Randal Murphey Interview Published on: 20, Jul 2026

The most profound story is the Bible. In my opinion, it is the most beautiful redemption story ever told. In general, I find that redemption stories shape me more than anything else. Stories like The Count of Monte Cristo and A Christmas Carol continue to shape my views on the world.

There wasn't much to do in the desert at that time, so I spent my days in books and story-based video games. Getting out of the desert into the mountains, walking the various desert rock trails, and reading Louis L'Amour piqued my imagination. I became immersed in fantasy and the deep woods, in the secret things and invisible worlds that fairytales are often known for. Those did not exist in the desert in the same way, and they fascinated me.

I honestly think it was happenstance. We read a lot growing up, and those genres called to me. I remember the first book I ever read and was immersed in the world through phantasia was The Great Mouse Detective by Eve Titus. This was a movie I had grown up with, but Titus's book brought the story to life in my mind's eye. So I began reading detective novels, a genre I still love to this day. That progressed into historical fiction because it was sparked by something real and true. My father read Peter Pan and The Hobbit to us as kids, and I remember picturing the worlds in my mind. I believe that really set me on the path to fantasy.

I love hummingbirds so much. They are a unique species that can do amazing aerobatics. I also love penguins for the same reason, but with water. I developed an idea that both of these species are somewhat otherworldly. Penguins seem completely alien, but hummingbirds seem to fit neatly in the fairytale world. So I wrote, but never published, a story about Mr. Jones, a middle-aged man who talks to animals like they are humans (something I fondly do), and meets a hummingbird who speaks back to him. It was a fun little tale I never sought to get published, but it kept eating at me.

This is actually a tale of three tales. On the one hand, I had the hummingbird story already written and raring to go. I also had a mirror-world story (Think Through the Looking Glass) about a missing princess lost in our world. Finally, I had a dragon-hunter series where dragons shape-shifted into humans but were hunted by an ancient clan seeking to destroy them. A dragon, a teenage boy, and a hunter, a teenage girl, became friends and had to navigate between their feuding families (a fantasy-driven Romeo and Juliet). It took me nearly 15 years to put these together, and finally, I decided to blend them into this Invisible Kingdom series. That series evolved over the next couple of years into The Fables of Laknohl, where Laknohl is the invisible kingdom.

There are a couple of things I do want to focus on in this series. Overall, the concept of redemption is key. Second, third, and 2000th chances are part of our everyday lives, and I want to explore the idea that no one is beyond redemption. Likewise, I want to play with the elements of light and darkness, twisting them a bit and even redeeming that which seems unredeemable. I also want to play with the everyday struggles we face, especially those faced by young men who are often not written for and struggle silently. At least, I did as a young man, so I'm writing for 14-year-old Randal and kids like him.

It is everything. It lives deeply in my writing, but I don't want it to be so pronounced that it comes off as fake or insincere. It's there, in its simple and beautiful form. It certainly lives in the element of redemption. Christ died for everyone, the whole world, because he loves it and longs to redeem all humanity. He became the fulfillment of God's wrath against our rebellion because we couldn't do it. So the redemptive love, the ultimate sacrifice, all play crucial roles in the stories I write.

I've read many of the sacred works of multiple faiths, and yet nothing is so powerful as God humbling Himself, coming to Earth to bear the wrath of our rebellious sin. That's why I say the Bible, in its entirety, is the most beautiful story ever written. As humans, we want to "make it up" to God. Fix it ourselves, and our stories often reflect the efforts we make to be better. The Bible says this is impossible, so God did it for us. Who would do that? In writing a story, we want a hero. We want them to win through sheer willpower, but he demonstrated that the most powerful being died a human death to give hope to his rebellious creation through his resurrection. It's like an artist who creates a great piece of art, brings it to life, and that art wishes to be like the artist who made it, and rebels, saying, "I am my own work of art." The artist has every right to burn the piece, but instead, he inserts himself into it to repair a relationship with the art that he had no part in breaking. Why wouldn't the art start over? Because he loved it. If I can capture some of that in my stories, letting people know they aren't beyond redemption, that God longs to redeem us, and imparting a small bit of hope, that's worth it. And that's why it is so important in my work.

It's not easy, that's for sure! I've also been doing a PhD since 2024. It takes a lot of effort, fewer restful nights, and fewer television shows or other distractions. There's also a bit of determination necessary to finish the job. Currently, PhD studies have taken over, so I have limited time to write The Fables of Laknohl, but I have begun the third book. I'm hoping it will be ready by late December 2027.

I think the decision to self-publish or trad-publish creates unique challenges for each. I began the journey as a trad-publish guy because I didn't want to do my own marketing and related tasks. However, as I researched, I found that trad-authors still have to promote themselves in the same way as self-published authors. I think this pushed me toward greater independence with my story, but then you have to cover all expenses, or do so using your own time. Mixing paying specialists, design, and research... all these present challenges. I don't have a team of experts giving advice like a trad-author might, but I also get to maintain full control over the story and design, ensuring they capture my vision for the books or series. Being an author is a complex business, and besides the challenge of just writing, there are a slew of challenges every step of the way. It is best to grit your teeth and get the job done well, or it will have to be fixed later.

I had a creative writing professor, Helen, who pushed me out of my comfort zone, first and foremost. Besides that, my degree was mainly in literature, during which I was exposed to many books and spent quite a bit of my extracurricular time reading Victorian English novels. I think that time directly shaped my writing now. I also received my MA at Gateway Seminary, and while I did not write fiction at that time, what I learned from the Biblical perspective also informs my writing now.

When I'm on a writing kick, I try to get a little bit done each day. The first thing I do when starting any project is to outline and summarize the story points. After that, I begin to build the story. I try to shoot for 30-minute to 1-hour increments, speed-stack my writing, and hopefully get between 500 and 1000 words a day. If I can do so every day, it makes the writing so much easier. Sometimes that has me waking up at 5 AM to do a session, but every little bit helps!

I want to emphasize good, ethical leadership as a personal takeaway. Hopefully, readers see exemplary leadership and can follow it. Spiritually, as discussed so often, I hope they see the redemptive light and can ease a bit of the soul's weight and burdens. I desire to instill hope in readers who might otherwise lose it when looking out at the world.

Larkspur, my beloved narrator, says at the very beginning of the first book that the story is not about Liam (arguably the main protagonist). I've planned multiple series in Laknohl, but this first one will be a five-book series. Expect that the story will get longer, a bit harder to read, and darker. It's always darkest before the dawn, and we will see the world of Laknohl grow darker in a similar way.

I was looking for places to advertise and it was either Google or ChatGPT that suggested I look at AllAuthor. I did and I haven't looked back. It has been very helpful.