The Hope & Melvin of Humanity & Other Surprising Short Stories

The newest book is here! I call it The Hope and Melvin of Humanity and Other Surprising Short Stories.

As I’ve been going through stuff, I’ve been 
writing, 
and writing, 
and writing… 
just trying to get a handle on the kind of God I think I might have and the kind of human I want to be in the middle of SO much personal change.

This is my first foray into fiction. The editors figured that out on their first read… about 6 revisions, and 3 years later, we got it finished! It was a lot of work, but also strangely enjoyable. As these characters (that inevitably in some way or another represent me, or other people, or events, or circumstances, etc) evolved and grew, some of these stories just began, as we say, to “take on a life of their own.” And as their lives moved forward, I couldn’t help but imagine how my life could be moving forward.

There are two stories I wrote for couples at weddings that had a specific agenda, but the others were just me sitting down, creating, imagining, thinking, and I’m guessing, ultimately “working out my salvation.”

Change is incredibly hard for us humans. And, at the same time, change is at the heart of everything. It’s a bit destabilizing to think that the only thing stabilizing are interactive, moment by moment, transitions. However, once you accept that (something I’m still attempting to do, btw), then you open the door to peace. Peace is breathing right along with the spirit of love as you let go of one thing and embrace the next. And I hope The Hope and Melvin of Humanity is a way for you to do just that…
let go… 
embrace… 
breathe peace.

I hope you’ll pick up a copy and leave a review. And if you wanna hear more about the writing and about “story” in general, check out the latest season of the podcast by searching for jonathan_foster on all podcasting platforms (okay, well, most podcasting platforms!)

All my best,

-J