234. Who Are the Future Voices of Christian Fantastical Storytelling? | with Brett Harris and Kara Swanson
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We just upgraded Lorehaven.com, especially the Library with its many genres and subgenres.1 Nearly 1,400 titles cover a wealth of Christian-made fantastical fiction going all the way back to The Hobbit. Most of those published titles are fantasy. That’s the most popular genre today. But what might be the future of Christian-made fantastical storytelling? Kara Swanson and Brett Harris, directors and co-founders of The Author Conservatory, give us a glimpse into what themes and themes they see from upcoming authors.
Episode sponsors
- Audio-Epic.com: “1232” audio drama podcast
- DreadKing by David Liberto
- The Jabin Kainos series by Vince Mancuso
Voices of the Future vol. 3: Stories of Healing & Home is available. Author Conservatory plans to release vol. 4 later in 2024.
Mission update
- Last week we published a retro review of A Star Curiously Singing
- Visit our Library to find the perfect fantastical novels this season
- Subscribe free to get updates and join the Lorehaven Guild
Concession stand
- We’re not a writers’ podcast, but it’s fun to glimpse behind the scenes.
- Of course, every attempted prediction of the future is just speculation.
- Stay tuned next year, because this episode is a prequel to a whole series.
- This episode was inspired by the Voices of the Future anthology series.
Reintroducing guest Kara Swanson
Kara Swanson writes stories about fairy tales and fiery souls. She spent her childhood a little like a Lost Girl, running barefoot through lush green jungles which inspired her award-winning Peter Pan retellings, Dust and Shadow. She is also the cofounder of the Author Conservatory, where she has the honor of teaching young writers to craft sustainable author careers. You’ll find Kara with her toes in California sand as a SoCal resident, belting Broadway show tunes on weekend drives to Disneyland with her delightfully nerdy husband, or chatting about magic and mayhem on Instagram.
Introducing guest Brett Harris
Brett Harris is the bestselling author of Do Hard Things and co-founder of the Young Writer’s Workshop and the Author Conservatory, which have trained thousands of writers since 2017. He is a personal mentor and coach for many of the world’s top young writers and authors and his mission is to raise up the next C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien.
1. What’s the Author Conservatory origin story?
- Who had the idea for this different sort of author training model?
- How many and what sorts of authors are enrolled in the training?
- Why do you want to “raise up the next C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien”?
2. What sorts of books are most popular today?
- A stop by nonfiction: politics, history, biography, philosophy, self-help?
- Christian fiction vs. nonfiction: historical, romantic, cozy, mystery, other?
- Christian fantastical fiction: fantasy? science fiction? any “horror” at all?
3. What novels may prove popular in the future?
- Which fantasy genres do Conservatory authors enjoy creating the most?
- What stories, authors, subgenres are influencing these new authors?
- Any guesses about future genre hybrids or dark horse genres like sci-fi?
Com station
Top question for listeners
- What’s your favorite fantastical genre? Which do you want more of?
Andrea J. Graham remarked on a social post for episode 233:
Sorry but abstain from the very appearance of evil does mean to abstain from the appearance of evil. We don’t get to cherry pick what we like and believe is safe out of God’s word. Gerrymander it to say anything but the plain and self evident meaning of the text at your own risk. But only the Holy Spirit gets to apply the text and define what specific evils are so evil we don’t want caught so much as looking guilty and such is almost certainly sins in the text such as fornication not drinking root beer and ball room dancing and playing Uno.
Shaneen shared a comment at the Lorehaven.com episode page:
The example of co-workers of opposite genders is not very sound for me.
A better example: Christians are commanded not to have intercourse until after marriage.
Suppose a Christian man and woman, both single, co-habit the same house alone. They are not sleeping together; nevertheless, they are in a position which makes it very hard to prove they are not.The Christian onlooker would (we hope) make inquires before passing judgment; the non-believer, so often looking for any reason to find fault with us, could yell “hypocrisy “, or perhaps, “oh, it’s not such a big deal then, if they can do it so can I.”
Next on Fantastical Truth
Most fantasy fans don’t truly believe that dragons lurk in caves or the Fae are dancing in the woods by moonlight. But if you’re a sci-fi or horror fan, you might truly believe that real creatures from space have come to Earth for nefarious ends. Or that they might dwell among us today. Now that we might know the name of the U.S. Pentagon’s secret UFO or UAP program, let’s consider: what are the scariest alien stories? And why do so many fans want to be scared by these narratives about unearthly beings on Earth?
- Photo by Camille Orgel on Unsplash. ↩
I’ve recently discovered a new Fantasy micro genre that I absolutely love. It’s called Gaslamp (or Gaslight) Fantasy. Gaslamp fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy fiction that blends historical elements of the Victorian or Edwardian era with fantastical elements like magic, supernatural creatures, and hidden conspiracies. It often features dark, mysterious settings, urban environments, and Gothic themes. It is somewhat similar to steampunk, but where steampunk focuses on alternate developments in technology (and need not have any magic at all), Gaslamp fantasy focuses on supernatural elements.
As far as the genre I want to see more of, it’s not so much as genre as it is a theme. I want more stories of good overcoming evil, light overcoming darkness, nature (the Real) overcoming technology (the Artificial). I don’t see these themes much from popular stories these days, regardless of their media (movies, comics, books, etc.)
That’s why I appreciate what Lorehaven does so much. You are constantly bringing attention to these exact kinds of stories.
My favourite genre would be space opera. Specifically, I like space exploration stories. I like spaceship crews that may or may not be military in nature, but I like it best when they’re not solely focussed on military action (think Star Trek’s Starfleet). I also like space colonisation stories, which combine the element of exploring a strange new world along with the idea of making a fresh start in a beautiful idyllic place and creating a new civilisation that will last for generations to come. Of course, there needs to be some danger to this otherwise idyllic location. Think the TV show Terra Nova.
As for what I’d like to see more of, well, I think there’s definitely scope for a little more sci-fi to balance out the fantasy (which I also love, don’t get me wrong).