Mystory: Lessons Thereof
E. Stephen Burnett, Dec 15, 2010
(Someone once told me that “history” is called “history” because it’s HIS story, meaning God’s. Dunno if that’s true. But if it is, then my own personal story can be called “mystory.” In this case, I’m writing about the story […]
Out Of The Slush Pile
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Dec 13, 2010
The award-winning team blog, Novel Journey held a year-long contest they called Out of the Slush Pile. They featured a different genre throughout the year and named a monthly winner. Then in January 2011 they’ll put all the winners into […]
Guest Blog: C. S. Lakin, Part 2
C.S. Lakin, Dec 10, 2010
Fairy Tales As a Sub-genre of Fantasy, Part 2 by C. S. Lakin My introductory post discussed the power of fairy tales and the way fairy tale structure is different from other fantasy sub-genres. The key point is that the […]
How Do We Love A Fiction Legalist? Part 3
E. Stephen Burnett, Dec 9, 2010
Three ways to love a fiction “legalist” — that is, a Christian who opposes fantasy or fiction, or more often simply considers them pointless, useless and unnecessary to Godward growth.
Observations: Inherently Religious
Kaci Hill, Dec 8, 2010
The Season of Perpetual Hope Tis the season: Christmas specials, movies, performances, novels, homework assignments (nothing is sacred), debates on the use of holiday (re: holy day) v. the use of Christmas, Salvation Army employees outside stores, and open season […]
Feechies And Hobbits
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Dec 6, 2010
I love Hobbits. I loved them before I became a writer, and I love them more now. In my way of thinking, the ultimate in creativity is to concoct legend, starting with legendary creatures. Hobbits are just such beings, springing […]
Guest Blog: C. S. Lakin
C.S. Lakin, Dec 3, 2010
C. S. Lakin is the author of the new fantasy series The Gates of Heaven published by AMG/Living Ink. Book One, The Wolf of Tebron, released this fall and will be the early January feature of the CSFF Blog Tour […]
How Do We Love A Fiction Legalist? Part 2
E. Stephen Burnett, Dec 2, 2010
Two weeks ago, reader Bethany asked, quite fairly, how come I used the word “legalist” to describe Christians who oppose either a certain fantasy series, like Harry Potter, or all fiction. That made me grateful I started this series saying […]
Heroic Heroes (How I Love Them)
E. Stephen Burnett, Dec 1, 2010
In all the speculation about the soon-to-come Voyage of the Dawn Treader movie, a few people have expressed their hope that the filmmakers will not do to Edmund what they did to Peter in Prince Caspian — sap him of […]
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, Part One – Worth The Price Of Admission?
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Nov 29, 2010
There I sat in the darkened theater, with perhaps half the movie Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part One yet to play and from behind me, some joker says, This was a waste of money. A waste of money? […]
Guest Blog: R. J. Anderson
R. J. Anderson, Nov 26, 2010
Past Watchful Dragons: Why One Christian Fantasy Author Chose To Write For The General Market by R. J. Anderson All the years I was growing up, my father served as a full-time Bible teacher and elder in the open Brethren […]
Meditation: Thanksgiving.
Kaci Hill, Nov 24, 2010
This is a simple one…very simple. A slightly rambling meditation. “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever; I will sing! And with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness through all generations!” “Give thanks to the […]
Afterlife: The Resurrection Chronicles
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Nov 22, 2010
I first met Merrie Destefano at the Mount Hermon Christian Writers’ Conference. She initiated a gathering of speculative fiction writers where she gave each person an opportunity to share the premise of their work in progress. I’ll never forget the […]
Why Fiction Authors Should Read Nonfiction
Marc Schooley, Nov 19, 2010
The question put to us is why fiction authors should read deep-doctrine nonfiction. I merrily accepted the invitation to consider and discuss this dear-to-my-heart topic at Speculative Faith and thank my fellow six-pointer E. Stephen Burnett both for the opportunity […]
How Do We Love A Fiction Legalist? Part 1
E. Stephen Burnett, Nov 18, 2010
How can we best love and reason with Christian family members who fear the stories we enjoy?
Enough To Tell (Love Thy Readers, Part 4)
E. Stephen Burnett, Nov 17, 2010
As Christian novelists, do we have a responsibility to share the gospel through fiction? Discussion on this topic may not exactly rage amongst Christian writers, but it certainly stirs things up. Our culture has an inherent problem with didactic, “preachy” […]
Can You Find Victory In Defeat?
Stuart Stockton, Nov 16, 2010
I went out and watched the new alien invasion movie, Skyline, last Friday. The movie follows a group of average people in L.A. as they find themselves in the midst of an alien invasion (think Cloverfield meets Independence Day). The […]
What Does God Think Of Fantasy?
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Nov 15, 2010
If we took a poll with the question, What do you believe God thinks about fantasy, I wonder what kinds of responses we’d get. Let’s say the choices were, a) He approves; b) He disapproves; c) He has no opinion […]
The Courage Of Senseless Beauty
CathiLyn Dyck, Nov 12, 2010
Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. ~Eph. […]
â€Dawn Treader’ Film May Hit Story Sandbars, Part 3
E. Stephen Burnett, Nov 11, 2010
Until a few hours ago today, an online interview was available with Mark Johnson, a lookalike of Justin Hammer (from Iron Man 2) and also producer of the Narnia films. Aslan’sCountry.com has since removed the interview text. (But guess who […]
Observations: The Things We Carry
Kaci Hill, Nov 10, 2010
Sorry for the hiatus. I did the series on recurring themes upon request, and I suppose if more comes to mind I’ll bring them up. As it is, like I’ve said, I don’t have a true beef with the CBA […]
Write Who You Are
Stuart Stockton, Nov 9, 2010
I was perusing through one of my infrequent journal entries from a while ago and came across this quote from Terry Brooks that I had made a note of. If you are a real writer; you infuse your characters with […]
Creatures Old And New
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Nov 8, 2010
Greek mythology is peopled with fantastic creatures—from the Cyclops and the Lotus Eaters that Odysseus encountered on his voyage home after the Trojan Wars, the Sirens he avoided, and the six-headed monster Scylla, to satyrs, centaurs, and dragons. Celtic, Norse, […]
Kirk Outerbridge: on Writing Cyber-thrillers and Winning Awards
Kirk Outerbridge, Nov 5, 2010
E. Stephen Burnett: Kirk Outerbridge — author of cyberthrillers Eternity Falls and The Tenth Crusader (both from ye olde Marcher Lord Press) is our guest author today. Some weeks ago I finished Eternity Falls myself, and I’d like to point […]
â€Dawn Treader’ Film May Hit Story Sandbars, Part 2
E. Stephen Burnett, Nov 4, 2010
This time I’ll begin with positive news: this photo from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader film. Yes, for those familiar with the book, it’s a classic image: Eustace, now finally sobered, turned into a dragon because of his existing […]
To Write, Live
E. Stephen Burnett, Nov 3, 2010
Taking a break from the “Love Thy Readers” series this week while I think through the last installment . . . Stuart’s injunction to U.S. readers to get out and vote yesterday was timely for me, not because I voted […]
Speculative Politics
Stuart Stockton, Nov 2, 2010
It’s election day here in the U.S.A, which has a lot of people’s focus honing in on politics and anticipating the end of the ever-so-loathed election-year ads on television. In the realm of speculative fiction, politics has often played a […]
Good Stories And Good Writing
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Nov 1, 2010
Several years ago, through a discussion at the writers’ forum, Faith in Fiction, I concluded that “story trumps all.” By that, I meant, readers care more about a good story than they do about a beautiful setting, intriguing characters, insightful […]
Guest Blog – Mike Dellosso
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Oct 29, 2010
The Philosophy of Me Mike Dellosso When Becky asked about writing a guest post she said I could write about anything I wanted as long as it was somehow related to speculative fiction and then she mentioned the P-word: Philosophy. […]
â€Dawn Treader’ Film May Hit Story Sandbars, Part 1
E. Stephen Burnett, Oct 28, 2010
First Disney dropped distributing the Chronicles of Narnia film franchise. Then Fox picked it up. Then it seemed that producer Walden Media’s new director, Michael Apted, might bring a better story adaptation. But a leaked script emerged that included some […]
