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������Ƶ Communication Studies Professor Greg Spencer has completed his first novel, writing it from an idea he had filed away twenty years ago.

“The Welkening: A Three-Dimensional Tale”, published by Howard Fiction, tells of four high school friends who discover what makes them misfits in Skinner, Oregon, makes them “fit” to resolve a great evil that has begun to ravage an alternative dimension called Welken. At the same time a third story-line develops as another character reads aloud a novel she has been writing. The four friends must learn the meaning behind the convergence of the three worlds.

The word “welken” is Old English, meaning “firmament, the vault of heaven, the place where deity resides.” It is used in Shakespeare 12 times (spelled “welkin”), and Charles Wesley's first draft of “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” was actually “Hark How All the Welkin Rings.”

Though appealing to junior high-aged readers, it is anticipated that many adults will enjoy it as well. “The Welkening” is more complex than the Harry Potter stories, so it is hoped that Spencer's novel will achieve a wide readership similar to the Potter series. Spencer also wrote “A Heart for Truth: Taking Your Faith to College.”

Spencer will be reading and speaking about the novel at ������Ƶ, Hieronymus Lounge, October 28, 3:30 p.m. and Montecito Covenant Church, October 31, 9:00 a.m. For more information go to: http://www.thewelkening.com