I have returned! It’s a Christmas Miracle.

By: A.B. Timothy

I, Alfredo Timotheous Benedito, have returned from the long winter of the heart to continue blogging here on WordPress. On December 1st of 2025, I was in a very bad car accident and have lost my ability to drive at all because of insurance reasons. This stranded me at home and sent me on a spiral mentally. I have only recently begun to claw my way out of that dark place with reviews. I wrote a review for my friend’s book “Fortis: The Return of the Vulture King,” and have partially written a review for “Avatar: Fire and Ash which I intend to finish tomorrow. I also intend this Saturday to be the return of my weekly newsletter.

Fortis: The Return of the Vulture King, a Review

By: A.B. Timothy

Fortis: The Return of the Vulture King, by C.K. Kesterson, is a book filled with vibrant fantasy, explosive fight scenes, and relatable characters who feel real. Whether you are looking to buy a clean adventure book for a middle-grade reader in your life, or you are looking for an easy-to-follow, fun adventure to go on, this book is for you.

Kesterson does an amazing job writing boys who feel true to life. I remember what it was like being a tween and feel as though both Lucian and Tomas embody those memories with ease. C.K. Kesterson clearly draws on his experiences as a father to put his sons in the story, giving us compelling, if sometimes less than intelligent, characters. Granted, knowing how I was as a young boy, the lack of intelligence makes the experience that much more authentic sometimes.

The companions who come alongside the heroes throughout the story are very well written and true. They don’t just automatically go along with what the boys say because the boys are the main characters, and the plot demands it. They push back when two random children show up on their doorstep and try to get help from them.

The villain of the story, the titular “Vulture King”, is suitable for a middle-grade fantasy story. You will not see the depths of Jordan’s “Dark One” or the imbecility of Wiley Coyote, but you will also never feel safe in the presence of the villain, which is perfect.

I highly recommend this book for parents looking for a clean adventure for their children to read that isn’t one of the classics from the 20th century.

Eternal Life

By: A.B. Timothy

What is life? Is life just the universe experiencing itself? Is it star-dust bumping into stardust? Or is it something more? For all of Time, humans have known of something more. Humans have collectively decided every single time they come together and form communities that there is some kind of force or power beyond themselves. You will never hear of an atheistic tribe discovered in the deep rainforests of the Amazon.n

This ubiquity of the divine gives credence to its existence. It’s a good thing, then, that this Divine saw fit to give us an instruction manual on how to receive eternal life and be with it forever.

Jesus Christ, who is God, tells us in John 3:15&16 that, “that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave us his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Eternal life, that being life beyond this deteriorating mortal coil, is a free gift offered to everyone from God out of Heaven. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Basically, everything we do that is not good is a sin, and the payment we deserve for those sins is death, that is, separation from the Divine. This is from the greatest to the smallest of wrong things. From murder to telling a little white lie, all are sins and all separate us from God. That’s when the second half of the passage states that the gift of God is Eternal Life. This life is not something we can earn, as all of our works are paid by death.

The Philippian Jailer asks Paul and Silas how he can be saved in Acts 16:30

All you must do to receive this free gift is to accept it. A Jailer in the city of Philippi once threw himself before two of his prisoners and asked them, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They didn’t say, “Well, you can start by letting us out of here,” or, “Well, you need to get baptized, bro.” No. They said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” Acceptance of God’s gift and belief in the sacrifice of His Son is all that is required to be saved.

Back in John 3:15&16, God didn’t just give His Son to the world so His Son could live a perfect life and show us how it’s done. Rather, He gave us His Son to be sacrificed on a Roman Cross and be raised from the dead three days later. Christ defeated death, so we no longer have to receive that payment for our works, and we can choose to receive his free gift instead.

If you are interested in knowing how you can personally receive Christ as your Savior, send me an email at AlfredoTBenedito@gmail.com. I would love to chat with you and show you how you can know for sure that you are going to heaven one day when you die.

“Die? I thought you said it was Eternal Life?” I hear you say. It is! The Bible says, “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” Thus, when death (remember: death just means separation) comes for us, all it can do is separate our souls from our bodies and send us to God, if we have accepted His gift. We will close our eyes on Earth one last time and open them in Heaven, where we will live forever with our Savior.

Christian Fantasy in History

By: A.B. Timothy

Have you ever thought about what real Christian Fantasy would look like? Did you immediately imagine King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table? Well, what about everything else?

The Smiting of the Assyrians

The first place we can look for Christian Fantasy is no further than the Bible and all the epic battles of the Old Testament.

One comes to mind that was very fantastical. In 2 Kings 19, the Assyrian army was gathered to war with Jerusalem, and all hope seemed lost, until the angel of the Lord swept down with one mighty strike and slew 185,000 Assyrians.

The Heroism of Christ

Moving forward in history, we can look to the heroism of Christ. All stories throughout time converge on Christ. Time itself is split in two by his coming. B.C. “Before Christ” and A.D. “Anno Domini” (which is, being interpreted, “Year of our Lord”).

His heroism in laying His life down for the sins of the World, paying a debt He did not owe, for unworthy people, laid the foundation for every heroic sacrifice since and was the fulfilment of every heroic sacrifice before.

Constantine the Great

Moving forward in time again, another example of Real Christian Fantasy is Emperor Constantine. This man was the first Christian Emperor of Rome and oversaw the Council of Nicea, but how he got there from paganism is something straight out of a Fantasy Novel.

Before the Battle of Milvian Bridge, in 312 A.D., it is said that Emperor Constantine the Great received a vision from heaven of a cross and the words “In Hoc Signo Vinces,” which means, “In this sign you shall conquer.” He did just that, going on to win the battle and become known as a Great Roman Emperor.

The Salvation of Vienna

Forward again we march through time, this time landing on a legendary battlefield, one that likely inspired the charge of the Rohirrim at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields in “The Return of the King.”

In 1683, the Christian city of Vienna was under siege from the Ottoman Empire, and all hope had been lost. In spite of their hopeless state, the men of Vienna fought on for nearly two months. Until, at last, on September 12, Vienna was freed by a decisive charge by the Polish-Lithuanian Winged Hussars. Who rode with power in their lances and Christ in their hearts.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Christian Fantasy has a unique bend to it, in that it is a subgenre of fantasy with a supreme wealth of historical backing and amazing references to draw from. Time fails me to mention the heroic pursuits of the Crusades, the exploits of the Spanish Conquistadors, or the Christian miracle of even modern wars like the First and Second World Wars. Perhaps this blog will need a sequel at some point.

What is your favorite moment from Christian History that could read like it’s from an Epic Fantasy series but is real!

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Disagreement: The Art of Losing with Dignity

By: A.B. Timothy

If you are a follower of my X account, you may have seen a drama play out on the TL recently. I had a fellow Author, Ryan Williamson (who you might remember from my back and forth with him about A.I. a few weeks ago), block me. It is always disheartening when someone blocks you who you thought of as a peer.

If you wish to read through it, you can see my thread about the drama here. Ultimately, I believe I won because I supported my side of the argument the best. I gave him evidence and asked him questions, neither of which he could answer, instead resorting to the playground-esque behavior of name-calling and cursing.

In the end, he decided to block me instead of continuing the conversation for reasons I can’t pretend to know. Though I would imagine it had to do with either boredom or wounded pride. This is an issue. While yes, the internet is great because you can pick and choose who you interact with, it shows a lack of character on the part of the blocker to block someone because you got annoyed at their response to you. It is basically plugging your ears and saying “La la la.” Because you are done talking with someone.

Now, I have lost my fair share of internet arguments in my time. I even raised the white flag in the back-and-forth Ryan and I had the other week. But what you don’t do, after losing an argument, if you wish to be seen as mature, is block the interlocutor and ignore them.

I understand that religion is a touchy topic for everyone, and it can make emotions run hot very fast, but part of maturity is your command over your own emotions.

So what do you think? Let me know in a comment below or in a reply on X. Give this page a follow if you are looking for inspiration and fun short stories. Also, check out the Newsletter Page to subscribe to receive this week’s Newsletter, which comes out today!

Announcment: Keeping the Beacon Lit Show

By: A.B. Timothy

Good Day to all! I am happy to announce that I will be starting a weekly podcast-style show on X called “Keeping the Beacon Lit, with A.B. Timothy”. It will be all about how you can stay creative and remain inspired even when the darkness surrounds you.

The First episode will be this week on the 15th at 5 PM Mountain Standard Time!

That is all for today’s blog. Be sure to tune in over on X @ABTimothyAuthor and follow me there to stay in the loop!

November Progress Report!

It’s the 2nd Tuesday in November, you know what that means! Time for a Progress Report!

Social Media Goals

Novel Goals

> X Growth
██████████▓░ 89%
I have reached 102/115 followers on X as of 11/11/25, and am on track to make my goal this month!
> A Weekly Short Story
████░░░░░░ 40%
I have put out two weekly short stories, packaged with the weekly newsletters.
> A Weekly Newsletter
████░░░░░░ 40%
I have put out 2/5 weekly newsletters that will be going out in the month of November!
> Daily Motivational/Non-fiction blogs
████░░░░░░░░░ 33%
I have put out 1 non-fiction blog every day this month except Saturday, the 8th. Putting me at 10/30 for the month.
The Shards of Arthur’s Shield <
██▒░░░░░░ 26%
My goal is 90k words written this month, not all of which will be on TSoAS, but this bar will reflect progress toward that number.
The Early Years of a Great Mage <
██▒░░░░░░ 26%
All my Novel word goals will be consolidated in the 90k plan.
Brothers’ Feud <
██▒░░░░░░ 26%
All my Novel word goals will be consolidated in the 90k plan.

How’s it going?

So far, the only days that I have fallen short of my 3k-4k words/day goal, have been days where I was attending a convention and did not have time to write. I am done with all of my November cons, however, and will be ramping up the production to get my average to 3k words/day, which will end my month with ~90k words written.

It’s all about sticking to it! Feel free to subscribe to this blog to see how my works progress, and also send your email my way so I can get you added to the weekly newsletter.

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NaNoWriMo: The Death of a Friend

By: A.B. Timothy

I, an author in my early twenties, like many my age, wrote my first complete novel with a beginning, middle, and end in the trenches of NaNoWriMo. This event and the organization that sprang up around it also got me involved in my first real writing group in my hometown, and then in my second real writing group online.

For those unfamiliar, NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month. The original idea behind it was that local writing groups would set aside the month of November to fire on all cylinders and write 50k words in a month.

It was with great sorrow, I heard of the downfall of the organization around the event. I have been well-informed of the many facets of their downfall, and it makes it even harder to bear. I myself participated in my first NaNoWriMo before I was 18, and to think I could have been targeted (I don’t believe I was, thank goodness), disturbs me.

Then, with the final nail in the coffin of accepting NaNoWriMo submissions written by AI, I knew the organization had to go, but I was not ready to see the idea falter. Thus, I have been pursuing my novel with a similar intensity this month as I have been known to pursue other novels in previous years, during this same month.

I remember my first successful NaNo project was a Sci-Fi Novel I wrote 5 years ago. I was firing on all cylinders for the first week of that project. Now, 5 years later, I just finished a re-outline of that story last month and will be pursuing it sometime late ’26 and into ’27.

Now that NaNoWriMo is no more, many have stood to take its place, but none have been as inspired as the original. I don’t know if I will ever officially participate in this kind of event again, but I hope something crops up to inspire the writers following after me as much as NaNoWriMo inspired me.

Shill For Yourself, Because No One Is Going To Do It For You

By: A.B. Timothy

You need to be your biggest cheerleader because cheerleaders are shallow. This doesn’t make them bad; it just makes them human. When is the last time you met a cheerleader and she said, “Hey, come to the big game on Friday, the team is playing!” I can’t recall a time that I’ve ever been pitched the idea of going to a ballgame by one of the cheerleaders.

Does that mean it doesn’t happen? No. But it does mean that you are more likely to get invited by an actual player than you are by a cheerleader. Like I said, this doesn’t make cheerleaders bad people; it just means you need to do it yourself.

You need to be the one on X, in the trenches, promoting and shilling for your own content and growth. If you have friends who are interested in coming alongside you and promoting you, too, great! (And make sure you return the favor when you can.) But you can’t rely on other people, who are busy shilling and promoting themselves, to be the main source of promotion for your material.

Building a community that supports you is huge, yes, but it’s also something that comes over time, and you can’t start with it. Having a large community will cut back on your need to self-promote, but even then, you will still have to do it. Even one of the biggest names in Fantasy has to self-promote; he has a podcast and a YouTube channel where he makes content to promote his books and brand.

The moral of the story is, don’t feel bad about self-promoting your own content, ever.

Keep up the good work, and know that if you build it, they will come.

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Ownership: The Rights of the Creator

By: A.B. Timothy

statue of aristotle in ancient ruins

On X recently, I’ve argued that God has the right, as the owner of humanity, to give and enforce laws as he sees fit. Someone asked me, “Why does God have this right?” The answer is simple: If you create something, you own it. The ancient Greeks understood this (Aristotle’s Politics). If you create something (with materials you own) and you own that thing, certainly creatio ex nihilo (creation from nothing) would give you an even greater right over that thing.

This conversation started in response to my article on why authority is necessary, where I argued that an objective lawgiver is needed. The logically consistent argument from a naturalistic or evolutionist standpoint is for men to rape, pillage, and murder. Rape spreads the rapists genetics, which is the highest and only calling of naturalism. Pillage steals from others and increases the thief’s standard of living. Murder kills off genetic opponents and allows for the genetics of the murderer to be the only ones that persist.

Evolution is unadulterated meritocracy, which, while useful for a capitalistic society where there are laws precluding murder and erasure of the competition, is disastrous when brought into a pre-civilizational Amazon.

If there were truly no standard beyond the feelings of the individual (and evolution were true), we would still be warring tribes in Africa.

To ask why, then, is to ask the owner of a piece of property why they don’t want someone else to come and burn down their property. “What kind of a question is that?” the person might exclaim. “It’s mine, you’ve got no right to destroy what’s mine.” And they would be 100% in the right to say that.

God owns us because he created us. He has given us free will to choose to submit our will to his and enslave ourselves to Christ. But he has also given us that same free will to choose to enslave ourselves to our fleshly desires and pursue pure naturalism.

Now this is the part where I extend the gospel to you, the reader.

The Good News

Have you been living for yourself? Does life seem to repeat the same hedonistic cycle of: Feel Good → Feel Meh → Feel bad → Do something new → repeat? If you said yes to that, you will be stuck in the cycle until you die, I promise, unless you pursue something that is beyond yourself. Every human has a soul, and that soul yearns to be united with its Creator.

That longing you feel after a night of binge eating/drinking/self-pleasuring, is your soul longing to be purified and brought out of the filth it finds itself in. God is the only answer to this longing, and not just any God, only the God of the Bible, Jesus Christ, can fulfil that longing.

This God came down from heaven, lived life as a human but lived it perfectly, was falsely accused of blasphemy, died the most excruciating death imaginable, and raised Himself from the dead three days later.

The best part? He did all of that for you. To give you an out. To give you the resurrection he experienced, Paul, an early convert, wrote in a letter to the church in the city of Ephesus, “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:” He explained to these believers that even though we were dead in our sins, God made them alive again with Christ, in their salvation. All you have to do is accept His free gift of salvation to be made alive in Christ.

Want to know more? Go watch this video and find out how you can know for sure, today, that you are on your way to heaven. Then, go find a church in your area and get plugged in.

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