Theodore Beale

Theodore Beale
Theodore Beale
Born	Theodore Beale c.1968 (age 45–46)[1]
Other names	Vox Day
Education	Bucknell University
Known for	Writer, computer game designer, musician
Religion	Nondenominational Christian
Parents	Robert Beale
Website
http://voxday.net

Theodore Beale, born c.1968, is an American writer, sometimes using the pseudonym Vox Day. He has also designed computer games and been a musician.

Biography

Beale graduated from Bucknell University in 1990.^[2] Between 1992 and 1994 he was a member of the electronic band Psykosonik, which recorded two Billboard Top 40 club play hits.^[3]

In 1993, together with Andrew Lunstad, he founded a video game company named Fenris Wolf. They developed the game Rebel Moon in 1995, and its sequel Rebel Moon Rising in 1997.^[4] Fenris Wolf was developing two games, Rebel Moon Revolution and Traveler for the Sega Dreamcast, when it closed in 1999 after a legal dispute with its retail publisher GT Interactive.^[5] In 1999, under the name Eternal Warriors, Beale and Lunstad released The War in Heaven, a biblical video game published by Valusoft and distributed by GT Interactive.^[6]

In 2000, Beale published The War in Heaven, the first in a series of fantasy novels with a religious theme, entitled The Eternal Warriors which are "about good versus evil among angels, fallen and otherwise".^[7] The third in the series was published in 2006.

Beale was a lifetime member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America until 2013, when he was formally expelled from the organization.^[8]

He had previously served as a member of the Nebula Award Novel Jury in 2007.^[9] He was a contributor to the Black Gate blog until December 2012,^[10] and under his pseudonym Vox Day, he wrote a weekly video game review column and other features for the St. Paul Pioneer Press.^[11] He presently uses the pen name for a blog-Vox Popoli and (formerly) a weekly opinion column at WorldNetDaily (where his father was formerly a board member) and in the past was nationally syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate.^{[citation needed]}

In 2008, as Vox Day, he published The Irrational Atheist: Dissecting the Unholy Trinity of Dawkins, Harris, and Hitchens, a nontheological book devoted to criticizing the arguments presented in various books by atheist authors Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett, and Michel Onfray.^[12] The book was named a 2007 Christmas recommendation by the conservative magazine, National Review.^[13] Beale's 2008 book, Summa Elvetica: A Casuistry of the Elvish Controversy, was nominated for an American Christian Fiction Writers award in 2009.^[14]

Beale holds the design patent^[15] for WarMouse, a computer mouse with 18 buttons, a scroll wheel, a thumb-operated joystick, and 512k of memory.^[16]

Beale is the son of entrepreneur and jailed tax protester Robert Beale.^[17] Beale also speaks German and Italian.^[18] He has three children.

Views

Beale has been described as a "fundamentalist Southern Baptist."^[7] In his book The Irrational Atheist Beale describes himself as "... a believer, a non-denominational evangelical Christian to be precise." Beale denies the Christian doctrine of the Trinity.^[19]

Media Matters has described one of his WND columns as a "racially charged rant"^[20] showing hostility to minorities. He has compared immigration by Mexicans and others to the US with a military invasion^[21] and with the Nazi invasion of Europe,^[22] specifically to Operation Barbarossa.^[23] Beale is opposed to feminism.^[24]

Feud with John Scalzi

Since 2005, Beale has been engaged in an online feud with science fiction writer John Scalzi. In February 2013, Scalzi attracted media attention with a pledge to pay $5 to various charities every time Beale mentioned him; after others echoed this pledge, over $50,000 was pledged in under a week.^[18]

Conflict with SFWA

In 2013, Beale ran unsuccessfully for president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. In June, Beale used the SFWA Twitter feed to post several controversial links to his blog, in which he called an African-American author a "half-savage" and an editor a "fat frog.".^[25] After complaints from members, in August, the SFWA Board announced that they were expelling Beale as a member due to violations of their by-laws. Beale posted a letter from the SFWA president to his blog.^[25]

Discography

• Psykosonik (1993) ASIN B000003RFN
• Silicon Jesus (1993) ASIN B000003RID
• Welcome to My Mind (1993) ASIN B000003RIF
• Details Magazine Music Matters Volume 4 (1992) ASIN B000BJBNDS
• Black Box - Wax Trax! Records: The First 13 Years (1994) ASIN: B000003RGU
• Sunyata (2003) ASIN B0001ARVWY

Video games

Published writings

As sole author:

• The Wardog's Coin (2013) ISBN 978-1-935929-97-0
• A Throne of Bones (2012) ISBN 978-1-935929-82-6
• A Magic Broken (2012) ISBN 978-1-935929-79-6
• The Return of the Great Depression (2009) ISBN 978-1-935071-18-1
• The Irrational Atheist (2008) ISBN 978-1-933771-36-6
• Summa Elvetica: A Casuistry of the Elvish Controversy (2008) ISBN 978-0-9821049-2-7
• The Wrath of Angels (2006) ISBN 978-0-7434-6982-1
• The World in Shadow (2002) ISBN 978-0-671-02454-3
• The War in Heaven (2000) ISBN 978-0-7434-5344-8

As a contributor:

• Rebel Moon (1996), Bruce Bethke. Pocket Books. ISBN 978-0-671-00236-7
• The Anthology at the End of the Universe (2004), Glen Yeffeth (editor). BenBella Books. ISBN 978-1-932100-56-3
• Archangels: The Fall (2005) ISBN 978-1-887814-15-7
• Revisiting Narnia: Fantasy, Myth, and Religion in C.S. Lewis' Chronicles (2005), Shanna Caughey (editor). BenBella Books. ISBN 978-1-932100-63-1
• Halo Effect (2007), Glenn Yeffeth (editor). BenBella Books. ISBN 978-1-933771-11-3
• You Do Not Talk About Fight Club (2008), Chuck Palahniuk (Foreword), Read Mercer Schuchardt (Editor). BenBella Books. ISBN 978-1-933771-52-6
• Stupefying Stories October 2011 (2011), Bruce Bethke (Editor). Rampant Loon Press. ASIN B005T5B9YC
• Stupefying Stories March 2012 (2012), Bruce Bethke (Editor). Rampant Loon Press. ASIN B007T3N0XK

References

External links

Writing

• Vox Day
• Vox Popoli
• Archive at WorldNetDaily
• Black Gate Magazine - Adventures in Fantasy Literature
• Theodore Beale at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

Video games

• Theodore Beale at Allgame
• Theodore Beale at the Internet Movie Database
• Game bibliography at MobyGames