An Unexpected Journal: Dragons: The History, Myths, and Legends Behind Dragons

Doc Brackin is an English teacher, writer, gamer, and Christian apologist, though not necessarily in that order. He lives in Dallas TX with his wife and son.

Azalea Dabill is a fiction and non-fiction author of YA fantasy. Her latest book is Fantastic Journey: The Soul of Speculative Fiction and Fantasy Adventure. She is a member of Candlelight Christian Fellowship, and loves her large family and everything outdoors in God’s creation.

Carey Green is a follower of Christ, husband, father, retired pastor, author, podcast producer, and podcaster. His podcast project "The Morning Mindset Daily Christian Devotional" (www.YourMorningMindset) is downloaded over 100,000 times daily. From that success he and his wife have created "Not A Needy Person" a Christian non-profit organization that empowers Christ-followers across the globe to meet the tangible needs of other Christ-followers. Carey has predominantly written non-fiction in the spiritual growth and family life genre, but has also written Christian fantasy adventure fiction with his "Dragon Slayer Chronicles" series.

Junius Johnson is a scholar, writer, teacher, translator, and musician. He is the author of four books, including The Father of Lights: A Theology of Beauty, and Executive Director of Junius Johnson Academics, through which he offers online courses in theology, literature, and Latin. Many of his former students suspect he is in fact a dragon. He lives in Tennessee with his wife Rebekah and two children, Sophie and Christopher.

Tracey Leary develops and teaches online courses in the integrated humanities with Kepler Education. She lives in Alabama with her husband and three teenage boys and has been involved in education for more than twenty years, with experience in both traditional classrooms and homeschooling. She holds a Masters degree in Education from Auburn University at Montgomery.

Elizabeth Martin holds a B.A. in Communications from Santa Clara University, M.A. in 16th Century Italian Art from The Courtauld Institute of Art, and is pursuing the M.A. in Apologetics at Houston Baptist University. Elizabeth lives in the Southeast United States with her family and new mischievous puppy named Clive.

Christine Norvell is a writer, speaker, and longtime educator. She graduated from Faulkner University’s Great Books program with a Masters in Humanities and serves as Upper School Dean and humanities teacher for Sager Classical Academy. She is the author of Till We Have Faces: A Reading Companion. Her articles appear at The Imaginative Conservative, Front Porch Republic, The University Bookman, StoryWarren, and others.

George Scondras is an artist with many attempts and maybe a few successes, a plight that is a lot like the Christian journey. He looks forward to an eternity of joy in the luminous presence of his Creator. For now, he lives in the hills of north Georgia with his wife and children. He is currently working on a PhD in Christianity and the Arts from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Dr. Travis is a Distinguished Fellow of Great Books and Philosophy at Southeastern University and serves as Affiliate Faculty for the Lee Strobel Center at Colorado Christian University. She earned the PhD in Humanities with a Philosophy concentration from Faulkner University’s Great Books program, where her dissertation research focused on the natural philosophy and natural theology of Johannes Kepler. She also holds an MA in Science and Religion from Biola University and a BS in Biology from Campbell University. Her primary academic foci are the history and philosophy of science and natural theology, but she also cultivates a keen interest in the philosophy of science fiction and the imaginative apologetics of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. She is the author of Thinking God’s Thoughts: Johannes Kepler and the Miracle of Cosmic Comprehensibility (Forthcoming, Roman Roads Press), Science and the Mind of the Maker: What the Conversation Between Faith and Science Reveals About God (Harvest House, 2018), and a contributor to The Story of the Cosmos: How the Heavens Declare the Glory of God (Harvest House, 2019). She is a member of the Contributing Writers team at both Christian Research Journal and The Worldview Bulletin, and presides over the Society for Women of Letters. She and her husband of 24 years live in The Woodlands, Texas with their two teenage sons and a cat named Kepler.

After retiring from a ballet career, Jacqueline Wilson became an assistant pre-school teacher and bachelor student of English Literature at Houston Community College. At Houston Community College she was nominated “Student of the Year” and received the creative writing “Voices Without Boarders” award. Upon graduating from HCC, Jacqueline continued her studies in English Literature at the University of Houston-Downtown, where she received first place in an essay contest for her writing on George Herbert’s “Easter Wings” and graduated Magna Cum Laude. While working on her bachelor’s degree in English Literature Jacqueline frequently guest wrote for Red Letter News Blogs and created a blog of her own titled, Beneath the Dogwood Tree. She has recently been accepted in Houston Baptist’s University’s Cultural Apologetics program and is excited to begin classes in Spring 2022. She is currently working on receiving her teaching certification with Texas Teachers of Tomorrow and hopes to one day teach middle school or high school English.

Carla Alvarez is a founding board member of and regular contributor to An Unexpected Journal. She lives in Houston, Texas with her three daughters. She holds a Master's degree in Cultural Apologetics from Houston Baptist University. She is a senior consultant at Legacy Marketing Services, a writer for RaisedtoWalk.org, and a Bible teacher for Bright Sheep Ministries. 

Jesse Baker is a United Methodist pastor, and has previously written for An Unexpected Journal. He lives in North Carolina with his wife and two sons.

Donald W. Catchings, Jr. is co-founder of publishing company, Inkwell and Pen, LLC. Also, Donald holds a Master of Arts in Apologetics from Houston Baptist University. Donald regularly contributes to An Unexpected Journal and has numerous published works, including Joy Through a Wardrobe — a poetic companion to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Alex Markos teaches Latin at the Geneva School of Boerne, Texas. He holds a B.A. in History and Classics from Hope College (Holland, MI) and an M.A. in Cultural Apologetics from Houston Baptist University.

Clark Weidner holds a Masters degree in Cultural Apologetics from Houston Baptist University. He holds a blue belt in jiu jitsu and plenty of scars from years of skateboarding. He met his wife Amber in a Lord of the Rings book club and now they have a dog named Thanos (due to their love of comics).

Ted is independent scholar, writer, and founder of EpicArchaeology.org. For over a decade, Ted has been a speaker on Christian apologetics as well as Biblical Archaeology across North America & internationally. In addition to public speaking, Ted was the former Executive and Teaching Director of CrossExamined.org. Ted has also appeared on numerous television and radio programs including the History Channel’s TV miniseries – “Mankind: The Story of All of Us,” as well as CNN’s documentary on the historical resurrection of Jesus, “Jesus: Faith. Fact. Forgery.” Ted has also served as adjunct professor of apologetics at Southern Evangelical Seminary as well as Charlotte Christian College and Theological Seminary, where he has taught for over a decade.