Portrait of Ronald K. Reddout
Featured Author

Ronald K. Reddout

Speculative Fiction Author · Vietnam Veteran · Storyteller of Second Chances

A man called to create worlds

About Ronald K. Reddout

Ronald K. Reddout was born on August 20, 1946, in Yale, Oklahoma. Three months later his family moved to the Wichita, Kansas area, where he would spend more than four decades of his life — with one life-changing interruption, a year of military service in South Vietnam.

His writing life began in 1986, when the Moving Wall, the traveling memorial honoring Vietnam veterans, came to Wichita. Serving then as a National Service Officer for a veterans organization, he was asked to write a commemorative poem for the event. He read it aloud before a thousand strangers, and the response changed the direction of his creative life.

Today Ronald writes speculative fiction that follows ordinary people into extraordinary circumstances. He does not outline. He follows the story where it wants to go, trusting that the characters will reveal who they are along the way.

Key Themes

  • Relationships tested by adversity and change
  • Second chances and the possibility of redemption
  • Identity when everything familiar is stripped away
  • Faith, stewardship, and calling
  • Connection across impossible divides

Awards & Recognition

  • Featured Author — Book Ascendancy Author Spotlight
  • Commissioned poet for the Moving Wall Vietnam memorial, Wichita (1986)
  • Commits 20 percent of all royalties to God's work

Editorial Reviews

Reddout writes with the generosity of a man who has lived enough to know that the most interesting question is never what happens next — it is who a person becomes when it does.
Book Ascendancy Editorial

Featured Books

Cover of Worlds of Fiction I by Ronald K. Reddout
Amazon

Worlds of Fiction I

Genre
Speculative Fiction / Short Story Collection
Publication date
February 22, 2024
Format
Paperback · Kindle
Print length
207 pages
Publisher
Independently published
ISBN-13
979-8-8685-1386-2

Synopsis

Seven original stories spanning multiple subgenres, each offering a completely different adventure while sharing one common thread: the limitless possibilities of imagination.

From extraterrestrials behind the vampire legend to a screensaver that turns out to be a living world, Reddout moves easily between wonder and warning — and always returns to the people at the center of the story.

In this study you will explore

  • Wereworld — What if the vampire legend actually began with extraterrestrials searching for a new home?
  • Mulgroon — A meditation on humanity's long history of exploiting the worlds it inhabits.
  • Worker — Imagine discovering that your computer screensaver is another living world.
  • Goldilocks and the Six Bears — A playful reimagining of the classic fairy tale.
  • Beauty — Reunited after twenty years apart, can true feelings survive time?
  • In Harm's Way — Reluctant family obligation becomes something much deeper.
  • The Dragon's Keep — Forgotten alliances may hold the key to humanity's future.

Ideal for readers who

  • Readers who love short fiction they can finish in one sitting
  • Fans of speculative stories grounded in real human relationships
  • Book clubs looking for varied discussion starters in one volume

Community Engagement

4.5

2 community ratings

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2

Ratings

2

Reviews

4.5

Average

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Seven very different worlds

8/14/2025

I did not expect this much range in one collection. The Dragon's Keep stayed with me for days.

Della M.

Warm, imaginative storytelling

6/2/2025

Reddout writes people well. The science fiction is the setting; the relationships are the story.

Marcus O.

What's Next

Recent release

Worlds of Fiction I — February 2024

Current project

Worlds of Fiction II, the second volume in the series, is in development.

Community

Available for virtual book club visits and veteran writing conversations.

Discussion Questions

For book clubs and study groups.

  1. 1Which of the seven stories affected you most, and why?
  2. 2How does Reddout use unfamiliar settings to examine very familiar human needs?
  3. 3Several stories turn on a second chance. What makes a second chance meaningful rather than easy?
  4. 4How do the characters define themselves once their old certainties are gone?
  5. 5What does the collection suggest about the responsibility that comes with a gift?

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