An Unexpected Journal: Science Fiction: The Seers and Philosophers of Sci-Fi

Carla Alvarez is a mother to three and a graduate of HBU's Masters in Apologetics program. Her philosophy in both business and apologetics is if what we think affects what we do, then the "how" is just as important as the "what." As actions have a lasting impact, it is of utmost importance to develop right thoughts.  She creates effective communications for clients at Legacy Marketing (www.legacymarketingservices.com) and writes about the Christian faith at RaisedtoWalk.org (www.raisedtowalk.org).

Donald W. Catchings, Jr. is Founder and Board Chair of Street Light Inc. and Pastor of The True Light Church in Conroe, Texas since 2009. Also, Donald is a Literature and Theology teacher at Kepler Education (kepler.education). As a writer, Donald regularly contributes to An Unexpected Journal and his own blog: www.donaldwcatchingsjr.com. Donald recently released Joy Through a Wardrobe — a book of poetry and reflections on C. S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. 

Laurie is an Iowa born, Wisconsin raised, Texan with a BS in Social Work and 13 years experience as a worship leader. She and her husband work together in a small country Texas church where he is the youth and electronics guy and she takes care of the music, discipling teens through song and loving every second of it. Her life-long goal is to reflect at least a few facets of God's beauty and forgiveness through poetry and song. Her life song is gratitude for forgiveness given freely at the Cross. Her life's co-labor of love, alongside her husband, is raising their 11 year old son, who is all potential and equally all over the place.

Sean C. Hadley is a doctoral candidate at Faulkner University. He received his B.A. from the University of West Florida and his M.Div. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He has spent the last decade teaching the Great Books at a small, private Christian schools.

Douglas LeBlanc currently works as a high school humanities educator and choir director in Saint Cloud, MN. He credits science fiction with bringing him to love the humanities. He is currently working on a PhD with Faulkner University. His research interests include language arts pedagogy and history.

Christy Luis has worked as a library assistant and currently runs a YouTube channel called “Dostoevsky in Space,” where she reviews books. She has an Associate of Arts in Humanities and graduated cum laude from Regent University with a Bachelor of Arts in English from Regent University.

Seth Myers completed his MA in Cultural Apologetics from Houston Baptist University in 2017. As a power systems engineer, he has been involved with transformer diagnostics and rural electrification projects by partnering with NGOs in West Africa. A volunteer with international students through local churches, he enjoys conversations with friends from all cultures. He considers himself rich in friendships across time and space, including but not limited to C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Bede the Venerable, Augustine, Ravi Zacharias & friends, and many student friends (chess-playing when possible, but not required) typically from throughout Asia. He has recently begun taking online courses in Faulkner University’s Doctor of Humanities program.

Jason holds a B.A. from York College in York, NE, where he studied English and Psychology. He also recently completed his M.A. in Christian Apologetics from Houston Baptist University. Along with research and writing, Jason plays drums in a band and works in the mental health field. He grew up in Pierre, SD and currently lives in Spearfish, SD. In his spare time does a lot of outdoors activities in the Black Hills area and volunteers at his local parish."

Annie Nardone is a writer and adventurer who seldom travels with a map because joy is discovered in the journey! Her sincere passion is the reintegration of the arts and humanities with theology and the Christian imagination and is currently working on a project that brings the arts and the church back together. She holds a master’s degree in Cultural Apologetics from Houston Baptist University and writes for The Cultivating Project, Literary Life, and An Unexpected Journal. She’s the editor for Literary Life Book of the Month. Annie resides in Virginia with her Middle Earth/Narnia/Hogwarts-loving family and an assemblage of sphynx cats and feline foundlings who read with her daily. In a poll taken among friends, six things that characterize her include: books, C.S. Lewis, spontaneous adventure, Shakespeare, caffeine, and cats. 

Cherish Nelson is an adjunct professor of World Religions at Kankakee Community College and the Director of Youth Ministries at Kankakee Asbury United Methodist Church. She has a B.A. in English from Olivet Nazarene University and a M.A. in Apologetics from Houston Baptist University, where she specialized in Cultural Apologetics. Cherish also creates and shares apologetics curriculum for youth groups. Her apologetic interests include the historicity of the resurrection, the problem of evil, and imaginative apologetics.

Cherish has a long-standing passion for building a confident faith in her students. She integrates Christian education and discipleship into the retreats, mission trips, and outreach events she organizes. Cherish is particularly interested in integrating the arts into youth ministry to supplement traditional propositional teaching. Throughout her time in ministry and academia, Cherish has written apologetics curriculum for youth groups related to fiction and poetry, science and faith, the resurrection, and the problem of evil.

Josiah Peterson is debate coach and instructor of rhetoric at the King’s College and is enrolled in HBU’s MAA program in Cultural Apologetics. He lives in New York with his wife Rachelle and daughter Hosanna. His primary scholarly interest is in the work of C.S. Lewis.

Alicia Pollard grew up in New England and earned a B.A. in English from Grove City College. She works as a technical writer for software. Through her blog, aliciapollard.com, she explores “yearning” (related to C.S. Lewis’s idea of Joy) and storytelling as a medium of worship and witness.

Megan Joy Rials holds her Juris Doctor and Graduate Diploma in Comparative Law from the Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center and works as a research attorney in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In the summer, she will begin the online Apologetics certificate program at Houston Baptist University. Her work has previously been published in the Louisiana Law Review, where she served as Production Editor for Volume 77. She attends Jefferson Baptist Church with her family and every fall cheers on the LSU Tigers on Saturday nights in Death Valley.

Zak Schmoll is the founder of Entering the Public Square (www.enteringthepublicsquare.com), a blog founded on the sincere belief that every Christian should understand the importance of discussing Christianity in the marketplace of ideas. He earned his MA in Apologetics at Houston Baptist University and PhD in Humanities from Faulkner University. His work has been featured on several websites including The Federalist, the Public Discourse and the Fourth World Journal.

Virginia de la Lastra is a physician, illustrator, and apologist. In 2015, while studying a Master’s degree in Apologetics at HBU, she discovered a love for drawing and has been doing it ever since. She has illustrated several books, and she regularly illustrates for The Society of Gilbert Keith Chesterton, An Unexpected Journal, Teen STAR, and of course, for her medical students, nieces, nephews and little neighbors.