CSFF Blog Tour: Fearless Day Three

So we finish up the blog tour for Robin Parrish's Fearless.

I admit, I've been sweating this entry simply because for a while, I was worried I'd have to admit that "I got nothing" (so sorry to the grammaticians out there). But as I thought about it tonight, I realized that I could say something. So bear with me and keep in mind, these are the rambling thoughts of a guy who hasn't read the book. If my thoughts don't intersect with Fearless in any way, it reflects poorly on me, not on Mr. Parrish.

You remember two days ago I said I wished I had read the books? Well, I thought about why tonight and I came to a realization. The reason why is because I can resonate with the basic plot of the books.

From what I understand, the basic premise of Parrish's books is that a group of people have discovered that they've been given special gifts and abilities. Just that idea alone is enough to pique my interest because really, who hasn't wished for specials gifts at one time. The plot resonates because it touches a deep desire within me.

And if you think about it, it's obvious that this plot resonates with a lot of other people as well. Look at the smash hit Heroes: ordinary people wake up one day to discover they have incredible powers and have to "Save the Cheerleader, Save the World." Or X-Men. Same basic idea, namely seemingly ordinary people given tremendous abilities.

Or think of the current literary juggernaut who's been dominating the world the past week or so, dear old Mr. Potter himself. I think part of the reason why those seven books have so captivated people's imagination is because of the way they kick off: an ordinary little boy finds out there's life beyond his cupboard beneath the stairs, to learn he has special gifts and abilities and possibly a heroic destiny.

These stories spark our imaginations because they touch on a deep seated yearning inside us. I want to be special. I want to have unique powers. I want to be a hero.

But usually, sadly, there's a counterpoint to that desire, one that drags us back to reality. The reason we yearn for that is because we believe, deep down, that we're not special. We have no unique powers. We're anything but heroic.

When we think that way, we've missed something important. It puts me in mind of 1 Corinthians 12:12-20, which reads:

"For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit, we are all baptized into one body -- Jews or Greeks, slave or free -- and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

"Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say, 'Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,' that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear would say, 'Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,' that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members of the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body."

In other words, we may not all have incredible powers. We may not even think we have special powers. But we all have unique gifts given to us by our Lord.

More than that, we are all heroes in His eyes. Think of what Peter writes in 1 Peter 2:9 - "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." Notice that Pete doesn't say some of you were chosen, a couple of you are royal priests, a minute quantity are God's own people. He says "you." All of you. Together. You're all chosen, royal priests belonging to God. To paraphrase a bit, you're all heroes.

Martin Luther once said (and I'm paraphrasing here; I really need to find this quote someday) that a housewife changing a dirty diaper is giving God as much glory as an archbishop giving a sermon. What he meant is that God is the one who has called us to be where and who we are. He has given us each unique gifts and abilities to carry out that calling, be it "superhero," pastor, writer, housewife, clergy, or whatever. We are heroes in God's eyes when we carry out that calling, using the gifts He's given, to the fullest of our potential.

You're all heroes. You all matter.

So there we go. Does it have anything to do with the book? Ya got me, I dunno. But that's the danger of giving a pastor an open forum.

Go check out what the other participants had to say:

Trish Anderson
Brandon Barr
Wayne Thomas Batson
Jim Black
Justin Boyer
Grace Bridges
Amy Browning
Jackie Castle
Valerie Comer
Karri Compton
Frank Creed
Lisa Cromwell
CSFF Blog Tour
Gene Curtis
D. G. D. Davidson
Merrie Destefano
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Beth Goddard
Marcus Goodyear
Andrea Graham
Russell Griffith
Jill Hart
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Christopher Hopper
Jason Joyner
Karen
Dawn King
Tina Kulesa
Lost Genre Guild
Rachel Marks
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Eve Nielsen
John Ottinger
Lyn Perry
Rachelle
Cheryl Russel
Hanna Sandvig
Chawna Schroeder
Mirtika Schultz
James Somers
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Jason Waguespac
Daniel I. Weaver

Next month is Legend of the Firefish. Don't worry. I've placed my order with Amazon already. I (hopefully) won't have to wing it when we do this again.

CSFF Blog Tour: Fearless Day Two

We're continuing the tour for Fearless. Here are some of the websites I think you could check out:

Part of my deep regret at not reading this book series came from Valerie Comer, who posted the opening section of the book. A good hook is always needed to draw someone into a story. Robin Parrish has one. Just imagine how you'd feel if you saw yourself walking down the street!

Daniel I. Weaver shares his mixed feelings about the book, something that I understand all too well. I've been where he is and know how much it stinks.

Head on over to Speculative Faith and see what Blog Tour Overlord Rebecca LuElla Miller has to say about the odd marketing that Fearless has received.

And as always, there's Mir. I'm always intrigued by what she has to say and she doesn't disappoint this month with a thorough look at the book.

So there you have it. A few places you can check out for more information.

I have no idea what I'll do tomorrow. None whatsoever.

Be sure to check out the other participants:

Trish Anderson
Brandon Barr
Wayne Thomas Batson
Jim Black
Justin Boyer
Grace Bridges
Amy Browning
Jackie Castle
Valerie Comer
Karri Compton
Frank Creed
Lisa Cromwell
CSFF Blog Tour
Gene Curtis
D. G. D. Davidson
Merrie Destefano
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Beth Goddard
Marcus Goodyear
Andrea Graham
Russell Griffith
Jill Hart
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Christopher Hopper
Jason Joyner
Karen
Dawn King
Tina Kulesa
Lost Genre Guild
Rachel Marks
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Eve Nielsen
John Ottinger
Lyn Perry
Rachelle
Cheryl Russel
Hanna Sandvig
Chawna Schroeder
Mirtika Schultz
James Somers
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Jason Waguespac
Daniel I. Weaver

CSFF Blog Tour: Fearless Day One

I've been a bad, bad boy.

Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa, I have not read the book for this month's blog tour, which is Fearless by Robin Parrish.

Oh, I could make all sorts of excuses as to why, such as I couldn't get ahold of the books (since this is book two in a trilogy, you know). Or I could go for the sympathy factor and say that I had my appendix out recently and haven't been totally "with it" for two weeks (but really, that's no excuse since you don't need your appendix to read a book). Or I could say that my mind has been elsewhere (like Hogwarts).

But those aren't good enough.

I especially feel bad after seeing this:



After watching this trailer, I realized that this is the sort of book that I'd probably get a bang out of reading.

But this brings up an interesting question: when's the last time you saw a trailer for a book? When I interviewed Sharon Hinck back in April, she mentioned that her son was putting together a YouTube trailer for one of her books and that just struck me as odd. But then, after watching the trailer for the Fantasy Tour and now this one, it's making sense.

We need to get the word out about our often overlooked genres. If that means producing viral videos, so be it!

I don't know what I'll do tomorrow. Maybe some more grovelling. Or maybe I'll take a spin through the other blog tour participants and see what they're up to.

Of course, you can always steal my thunder by doing that now:

Trish Anderson
Brandon Barr
Wayne Thomas Batson
Jim Black
Justin Boyer
Grace Bridges
Amy Browning
Jackie Castle
Valerie Comer
Karri Compton
Frank Creed
Lisa Cromwell
CSFF Blog Tour
Gene Curtis
D. G. D. Davidson
Merrie Destefano
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Beth Goddard
Marcus Goodyear
Andrea Graham
Russell Griffith
Jill Hart
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Christopher Hopper
Jason Joyner
Karen
Dawn King
Tina Kulesa
Lost Genre Guild
Rachel Marks
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Eve Nielsen
John W. Otte
John Ottinger
Lyn Perry
Rachelle
Cheryl Russel
Hanna Sandvig
Chawna Schroeder
Mirtika Schultz
James Somers
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Jason Waguespac
Daniel I. Weaver

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Not fifteen minutes ago, I finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I am under strict orders not to reveal any spoilers to my wife, who has yet to read it. And since I only read it so fast so as to avoid having hte plot ruined by on-line spoilers, I shall do my best to keep my review spoiler free.

I enjoyed this final book. I thought that Rowling did an admirable job tying up all the loose ends. She even did so reaching back through other books. There were a few times when I was absolutely bewildered as to what she was talking about; thankfully, she would then gently remind me and I would sit in my chair, stunned that she had pulled something out from that far back.

Turns out that my predictions about the plotline were waaaaay off. I only got one death prediction right (and then, I didn't get the circumstances right at all). Well, actually, come to think of it, I kind of saw another death coming but that one also didn't play out the way I thought it would.

What really struck me were the number of Christian references that pop up throughout the book. Rowling quotes two separate Bible verses in short order at one point. There's some parallels between Christ and Harry that I won't get into. I don't know if the latter is a Joseph Campbell Power of Myth kind of thing. Personally, I'm hoping that the rumors I've heard that Rowling is a Christian is true and she was tipping her hand a little.

Would I let my son read this book? Sure. But like all things, I'd want to be there to explain things and put it all into context. It'll be interesting to see what Rowling comes up with next. I have my doubts that she'll be able to top this, but I'm more than willing to giver her a chance.

The Myth of a Christian Nation

This one really shook me up. It should shake you up as well if you read it (and you really, really should).

The Myth of a Christian Nation by Gregory A. Boyd is simply a must-read for all American Christians. Dr. Boyd brings up some very valid questions about how we conceive of the relationship between America and Christianity and the way he answers his own questions make a lot of sense.

Boyd's basic premise is this: there are two types of kingdoms. The first can be called the "kingdom of the world." Every government on earth, including America, falls into this category. Kingdoms of the world are concerned with "power over," i.e. exercising authority, making laws, controlling people either by the sword or by threat of the sword.

Jesus, on the other hand, came to establish, not a kingdom of the world, but the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is radically different from any kingdom of the world. The way Jesus described it was as a kingdom of "power under." Those who belong to this kingdom are to be servants of all, to take up their cross, not the sword.

Boyd's basic argument is that you can't mix the two kingdoms together and he fears that that's what mainline evangelical Christians are trying to do. By forcing "kingdom of God" concepts into the "kingdom of the world" (namely the U.S.), Boyd says that Christians are mixing the two improperly and worse, they're corrupting the teachings of Christ with political power.

Boyd's arguments are very persuasive. He says that rather than engaging in political activism, Christians should instead be about loving their neighbor. Instead of trying to force morality on people through laws, we should instead be loving them as Christ loved them.

I'm not doing justice to his arguments. To put it simply, Christians everywhere should read this book. I fear that the American church is guilty of equating God with America and that we have, in a very real way, created an idol out of the American flag. We need to realize that there is a difference between the two and that equating the two can only lead to trouble.

The Lutheran Handbook II

About two years ago, my brother got married. At the church where the ceremony was performed, I discovered a little book called The Lutheran Handbook. They had copies of this little blue book in every pew. The entire wedding party had a blast looking through it. I enjoyed what I saw so much I ordered a couple copies for myself. I thoroughly enjoyed the tongue-in-cheek look that the authors delivered on Lutheran culture as a whole but I also appreciated the thoughtful way that they handled some elements of Lutheran beliefs.

So you could imagine my delight when I found The Lutheran Handbook II! Thicker than its predecessor, this new edition promised to delve slightly deeper into Lutheran theology and not just tweak Lutheran foibles.

And, for the most part, I have to say that they did their job well. They had thoughtful articles on Luther's "two kingdoms" principle, they had a great glossary on objects that are used in Lutheran worship, they even had a section of lists in the back, like "Top 5 Monsters of the Bible."

But as much as I enjoyed it, I had a few minor complaints. The first might seem a little petty: they left out my seminary. In the first section of the book, they went over Lutheran colleges and seminaries. They listed every seminary the ELCA has, as well as the seminaries of WELS and the Lutheran Brethren, but they left both St. Louis and Fort Wayne off the list?

The other gripe I had is that the author, rather than try to be even-handed on every subject (which might have been a better idea) let his or her personal tastes show. In the article on "contemporary worship," they illustrated it with a smiling, happy, very friendly looking woman. In the article on traditional worship, they illustrated it with a dour-faced old man who looked more likely to bite you than talk to you. Is that really necessary? Not all of us who enjoy traditional worship are like that!

But for its few faults, this is still a great book for Lutherans and even for you non-Lutherans who are trying to figure us out.

Transformers

This afternoon I took in Transformers and I have to say, I'm not as horrified as I thought I'd be.

Let me explain why: I don't like it when people mess with my childhood memories. I loved the Transformers cartoon when it was on the air. I thought it was just a great show. The first DVD I bought after my wife got me a DVD player was the animated movie. When I heard they were doing a live action version, I was excited at first but grew more and more tentative. I mean, George Lucas didn't do right by his own creation. How would Michael Bay do with someone else's?

I'm pleased to report, I think he did pretty well. The movie was mostly eye-candy (big explosions, huge robots duking it out, and a pretty girl who falls in love with a geek. Yes, they understand the audience all too well), but there were still some sweet moments and Bay worked in some decent comedy as well.

I have to say, I was a bit upset at the trailers when I didn't hear the classic transforming noise (yes, I'm a geeky fanboy, so sue me). But I think I caught an updated version of it a few times.

And how awesome is it that they got Peter Cullen to do the voice of Optimus Prime? That alone helped a great deal bridge the old cartoons with this modern update. Once again, outing myself as a geeky fanboy, when I realized that Sam and Mikhaila were about to meet Prime, I got chills.

My only real gripe with this movie was that they could have easily split the plot into two separate movies and it might have made things a little less chaotic at the end of the movie. I don't want to say too much because I hate spoilers personally and don't want to be responsible for spreading any, but suffice it to say you could have had two separate quest movies out of this one, the first for a person (or large robot, as it were), the second for a certain McGuffin that shall remain nameless.

It's pretty obvious by the ending that they're leaving the door open for a sequel. If it turns out anything like this movie, they'll have a pretty decent franchise on their hands.

The Children of Hurin

I just want to start this review by saying that I am a Tolkein fan. I look forward to reading The Hobbit to my son. I loved both the book and the movie versions of The Lord of the Rings. That being said, I'm less than impressed with The Children of Hurin (and yes, I know I'm misspelling that; I don't know how to do the accent over the "u").

I can understand, given the interest that all things Middle-Earth draw, why Christopher Tolkien would edit together these tales from the extensive back story that his father created for his tales. Die-hard Tolkien fans would probably devour these tales and spend hours or even days debating their intricacies. Sadly, it is those very intricacies that will make this book largely inaccessible to the general public.

Worse, the only reason why this book got published is because of the recent success that Tolkien has enjoyed. If an unknown fantasy author (such as myself) tried to publish this work, I'd be more than willing to bet that all they'd get is a stack of rejections.

Reading this book hammered home some valuable lessons when it comes to writing:

1) Show, don't tell! For the love of the Valar, Tolkien, stop telling and start showing! There were large sections of the story where Tolkien just summed everything up and didn't show us what happened. There was one passage, where Turin has an argument with an elf (I think the elf's name was Saeros, but I might be wrong), where he just told, told, told. I wanted to shake the book and scream, "You could show this scene so much better! Give me some descriptions, fer cryin' out loud!"

It leads me to wonder if Tolkien ever really intended for these stories to see the light of day. Perhaps if he had, he would have put a little more effort into fleshing out the scenes and making them a bit more lively. As it is, this read like an after-action report and not so much as an engaging story.

2) Careful with the names. Okay, it's a feather in Tolkien's cap that he created umpteen-million fake languages. It's absolutely mind-boggling to me that he invented vocabulary, grammar, and so on. But that also works against him. I got very frustrated more than once when I came across words that were basically strung-together consonants with a few vowels peppered between. I couldn't figure out how to pronounce those words and so I shuddered every time I came across them.

And also, I get that Turin moved around a lot, but for crying out loud. The man accumulated about a dozen names and switched back and forth between them regularly. I had to keep checking the glossary to make sure I was tracking with the story.

3) Don't assume too much. One of the real problems I had with this book is that it assumed that the reader was familiar with most, if not all, of the backstory of Middle-Earth. News flash: not all of us are. A lot of names and concepts got tossed around in the story that made very little sense to me. Once again, the glossary saved me because I could find a terse explanation of what those concepts or people were. But still, I shouldn't have to have a glossary to follow a story.

It's not that I didn't like the book. I did up to a point. But really, I don't think my enjoyment of Tolkien's other books was increased by reading it.

So if you're a die-hard Tolkien-o-phile, by all means, read this one. If you're not, save yourself the time and headache and give it a miss.

Irruption

What's that? A book you've never heard of? No, it's actually a short story that I've written, which has just been published at Dragons, Knights, and Angels. Here's where you can find it.

The blurb on the contents page is admittedly a little weak, but I had fun writing this story and I hope y'all enjoy it.

Skin

I recently finished reading Skin by Ted Dekker.

I've read most of Dekker's books. There are a few I haven't gotten to yet. By and large, this is a pretty good book. The story is complex and keeps you guessing as to what is actually happening. I had the major plot figured out about halfway through, but I do that. I overanalyze books and try to figure out the plot. This time it worked. Next time it might not.

The story is basically about a killer named Sterling Red (what is with Dekker naming his villains after colors?) who has five people trapped in a small town outside Las Vegas. These five people have some sort of connection with Red and he's out to punish them for some past misdeed. He engages them in a deadly game where they have to determine who the ugliest is and then kill that individual. But since this is a Dekker story, you know it's not as simple as that.

For the most part, I enjoyed this story. It's not as blatantly Christian as some of Dekker's other work. As a matter of fact, aside from some references about beauty and ugliness that's kind of Christian and a few references to snakes, this book could probably pass as a secular thriller. I'm not complaining about that; I think it's fine if an author who usually writes Christian stories stretches his or her legs in the secular realm once in a while.
What bugged me about this book is that Dekker can't seem to break free from his Circle Trilogy. He had the same problem in Showdown, only it's not as pronounced in Skin. Dekker can't seem to get his mind out of those previous books. If you've read the Circle Trilogy, you'll recognize elements of it in the story. Thankfully, a person who hasn't read the Circle Trilogy can still get into this story and follow it, but I just wish that Dekker would write a book that didn't in some way reference the trilogy (although that'll be a good trick; according to a blurb in the back of the book, Dekker's next four books are a continuation of the Circle Trilogy!).

Perhaps the one thing that bugs me the most about this book is the fact has such broad overarching science fiction elements. I can't get more specific than that without revealing some major spoilers, but I can't help but wonder why so much of the CBA is so closed to sci-fi and yet Dekker can publish this. Doesn't seem fair, but then, I suppose, most sci-fi authors don't have the track record of Dekker.

So I guess if you like a good thriller, this book won't let you down. But if you're looking for a blatant Christian message, it's probably better to read something else.

CSFF July Blog Tour: The Fantasy Four Book Tour

No, it's not the Fantastic Four (although they are all pretty fantastic). It's the Fantasy Fiction Tour. Four authors of Christian speculative fiction traveling up the East Coast to let people know, "Hey! There's more to Christian fiction than romance novels and cozy mysteries!" Not that there's anything wrong with romance novels and cozies ... oh, shoot. I fear that I've put my foot in my mouth this time.

Er.... Okay! I need a distraction, and what better distraction than flashy moving pictures.

But I'm going to make it challenging. One of the following videos is about the Fantasy Fiction Tour. One isn't. I'll leave it up to you to figure out which is which.

Yeah, it's a puzzler, I know...

And the winner is...

MommaBear!

This morning my lovely wife picked MommaBear's name out of the people who won, so I'll be contacting her shortly to find out where to send her book.

Thanks to everyone who entered the contest and all who stopped by the past couple of days!

CSFF June Blog Tour Day Three: The Restorer

We're winding up the Restorer blog tour and the interview with Sharon Hinck by talking about Christian speculative fiction.

John: How would you characterize the current Christian speculative fiction market from where you’re sitting?

Sharon: I still think really unusual stories aren’t readily embraced. I totally understand why. I don’t feel bitter or angry about that. I understand where the publishers are coming from, trying to meet the requests and needs of their readership and the kind of stories they tend to buy. It still baffles me, because I see that whole area of speculative fiction exploding in ABA and I see some hope in the younger readership in CBA, but I don’t understand what’s keeping it from being more widely embraced. I’m hopeful but still a little bewildered.

It also depends on what you count as "speculative fiction." If you factor in Frank Peretti, Ted Dekker, Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, then the top selling fiction in CBA is speculative fiction. When you go more specifically to fantasy or science fiction then it’s still a very narrow market and I’m not quite sure why that is.

John: What themes do you think can be best explored by speculative fiction? What can speculative fiction do that other genres can’t?

Sharon: I think it’s one of the best genres ever at conveying the whole metaphor for the Christian life as a battle, as spiritual warfare, as a heroic epic journey, not only God’s epic journey but ours as well. There’s no other genre that does it as powerfully.

Speculative fiction can give us a fresh look at things we already know too well. When I taught dance I used to teach a movement prayer to the Lord’s Prayer. People would say afterward, "I pray that prayer so many times it stopped meaning anything to me. And now seeing it in this new way, certain portions of it mean more because I’ve acted it out." Fantasy can do that. It can take the story of God stepping into the human condition and redeeming us and look at it from a completely fresh angle.

John: Do you think there are any "taboo" elements of secular speculative fiction that can’t be sanctified by Christian fiction?

Sharon: I think Christians have the art first. Satan corrupts it. We don’t even have to think about taking back things and sanctifying them for our use again. I think everything is up for our use as we’re writing stories about God.

I think each writer as they’re serving God will find what elements to use.

It is a hard decision to make about what to include and not include. I don’t want my stories to make sinful look choices come across as looking okay or desirable. I want God to be more interesting than evil. That’s one of the tricky things because evil is more fun to write and more interesting in stories. To make God more interesting in His purity than evil is can be a very tricky thing.

John: What can those of us who enjoy speculative Christian fiction do to help the genre?

Buy books. Seriously. It makes such a difference if people buy them. It sounds simplistic, but that’s a huge thing. If people don’t buy the books, the publishers won’t contract for more of that genre no matter what it is.

Also be viral. Spread the word if you read a book you love. That can really make a difference. Like Lord of the Rings’ popularity. It was a viral thing. I read it in college and had been a fan from way back. For a modern audiences to embrace it the way they did when the movies came out, that was viral. That was people telling their friends, "You’ll like this movie."

It just happens naturally. If you love something, you tend to talk about it. But sometimes, I don’t think people realize what an impact that can have. Especially when it’s something that people are hesitant about like speculative fiction.

For example, all the gals in my Beth Moore Bible study had read the manuscript for The Restorer because I was looking for feedback when I first wrote it. My friend Vikki said, "Well, I don’t read fantasy." And my other friends said, "You have to read this one. It’s different. You’ll like it." Finally they talked her into it. She loved it so much she started passing this manuscript around to all these other people she said had to read it. She became this avid fan of the series. Her husband read it, her daughter read it, and she just kept giving it to people. But it was because friends said, "No really, read this book."

That personal word of mouth and voting with your pocket book are two great ways to support the genre. And prayer. At Mount Hermon, a session leader wisely said she believes that there are powerful stories God can tell in this genre through His people, both in the general market as well as the Christian market. For those doors to open, we need to pray. It’s a walls of Jericho kind of thing. It’s not something we can do with our own power and just make it happen. We have to be prayerful and patient and do the part of the work God gives us.

John: What advice can you give to hopeful Christian speculative fiction authors?

Sharon: Continue to seek God in every stage in the process: what kind of stories to tell, how to tell them, how to grow in the craft, who to listen to. You’re going to get all kinds of advice, you’re going to read things, and some of it will conflict and really make your brain hurt. It sounds simplistic to say, "Seek God," but it’s so difficult to quiet all the other voices and say, "Okay, Lord, I’m here."

When I teach about writing, I talk about my "A-As of writing," which are to be available and authentic. Available means showing up and saying, "I’m here, Lord, if You want to use me to write today. What do You want me to write? Articles, short stories, novels? What kinds of stories?" That sounds so easy but it’s not. There’re a million things to pull me away from it. Our own self doubt makes it difficult to show up and be available.

To be authentic, means to not write from a place of strength where you say, "I have all the answers," but from that place of brokenness, you know, "I’ve gone through these times of questioning and here’s how God responded in my life," and weaving those things into my writing.

The cool thing is, if you’re doing this in fellowship with God, it’s not wasted, even if nothing reaches publication. I like to be a good steward of my time so I really wrestled with this. It’s a very lavish art form in terms of how long it takes. Writing novels eats many, many hours and then growing in your craft, many, many hours of study trying and failing and rough drafts. You don’t want to spend that if you think it’s going to be for nothing. But I remember one time praying and seeking God about all that. I figured there were other things I could be doing like volunteering at my church rather than writing. And I asked Him if my doing this brought Him pleasure. You know, like in Chariots of Fire – "When I run, I feel His pleasure." If it does, then it has value. Maybe not on Earth, but if it brings God joy, it’s worth it. If it’s where God calls you, it’s where you need to be.

John: What’s coming up for Sharon Hinck?

Sharon: A nap. The three Restorer books release May, September, and January. The revision process, all the different stages, it has been a really intense year. Then I have two more coming out with Bethany House in 2008. I’m working on the rewrites for my fourth book from Bethany House, my seventh novel. After I’m done with that, I need a nap.

+++++

And thus concluded the interview. Sharon insisted that we take a picture to commemorate the occasion (also so I could prove to Isaiah that he met Sharon if he didn't believe me):

So that's it. I hope you enjoyed the interview as much as I enjoyed bringing it to you.

Don't forget, the give-away ends at midnight. If you haven't signed up by then, it'll be too late!

And be sure to visit the other blog tour participants!

Trish Anderson
Brandon Barr
Jim Black
Justin Boyer
Grace Bridges
Amy Browning
Jackie Castle
Valerie Comer
Karri Compton
Frank Creed
Lisa Cromwell
CSFF Blog Tour
Gene Curtis
D. G. D. Davidson
Chris Deanne
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Beth Goddard
Marcus Goodyear
Andrea Graham
Russell Griffith
Jill Hart
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Heather R. Hunt
Becca Johnson
Jason Joyner
Kait
Karen
Dawn King
Tina Kulesa
Lost Genre Guild
Rachel Marks
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Eve Nielsen
John W. Otte
John Ottinger
Rachelle
Cheryl Russel
Hanna Sandvig
Chawna Schroeder
Mirtika Schultz
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Jason Waguespac
Daniel I. Weaver

CSFF June Blog Tour Day Two: The Restorer

We're in day two of The Restorer and in part two of my interview with author Sharon Hinck. As I promised yesterday, it's all about writing and The Restorer...

John: What made you want to write Christian fiction?

Sharon: Fiction tells the truth in ways that non-fiction can’t. When I read a powerful novel, I experience what the character is experiencing. That’s different than reading a non-fiction book that tells me "10 Tips to Have a Better Marriage" or "20 Ways to Get Closer to God." When I read a story, then I live with that character and it has such an impact. I felt that from the novels that I’ve read. I wanted to provide that kind of experience.

John: What is the "Sharon Hinck" writing process? Outline first? Fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants?

Sharon: Randy Ingermanson’s Snowflake Method? It gave me nightmares! I kept waking up with nightmares of blizzards.

I’m a discovery writer. I have a scene, a character, a concept that makes me curious and makes me wonder, "what next?" I begin to write to uncover it. It’s fun and thrilling and also kind of dumb because when you work that way, you can paint yourself into a corner that you don’t know you can get out of. I know where it’s aiming but I really don’t know how I’m going to get there. It’s kind of exhilarating and kind of terrifying.

I read a quote by Steven King that went something like this: "It’s like you’ve got this dark hole and some writers like to shine the light into the hole and make sure they see everything. He just reaches down in there and doesn’t know what he’s going to grab and pulls it out ."

I would love to use Randy’s approach. It would feel much safer to have it outlined and laid out. But then it feels like work. It’s like writing a research paper! My characters never do what I expect them to. I learn secrets about them about halfway through the book that colors everything.

John: What books and/or courses influenced your writing the most?

Sharon: There’re the standard writing books, Self-Editing for Fiction Writers. Writing the Break-Out Novel. Those are all helpful. As far as courses, I had a professor, John Lawing in my grad school classes. I learned so much from him. I also took a poetry class that influenced me a lot. You learn to focus on every syllable. I recently heard David Mamet on Charlie Rose. He said his job as a playwright is to shave syllables. I loved that.

I don’t normally admit this publicly, I do write a little bit of poetry. That actually comes into the style or the flavor of the writing in how I approach it. Some of the poetry classes and the grad school writing classes had more of an impact than the writing books. Some of the conferences I’ve gone to like Mount Hermon and the writing critique groups I’ve belonged to have had a big impact as well.

John: I've heard that Kathy Tyers, when she wrote Firebird, worked on it for a long time. Karen Hancock did the same with Legends of the Guardian King. How long have you been working on "The Restorer?"

Sharon: The seed of the idea came when I was working with the dance company about 20 years ago. The concept was for a theatrical work, so more of a script than a novel. It involved a mom trying to get away from the craziness of her day-to-day life for quiet time with God by sneaking up into attic. Then the characters of the stories in her Bible study would come out of the rafters to interact with her. And that actually formed the seed that germinated for years.

Then I played with some scenes for other things that ended up coming together. The actual novel was started four and a half years ago. I joined a writers group and I was listening to the fun they were having adding on to their novels. I took those concepts that had been kind of mulling in my head and started putting it together.

John: Did publishing a book in another genre (Becky Miller) help sell "The Restorer?"

Sharon: Yes. It absolutely did. The Restorer was the first book I had written and passed around. I kept hearing publishing houses saying they’d look at every genre except sci-fi and fantasy. I continued to write those books because I cared about them so much and hoped one day a door would open.

Then I decided to move on and try some other things. I think the fact that I had begun to build a readership helped overcome those objections that all publishing houses are nervous about sci-fi and fantasy just because it doesn’t pay off. I don’t want a publishing house to lose money.

The other thing I did with The Restorer was target it to core CBA readers. A lot of sci-fi/fantasy isn’t read by the core readership, the women age 20 to 60 in Middle America who go to the Christian bookstores. Mine is purposefully targeted towards those readers because I think those are a lot of women who would love the genre if they got over thinking of it as nerdy Star Trek convention people. The popularity of Lord of the Rings shows that. People love this kind of story if it’s presented in a way that they can identify with.

John: What kind of audience do you hope to gain by having a "soccer mom" as the hero of "The Restorer?"

Sharon: That was very deliberate. I really hoped to woo some readers who might not have tried the genre before. I think it’s such a rich genre but I know a lot of my friends don’t read fantasy. If you say, "This book is a fantasy," they say, "No. I’ll read Karen Kingsbury, I’ll read Francine Rivers, I won’t read fantasy."

After I wrote the manuscript, I passed it around to the gals in my Beth Moore Bible study. And they loved it. That was an important test, to see if I could break through that barrier. Whether that will work in a wider audience, I don’t know. There’s the core fantasy readership, that niche, and then there’s the younger readership that seem to love fantasy. Those will be nice secondary audiences. But I hope the primary audience will be the same women who read Becky Miller books.

+++++

We'll put a bookmark in there and save the rest for tomorrow. That's when we'll see what Sharon has to say about speculative Christian fiction.

Make sure you enter the contest if you haven't already. As of the time I'm posting this, we only have two entries! If you're one of the two, enter again today and double your chances!

And be sure to check out what the other participants are up to:

Trish Anderson
Brandon Barr
Jim Black
Justin Boyer
Grace Bridges
Amy Browning
Jackie Castle
Valerie Comer
Karri Compton
Frank Creed
Lisa Cromwell
CSFF Blog Tour
Gene Curtis
D. G. D. Davidson
Chris Deanne
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Beth Goddard
Marcus Goodyear
Andrea Graham
Russell Griffith
Jill Hart
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Heather R. Hunt
Becca Johnson
Jason Joyner
Kait
Karen
Dawn King
Tina Kulesa
Lost Genre Guild
Rachel Marks
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Eve Nielsen
John W. Otte
John Ottinger
Rachelle
Cheryl Russel
Hanna Sandvig
Chawna Schroeder
Mirtika Schultz
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Jason Waguespac
Daniel I. Weaver

CSFF June Blog Tour Day One: The Restorer

We're continuing with The Restorer today. So what's the "something special" I've been holding on to? Just this: back in April, I had the privilege of meeting Sharon Hinck and interviewing her for the blog tour. She graciously invited my wife, my son, and me to her Minneapolis home and we had a great two hour chat.

Actually, the beginning of the interview was a definite Becky Miller moment. I hoped to interview Sharon for the blog tour, figuring that I had an "in" since we're both members of the same denomination. I even tried to sweeten the pot by offering to bring my very adorable son, Isaiah, with me.

It worked. Sharon graciously invited my wife, my son, and me to her suburban Minneapolis home. Now, let me tell you, I was extremely nervous about this. I was meeting a published author and conducting an interview for the first time. I wanted to be cool, calm, professional.

So we got to her house, we settled into her living room, and the first thing Isaiah did was spit up on her hardwood floor.

Thankfully, Sharon laughed it off and, like I said, we had a great interview.

Over the next three days, I'll be posting that interview ... starting now:

John: What’s your background? What did you do before you started writing?

Sharon: I’ve done all kinds of things. I started writing when I was in grad school. The prof would send me my papers with red marks which told me everything I needed to fix, but then he’d write at the bottom of the paper "Submit this to Christianity Today or Partnership." So he got me to break through that barrier of being scared of being published.

My passion for many years was using the art of dance in Christian worship and theatre. I taught ballet for twenty years and spoke about Christian arts to various conferences. I was the director of a Christian dance company made of professional dancers for ten years. We wanted to use the art of dance in theatrical settings to bring in people that could see works about faith themes.
I was also busy raising kids and got back into writing four or five years ago.

John: What’s your all-time favorite book? Speculative fiction book? Christian fiction?

Sharon: Perelandra by C. S. Lewis. That book absolutely captivated me and gave me an understanding of creation and the fall and redemption in ways that I had never grasped before.

John: What’s your favorite speculative genre to write? To read?

Sharon: I enjoy reading fantasy with a contemporary voice -- general fiction with fantasy woven in. I just read Stolen Child by Keith Donohue. It’s a contemporary novel but it has changelings in it. As you read the whole mythology of these changelings, you start to believe that if you look out into the woods, you’ll see these little creatures out there. It makes them seem real. It’s written in a contemporary voice. There aren’t pages and pages of history and description. You know how a lot of fantasy is fairy-tale-ish? I like writing with a contemporary fiction voice but with fantastical elements.

I’ll read everything. I’ll even confess I have a shelf full of Star Trek novels. I love Diana Gabaldon who wrote Outlander and a whole series of time travel. I love time travel stories. I love the Anne McCaffrey books, which are very sociological views of creating a story world. What she does with that is beautiful. When I was in college I read Heinlein and some of the harder edge sci-fi writers. Of course I love Karen Hancock, Randy Ingermanson, Kathy Tyers, Kathryn Mackel. I just loved all their stuff. There are some really strong CBA speculative fiction authors.

John: What does being Lutheran bring to the world of Christian fiction?

Sharon: Go Lutherans! I was talking to someone at Mount Hermon about being Missouri Synod Lutheran. Her husband is Missouri Synod although she grew up Baptist. She said, "You gotta hand it to those Missouri Synod Lutherans. You really have a firm theological foundation."

I think that’s so valuable. I try to bring that into my fiction writing. Theology colors everything. For example, in the Becky Miller books, I address the whole issue of "If you’re really following God, then you’re going to have wealth and then you’ll have health. If something’s going wrong, you must be sinning." These are just totally non-Biblical concepts.

I cherish every theology class I had in college. I cherish my background: Scripture alone, faith alone, Christ alone. That does influence the way I write and what I try to bring to the story.

John: If you could collaborate on a story with any author, who would it be and why?

Sharon: That’s too hard. So many ideas are buzzing through my head now. Maybe Mark Twain? Wouldn’t it be fun to co-author something with him? I grew up reading Mark Twain and Jack London. Some of those authors and the way they write adventure ... That would be really fun.

But I have to say Madeline L’Engel. I would love to collaborate on a project so I could learn from her. I love her non-fiction books about the artist’s life and the writer’s life and of course The Wrinkle in Time and all those books. That would be really cool. She would be my top choice.

+++++

So is that it? Nope. I've got two more parts to go. Tomorrow see what Sharon had to say about writing in general and The Restorer. And be sure to enter the contest. You still have some time!

Also, be sure to check out the other blog tour participants:

Trish Anderson
Brandon Barr
Jim Black
Justin Boyer
Grace Bridges
Amy Browning
Jackie Castle
Valerie Comer
Karri Compton
Frank Creed
Lisa Cromwell
CSFF Blog Tour
Gene Curtis
D. G. D. Davidson
Chris Deanne
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Beth Goddard
Marcus Goodyear
Andrea Graham
Russell Griffith
Jill Hart
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Heather R. Hunt
Becca Johnson
Jason Joyner
Kait
Karen
Dawn King
Tina Kulesa
Lost Genre Guild
Rachel Marks
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Eve Nielsen
John W. Otte
John Ottinger
Rachelle
Cheryl Russel
Hanna Sandvig
Chawna Schroeder
Mirtika Schultz
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Jason Waguespac
Daniel I. Weaver

The Restorer

I'm getting a jump on the blog tour this month by posting my review of Sharon Hinck's latest book The Restorer a day early. Why would I do that? Am I trying to show up the other people on the tour? Not at all! Instead, I have something special in store for the few people who wander into the Least Read Blog that will start tomorrow. I've been looking forward to reading this book for quite a while (as you can tell from this post) and it didn't disappoint.

The Restorer is the tale of Susan Mitchell, a harried mom of four. Susan desperately needs some time to herself for devotion but she simply can't find any quiet time. Her husband, Mark, stumbles on what he thinks is a good idea: he converts part of their attic into a retreat of sorts. Susan can go up there, pull up the ladder, and concentrate on her devotions.

And that's what Susan does. But the first time she uses it, she somehow manages to stumble into an alternate world. In this world, a hard-pressed and surrounded people are waiting for the Restorer, a person sent by the One to rescue them from their enemies. Some of them believe that Susan is that Restorer. But how can a mom be a military hero? Is Susan really the one they were waiting for? And if she is, how is she going to help these people?

Sharon creates an interesting alternate world. It's not quite fantasy, it's not quite sci-fi, but it's a blend of the two. There are just enough twists and turns in the book to keep you guessing and reading. One of them, in the middle of the book, knocked me for a loop. I was sure I had things figured out but it turned out I was completely off. I love it when that happens.

Like in her previous books, Sharon also makes a valid point about what faith in God actually means. I don't want to spoil what it is, but it got me thinking. Especially of the end of Luke 9. Go figure it out.

This is perhaps one of the reasons why I enjoy Hinck's writings so much: she is clearly targeting mature Christians and isn't "writing down" to them. One of the things I've never understood is why Christian fiction is usually centered around a conversion experience for one of the characters. Maybe it's a feel good thing; I don't know. I do know that it's nice to see a story with a message for people who have been Christian for a while.

So go out and get this book. Hey, I'll even make it easy for you!

For this month's blog tour, I will be giving away a copy of The Restorer. Starting tomorrow, you can enter the contest simply by leaving me a comment on any post over the next few days that says, in essence, "Sign me up for the contest." You'll have until midnight CST on June 20th to enter. If you want, you can increase your odds by leaving one entry comment a day (no more than that, please). On June 21st, I will gather up all the entries and put them in a hat or some other kind of handy recepticle and have someone (maybe my wife, maybe my son ... although a nine month old might not understand what's going on) draw a name. Then I'll drop the book in the mail to you and you can see how wonderful this story is for yourself.

So is that the "something special" I have in store? Nope. It's not. Be sure to come back tomorrow and see what it is. I'm excited about it. I really am.

Bloodlines

So I finished the next book in the Legacy of the Force series, namely Bloodlines by Karen Traviss. And I have to say, at this point, I'm debating if I want to continue reading this series.

I don't think that reaction is entirely related to Traviss's work. Traviss does an admirable job portraying the characters. She also does a pretty decent job untangling some of the twisted backstory of Boba Fett.

I guess my problem with this series stems from the fact that it all seems a little forced. The conflict, the story, all of it seems a little off to me. Especially one character's journey to the Dark Side. I mean, I get where he's coming from but it just doesn't seem natural.

So at this point, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I might keep reading, but I think I'll be visiting my local library to get the rest of the books.

My Sister's Keeper

Late last night, I finished reading My Sister's Keeper by JodiPiccoult and, I'm man enough to admit, I was weeping like a baby. This was an extremely powerful book, one that I had trouble putting down.

On one level, it would seem to be a book about a bio-ethics dilemma. Kate Fitzgerald was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of leukemia at an early age. Her parents, desperate to treat her, are told that her best hope is if a sibling is available for donations. The problem is Kate's older brother, Jesse, isn't a match.

So Sara and Brian utilize the latest technology and have a matching sibling made. A few months later, Anna is born.

All her life, Anna has been used as a donor to treat Anna's disease. She's been poked, prodded, had blood and bone marrow taken from her. Finally, Kate suffers from kidney failure and her parents, her mother especially, believes that Anna will just naturally donate the kidney.

So Anna sues her parents for medical emancipation. The book tells the story of the week leading up to the emancipation hearing, what happens at the hearing, and beyond.

But this is more than just a bio-ethics book. Piccoult creates a rich tapestry in the Fitzegerald family, making each member of the family a unique character with their own problems. The dynamics of this family in perpetual crisis is fascinating and completely believable. I often found myself wondering what would happen if I were in their shoes.

It all builds up to an ending that literally left me crying for half an hour. It's that powerful and incredible. And best of all, I never saw it coming.

Pick up this book. You need to read it.

From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain

I've always been sort of a closet comic book geek. It started when I was a kid. Our neighborhood library had piles of comics you could check out. I think I read every single one of them several times.

In recent years, though, I've been more interested in people who are willing to take comic conventions and stand them on their head. For example, I love Watchmen. I devoured 1602. It's part of the reason why I'm so enamored with Heroes (although I think it's obvious that some of the writers cribbed from Watchmen, but what do I know?). That's why I was so eager to read Minister Faust's From the Notebook of Dr. Brain.

The premise was interesting enough. A group of superheroes are sent to Dr. Eva Brain-Silverman for counselling. It seems that the "Fantastic Order of Justice," to which our heroes belong, are worried about their job performance and the issues that seem to be simmering in their relationships. If they want to keep their positions in the F*O*O*J, they need to complete therapy with Dr. Brain.

The world that Faust creates is interesting as well. This is a world where superheroes are increasingly unnecessary. All of the supervillains have been either imprisoned or killed. So what direction will the F*O*O*J go in? Who will lead it into this new era? And how will Dr. Brain's "sanity supplicants" handle a new threat that threatens to tear them apart?

Faust created an intricate plot that kept me guessing. Every time I thought I had a handle on what was happening, he would veer off in an unexpected direction. When I finally understood how everything fit together, I have to admit I was a little disappointed; it was a bit too obvious for my liking, but it was still a satisfying end.

I only have two real complaints about this book.

First of all, there's the fact that some of the characters are a bit too "transparent." What I mean is that it's obvious who Faust is lampooning when it comes to Omnipotent Man (the last survivor of the planet Argon) and Flying Squirrel (an aging billionaire with tons of high-tech toys at his disposal). Given the creativity that Faust showed in creating his other heroes, you would think he could have come up with truly original characters who could still fit into the story as Omnipotent Man and Flying Squirrel did.

Second, there's the matter of voice. This one is kind of tough for me to judge. Faust has a unique voice and employed it very well in this book but it wore on me after a while. Let me explain: the book itself is presented as a self-help book, written by Dr. Brain to superheroes in need of her help. As such, you could argue that it's not Faust's voice that I have a problem with but his portrayal of Dr. Brain's voice.

The problem I had is that "Dr. Brain" had a love for over-the-top similes and metaphors. It got to be too much after a while. There were a few times when I had to grit my teeth and just slog through them to find out what was going to happen next.

Don't get me wrong. This was a great book and gave me a lot of food for thought (a great thing for any book to do, especially one that's supposed to be a comedy). I would highly recommend this one, whether you're a closet comic book geek like me or not.

The Apocalypse Code

Just looking at the cover for this book, you might be tempted to think that this is somehow related to a certain series of Christian books that have been dominating best-seller charts for the past ten years. It's possible that someone would pick this up, thinking that it's going to talk about the beliefs behind the Left Behind series.

And they would be right. And wonderfully wrong at the same time.

The Apocalypse Code by Hank Hanegraaff is indeed about the end of the world and, in some ways, deals with the Left Behind books. But this isn't an exposition about how Tim LaHaye got things right. Instead, it's a rather scathing rebuttal to LaHaye's dispensational premillennialism and it's long overdue.

Hanegraaff presents what he's dubbed "exegetical eschatology." He has this to say about his method:

I coined the phrase Exegetical Eschatology to underscore that above all else
I am deeply committed to a proper method of biblical interpretation
rather than to any particular model of eschatology. The plain and
proper meaning of a biblical passage must always take precedence over a
particular eschatological presupposition or paradigm. (p. 2)

Hanegraaff then begins to pick apart the dispensational premillennial belief system, showing how that, with a proper understanding of how to read Scripture, belief in things like a secret rapture, a literal millennial reign, and so on, can't be supported by Scripture.

I really appreciated this book, but I only have two small gripes:

First of all, Hanegraaff repeated himself a bit too much for my tastes. It seemed like every other chapter, he would repeat an argument he made verbatim, quoting the same Scriptural passages and statements. Toward the end of the book, I felt like I was being talked-down-to, like I couldn't remember the points he made a few pages ago. That bugged me a little.

Second, there's Hanegraaff's arguments that the book of Revelation was written in the 60s and not the 90s. Hanegraaff makes it sound like only dispensational premillennialists or liberal Biblical scholars believe in the 90s date and that anyone who thinks Revelation was written that late falls into one of those two camps. Quite frankly, that's a little insulting, because I'm not a dispensational premillennialist or a liberal Biblical scholar and I believe that John wrote Revelation in the 90s.

Related to that is the fact that there are some historical problems I have with Hanegraaff's dating of Revelation. I won't go into that right now; I'm checking some facts so I don't go off half-cocked.

Aside from those two sticking points, anyone who is interested in the end times would do well to read this book. I think it will help us read the Bible for all it's worth.