Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt Stop #25

Welcome to the 2013 Summer Scavenger Hunt! This hunt has 32 stops and runs 5/17-5/19/13. If you make the loop, reading unique content from 31 different authors, and fill out the Rafflecopter form at Stop #32, you'll be in the running for an iPad Mini (loaded with all our books), or one of two runner-up prizes---all 31 of our new releases in paperback.

Some authors are offering additional prizes, so be sure to read each post thoroughly to be in the running for everything that's available. The contest is open internationally too!

If you've JUST discovered the hunt, I recommend you start at Stop #1, found at LisaBergren.com. But you can also begin here, and keep rolling. Just be aware that if you win, you need to email Lisa Bergren (within 24 hours) the COMPLETED phrase in the correct order (which you construct by gathering clues at each stop). If Lisa doesn't hear back from you with the correct phrase within the time limit, she will move on to the next winner that Rafflecopter draws. Ready? Here we go...

Meet Jill Williamson

Jill Williamson is my personal hero when it comes to writing, and she's a great friend. I first discovered her work when Marcher Lord Press published her Blood of Kings trilogy (By Darkness Hid, To Darkness Fled, From Darkness Won). Then I met her at an American Fiction Christian Writers conference, where she pitched my debut novel, Failstate, to her agent, Amanda Luedeke. Simply put, Jill is awesomeness personified!

Haven't heard of Jill before? Here's her official bio:

Jill Williamson is a chocolate loving, daydreaming, creator of kingdoms. She writes weird books for teens and lives in Oregon with her husband, two children, and a whole lot of deer. Visit Jill online at www.jillwilliamson.com, where adventure comes to life.

Personally, I'm in awe at the amount of detail and forethought that Jill puts into worldbuilding. It's not an easy trick, creating a new reality from scratch. When Jill does it, you can tell that she's put a lot of hard work and effort into it. And today, she's going to "pull back the curtain," so to speak, and show us how she does it. So, without further ado:

Creating the Future by Jill Williamson

Ever read a book that transports you to the future? That was the challenge I faced when working on my latest novel Captives, which is a dystopian story that takes place in the year 2088. I needed to create a futuristic storyworld that felt real. Here's how I did it.

1. I drew a map.

Maps always get my imagination going. Captives takes place in the future in what was once the ski resort of Mount Crested Butte, Colorado. So, I started with an actual map of the ski resort and added my futurist city. This way I was able to meld the past with my imaginary future. Lots of cool story ideas came from this map. Click on it to zoom in.

 2. I wrote a history for a controlling government that's hiding a secret.

Dystopian novels are cautionary tales in that they take fears from our real world and make them a fictional reality. I had a head start in this area because I already knew what I wanted my storyworld to be like. And it was all Beth Moore's fault! Want to know why? Check this out: 

Once I knew I was writing a futuristic Babylon, I wrote a history of how the Safe Lands came to be such a place. The important thing to remember when creating any fictional government, as dastardly as they might seem, they really do believe they are doing the right thing for the survival of their people. If they're just plain evil for no reason, the story won't feel as realistic.

3. I created technology.

This took some work, and I thank my Facebook followers for helping me brainstorm. Glass can project any image in The Safe Lands, as can human skin. I created SimTags, which are microchips that people can get embedded into their skin to create SimArt, which are virtual tattoos. Also, since everyone is sick, they use personal vaporizers (which are like electronic cigarettes) to take their meds or any other substance like stimulants or candy.

It was pretty fun to make up this stuff, and the combination of it all helped bring the storyworld to life. Check out the official book trailer my publisher made to see what I mean.

Jill's new book, Captives, is simply awesome. Young people have been kidnapped from their homes and taken to an ironically named city, the Safe Lands. But those lands are anything but safe. Can the victims make it home again? Or will the Safe Lands be the end of the road? (I've already read it and loved it!) It is available at bookstores or online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Christian Book Distributors, and at a bookstore near you.

AND NOW, YOUR NEXT STEPS:

Write down this clue: through
 

Have it written down? Great! Now head on over to Jill Williamson's website for your next clue!

But wait! For stopping by, I have a special bonus for you!

A few years back, some friends of mine (the folks of Tangled Blue) recorded a  special song, On What Has Now Been Sown, for the release of my first book, Failstate. Well, I'd like to share that song with you. Just click here and fill out the form, and you'll get your free music. It's really, really fun group and I highly suggest you check them out.

Thanks for stopping by!

Son of Truth

Rowen Mar and Caleb Tala are back in Son of Truth by Morgan Busse, a book that helps set up what can only be an epic confrontation in the final chapters.

When we last left them, Rowen had wiped out the invading Temanin army, thus saving the White City from destruction. But she also confronted and awakened something in the Temanin assassin, Caleb Tala.

Now both Rowen and Caleb have new challenges to face. Rowen, for example, has received a call for help from the distant city of Thyra. In the last book, an evil called the Shadonae has overrun the city and its Monastery, sending the soon-to-be scribe named Nierne to seek help from the Eldarans. Since Rowen is the last living Eldaran (that she knows of), she agrees to go with Nierne and fight this force of evil, even if it does mean leaving the rugged Lore Palancar behind. But the journey is not easy and takes and unexpected turn. Rowen must sacrifice something great to save her companions, something that might change her life forever.

Caleb, in the meantime, must come to grips with the fact that he's a changed man. He's no longer the ruthless assassin he once was. His experience with Rowen has revealed a completely different world to him, one that he barely understands. Maybe Nierne could help him understand his role, but Nierne is a constant reminder of the man he used to be, one that he's not comfortable remembering.

I really enjoyed this book. I think it's little surprise that Morgan is a 2013 Christy finalist for Daughter of Light. She is an extremely skilled writer and I loved losing myself in this world once again. Morgan has created some fantastic characters and concepts.

My one gripe (and it's a small one!) is that this book is more of a bridge than a complete tale in itself. It's obvious that there's another story to come. That's not a problem per se, but I wished that the book had it's own self-contained tale.

That didn't truly diminish my enjoyment, though. I can't wait to see how this epic tale concludes!

Darth Plagueis

I'm a sucker for Star Wars books, especially when they branch out into the ancillary characters and plots. For example, tonight I spotted a book called Into the Void, a book about the first Jedi and I immediately sat up and decided I had to read it someday. So when I saw a book called Darth Plagueis, which tells the story of Darth Sidious's master. I figured there'd be a good chance that we'd finally learn the story of Palpatine himself., something that I've been curious about for a while. I actually had an idea about that a few years back. So how did James Luceno do?

Well, it was okay.

The story picks up as Darth Plagueis kills his master, Darth Tenebrous. By doing so, he becomes the Sith Master in need of an apprentice. After all, a thousand years before the original Star Wars trilogy, the Sith Lord Darth Bane crafted his Rule of Two: there will only be two Sith, one to embody the power, the other to crave it. Plagueis finally settles on a young noble from Naboo named Palpatine. He is surprised at how powerful Palpatine is in the Force.

Plagueis realizes that Palpatine can help him achieve his fondest wish: Palpatine will be the one to control the Galactic Republic, and he will be the power behind the throne once he has figured out how to achieve immortality through the dark side. And so we go on a journey through darkness as Plagueis and Sidious position themselves and their forces to topple the Jedi and bring about the rule of the Sith.

On paper, this should be a fun story. And, in some ways, it is. Luceno dangles some interesting tidbits about what the Sith have done to prepare for their revenge. And it was interesting to watch as Plagueis teaches Sidious the secrets of the dark side. But in the end, this book dragged a bit. Plagueis is a little too fond of long speeches. And what seems to be the most important event in the story is glossed over in its entirety. Kind of disappointing.

The one positive I'll say is that this book does help unpack some of the dense and strange backstory of Episode I. I can honestly say I understand it a little better now. And that's not too bad.

Rapture

If you've been around my blog long enough, you've discovered that I have a thing for video games. That's especially true for games that come with a good story. And if you're looking for some great stories in video games, you don't have to look any further than Bioshock (and in this case, I'm referring to the first two in the franchise; I haven't finished playing Biohosck: Infinite just yet, but I think I might be close).

Part of what makes the Bioshock franchise so engaging is the setting and the larger-than-life characters the player encounters throughout the games. I still remember the first moment I saw the underwater city of Rapture looming up on the bottom of the ocean floor in the first game. I still remember the shock I felt at The Twist in the middle of the first game (and no, I'm not dropping any spoilers here). I still remember how excited I was to go back for the second game.

So when I saw that a man named John Shirley was tasked in creating a book about Rapture and its denizens, I wanted to see what he put together. I got a copy of BioShock: Rapture and finally got around to reading it.

The book is pretty much what it advertises. We get to go along as industrialist Andrew Ryan envisions his objectivist utopia and builds it on the floor of the North Atlantic. We get to watch as all the characters we meet in the games come to live in Rapture. And then we get to watch as it all falls apart: as war breaks out between Ryan's forces and an upstart who wants to rip it all away, as Dr. Sofia Lamb tries her best to create a collective out of what should have been competition, as so many little girls are turned into Little Sisters, paired with the hulking Big Daddies.

I really wanted to like this book. I mean, I really loved the games. The first one, especially, kept me up late one night wrestling with philosophical questions of how much free will a person really has (and really, isn't that what a good story is supposed to do?). I guess those high expectations translated over to the book.

Don't get me wrong. Shirley does an admirable job weaving a very convoluted timeline into a whole (I've often gotten confused about how all the events of the two games fit together). And I think he does a pretty good job capturing the personalities of the games.

But after reading it all, I think I know what it was missing: a true through-line. We needed a main character to follow and care about. There are a lot of people that I felt sorry for while reading the book. But we pop around Rapture so much throughout the book that it was hard to really care about any of them. Shirley almost does that with Bill McDonagh, but we don't spend nearly enough time with him to really come to care.

So this was an admirable try, but it fell short of the greatness of the games.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to find out what happens in the flying city of Columbia. Ah, Bioshock, you're so much fun!

Wordcount Wednesday

Remember that goal I set for myself last week? Where I said I hoped (as impossible as it might seem) to have Failstate #3 done by the end of April.

Yeah, I have a feeling that's not going to happen.

This past week, I did my best, I really did! But I was kind of stuck. I only was able to write 7,948 words this week. Granted, that is a little more than last week, but it's not going to be enough. My grand total is now at 36,665 words. Again, not too bad, but not good enough, especially since I finally introduced a character that should have been in the book 10,000 words ago.

Ah, well. That's what editing is for. All I can do is say, "Onward and upward!"

Captives

Back a few weeks ago, at the release party for Failstate: Legends, I was asked who my favorite authors were. And I said that one of them was Jill Williamson. Granted, Jill is a friend of mine, so I might be a little biased, but when I read books like her latest, Captives, I am forced to conclude that no, I'm not being biased in the slightest.

In the not-too-distant future, society has broken down due to a plague. A lot of folks have grouped together in what was once known as Colorado, in a major city called "The Safe Lands." In the Safe Lands, everyone is permitted to pursue pleasure. As a matter of fact, that's what's expected of everyone. Live for today, focus only on yourself and what you want, and hope that it all works out.

Only it's not working out too well. Everyone is infected with something called the "thin plague." Worse, it's a disease that is passed on to any children born in the Safe Land. Thanks to the plague, that isn't many. The Safe Lands desperately needs an infusion of new citizens, uninfected citizens, who might be able to produce a new generation of citizens.

Enter Glenrock, a tiny village not too far from the Safe Lands itself. A few dozen people live a relatively simple life there, having rejected the Safe Lands and their decadent lifestyle. That's not to say that it's perfect. A young man named Mason, for example, is being forced into a loveless marriage by his father. Mason's younger brother Omar is constantly bullied by their father and the others of the village for being artistic rather than a hunter. So it's little wonder when Omar strikes a deal with the Safe Lands: he's willing to voluntarily join their society and he'll try to convince the others to come with.

Only the Safe Landers don't want to risk it. Enforcers enter Glenrock and kidnap most of the women and bring them into the city, along with Mason and Omar. Soon the people of Glenrock find themselves trapped inside the walls of the Safe Lands, unable to leave.

Will they be able to survive and escape? Or will the seductive call of the Safe Lands condemn them all?

This was a great book. In the interest of fairness, I did see an early copy of the manuscript, so I kind of knew where the story was going. But it was great to come back to the story now and see how Jill put it all together. I absolutely loved Mason. He's by far my favorite character and I'm rooting for him in future books. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, but the good news is, that's easy to do.

But what was really fascinating was the Safe Lands and the way Jill described it. She created a vibrant if crumbling culture, one that leaps off the page and gets stuck in your mind. It's easy to see why it would be so appealing, but it's also easy to see why it would also be dangerous for a person of faith.

All in all, this is an excellent YA book and should definitely be picked up by everyone. Simply put, Jill did it again.

Let's talk Etzal'el!

That's Etzal'el in the back

One of my favorite new characters from Failstate: Legendswas Etzal'el. I had been looking forward to introducing him after dropping his name a few times in Failstate. It was a lot of fun including this character in a book finally. And I say "finally" because Etzal'el has been rattling around in the back of my head for a long time now.  As in, at least since about 2004.

And the reason? An old MMORPG called City of Heroes.

Back in 2004, Cryptic Studios released a game that allowed its players to create superheroes and then go into a massive city to fight crime. There were all sorts of different powers a person could have and myriad villains to defeat. It was a lot of fun.

I made at least half a dozen different heroes during the months that I played. A few were jokes (a gigantic purple man with a Vikings helmet called the Purple People Eater), one was intended for role playing (a hero called Tolkien who was based on a group of villains called the Trollkin), but three of them kind of stuck with me. First was a red-headed superhero girl named Jensina, who used fire attacks. Then there was Evangel (I think), a blond-haired bruiser who wore a white shirt with a bright red cross on it.

But my favorite of the bunch was Etzal'el, a creepy man who dressed in a black suit, wide-brimmed hat, and had glowing red eyes. He was a controller, designed to deal with large crowds of bad-guys. He wasn't the best in a straight up fight. Instead, he fought by creating illusions in people's minds. And he could also control the weather.

Yeah, don't ask.

So where did the name come from?  Well, when I was creating the character, I needed a name. I couldn't think of one, so I pulled out my copy of Character Naming Sourcebook and flipped to the Hebrew section.One name stood out: Betzalel, which means "In God's shadow." Well, I know enough Hebrew to know that the letter B in that name means "in." So I dropped it to make the character's name to roughly mean "God's shadow." I liked it.

Eventually, Etz became my primary character. I don't remember how far I managed to level him to, but I do remember earning him a cape at one point.

This past week, I went looking for my screenshots of Etz and the gang. Sadly, they've disappeared.

But here's the interesting thing. While I don't have the pics anymore, I remembered something about Etz, Evangel, and Jensina. Even though it wasn't necessary, I came up with a backstory for those three. Etz and Evangel were brothers. And they were both in love with Jensina.

Wait. A superhero with seemingly weak mental powers, his superstrong brother, who are both in love with the same girl? Where have I heard that before?

I guess maybe Failstate's been with me for a while too.

Don't forget to sign up for the Legends giveaway on Goodreads!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Failstate

by John W. Otte

Giveaway ends April 10, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Across the Universe

So I've had an interesting time with this book.

A few months back, I had this great idea for a book. At least, I thought it was a great idea. Granted, it wasn't much of an idea right now. Just a few snippets of character ideas, an idea about the setting, and that's about it. I've started with less in the past. I figured it might be worth pursuing.

Then I saw a copy of Across the Universe on the shelf of a Barnes and Noble. For some reason, I felt compelled to pick it up and read the back cover copy. And almost immediately, my heart fell into my shoes.

It was my idea. Published a year earlier than I had it.

Okay, maybe I didn't have a reason to panic. There are lots of instances where multiple books are published with similar plots. But the back cover copy for this one was so similar to my initial glimmerings of an idea, I had to check it out. I bought it but then left it on my to-be-read pile, mostly because I didn't want to see if it was the same.

I finally screwed on my courage and pulled it down this week to read it. And, for the most part, I'm glad I did.

This book is the story of a girl named Amy. She and her parents have signed on to be cryo frozen and then put on a generation ship, one that will travel through space to a new planet, one that they will colonize.

Fast forward to several centuries later. A young man known as Elder is studying under a man called Eldest. Eldest is the leader of Godspeed, the generation ship. Elder is supposed to be learning how to someday take up the mantle of leadership from Eldest, but it isn't easy. Eldest doesn't seem to like him that much.

But then, a surprising thing happens. Amy thaws out early. That wasn't part of the plan, especially not Eldest's plans. Amy is an intrusion into his carefully ordered world and he's worried that Amy could destabilize everything.

Elder isn't so sure. Amy is unlike any girl he's ever seen. For one thing, she's his age. He's the youngest person on Godspeed by design. And she has some unusual ideas about how life is supposed to work.

But that's not the only problem on Godspeed. Someone is killing the frozen passengers. And Elder is beginning to realize how much of his home is founded and run on lies.

Okay, so now that I've read the book, let's see what I think:

For the most part, the book is fascinating. In many ways, what Beth Revis has written is a dystopian novel, one with a science fiction veneer to it. The whole relationship between Elder and Eldest is interesting, even though Eldest seems more of a caricature than a real person. The society in Godspeed is interesting as well.

But here are the problems:

1) I saw the ending coming. It's telegraphed pretty badly.

2) There was a lot of graphic content in here. Now, I get why. I do. The way the society is engineered, it makes sense. But I'm not sure that Revis had to be as graphic as she was. It's a personal thing, though.

But there's one big thing that has me upset about this book. And before I explain why, I need to bring back an old friend to my blog.

Godzilla, take it away:

I'll try to keep them to a minimum, but be forewarned.

3) Like I said in my little recap, Godspeed is a ship of lies, a lot of which unravel as Elder and Amy work together. Eventually, Eldest reveals part of the truth to Elder. When he did, I wound up groaning.

It's clear to me that Beth Revis doesn't have a working knowledge of physics. At least, not to how it might apply to interstellar travel aboard a generation ship. There's this little thing called momentum that would play a big part of that journey. That's all I'm going to say. If you've read the book, hopefully you know what I'm talking about.

The thing is, what she did could have worked in a slightly different way. But sadly, there's an oops here and it's pretty significant.

That said, I came to the following conclusion:

1) I'd like to read the rest of these books. I'm curious to see where Revis goes from here and what will eventually happen to the people on Godspeed.

2) My idea might work after all. We'll see.

Insurgent

It had been a while since I've been to the dystopian future that Veronica Roth created in Divergent, but I finally got a copy of Insurgent for my Kindle for Christmas. I finally managed to eke out some time to actually read it to find out what happened to Tris and Tobias.

In some ways, the hiatus left me a little confused. I could barely remember where I had left off. I vaguely remembered something about Tris switching factions to become Dauntless. I knew something bad happened toward the end of the first book. So when I was dumped back into futuristic Chicago with very little by way of introduction, I'll admit that I floundered.

But it's a testament to Veronica Roth's abilities that I didn't care. Once again, the characters came to life and drew me into their story as the Dauntless tried to take on the Erudite. Tris learns more about Tobias's family and about herself, leading up to a dramatic conclusion that left me ready for the last book.

I know that I'm a little late to the game and I also know that YA dystopian books are all the rage. But Veronica Roth's are the best of the best. You would do well to check them out.

Let's talk Prom!

This last Saturday, I hosted a release party for Failstate: Legends. As a result, I didn't post my usual "Let's talk..." column about the new book. So I'm making up for it a little late. But instead of talking Legends, let's talk about prom.

More specifically, what happens when a superhero goes to the prom?

While I was editing Legends, I realized something kind of embarrassing. There was a continuity glitch between the two books. Not a major one, mind you, but it was enough to make me realize that I had left a major thread dangling, one that I felt had to be tied off. But doing so in Legends would take up a lot of space and, I realized, it wouldn't really contribute much to that book.

What to do, what to do?

Well, I decided that I would write a short story to help bridge the two books. It could deal with that loose thread and provide a little fun.

Thus Gauntlet Goes to Prom was born. It's not very long, approximately 44 pages, but it helps bridge the two books. I had a lot of fun writing it and I had a lot of fun working with Carlo and Kat, the artists who created the covers for the books. And now I'm glad to say that for a little while longer, it's FREE to download from Amazon.

But it won't stay free for long.

So if you want to see what happens when a superhero goes to the prom, be sure to click on over to Amazon and pick this up.

The Extroverted Writer

In the interest of fairness, I'll just get this out of the way up front. Amanda Luedeke is my literary agent. She's a big part of the reason that I'm published and she's great at what she does. What makes her unique is that before she became a literary agent, she was a marketer, a subject that usually gets most authors tied up in knots. For a while now, Amanda has been doing regular posts on marketing at Chip MacGregor's blog. Well, now she's gathered all of that advice together in one easy-to-read place: The Extroverted Writer: An Author's Guide to Marketing and Building a Platform. It's a short book, easy to read, and easy to digest.

Amanda covers a diverse range of topics, like how to use Facebook or Twitter efficiently, what you should blog about, and what should be on a website. Unlike a lot of marketing books, this isn't just empty cheerleading, she gives practical advice with good suggestions on what to do.

If you're an author, either published or not-quite-there-yet, this is a good resource for you to have. I'm sure you'll get a lot out of it. Although you may not have the experience of hearing Amanda's voice in your head while you're reading it. LOL!

Wordcount Wednesday

As I announced last week, I've taken a break from Failstate #3. Instead, I've spent the last week sifting through my old friend Numb, cleaning up the text so we can hopefully do some advance reader copies. It's been interesting revisiting this one. It took me a while to get going, but I think I've done pretty good. As of right now, I've made it through 153 pages out of 330. Not too bad.

Hopefully I'll have this one done in the next few days. Then it's back to Failstate #3's first draft.

And now I have to get off the computer and get some sleep. I seem to be coming down with some sort of cold and that's not good, especially since the Failstate: Legends launch party is this Saturday. Even if you can't be there in person, there are details in the Facebook invite about how you can join us via Ustream.

Good night, all.

Let's Talk Title!

As I promised last week, I'll share the story of where Failstate: Legends's title came from. It's a tale that's filled with mystery, heartbreak, and a little salsa.

Okay, not really. But it was a stumper for a long time.

See, I hate titles. Either I have an idea right away for a book or story's title or I have no idea what to call it. That latter was the case for Legends when I first got started. I kept working on it, hoping that at some point, a word or phrase would magically fall into my lap. That didn't happen. For a long time, when I was discussing this book with my wife, it was simply known as "Failstate #2." Not the most inspiring of titles.

Eventually what I did was sit down one night and write down every name that occurred to me. No judgment on quality, just different possible titles. I knew I wanted it to be "Failstate-colon-something-or-other." So I came up with a list of about a dozen titles or so.

Then I went to my colleagues at Marcher Lord Press. I shared a back-cover copy of the book, along with my list of possible after-the-colon subtitles. A bunch of the titles got rejected outright, including a few that I really liked (I don't remember what they were, so I guess it was a good thing in the long run).

The one we landed on was "Legends," partially because Failstate is striving to establish his own legend, and also because . . . well. Hmmmmm. How to do this without spoilers? Let's just say that he encounters some living legends along the way.

So there we go. It's not the most exciting of stories, but that's where the title came from.

If you have any questions for me, be sure to leave them in the comments. Otherwise, I'll be stuck trying to come up with questions on my own. And we wouldn't want that.

Angel Eyes

So I'd been hearing a lot of buzz about Shannon Dittemore's Angel Eyes. The Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy Blog Tour, of which I used to be a member, did this book recently. So I decided I should check this one out and see what it's all about.

The story is about Brielle Matthews, a young woman who has been pretty much forced to move back home to the small town of Stratus. Brielle had left town to be a dancer and a model, but a tragedy around her best friend Ali has forced her to return home. She's haunted by the guilt of Ali's death and, as a result, feels perpetually cold.

But then she meets Jake Shield, the new kid in town. Jake practically radiates heat. At first, Brielle doesn't want anything to do with him . . . or anyone else, for that matter. But Jake is persistent. He's always around, offering his heat and maybe more.

Pretty soon, in spite of herself, Brielle finds herself warming to the mysterious Jake. And a good thing too. Because without realizing it, Brielle has stumbled into a dangerous situation, one that stretches from this world into one that can only be seen by angel eyes.

Okay, I'll say this up front. I thought the chapters told from Brielle's perspective were really great. The prose was almost poetic. And the dialogue was great also. Dittemore was extremely creative in the way that she put this story together and the way she portrayed spiritual warfare.

And yet . . .

And yet this is another spiritual warfare book, angels taking on demons in unseen realms. It's ground that's been covered before. Yes, Dittemore adds some interesting twists to it, but it didn't really make me sit up and take notice.

There were also some sections of very lengthy dialogue (more like monologues) that kind of threw me. And this may sound harsh, but Brielle as a character kind of bugged me. It's almost like she was just a whisker shy of crossing over the border into being conceited. Or not. I'm not sure what it was about her, but I had a hard time relating to her.

This isn't to say that it's a bad book. Not at all. A lot of people have read it and really enjoyed it. Perhaps I'm too old and the wrong gender. Whatever the case, it was good, but I'm not lining up to purchase the next book in the series. Maybe some day, but not when I've got somewhere around 50+ books in my to-be-read pile and waiting on my Kindle.

Let's Talk Legends!

Last week, I announced the release of Failstate: Legends, the sequel to my debut novel. I also promised that I would tell some stories about the writing of this book and answer any questions that you might have. Well, a question arrived from my website's e-mail from Christina:

The question is: Zombies?
I'm not too certain about having things like that in my books.I Mean, reanimated brain-eating corpses? that is something that makes me more than a bit uncomfortable. Especially in christian fiction.
What are your thoughts on paranormal (Namely Zombies) in christian speculative fiction?

Thanks for the question, Christina!

Actually, it's funny. This wasn't my first idea for a sequel for Failstate. I tossed around a few ideas with Jeff Gerke, the phenomenal publisher of Marcher Lord Press, and Amanda Luedeke, my excellent agent. It was Amanda who first suggested the zombies and, I'll admit, I was a little hesitant. I mean, zombies are hot right now, as evidenced by the popularity of The Walking Dead, Warm Bodies (both as a book and in the recent movie that I haven't seen yet), World War Z (again, both as a book and a movie that no one has seen yet), plus video games that I've played like Plants vs. Zombies and Left 4 Dead 2. I could keep going, but you get the idea. Zombies are hot right now.

I think part of my initial hesitation on this was that I didn't want to be seen as trend-following. That's never a good idea for authors, especially since by the time most writers hop on board the bandwagon, it's moved on to something different. But the more I talked with Amanda, the more I liked the idea. I started playing with how it might all play out for Failstate and what it could mean for the series. And I came to love the idea.

But I know, Christina, that that doesn't completely answer your question. I guess my answer is, why not?

That may sound flippant, and I don't mean for it to. But Christian speculative fiction in recent years has been pushing the envelope a little in regards to the subjects that we're willing to portray and explore. For example, a few years ago, it would have been taboo to portray dragons as anything other than harbingers of evil, especially given the role a dragon plays in the book of Revelation. But then Bryan Davis and Donita K. Paul wrote books that had dragons as the heroes and it worked. The same could be said for magic. Given the hue and outcry among some circles at the Harry Potter books, you'd think that Christians should never do anything with magic. But again, some Christian authors have woven magical systems into their books and made them work well.

And really, the concept of zombies is actually pretty Biblical, if you think about it. And I'm not talking about resurrection stories, like the widow of Nain's son or the saints who were raised on Good Friday. Instead, I'm talking about the on-going zombie apocalypse that we have going on around us right now. If we take Ephesians 2:1-4 and Colossians 2:13 seriously, then those who are without Christ are dead. And yet they still get up, walk around, and go about their business like they're alive. You could say that we're surrounded by zombies in need of new life right now. Not only that, but if you take John 10:28 seriously, then that means that there are people who are physically dead and yet still alive. Both of those situations sound a little like zombies to me. All of these ideas are explored in two very excellent books, Night of the Living Dead Christian by Matt Mikalatos and Undead: Revived, Resuscitated, and Reborn by Clay Morgan.

So ultimately, I'd say that using zombies, if done from a Biblical perspective (which I've tried to do; I leave it to my readers to tell me how well I've done), is fair game. So long as we don't compromise the message of the Gospel, that Jesus is the one who gives us true life that cannot end, we're good.

Christina also had one other question:

And when is your Failstate mini novella coming out? It will be out in paperback right?

I am still working on getting the mini-novella out. There are some final details to be hammered out, but once those are taken care of, it'll be out as an ebook via Amazon. I believe that eventually it might be available as a paperback, because I think that Amazon is doing print-on-demand for their Kindle books, but I don't know for sure.

So there we go! Next week, I'll talk about where the title came from. That is, unless someone wants to hijack the discussion with a question!

But before I go, two bits of business. First of all, I'm holding a Failstate: Legends Giveaway on Goodreads that will end on my birthday. That's right, it'll be my birthday, but you could be the one getting the present!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Failstate

by John W. Otte

Giveaway ends April 10, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Pretty good odds so far.

Also, in two weeks, I'll be having a launch party for the book. If you're in the Twin Cities area, I'd love to see you there! But even if you're not, you can participate via Ustream. We'll be broadcasting it live!

So see you all later, and happy reading!

Scarlet

So I've been wanting to read this sequel for a while now. When I read Cinder, I really enjoyed it, the odd blend of fairytales and sci fi. I knew that I had found something special in that book. So when I heard that Scarlet was coming out, I knew that I had better hop to and get it right away. Once again, I'm blown away by Marissa Meyer's creativity and craft. This was a very enjoyable book that added to the Lunar Chronicles and makes me want to learn more.

Scarlet is a young woman who lives with her grandmother on a farm in France. Well, at least, she used to. Her grandmother has disappeared. The police have pretty much given up on finding her grandmother, but Scarlet knows that something bad has happened. Grandma wouldn't just run away from home, would she? On a run into town to deliver some vegetables, she meets a young street fighter who calls himself Wolf. Soon Scarlet finds herself on a cross-country adventure as she and Wolf travel to Paris to find her grandmother.

But we haven't lost track of Linh Cinder, the fugitive cyborg who starred in the first book. Cinder has escaped from prison and is traveling with a dashing ne'er-do-well named Carswell Thorne. She's still reeling from everything she's learned about herself and her past, but she doesn't have time to really process any of it. Queen Levana of Luna is still after her and she will stop at nothing to get her hands on Cinder.

So let's talk about my one minor gripe, a trifle, a quibble. This was predictable. Again. I saw the big twist coming in Cinder, and I saw the twist coming in this one too. As a matter of fact, I'd be willing to bet that anyone reading this review can see it coming without reading the book.

But you know what? I didn't care! The characters are engaging, the stakes are high, and I'm finding that Scarlet and Wolf are just as much fun to travel with as Cinder was in the first book. I really can't wait to see where the story goes from here, but from what I can see, I've got a year to wait. I'm guessing that in this case, absence really will make the heart grow fonder. I can't wait to see what Cinder and Scarlet do next, and what the next fairytale plundered will be.