Entries Tagged 'fantasy' ↓

Note to all of my virtual friends: I’ve been completely overwhelmed by the generosity and authenticity of your comments lately! Thank you so much. I look forward to interacting more intently as soon as our new and improved TheHighCalling.org is almost under wraps—later this week!

Over the next few days, the Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy Blog tour is featuring Karen Hancock. 

Return of the Guardian-King, the fourth book in a series, is a fine example of high fantasy. That is to say, Karen Hancock creates a self-contained world, a sweeping Tolkein-esque epic of politics and war and love and the followers of “Eidon, Lord of Light, Creator of All, Defender of Man. Soon may he come, and swift be his judgment.”

Hancock follows a story-telling pattern laid out by C. S. Lewis in his science fiction series and later in Narnia. God appears and redeems other worlds under other names.

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It seems things got pretty serious around here last week. And that’s a good reminder for writers. The business of writing can be a serious business at times.

But all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. And Jill’s not much fun either. Pretty soon all they do is fetch water and break their crowns and make unscheduled and expensive visits to the dentist. Anyone up for a little game this week?

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Short post. If you like Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy, you’ll be excited that Jeff Gerke has just opened up his Collaborative Fiction Project. Check it out!

A friend asked me that question last month. And it has been bugging me ever since.

The Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy (CSFF) blog tour is talking about Jeff Gerke and WhereTheMapEnds.com this month, so it seemed a good time to get input from others.

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The blog tour is over. I know some of you readers tolerate these times when I indulge here. I just love fantasy and science fiction. In fact, to celebrate, I’m starting to read my new issue of Fantasy and Science Fiction tonight. (You can read six AWESOME stories for free online, right now.) One thing I think every aspiring CSFF writer should do is read good fantasy and science fiction. That magazine is a good place to start.

Tina Kulesa summed it up best. She wrote, “As a whole we don’t want to be preached at and we don’t want lip service paid to our favorite genre. We want the best. And Wayne Thomas Batson shows us that it’s all possible.”

I was also encouraged by Wayne’s admission that this first set of books was a thirteen year project. Whew! I thought I was slow here in year six or seven, but I’m not slow. I’m just impatient.

Thanks, Wayne for being the kind of person you are. And thanks to everyone on the tour:

Nissa Annakindt, Jim Black, Jackie Castle, Valerie Comer, Karri Compton, Frank Creed, Gene Curtis, Chris Deanne, Janey DeMeo, Tessa Edwards, April Erwin, Linda Gilmore, Beth Goddard, Todd Michael Greene, Leathel Grody , Karen Hancock, Katie Hart, Sherrie Hibbs, Sharon Hinck, Joleen Howell, Kait, Karen, K. D. Kragen, Tina Kulesa, Lost Genre Guild, Kevin Lucia, Kevin Lucia’s The Bookshelf Reviews 2.0 - The Compendium, Rachel Marks, Shannon McNear, Rebecca LuElla Miller, Caleb Newell, Eve Nielsen, John Otte, Robin Parrish, Cheryl Russel, Hannah Sandvig, Mirtika Schultz, James Somers, Stuart Stockton, Steve Trower, Speculative Faith, Daniel I. Weaver

Kevin Lucia posted a wonderfully concise and helpful review over at his site. Kevin is careful to compare Wayne’s work to other YA series. He is writing YA after all–and doing so quite well. If you drop by Kevin’s site, be sure to check out Wayne’s promotional video. Dude, you are fearless!

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It’s that time finally! The January Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy Blog Tour. Whooo Hoo. I’m pumped. I’m excited. I’m proud to be a geek.

In preparation for this month, Wayne Batson and I created a little podcast on the phone: Good Word Editing Podcast #3 - Interview With a “Righteous Fantasy” Author! It’s exciting just to type out the title.

There’s a special treat at the end for READERS when Wayne reads ”The Betrayal,” a powerful excerpt from The Door Within—with voices and everything. 

Wayne also talks about . . .

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Tomorrow begins the next Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy Blog Tour. We’ll be focusing on the super cool and humble and now CBA best-selling writer Wayne Batson.

(He and I even recorded a little podcast interview about his YA books The Door Within, Rise of the Wyrm Lord, The Final Storm. I’ll post it here tomorrow, so don’t forget your ipod.)

In the spirit of all things fantastic, here’s a little poem to start the week. I hope it makes you smile.

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I just posted chapter 7 over at Entire Book in a Blog. If you haven’t read any of it yet, start with chapters 1 and 2. You need to read both chapters. Don’t make me do the puppy dog eyes thing. Just try them.

If you haven’t read George Barna’s research summary for the year, he has some interesting conclusions. And by interesting, I mean wacky.*

Take this one: New Research Explores Teenage Views and Behavior Regarding the Supernatural.Reminds me of my old days at the Church of Christ. In mid 1980s, I suffered through a series on defeating Satan. They told us we were surrounded by Satan. Papa Smurf? SATANIC. Alf? SATANIC. Heavy Metal Christian Music? SATANIC! We spent months learning the list of infected cultural icons.
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