Matt Mikalatos

Matt Mikalatos is a Christian author, speaker, and missionary. He is based out of the Portland area and is the author of the comedy theology novels Night of the Living Dead Christian and My Imaginary Jesus, as well as the fantasy novel The Sword of Six Worlds.

Biography

Schooling and Work Matt Mikalatos graduated from University of California, Riverside and Western Seminary. During college breaks, Mikalatos worked at the Concord, California Flying Colors Comics store. In an interview in August 2012, Mikalatos stated that he was working on "a non-fiction book about how and why we talk about Jesus" and "a re-telling of the stories of Jesus in modern day called Jesus In the Real World".

Books Imaginary Jesus (March 2010) Night of the Living Dead Christian (September 2011) My Imaginary Jesus (March 2012 republishing of Imaginary Jesus) The Sword of Six Worlds (December 2012) The First Time We Saw Him (June 2014)

Imaginary Jesus Matt Mikalatos, the main character in this book, discovers that the Jesus he's been with is a fake, and goes searching for the real one, all the while encountering many other "imaginary Jesuses" along the way. A stage play version of Imaginary Jesus debuted in St. Louis in November 2012.

My Imaginary Jesus My Imaginary Jesus is a republishing of Imaginary Jesus by Tyndale Publishers with a new cover. Publishers Weekly praised Imaginary Jesus as well, saying "Startling, contemporary, meaningful. . . . Mixing questions of suffering and free will with a nexus of weirdness." Although other reviewers acknowledged that his non sequitur style is not appealing to everyone, overall reception of Mikalatos' work has been positive.

Writing influences In an interview with Christian Audio, Mikalatos cited multiple sources as influences and inspirations for Imaginary Jesus and his writing in general. Dante's Inferno gave him inspiration for the semi-autobiographical structure of Imaginary Jesus in the way he put himself as the main character and still dealt with big theological themes. He also cited Flannery O'Connor, G. K. Chesterton for showing him that he could "get away with being funny," and C. S. Lewis for demonstrating that he could "do weird, funny things and still have positive outcome for reader." He also talked of his respect for science fiction author Gene Wolf for his writing style, and John Steinbeck for the way he wrestles with spiritual questions, especially in East of Eden.