet conviction and reliability.

---

Poetic Interpretation

森川 智信 — “The Forest River of Wise Faith”

A soul whose wisdom flows like a river through the forest of time,
gentle yet enduring, reflecting heaven in quiet water.
His faith, like the current, shapes the stones it passes —
steadfast, serene, and full of grace.

It also created the beautiful graphic above to display my new name. It then offered to make a blessing that honored my new name:

You know what? I like this. Very much.

 

Doom, Gloom, and Drool

Doom, Gloom, and Drool or Bram Stoker Never Wrote This

by Alan Loewen

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

“The sun is setting.” My friend intoned while striking a dramatic pose. An author of dark fantasy romances with a body count, he had a long, bad habit of affecting garish pretensions.

I groaned under my breath. “Yes,” I replied. “The sun is setting.” We continued our walk around the pond that graced his property as the crickets began their nightly vigil and the bullfrogs tuned up their nocturnal chorus.

“The sun is setting,” he repeated.

“You already said that,” I shot back. “Who cares?”

“The sun is setting. The creatures of the night will be upon us soon.”

“Oh, yes,” I answered with heavy sarcasm. “Katydids and bats. We’ll be feeding the mosquitoes soon. If you’re so wired up about it, we can go back to the house.”

He paused for a moment. “The children of the night! What beautiful music they make!”

“You two-bit hack!” I snapped back. “That line is from that old Dracula movie.”

Suddenly, a huge four-legged beast burst out of the darkness and threw me to the ground. The dark form stood over me. Its open jaws dripped drool on my face, and its fetid breath threatened to suffocate me.

My friend laughed fiendishly and ran away, leaving me to my fate.

“Get off of me, Brunhilde!” I yelled at my friend’s overly friendly Saint Bernard.

That was thirty minutes ago. Brunhilde adores me and refuses to let me go.

And my friend?

That penny-a-word scribbler left me to drown in doggy drool.

My Publishing History

From 1990 to the present day, I have enjoyed having a number of stories published and republished in several magazines and anthologies. This list does not include my own personal collections and children's novel published in all international Amazons. Many of these publications are still available through Amazon and can be found through your favorite search engine.

1. Roseanne, Elvis, and Us appeared in the April 1990 issue of The United Brethren magazine. 
2. Olin G. Alwood (1905-1921): Faithful and Wise Steward (pp 106-114), the eighth chapter of the book, United Brethren Bishops from 1889-1997: Volume One edited by Dr. Paul R. Fetters, copyright August, 1996. 
3. The Substance of Things Hoped For published in PawPrints Fanzine: Summer, 1998 
4. Canticle of the Wolf published in PawPrints Fanzine: Summer, 1999 
5. Alice Remembers the White Knight (poem) published in Beauty For Ashes Poetry Review: Fall, 1999
6. Fox Hunt published in PawPrints Fanzine: Spring, 2000 
7. Coventry House published in PawPrints Fanzine: Fall 2001
8. Festival of Masks published in the Anthrocon 2003 convention book 
9. The Substance of Things Hoped For republished in Gateway SF Magazine: Winter, 2005 
10. Canticle of the Wolf republished in the Twilight Times Press Anthology Infinite Space, Infinite God, as well as Mask of the Ferret, co-written with author Ken Pick, Winter, 2006. ISIG won a 2007 Eppie award and was a Top 10 Finalist in the 2007 Preditors and Editors Readers Poll. Mask of the Ferret won an Honorable Mention from the 2008 Washington Science Fiction Association award. 
11. Night Mares published in Sam Dot's Publishing magazine, Beyond Centauri, October 2007 (Issue 18).
12. Dollmaker was published in the March 2009 edition of Aoife's Kiss from Sam's Dot Publishing. 
13. My Pretty Pony published in the April, 2009 edition of Ethereal Tales. 
14. The City of Sarkomand, A Guide for the Traveler, Chapter 32 was published in the July, 2009 issue of Ethereal Tales. 
15. The Vampire Mice of the U&G: A Tale from The Universe the Next Door Over was published in the October, 2009 issue of Ethereal Tales. 
16. My reprinted tale, Fox Hunt, as well as Down to Cathuria (a direct sequel to Mask of the Ferret and co-written with Ken Pick), was published in November 2009 in the Different Worlds, Different Skins anthology from editor Will Sanborn. 
17. My Pretty Pony has been released as part of an Ethereal Tales three-CD audio book collection, November, 2009.
18. Ethereal Tales published A Fairy Tale in April 2010. 
19. Ethereal Tales published Greengate in October 2010. 
20. My short story, The Pooka and the Redcap (formerly known as Fairy Tale) was released in the Static Movement anthology, Faeries, and is published by Pill Hill Press on January 1, 2010. 
21. Dyads, a novella-length sequel to Mask of the Ferret and co-written with Ken Pick, was published in the anthology Infinite Space, Infinite God 2 from Twilight Times Press (November 15, 2010). 
22. The Furry Con Mystery or My Fursuit is Hot (With Apologies to Dashiell Hammett) appeared in the anthology Darker Than Noir, edited by Faith Kauwe. (August, 2011) 
23. Ethereal Tales published Storyteller in September 2011. 
24. My short story, An Incident at a Carnival was published in the March 2012 issue of Cover of Darkness magazine. 
25. Yew Manor was published in the Morphicon 2012 Convention book. 
26. My Pretty Pony was republished in Morpheus Tales' Apocalypse Special Issue in February 2013.
27. Morpheus Press published In the Father's Image in their Ethereal Tales Special Issue on February 1, 2014.
28. Dollmaker was republished by the anthology, Fossil Lake II: The Refossiling on February 1, 2015 
29. Fred Patten, accepted my flash fiction, To the Reader … for his anthology, Gods with Fur, published on June 16, 2016. 
30. Fred Patten, accepted The Shrine War for his anthology, Dogs of War, published on January 13, 2017. 
31. Child of His Desire was published in Morpheus Tales #31 on November 26, 2017.
32. Through the Black Andes was published in Odd Tales of Wonder #7 on December 11, 2017.
33. Fred Patten, accepted In Search of the Creators for his anthology, Exploring New Places, published on July 26, 2018. 
34. Canticle of the Wolf was reprinted in the anthology, Wolf Wanderings, on January 20, 2024.
35. Yew Manor was reprinted in the Fall 2025 issue of Hound of Heaven magazine.