Fiction and Healing
Rachel Starr Thomson, Jun 22, 2011
I posted some thoughts about Mike Duran’s The Resurrection two weeks ago, as well as reviewing it on my own blog. But one story element I didn’t really go into–one that moved me while I was reading the book and […]
Why So Serious?
Fred Warren, Jun 21, 2011
It’s understandable. Writing Christian speculative fiction feels like serious business. We’ve got souls to save, demons to battle, and apocalypses to forecast. There’s simply no time for idle banter or frivolity.
Exploring Darkness Or Exploring Light
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Jun 20, 2011
As I’ve noted before, Anne Rice has stated that her vampire books were actually explorations of the spiritual. Spiritual light or spiritual darkness? Some may say that an exploration of spiritual darkness must precede any look at spiritual light. I […]
Christian Speculative Fiction: Working Within Boundaries
James Somers, Jun 17, 2011
As an author of many speculative fiction novels and as a pastor, there are two seemingly opposing forces struggling within me as I work to come up with new ideas in my writing. First, how to come up with exciting […]
Imagination: For God’s Glory and Others’ Good, Part 4
E. Stephen Burnett, Jun 16, 2011
Does the Bible support reading or even enjoying secular imaginations with pagan elements? One doesn’t even need to answer that. After all, Scripture tells of one man who delved into far worse material — and with help from God Himself.
Violence & The Time Lord
Kaci Hill, Jun 15, 2011
“Neither seek nor shun the fight.” ~ Gaelic proverb Non-violent or pacifist? Just for clarification: This is not a stance on the death penalty, war, self-defense, or revenge. I’m not even too concerned about the amount of any one of […]
Love Me, Love My Book
Fred Warren, Jun 14, 2011
I’m finding Christian writers seem more susceptible than average to negative criticism. They have expectations, especially of Christian readers and reviewers.
Christian Speculative Fiction – Where Does It Start, Where Does It End?
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Jun 13, 2011
In response to guest author John Olson’s post, “Speculative Marketing: Re-imagining Reality,” I wrote a comment that revealed something about me, something I don’t usually tell the Spec Faith crowd: I don’t feel weird. That in itself makes me weird, […]
Speculative Marketing: Re-imagining Reality
John Olson, Jun 11, 2011
What if the world we call reality is all a big lie? What if we see the world, not as it really is, but the way we think it should be? Or even worse… what if we see it the […]
Imagination: For God’s Glory and Others’ Good, Part 3
E. Stephen Burnett, Jun 9, 2011
God’s Word doesn’t only “tolerate” us glorifying Him through stories and imagination! Scripture shows many people whom God gifted specifically to honor Him with their creativity, including Spirit-filled, Israelite artisans Bezalel and Oholiab.
When Speculation Is … Confusing
Rachel Starr Thomson, Jun 8, 2011
Let me preface this by saying that I don’t like telling writers what they “can” or “can’t” do. But I’d be interested in your opinions about what they DO do. This week I’ve had the pleasure of reading two recent […]
Real Life Story
Fred Warren, Jun 7, 2011
In a related note to yesterday’s post from Becky on dystopian fiction, a heated discussion arose the other day in response to an article by Wall Street Journal columnist Meghan Cox Gurdon on the prevailing dark tone in modern young-adult (YA) fiction, which […]
Post-Apocalyptic And Dystopian Fiction
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Jun 6, 2011
Christians are actually cutting-edge in this genre. But why is our culture currently focusing on ways we could reach The End?
The Road Not Taken
Randy Ingermanson, Jun 3, 2011
Back at the tail end of 1998, my buddy John Olson and I began thinking about writing a novel about Mars. Why Mars? Because it looked to us like humans might finally be on the road to the Red Planet […]
Imagination: For God’s Glory and Others’ Good, Part 2
E. Stephen Burnett, Jun 2, 2011
People out there still say they believe “all fiction is untruth; therefore telling stories dishonors God.” How does the Bible address that notion? What is the foundational Theology of Things we see throughout Scripture? Part 2 of the series.
The Sermon on The TARDIS
Kaci Hill, Jun 1, 2011
But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth will tremble, And the nations will not be able to endure His indignation. Thus you shall say […]
Showdown
Fred Warren, May 31, 2011
The summer sun beats down savagely on the little village of Speculation, somewhere south of the Borders and north of the Amazon. A hawk cries in the distance as a tall man in a white hat, his face obscured by […]
Comic Books, Movies, And Novels – Where The Trine Meet
Rebecca LuElla Miller, May 30, 2011
Recently former Writer’s Digest columnist Nancy Kress wrote a review of the movie Thor. In it she referred to the production as a “comic-book movie.” Whether or not you agree or disagree is beside the point (I haven’t see it, […]
Guest Post – Shiny Writing Tips From Mal Reynolds and Firefly
Johne Cook, May 27, 2011
I love space opera and sci-fi, which means I love Joss Whedon’s short-lived space western series Firefly, and I especially love Malcolm Reynolds. The Mal Reynolds character is what you get if you made a TV series about the adventures […]
Imagination: For God’s Glory and Others’ Good, Part 1
E. Stephen Burnett, May 26, 2011
While abusing the Bible for his own self-pleasure, doomsaying false prophet and Christ-slanderer Harold Camping also abused his God-given imagination — similar to how people also abuse God’s gift of romance and sex.
The Perils Of Speculative Cooking
Fred Warren, May 24, 2011
An article on the perils of Romance fiction, Amish stories, tales of the bonnet, and other subversive incitements to lust, lasciviousness, and unsanctified imagination caught my eye the other day. I experienced a thunderbolt of inspiration. Divine inspiration. The author, and the rest of us, have missed the true spiritual threat lurking among the stacks of supposedly “uplifting” reading material burdening the shelves our our supposedly “Christian” bookstores.
Imagination And Truth
Rebecca LuElla Miller, May 23, 2011
I am in conflict. I believe in telling the truth and I believe in the creativity of Man based on the Imago Dei. Part of me resonates with the “Evolution Of The Artist.” It sounds so freeing to color outside […]
Space Opera, Sci-fi, SF or ‘skiffy’?
E. Stephen Burnett, May 20, 2011
Does the genre term “sci-fi” inevitably connote pulp stories, whose covers feature men wearing biceps and spacesuits, women wearing little, and horrifying invader robots wearing women? Or have perceptions been changing?
Thunders Of ‘Thor’ Echo Biblical Truths, Part 2
E. Stephen Burnett, May 19, 2011
All truth is God’s truth, whether accidentally echoing in a pagan myth or a modern movie such as Marvel’s “Thor.”
Time and A Half
Kaci Hill, May 18, 2011
Re-GEN-er-ATE! I had to. I’m sorry. 0=) So, my first Doctor Who-themed post talked about a greater power the Time Lords were bound to. The second was my overall take on the first three seasons. I hadn’t watched the last […]
Fairy Tales
Fred Warren, May 17, 2011
I offer here a brief fairy tale, which, like all great fairy tales, is even more wonderful because it is true.
Speculative Stories Keep Coming
Rebecca LuElla Miller, May 16, 2011
Supernatural stories on the little or big screen undoubtedly bode well for books. The two media seem inter-dependent. Some of the movies were born from previous print sources (books or comic books), and these movies will foster new works of a similar kind. The question is, where will the Christian writer fit into this explosion?
Guest Blog: IS IT WORTH IT?
Mike Lynch, May 13, 2011
To quote from the classic novel, A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times…” This in large part has been my experience with the topsy-turvy, take no prisoners […]
Thunders Of ‘Thor’ Echo Biblical Truths, Part 1
E. Stephen Burnett, May 12, 2011
Thor’s pagan myths remind us of Scripture’s truth, real worship, and longing for a good and noble King.
Allegory, Reviews, and The Clash Of Reader Expectation
Rachel Starr Thomson, May 11, 2011
Housekeeping first: the draw for a copy of The Ale Boy’s Feast goes to Martin LaBar, who made himself eligible by linking to his review of Patricia McKillip’s Ombria in Shadow. (I read the review, and now I want to […]
