The Cities That Were
Ruins should horrify us—grim testaments to our permanent impermanence
Emily Stroble is a writer of bits and pieces and is distractedly pursuing lots of novel ideas and nonfiction projects as inspiration strikes. As an editorial assistant at Zondervan, she helps put the pieces of children’s books and Bibles together. A lover of the ridiculous, inexplicable, and wondrous as well as stories of all kinds, Emily enjoys getting lost in museums, movies old and new, making art, the mountains of Colorado, and the unsalted oceans near Grand Rapids. Her movie reviews also appear in the Mixed Media section of The Banner and her strange little stories of the fantastic are on the Calvin alumni fiction blog Presticogitation. Her big dream is to dig her hands deep into the soil of making children’s books as an editor…and to finally finish her children’s novel.
What Would Tolkien Think of “Goblin Mode”?
“You’ve got it the wrong way around,” I imagine Tolkien saying.
23 Things that Make You an Objectively Cool Person
Discipline is cool. A fascination with violence is not.
The Whittling
Are our true selves buried under all our stuff?
Walking in Warsaw
This is a stock-image city. Sharp. Neutral. Orderly.
The Cashmere of Grass
I decide that I do believe that King Arthur sat here. It will make the climb worth it.
No More Dead Fantasy Moms
The prejudices of this world are irrationally essential to your make-believe one.
The Last Bookstore and the Edge of the Map
It’s not a tomb in a solid or permanent way, not a grave. This is the gilded foyer to another world.
A Letter from the Loneliest Species
We never see anything but the familiar.
Jesus Swipe!
My experience on Upward has largely been a strange dance—two people wobbling with Jesus awkwardly in the middle.
Vampire Taught Me How to Write About Pain
It will sneak up on you, young writer, the temptation to use the power of your words in monstrous, bloody ways.
Freedom, Maximalism, and Chopped Apples
I’m in that stage of life where you pack up constantly, and you keep your friends close and your friends with pick-up trucks closer.
Close Enough
Where is the line is between voyeur and vigil-keeper?
Blood Blossoms
The poppies were there first.
The Art at the End of the World: A (Somewhat) Practical Guide
We will make jewelry from objects that remind us of better times, lost people, and lost places
Christmas at the Threshold
American houses have a habit of being walled up. But we are undeterred.
(The Better) Half of Dune
It does manage to pass the Bechdel Test, but the Bechdel test isn’t exactly a trial by Gom Jabbar.
Word Power
“Does the basement bedroom still hold the amber scent of pipe smoke?”
Dancing with Blue Dolphins
I stand stuttering in russet light, intimidated by the scornful bartender and the lack of menu. Am I just supposed to divine what’s on tap?
The Office Sucks (And Jim Is the Problem)
The core value of The Office is that apathy is cool.
God and the Wild West
Many wounds are bound with blessing.
Andy and Me
The advantage of painting soup is that everyone understands it.
Tell the Bees
When I bought those beautiful bee coffins at the craft-fair, I could hear the hum of things changing.
Hippy-Dippy New Wave Jesus Freak? What Christian Aesthetic Are You?
“Come Thou Fount” slaps when you speed up the tempo.
How Not to Make a Monster: Mushrooms and Gothic Literature
How do we love monsters without perpetuating their monstrosity?
It Is Good: The Taste of Loneliness and Making It Through
Challenge yourself in the produce aisle. Make something adults make.
President Biden and the Egg Carton
The invention of the egg carton is one of those delightful historical tidbits that almost begs to be symbolic.
She Wrapped Her Firstborn Son
The baby’s mother will show him how to be a joy-seeker, to soak up every drop of light.
Half-life
Eve is a bit like radium—taken from the father, who was taken from the earth. A byproduct. Twice derivative.
Milk for Fairies
In the failure of dogma, try generosity.
