Lost Genre Guild : A personal journey

Usually, during these blog tours, I give a good objective review of the book or website. Sometimes, I include a philosophical essay or interview. Today, I'm going to do something different. I'm going to get personal, because the Lost Genre Guild literally changed my life and restored something I thought I had put away forever.

I began writing my first science fiction story during the summer between 6th and 7th grades. I pounded away on my mother's 1939 Royal typewriter on some story about a time traveler from the 20th century and one from the 22nd century getting stranded in the 21st century at the home of their grandson/grandfather, the only non-scientist in the bunch. Unfortunately, I had a premise, but no story, but it started my love affair with writing in general and speculative fiction writing in particular.

By the time I hit college, I had all sorts of unfinished stories mostly Twilight Zone and Star Trek (original) inspired. In college my attention drifted to journalism, but still writing the occasional short story and saying, "When I get out of college and have the time, I'll get back to fiction writing." Out of college, I landed in radio and was writing commercials and promotions and news. And I said, when I get time, I'll write fiction.

I lost my job in radio (like Johnny Fever of WKRP said, "They all fire you eventually.") So, I had the time and set up shop as a full-time freelance writer. But I had to pay the rent. Advertising, stringing for a local radio station and writing magazine articles paid the rent. And I said, "When I have the time, I'll get back to fiction."

I wrote some stories, even started a novel or two. Tried to take the Writer's Digest Fiction Writing course. For awhile, I taught creative writing and could justify my time writing as an example to my students. But, I went to work in PR and had to write press releases and brochures. And I said, "When I have the time, I'll get back to fiction."

I got my dream job, teaching full-time, tenured at a college in a small town in the Central Valley of California. It took a few years to settle into the routine. For several years I drove 30 miles one way to work. And I came home worn out and I said, "When I have time, I'll write fiction."

My schedule cleared and I moved closer to the college. I began teaching more classes online. I got involved in internet ministry and was designing a bunch of ministry web sites and said, "When I have time I'll write fiction."

Then about five years ago, I joined the Fellowship of Christian Writers email discussion group. My fervor for writing was rekindled, but by now I said, "I'm a nonfiction writer. I just don't have the talent or skill for fiction writing. At one time I thought... but no more." But I was a whiz at marketing, and posted several things about marketing one's writing. Those items caught the eye of Frank Creed, founder of the Lost Genre Guild. He invited me to join the email discussion group. I told him. "I'm not a fiction writer. But I do love to read speculative fiction, and I'll help out any way I can."

The first several months, I felt out of my depth, fearful of contributing much beyond some marketing ideas because I was not a fiction writer. Then I noticed that while there were plenty of sites for Christian Fantasy which sometimes included science fiction, there were very few for science fiction. So, Wayfarers Journal was born. Since I had an ezine, I figured I could at least try to write something for it. I did, but didn't need it because I had plenty of better material available.

But it got my fingertips itchin' to do more fiction writing. So, all these folks at LGG were talking about National Novel Writing Month and the craziness of writing a novel in a month. So, I decided to try. My first effort was not spec fiction oriented, but I visited that forum a lot during the time and surprised myself by doing a credible job with a mystery Death Gets an "F" . Nothing to write home about, but hey, it was finished and it had words on a page and didn't read too badly.

By the time the next Nano came around, I had written three more short stories and was reading for a speculative fiction novel. Dark Side of the Moon was begun. This week, over a year later, I am within 10-15 hours of finishing the first draft. It ain't too shabby. I am working with Frank Creed and The Finishers off and on to get it into publishable shape. Frank is a fantastic writing mentor and coach.

So, I encourage you, even if you have deferred your own dreams of writing, to get acquainted with the Lost Genre Guild . Visit the website and drop by our forum and maybe join the Yahoo Group . Who knows, it may change your life as well.

Read what others are saying about LGG on the tour


Brandon Barr
Justin Boyer
Keanan Brand
Kathy Brasby
Grace Bridges
Valerie Comer
Courtney
Frank Creed
Amy Cruson
CSFF Blog Tour
Stacey Dale
D. G. D. Davidson
Janey DeMeo
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Karina Fabian
Andrea Graham
Todd Michael Greene
Katie Hart
Timothy Hicks
Joleen Howell
Jason Isbell
Cris Jesse
Jason Joyner
Kait
Carol Keen
Lost Genre Guild
Mike Lynch
Magma
Margaret
Rachel Marks
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Nissa
John W. Otte
Steve Rice
Crista Richey
Mirtika
Hanna Sandvig
James Somers
Robert Treskillard
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Jason Waguespac
Phyllis Wheeler
Timothy Wise

The Begotten: A "Gift" and a Challenge Part 2

I must admit that when I heard this described as a Davinci Code for Christians that I was immediately concerned. It is one thing for a secular writer writing to a secular audience to use suspect "history" to create an engaging, but, let's face it, heretical story. However, a Christian writer writing for a Christian audience needs to be a bit more careful about the truth. Fortunately, most of those particular fears faded as I read the book.

Likewise, I was also fearful that the story would end up treating the gifts of the spirit like super-powers and the story would turn into a renaissance spiritual Legion of Superheroes. I loved those comics as a kid, but superpowers are controlled by the superhero. The operation of spiritual gifts must be controlled from on high. Fortunately, Bergren handled the exercise of the gifts mostly in a sensitive and reverent manner used only at the unction of the Holy Spirit of God.

So, the story was less problematic than I feared it would be. Nevertheless, I still had some concerns. Before I address those concerns, I feel I need to set forth my own background for the sake of full disclosure. I am a third generation Pentecostal. My grandparents on my mother's side were at Azusa Street and my grandparents on my father's side were at Hot Springs, Arkansas. These are two of the places where the modern Pentecostal movement was birthed. Of course, the operation of the Holy Spirit through individuals has been part of church history from the beginning. I have written extensively about the nature and operation of the Gifts of the Spirit as well as the Person and Character of the Holy Spirit, third person of the Holy Trinity.

I will try to keep denominational doctrine to a minimum in this discussion, but since this is a subject area largely ignored by denominations other than Pentecostal/Charismatic groups, that doctrinal bias (hopefully based on scripture and not just a blind following of church doctrine) will be present. I'm not apologizing, just putting my next few comments into perspective.

So, onward to my concerns.

The Problem of Assigning Authority to Non-Canonical Documents

One characteristic of many cults is what I've called the "Element of the Extra Book." Somehow the revelation of the Bible is insufficient and we need another revelation. Recently, we have seen this emerging in a revised interest in the Gnostic pseudo-gospels and epistles. There is always hidden in these type of discussions some sort of assumption that there is a conspiracy to keep these incredible revelations from Christians. They imply that Canon was decided upon by a group of men based pretty much on their own judgment of what they liked and disliked, and that they more or less capriciously made these decisions.

This view is a false view. For the most part, the canon was established based on what was already recognized as inspired and authentic by the church fathers for centuries.

for well over a century the books we find in our New Testament had often been copied together and distributed in a form not unlike the canonical New Testament of later years. The Chester Beatty Papyri contains most of the New Testament and dates to about 200 A.D. at least 100 years before the Canon was settled by the Church Councils and Synods of the Fifth Century.

As early as 150 A.D. the four gospels or “traditions” as they were often called were being distributed together. Likewise, by the middle of the Second Century, the Pauline epistles were collected and distributed as a single volume.

The Canon of scripture then was not a matter in which a group of men sat around and decided what books were and were not good ones to have in the canon. It was a recognition of what has already been accepted as inspired and authoritative.

In The Begotten a document of undetermined authorship and mysterious origin is elevated to near equality with the Holy Canon. In one instance, (see below) it is even given priority over the Word. While Bergren is careful to indicate that the document does not contradict scripture, it is nonetheless treated as scripture. Given the current world view that questions the authority of scripture even in many churches, I find it disturbing that the heroes in a Christian novel seem to need another mystical document other than the Bible to guide their actions.


The Problem of Exclusivity

While I am sure that Bergren did not intend to create a spiritual elite in her story, by default that happened. The use of the term The Gifted, by it's nature implies that the other Christians do not have gifts. However, a careful reading of the Canonical I Corinthians 12, which is our primary source of information about the Gifts of the Spirit discussed in this book, assumes that all parts of the body of Christ are "gifted" in some way. The gifts are discussed in the context of the body and the point of the chapter is not so much to talk about spiritual gifts but to correct a tendency the Corinthians apparently had of considering some gifts more important than the others and consequently considering some members of the body more important than others.

"The Gifted" are almost treated in this book like "The Charmed Ones" from the now defunct WB TV series. They are reluctantly set apart for great things, and while fallible human beings, they are still just a little bit better in many ways than everyone else. Or at least set apart form them. Perhaps it is more like an exclusive club. How many times in the book did someone say, "Are they one of us?" As opposed to what? One of "them," those other people out there who are not "gifted" like us? Again, I doubt that was intended, but unintended consequences are consequences nonetheless.

Building a heirarchy of blessing among believers is a dangerous thing. As a Pentecostal teacher, one of the things I have had to struggle with is keeping my students from feeling superior to those who do not share our belief that the operation of the gifts of the spirit did not cease with the end of the Apostolic era and the close of canon. Ranging from an arrogant assumption that we were spiritually stronger and more effective than our counterparts in non-Charismatic churches to a patronizing pitying of those who do not 'have the light' on the subject we have often been guilty of acting superior to others.

One may try to excuse this by pointing to years of persecution, mocking, and being accused of being in league with the devil by some parts of Christendom. But, there is no excuse, even that of persecution, that justifies spiritual pride. That was the sin of the Pharisees.

But one need not feel superior to others to shut them out or adopt an us verses them attitude. Certainly, we do not see overt spiritual pride in this book, but we see a definite suspicion of those outside the club leading even to a reticence to glorify God in public for these gifts. Certainly, the fear of torture and death is a deterant, yet, the early church faced the same threats and preached, healed and worked miracles on the street corner.

The Problem of Tongues

One obvious bias found in this book is a bias against the Gift of Tongues. Bergren does not deny it as a gift from God, but it is definitely treated as a second class gift. Indeed, when a woman comes to them speaking in tongues (actually praying in tongues to be accurate) she is immediately suspect, and generally discounted since the non-Canonical letter to the Corinthians they are following does not mention it. The fact that the Canonical epistle does as an equal to healing and miracles is discounted in light of the "suppressed" document.

In this case, the story defers to this document as opposed to the recognized general revelation of scripture. Now, I know this is fiction, but when the good guys discount scripture for an apocryphal document that is hardly in keeping with sound doctrine. And someone in the story should have pointed that out. However, the author's bias against tongues was too strong. How do we know this? Consider the following. First, the characters without correction defer to the seven gifts of the apocryphal document over the canonical epistle. Secondly, the one in the book with the gift of tongues is unstable, kept on the fringes of the company and eventually betrays them. This reinforces the image of people who speak in tongues as driven by emotion without ability to reason. Finally, in her study guide at the end of the book, Bergren makes it clear that she considers tongues to be of less importance than the other gifts by taking a couple of Pauline statements out of their context.

Now, someone can make the case (erroneously I believe) that the gifts stopped operating at the end of the apostolic era rejecting all of the gifts. However, there is no Biblical justification for accepting some of the gifts and excluding two because they are - well a tad embarrassing. Hey, on the Day of Pentecost, the people heard the disciples speaking in tongues and thought they were drunk. Yet, I might point out that the first gifts to be expressed in the apostolic era were the verbal ones - Tongues and Prophecy. Perhaps this is because the last thing most of us are willing to give up is what we say. Paul says that the tongue is like the bit in the horses mouth. If God can control the tongue he has control of the rest of us. That doesn't make tongues more important. It just explains why so many of us would like to blot it out of the panoply of gifts.

So, these are a few of the theological concerns I have. I still find the book well written and I would probably want to read more in the series. However, in my role as a consumer advocate, I have to warn you that some parts of the theology are shaky and just remember it's a story, only a story, and your theology needs to come from the Word of God found only in the Holy Bible.

So, what is the intersection of theology and fiction writing? When do extra-Biblical issues play a legitimate role in writing? How do we bring this together? I'm not sure I have all the answers, but maybe we need to raise the questions. Let's talk about that tomorrow. Meanwhile see what others are saying about The Begotten.

Sally Apokedak
Brandon Barr
Jim Black
Justin Boyer
Jackie Castle
Karri Compton
CSFF Blog Tour
Gene Curtis
D. G. D. Davidson
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Beth Goddard
Marcus Goodyear
Todd Michael Greene
Jill Hart
Michael Heald
Christopher Hopper
Joleen Howell
Jason Joyner
Kait
Carol Keen
Mike Lynch
Terri Main
Margaret
Rachel Marks
Melissa Meeks
Pamela Morrisson
John W. Otte
Rachelle
Steve Rice
Ashley Rutherford
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Rachelle Sperling
Stuart Stockton
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Robert Treskillard
Jason Waguespac
Laura Williams
Timothy Wise
Karina Fabian

Flashpoint: Action Heroes without a License to Kill

One of the things I appreciate about "Flashpoint" is the use of non-lethal defensive technology by the underground church. From tazer gloves to quick acting tranquilizer rounds the muscle arm of The Body fights the good fight without trying to kill people.

In one of the early scenes of the book the Kids see one of the warriors lay low a a gang of "Nero's" with guns blazing. They are horrified and don't want to be a part of that type of group until they learn that the rounds were tranquilizer rounds intended to stop but not kill or permanently harm the others.

This runs counter to the way the world at large (and even sad to say many Christians) view defending oneself. Lethal weapons are often the first choice. I don't have any numbers, but I'm sure the amount of money spent each year developing non-lethal weapons by the worlds governments is but a small fraction of that spent developing non-lethal ones.

Certainly, some progress has been made. Many of Frank's gadgets are based on current technology. Tazers have been around for years. Tranquilizer darts have been used on animals, but they have so far been too slow-working to immobilize a criminal before they can do harm. However, one wonders how much time and money has actually been spent trying to develop such a drug.

Ironically, some people actually view with suspicion the use of non-lethal technology. There is a thread over at the National Novel Writing Month science fiction forum about non-lethal weapons, but it is assumed that such weapons would be developed not by a humane government trying to control violence without giving into it, but by a repressive government trying to control a workforce of unwilling workers without killing them. When I point out that repressive governments usually resort to just killing a few people in front of everyone else to bring them into line and not worry about subtilties of non-lethal weapons, I get convoluted arguments about why they would find them more useful than a free society.

Perhaps it is a consequence of the fall that we tend to be violent by nature. Yet, as Christians we are called to transcend our nature and embrace the nature of Christ. Okay, I can hear the leaves of the Bibles flipping back to all those battles in the Old Testament. But folks, keep flipping. We don't live under the Old Covenant. That doesn't mean that it isn't useful for us. Paul said it is like a tutor/nanny/babysitter who gets us ready to actually go to school. However, our model for life is Jesus and not Joshua.

When creating Christian heroes, we need to consider how one acts virtuously under the worst conditions. Recently, I've heard disturbing arguments in favor of the use of torture even by human rights advocates which claim, in essence, that in extreme situations, ethics are no longer relevant. The only ethic is that of success. But, ethics and morality are all about the extreme situations. When things are going well, it is easy to act virtuously. It's when things do get extreme that we need our ethical boundaries, when we need our morality to stop us from crossing the line into the realms of evil using the justification that the ends justify the means.

Such is the spirit of our age. As writers, we don't need to transmit that message by creating "holy" but essentially amoral heroes willing to do anything to win the day.

There is also one other disturbing trend in literature and the popular culture (even among some Christian writers). It's a tendency to write off as irredeemable our villains. I'm not sure, with the exception of a demon or the devil himself, that we have the luxury of creating villains without hope of redemption. I'm not saying that they will be redeemed. I rage about the simplistic everyone-gets-saved-in-the-end stories which dominated Christian literature for so long. However, at some level the lost child of God, the prodigal rebelling against his father, the Absolom warring against David, must be seen in even the most vile villain. Remember, most of the New Testament was written by just such a villain, a zealot, an irredeemable murderer, who persecuted the church and who had a rather amazing experience on the Damascus Road.

I wonder what might have happened to Christendom, if some zealous Christian decided to save the church by killing the dreaded Saul of Tarsus.

Sometimes the worst thing you can do is kill your enemy.



Learn more about Flashpoint and Frank Creed at his website or at the Books of the Underground Website

You can order a signed copy of Flashpoint by clicking here or visit Amazon.com


Read what other reviewers are saying this week about Flashpoint on the following blogs:

Fantasy Thyme
jamessomers.blogspot.com
Write and Whine
Hoshi to Sakura
Wayfarer's Journal
BlogCritics Interview
Daniel I Weaver
Disturbing the Universe
Grace Bridges
Queen of Convolution
Virtual Tour de 'Net
Christian Fiction Review Blog
Yellow30 Sci-Fi: Review
Yellow30 Sci-Fi: Interview
Back to the Mountains
MaryLu Tyndall
Cathi's Chatter

Frank Creed: Living Life at the Flashpoint

Those of you who read this blog know that I never run Q&A Interviews. There's a good reason for this. Generally speaking, I need to cut out a lot that is either repetitious or just plain boring. However, poring over the transcript of Frank's interview, I was having a hard time finding something to cut. So, I'm giving you this interview in its entirety. (Note: You can read Donna Sundblad's review of Flashpoint in the Essays Section of Wayfarers Journal)


Q: Tell a little bit of basic biographical background such as age,
family/school/work background, anything interesting about yourself
outside of writing.

A: The boring stuff. Born in 1966. Some of the cooler stuff with which He
shaped my life:
* 1984-- Achieved the rank of Eagle Scout by the BSA.
* 1984-1985-- Lived in Israel for more than ten months as an AFS
foreign exchange student, visited Egypt for a week.
* 1993-- I'd been a reader of fantasy and science fiction novels my
whole life, but the works of Theologian Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer
launched my reading list into theology, philosophy and history of
western civilization.
* 1993-- Only months later, my sister joined a Grotto of Anton LaVey’s
Church of Satan. Her soul at stake, I entered into a written debate
with her Satanic High Priest. I volunteered an Apologetic article to
the Grotto's desktop published magazine, Diabolic Creation, and
exchanged letters with CoS readers. I've debated a variety of world
views since, and have never found a credible counter to the
Cosmological or Axiological arguments for the existence of God. This
goes on the cool list, because (and I still tear-up at the thought),
after seventeen years of prayer, in January of 07, my sister accepted
Christ.
* 2004-- Married a schoolteacher from the Vancouver burbs. She moved
here to Indiana and started her own editing business, which grew into
an independent publishing house, http://www.thewriterscafe.com/ Mixed
blessing to be sleeping with your publisher--gives "fear of rejection"
a whole new meaning, I tell ya!

My life's also been tempered by fire--tough times and tragedies
necessary to torture a serious writer's soul as well. I dropped out of
college in my first year to elope, worked no job that paid more than
$8.50/hour until 1995. I was divorced by twenty-two, and lived as a
hedonist until I read Schaeffer in my mid-twenties. I've faced down a
fallen-angel who entered our home after a stepdaughter brought in a
book on witchcraft and tried to cast a spell.

Susan Kirkland (Light at the Edge of Darkness, Higher Honor), and I had
just e-mailed about this--when we look back at our sojourns, it's so
clear how he's shaped us to be exactly who and where we are.



Q: Tell a bit about your writing in general such as awards, previous publications, etc.

A: When I was seven and living in Lombard Illinois, my divorced, working
mom sent me to a creative writing program at this really-cool-humongous
building fulla books: the Helen Plum Memorial Library. Since then, I
loved reading and dreamt of fiction, but never acted on it until High
School. There, I benefitted from the encouragement of a wonderful
teacher, Mrs. Marsha Stewart of Kaneland High School, who entered my
first short-story victory in the U.W. Whitewater Literary conference.
Hundreds of students from three or four states competed and attended
lectures on fiction. At the end of the day mine won Best Short Story--I
was floored.

Between high school and the spring of 1998, most of my fiction
energies were spent creating worlds and characters in role-playing
games. My fiction meandered and jammed. Then on May ninth of 98, a
high-speed head-on collision nearly broke me in half and induced a
severe closed-head injury. That's code for: I've got a real thick
skull. After two weeks, it was the doctors opinion that even with
extended therapy, I'd only recover sixty percent of my mental capacity.

Then my pastor visited.

We enjoyed my first lucid conversation, prayed His will be done, and I
went to sleep. The next morning, I awoke mentally healed. There are a
few lingering symptoms common to closed head-injury victims, but that's
it. A fake hip and pelvis likely dooms me to a wheelchair by age fifty,
so I've got about eleven more years on my vocational-odometer as an
Subaru of Indiana Automotive auto-worker.

We ask ourselves why God drops disasters into our lives. I'm
self-educated beyond 12th grade, and now needed to replace my
blue-collar income and benefits.

Then He turned on my fiction tap. Post-accident, stories flowed. I
finished a Fantasy novella and Flashpoint, but still had to "learn the
craft", and get the polish on.

In June of 06 Lest Ye be Judged was published in Tales for the Thrifty
Barbarian: An Anthology of High Fantasy. Finally published, wahoo!

January of 07, found me jumpin on the bed, as Flashpoint won the 2006
"Elfie" for Best Sci-Fi Novel at elfwood.com. Elfwood's the world's
largest SECULAR fantasy and sc-fi art site, boasting over 10,000
members--not a friendly readership for overt Christian fiction.
In April of 07, Miracle Micro, ChairMan, and True Freedom were
published in Light at the Edge of Darkness. These three short stories
share the same cyberpunk setting as Flashpoint: Book One of the
Underground, June 07.

Flashpoint: the Role Playing Game, created by Mike Roop, is based on
my cyberpunk setting and characters, and is scheduled for November of
07.

Last year I founded the Lost Genre Guild for the promotion of
Christian and Biblical speculative fiction: sci-fi, fantasy and
spiritual thrillers. I'm thrilled by our early success--we're networked
with http://csffblogtour.com/ where one may sign-up for the
cutting-edge Latest in Spec newsletter, and http://WhereTheMapEnds.com/


Q: In 25 words or less what is Flashpoint about?

A: The dreaded "elevator pitch" *grumble grumble*:

2036: global government. The One State's only threat? Fundementaliast terrorism. A church bust in the Chicago-Metroplex, sparks Flashpoint in the Underground.

Q: Tell us a little bit about the main characters in the book.

A: Twenty year-old Dave and sixteen year-old Jen Williams are the only two
who evade capture when their home-church is raided by peacekeepers. The
pair are torn from suburban comfort and must integrate into a
muscle-cell: a team of saints working in the underground Body of
Christ. They must use their talents in an attempt to track and free all
their captured neighbors from One-State "Neros", the slang-term for
anti-Christians. Forced into spiritual growth, it comes down to a
confrontation with the antagonist that Calamity nicknames, Nasty Nero,
who ironically wants Calamity Kid to call him "Jesus" (his antagonist
role in the end-times unholy trinity).


Q: You describe this as a "cyberpunk" novel. That sounds sort of grungy like a computer with a safety pin through it's hard drive. How would you define the term?

A: Um . . . it's not a computer with a safety pin through it's hard drive?
YOUGOTTABEKIDDINME!

Cyberpunk's a sci-fi sub-genre set (say that ten times fast) in a near
future post-industrial dystopia (opposite of utopia), and deals with
the affect of technology on humanity. It's anti-religious, usually
postmodern in worldview, so to write Biblical cyberpunk is *almost*
genre breaking. Two months ago I discovered that Jefferson Scott beat
me to it with Virtually Eliminated, Terminal Logic, and Fatal Defect. I
can't wait to find the time to read these titles.


Q: What was the genesis of this novel, if you have one? Was there an ah-ha moment when you came up with the premise?

Way back in high school, it bothered-me when reporters referred to Muslim fundamentalist terrorists, merely as "fundamentalist terrorists". My sister and I were both "churched", and grew up with the idea that Scripture's fundamentally true. After reading Lindsey's Late Great Planet Earth, I began making notes on my cyberpunk setting.

Cyberpunk's the perfect genre for eschatology. Flashpoint's Pre-Millennial, but I'm very open about the Second Coming. Christ fulfilled over three hundred prophecies, yet most of His contemporary Jews missed the Messiah right in front of them.

Q: Were any of your characters modeled on anyone in particular?

A: Nasty Nero is your stereotypical Church of Satan anti-Christian zealot.

A group of teens in a sanitarium were the main characters in One of the
Nightmare On Elm Street films. One of them was a cartoonist. When
Freddy Kreuger attacked the dreaming lad, said lad turned into his
cartoon character--a duster wearin' gunslinger with twin automatic
pistols. That was where Calamity Kid's look originated. I wonder if the
Wachowski brothers had the same inspiration for Neo. My favorite film
to this date is The Matrix, but I cringed as I watched it, cause I knew
Flashpoint would be seen as a Christian copy. Two reviews and one
reviewer have already described it as such. Not a bad film with which
to be associated, but all originality went out the window. *sniffle*
His will be done.


Q: Which character do you personally identify with, if any? Why?

A: Nearly all of them are aspects of or are modeled upon me at various
points of my spiritual sojourn. They say write what you know . . .


Q: You say you write Biblical Speculative Fiction. Could you define that for us?

There's been debate by Christian writers for years about whether we ought to be writing Chronicles-of-Narnia-subtlety, or Space-Trilogy-overt tales. The Editor In Chief has given us all a different job in the novelist Body of Christ, and there's no right answer. Soooo, I call The subtle or symbolic Christian spec-fic, and the overt, Biblical spec-fic. The most complete Bookstore I've ever found for both is located at:

http://www.WhereTheMapEnds.com/Booklist/booklist_pages/booklist_links.htm

This storefront is Jeff Gerke's AKA, novelist Jefferson Scott's effort.
I guess it's not surprising to find Biblical cyberpunk authors
promoting our lost genre on the Web with high-tech viral marketing.

Q: Some Christians would say that "Biblical Speculative Fiction" is a contradiction in terms. Sci-fi, horror, fantasy and such types of stories they say are inherently demonic. How would you respond to that?

A. Remember when Jesus freaks dragged Christian music into the Rock genre in the 1970s? Believers tend to shun things new to our isolationist sub-culture. It's good to honestly examine anything we do, but it requires less energy to plug one's ears and hum loudly.

Here's the trickiest argument I've seen against Biblical spec-fic:

Jesus parables were set in the real world. Spec-fic is, by definition, is not. Therefore, while some fiction may be virtuous, spec-fic is not. That does not logically follow: you can't prove a egative.

When the Lost Genre Guild blog went up, this was our very first topic. No reason to repeat what's been dissected. For detailed thoughts for and against Biblical spec-fic, start at the bottom of this page and work up:

Lost Genre Guild Blog

Q: What is the biggest challenge that you, as a Christian and a writer of speculative fiction faces in your writing other than finding > acceptance in the "mainstream" Christian publishing world?

A: Finding the fans. I'm forty years old, a lifelong genre fan, and a
Christian. A year ago I could have counted the number of authors listed
in Jeff's bookstore on one hand. I gave-up trying to find spec-fic in
Christian bookstores the year before Steven Lawhead's Empyrion was
published. I scanned shelves for a couple more years when Peretti's
Darkness books came out, and gave up again. IMHO, there are tons of
Christian fans that don't even know we're alive, which was why I formed
the Lost Genre Guild. We're wracking our brains and using the Web to
get the word out--pun intended.

Q: What do you see as the future for Biblical speculative fiction?

A: In my lifetime, Peretti was the only really big Biblical spec-fic
novelist since Lewis'. The hopes of publication has been grim for a
long time. The Lord of the Rings and Left Behind films seem to have
cracked the Dam, and I'm very hopeful. As Jeff's booklist proves,
publishers are more willing to gamble lately. The Jan Dennis Agency
represents Frank Peretti, Ted Dekker, Jerry Jenkins, Stephen Lawhead,
Robert Liparulo, Eric Wilson, T. L. Hines, Donita Paul, and James
Beauseigner. This man's doing something right, you'd do better to ask
him! Here's an interview with Jan:

Q: Writing an action-oriented book with Christian characters can't be easy After all, they can't just be James Bond with a cross, joking about killing over the corpses of the "bad guys." Still, you have to keep the storyline moving and that may involve some violent elements. How do you as an author write strong action scenes which are still Christian in nature?

A: This goes to motivation. Had I understood the Bible's thunderous answers as a kid, I'd have not lived as a hedonist until my mid-twenties. Francis Schaeffer's The God Who is There, He is There and He is not Silent, and How Shall we Then Live, to use his own phrase, tore my roof off. Using classical reasoning, he laid bare the foundations of meaning, but this wisdom was stuck in big heavy words. I always knew I wanted to write, but now I knew why: to clearly illustrate Biblical answers to the world's great philosophical questions with modern entertaining fiction.

Entertainment is fiction's first job. Even Lewis' Space Trilogy was a little too subtle for what I
had in mind, and his prose too high. My eye landed on action-packed page-turning realistic pulp.

I got into the habit of keeping spec-fic notes from Role Playing Games, so my sci-fi and fantasy gaming folder transformed into two separate three-ring notebooks with organizer tabs. I grew up with movies, and tend to be very visual. In one of my tabs I listed "archetypes". For action pacing, I listed Raiders of the Lost Ark and Die Hard. For strong characters I listed Hannibal Lechter, and Doc Holiday. Then I set about making 1) God pleasing, 2) fast-paced, 3) character driven fiction, 4) in modern English.

One of the slogans at the Subaru plant is "Quality's built in, not added on." You have to start with the intent of glorifying God--everything else conforms to that. We live in a real and fallen
world, but Biblical fiction must conform. The beauty of cyberpunk is that one can use technology, like non-lethal tranquilizer rounds, tazer net-guns, and chipped sunglasses to push the envelope.

Q: If you could say anything you want to our readers, what would that be?

A: Do what He made you to do. Have the faith to live at the intersection of your given talents and passions, and do all things to His glory.

Then again, I say that to everybody




Learn more about Flashpoint and Frank Creed at his website or at the Books of the Underground Website

You can order a signed copy of Flashpoint by clicking here or visit Amazon.com


Read what other reviewers are saying this week about Flashpoint on the following blogs:

Fantasy Thyme
jamessomers.blogspot.com
Write and Whine
Hoshi to Sakura
Wayfarer's Journal
BlogCritics Interview
Daniel I Weaver
Disturbing the Universe
Grace Bridges
Queen of Convolution
Virtual Tour de 'Net
Christian Fiction Review Blog
Yellow30 Sci-Fi: Review
Yellow30 Sci-Fi: Interview
Back to the Mountains
MaryLu Tyndall
Cathi's Chatter

A Review: The Return of the Guardian-King by Karen Hancock

When reviewing a book that is part of a series in which one of the books has won a Christy award raises expectations for a good read, even a superior read. Unfortunately, this book failed to meet that expectation for me. Some aspects were in part a matter of taste. Some of the writing was a bit wordy for my tastes and moved more slowly getting to the heart of the story than I like. But those are personal issues. Even once I swept them aside, I found the book to be a fairly modest example of the classic Sword and Sorcery romance.

The story is a common one in fantasy literature. A king is separated from his Kingdom and is on a quest to return to it and his rightful place. In this case King Abramm, the Guardian-King appeared to have been executed, but in reality he was rescued at the last minute. He disguises himself as Alaric a supporter of the King who is on his way to help take back the kingdom for the Kings family in exile. Meanwhile his wife, like Odysseus's Penelope, fends off suitors while awaiting the return of her husband whom everyone else says is dead.

You have plenty of stock characters in this story. The heroic king in exile. The wise old spiritual adviser. The wife who stubbornly refuses to give up hope. The handsome suitor wooing the queen.

The problem is that many, if not most of them, never quite make it beyond their traditional stereotype. I have the feeling I am reading a Prince Valiant cartoon instead of a piece of literature. Certainly, that can be a pleasant diversion in the short term, but not over the extent of a 300 page book.

Likewise, this book shares some of the problems found in many Sword and Sorcery books which take place in an alternate fantasy world. First, we have a world which is essentially like ours just with the addition of a few fantastic creatures like shape-shifting wolves and dragons and the ability of some to manipulate "the light" which apparently emanates from Eidon, the divinity of this world. It is apparently anaologous with the Holy Spirit with the exception of being impersonal and capable of manipulation by human beings. I hope that is not the intent of the author, because there are some serious theological consequences to such a teaching.

Nevertheless, it is basically a low-tech, medieval type of setting with some magical elements thrown in. The thing about that is that, like many fantasy novels, the alternate world is not quite different enough to really let you know it's not just 10th century England with dragons added. However, even that would be acceptable except for the internal inconsistencies and anachronisms.

At one point the society is presented as being basically patriarchal with women being totally dominated by men. Yet, in another scene a woman is ready to "give" her husband a divorce. In a patriarchal culture of the sort established initially the man would be the one to grant divorces and the woman would have no say in the matter.

In another scene we have someone putting on his spectacles without any sense of wonder. It takes a fairly sophisticated level of technology to produce something that common, and not really in keeping with the level of technology depicted in the book. It doesn't mean this person couldn't have found some crystal and shaped it himself or an artisan did it for him, but it would be an uncommon marvel.

Then there is the patois of the "lower class" using "ye" for "you," but not in keeping with the actual meaning of ye as the nominative plural.

I know what you are thinking. This is all nitpicking. Even Shakespeare had a clock in ancient Rome. But he did have compelling characters, a strong storyline and a great funeral oration. The problem is that these inconsistencies and anachronisms continue to build up within the context of a fairly predictable, and slow moving storyline, played out by rather stock characters.

Perhaps, some of this would be more readable if I had read the other books in the series. I would then know some of the background. However, a book should be able to stand on its own merits as an individual work of art. And if there is material in the previous volumes necessary to the enjoyment of the present volume, then a prologue bringing the reader up to date would be advisable.

For those who have read the previous books, I suspect this would be an adequate addition to the set. However, I would not advise anyone to start with this book. I am truly sorry my expectations were not fulfilled.



Read what other bloggers are saying about this book:

Nissa Annakindt
Wayne Thomas Batson
Jim Black
Grace Bridges
Jackie Castle
Valerie Comer
Karri Compton
Frank Creed
CSFF Blog Tour
Gene Curtis
D. G. D. Davidson
Chris Deanne
Janey DeMeo
April Erwin
Kameron M. Franklin
Linda Gilmore
Beth Goddard
Marcus Goodyear
Andrea Graham
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Sharon Hinck
Christopher Hopper
Heather R. Hunt
Becca Johnson
Jason Joyner
Karen
Tina Kulesa
Lost Genre Guild
Kevin Lucia and The Bookshelf Reviews 2.0 - The Compendium
Rachel Marks
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Shannon McNear
Caleb Newell
Nicole
Eve Nielsen
John W. Otte
Robin Parrish
Rachelle
Cheryl Russel
Hanna Sandvig
Chawna Schroeder
Mirtika Schultz
James Somers
Tsaba House Authors
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Daniel I. Weaver





You can find this book at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/0764227971 I receive no income from this link.

More than an Opinion: Writing an Effective Book Review

Some people think it is an easy thing to write a book review. They think all it means is to read the book and write down what they thought about it. You can do that, but that is not a review. It's a reaction. Unless you already have a following, the reader doesn't actually care much if you enjoyed the book or not. The reader looks to the reviewer to find out if he or she will enjoy the book. That is a significant difference.

The reviewer is an advocate for the reader. He or she provides the reader with enough information and analysis for the reader to make a buying decision. That means that the reviewer can't be concerned about the author's feelings, the publisher's reaction or even their own personal enjoyment of the book.

A book can be informative and well written and not be interesting to me personally because it is a genre or on a topic which is uninteresting to me, or the writer employs a style of writing that I don't like. Those are often matters of taste and preference. The reviewer has to move beyond personal taste and review a book on a fair evaluation of it’s merits.

Reading Like a Reviewer

To be a good book reviewer you need to analyze the book at a deeper level than you would if you were just reading the book for pleasure. This analysis means that you need to judge the book against a set of criteria. When reading you need to pay attention to these criteria, therefore if the book is fiction, you need to ask yourself questions like:

• Are the characters believable?
• Is the dialog natural? Is the pacing of the action appropriate to the genre and style of writing? Are the settings and descriptions engaging?
• Does the plot move along naturally or does it seem forced in parts?
• Is the style of writing engaging?
• Is the work original or derivative?
• Does the work capture the readers attention at the beginning and hold it to the end?
• If part of a series, how easy would it be for a reader new to the series to pick up on the action?
• What about the handling of controversial or potentially offensive elements such as sexuality and violence? Is it handled with subtlety within a proper moral context? Is it explicit? Does it have an implied approval of violent or sexual acts which might be contrary to the ethics of your readers?

For nonfiction books the questions include:

• What is the target audience for this book?
• Regardless of the obvious audience for this book, what group or groups of people would benefit most from reading this book. Which ones would benefit least?
• What is the theme or thesis of the book?
• How well did it serve the needs of that audience?
• Was the information helpful?
• Was the writing style engaging holding the readers attention even when discussing technical matters?
• Was the format and organization of the book helpful to the reader?
• How could the reader apply this to their personal lives?
• Did the book focus mostly on theory or practice or both?
• How did any illustrations used in the book support the subject matter of the book?
• Was everything in the book necessary or did it seem that the author was padding the writing to reach a certain word count?
• Is the information given accurate? Did you find any significant fact errors, misquoted scripture, etc.
• Is the theology doctrinally sound?
• Is the exegesis of scripture consistent with accepted principles of hermeneutics?
• Were scriptures taken out of context or interpreted inappropriately?
• What level of spiritual maturity or Bible knowledge is required to understand the concepts in this book?

You will note that some of these questions do not elicit answers which make a book good or bad, but rather give us information about aspects of the book which might make it more or less appropriate for specific groups of people or which might cause it to appeal to or lack appeal for certain tastes. It is important to go beyond a Good Book-Bad Book dichotomy in your review.
Of course, all of these elements that you considered in your reading won’t be covered in every review. Some of these elements are more important in some books than in others. Likewise, this is not a comprehensive list. Certain genres of writing have their own criteria for excellence. Learning about those genre-specific criteria is especially important if you choose to specialize in that genre.

Once you have a complete understanding of not only how you liked the book, but how the book was constructed and written, then you can begin to write your review focusing on those relevant criteria.

Elements of a Review

There are three basic elements to a good review: Summary, Critique and Recommendation.

Summary. Early in your review you need to give the reader a basic sense of the content of the book free of commentary. For a fiction book, this means giving the basic premise for the plot and maybe introducing the main characters. For nonfiction, it means to give the general theme of the book and a summary of the topics covered.

What you don’t want to do in the summary portion of your review is try to summarize the entire book. It’s a balancing act. You want to give the reader enough unbiased information to decide if the content is of interest or not, but on the other hand, having someone try to summarize the entire book gets boring pretty quickly. I tell my students when writing book reviews to limit this to no more than three paragraphs and aim for one.

Analysis and Critique. Obviously, the bulk of the review is critique. This is where you evaluate the book according to the appropriate criteria for that genre. This is where the notes you made while reading the book will come in handy. Use those questions we posed earlier as a guide for your evaluation. That will keep you from simply responding to a general impression which might be based more on your personal tastes rather than on solid literary grounds for critique.
In this section choose a limited number of specific items (3-4) author did well and tell why they are good. Be specific and use examples and quotes from the book whenever possible. Then focus on those things which were not done so well. Again, tell why you gave that judgment and present specific examples of where the book failed to fulfill its promise.

Obviously, if the book is a positive review, you will spend more time on the good points. If you found the book to be not so good, then you will spend more time on the negative points. However, to be fair, most books are not universally good or universally terrible. The worst books usually have one or two good points, and there is usually something in the best books that could have been done better. A balanced review acknowledges both the strengths and the weaknesses of the work.

Recommendation. This is usually the last paragraph. In it, you give your recommendation concerning the book. It can be an unqualified recommendation or a qualified one. An unqualified recommendation is one in which you state without reservation that the book is a "good read" (although that phrase has been somewhat overused) or that the book is not worth reading. Remember, before you give such a recommendation, that your reputation is on the line. Be sure you have given adequate reasons for this judgment earlier in your review so the reader can say, "Yes, I can see that."

You can also give a qualified recommendation. You might think that a book is generally good, but either it has some flaws or it may not be good for everyone. For instance, there is a popular secular book about healing from childhood abuse. It is an excellent book. However, the author says that it is not important to forgive the offender. She misunderstands the meaning of forgiveness and confuses it with excusing the abuse. So, whenever I have written about that book, I tell people it is good, but to ignore the chapter on forgiveness. That is a qualified recommendation.

Also sometimes the book is better suited to a particular group of readers. For instance, an "edgy" Christian suspense novel may have several violent scenes which might not be suitable for younger readers. So, you might include a warning about that.

At this point, you may be saying to yourself, "Wow, that’s a lot of work!" It is, but you will find that you will not only provide a service to others, but also enhance your own enjoyment of the books you read.