Cafe

Welcome to the Inspirations Cafe'. Grab yourself a cappuccino or something of that nature and pull up a chair. If you're a bookaholic like me, you've got a dozen books lying around in various stages of being read at any given time. At this corner of Emporia USA, I'll give you a running review of some of them. In the Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy Blog Tour section, I'll keep you up to date on some of the new entrants and luminaries in that particular literary niche. I'll also discuss some of my other favorite literary forms, so check in from time to time and see what's going on. For reviews of some of my old favorites, visit the "Friends and Favorites" area of the bookstore.

Updated October 2011

Parallel Worlds: As a Christian writing in the realm of speculative fiction, I face the question of whether to position myself as a Christian writer or as a writer who is a Christian. More to the point, I face the question of what part of the store my books should be placed in. C.S. Lewis and Madeline L'Engle managed to write books that are unashamedly Christian in outlook but still appealing to the mainstream market. Sadly they have sometimes taken on "friendly fire" from Christians who did not, for whatever reason, consider their writing to be "Christian enough." Interestingly J. Michael Stracynsky, the creator of the Babylon 5 series, did an excellent job of incorporating Christian themes into a science fiction universe while claiming to be an agnostic. Episodes like "Passing Though Gethsemene" dealt with themes like guilt, revenge, and forgiveness in poignant and heart-rending ways. I've actually used him as one of my models for writing about faith in a science fiction universe.

One of the beauties of having my own brand is that I can create my own blend fantasy, theological exploration, and regional flavor. One part C.S. Lewis, part Ray Bradbury, part Walt Disney, part DC and Marvel comics brewed to perfection (or my version thereof) in the piney forests of Louisiana. (Don't knock it. We've produced some superstars.)

Gideon Conference Report

One of the highlights of my summer was a trip to the Gideon Film Festival and Media Conference at the Ridgecrest Conference Center in North Carolina. Returning to Ridgecrest is always a trip down memory lane because of a trip I took there with a group of college students a few years back. The Gideon festival is something I would have dreamed of going to in those days, but it didn't exist back then. The Gideon is a festival that combines film with novel writing, comics, and songwriting. One of the challenges I always face there is which workshops to go to. I talked Philip Wade, a writer/composer friend with an interest in film, into going with me this year, and we both came back loaded up with ideas. I attended workshops on writing and character development, comic book writing, financing your media dream, and other subjects. I also met some interesting people including one guy who had survived a plane crash into the Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska. Muse Watson, who played Mike Franks on NCIS also made an appearance. It will be interesting to see what fruit grows from the time spent there.

Meet Bruce Hennigan

Several years ago I was at a writer's conference in Alexandria, Louisiana, when I met a medical doctor with some really interesting real life stories. One grim experience he described was an encounter with a young black girl who--well, if she wasn't really demon-possessed, she did a good imitation. The way Bruce described the scene, she'd torn off her hospital gown and shattered all the flourescent lights in the room so that there was a mist hanging heavy in the air. Red emergency lamps gave the room a hellish cast as the orderlies tried to subdue the child as she hissed at them like a cat and fought with them. Now Bruce has written a series of books based loosely on that experience, and I thought I'd tell you about them. The first one, The 13th Demon, is shown below. The second is called The 12th Demon, Vampyre Majick. As popular as vampire stories are now, I'm tempted to dust off a novel about vampires I wrote back in college, but by the time I get it into print, the trend will probably have passed. Anyway, if you like spooky stories, this is a good time of year for them, so check out Bruce's books.

Tired of War

One of the beauties of art within religious communities as well as between them is its ability to bring people together from a variety of viewpoints. I’m a basic, middle-of-the-road Baptist and my denomination is pretty divided right now. For the record, I’m not a Calvinist, not a young earth creationist, not a fundamentalist, and not a charismatic, but I have friends in all of those groups (and some from other belief systems as well). Fundamentalists think I’m a liberal, and liberals think I’m a fundamentalist. The question is whether I should spend all of my time arguing for my particular brand of Christianity and change churches every time I disagree with the latest pastor, or whether I should spend most of my time on the areas where we agree and only touch on the controversial issues from time to time. Do I want my legacy to be about who I fought with and argued with or how I lived, how I loved, and who I inspired? When you put it that way, I’d definitely rather be remembered for the latter. We have to get into the issues sometimes. That’s unavoidable. The main thing I want to stay away from is the divisive kind of arrogance that divides people who are mostly on the same side. Part of C.S. Lewis’ staying power is that he concentrated on “mere Christianity,” not the conflict of the day. The problems come when I end up face to face with people who don’t share my peaceful philosophy and suffer from bad cases of BLM (Be Like Me) Syndrome. What do I do then? Fight, roll over and keep my mouth shut, or leave? When is conflict worth the price and when is peace another word for surrender? It seems like I face that question a lot these days, and then I’m faced with a more serious question:
When was the last time I saw a life touched and changed for the better by Christianity? When is the last time my life was touched? Not long ago I realized it had been quite a while, and I had to ask myself when it all turned into an argument. When did I become so angry and so jaded?
I think one of the reasons I’m attracted to youth and college students is that they know what’s really important. They’re still idealistic, and they’re still pliable enough to change for the better, and they know how to have fun. It amazes me how life, for them, is just a party or a road trip waiting to happen. I don’t know when I lost that. I don’t think I ever did completely, but it’s harder to sustain in your forties when playmates are fewer and farther between.
I think one of the things I love most about artists is that we never completely grow up. While differences divide, art brings us together…at least until we start arguing over church music. (Sigh)

The Christian Sci Fi and Fantasy Blog Tour is an attempt to bring attention to the lastest works of new and experienced authors who write sci-fi, fantasy, and other forms of "speculative" fiction. I've read and enjoyed many of the books, and I'll try to keep you up to date on them though I don't necessarily read all of them. The tour has introduced me to a number of new authors I'd never read before and I'll do what I can to support it.

Sexy Comic Book Women:

Not long ago, I was showing a church administrator friend some of my comic work, and she commented on some of the sexy costumes. I smiled and said, "Well, yeah. You say that like it's a bad thing," and cracked up my music minister friend. Truth to tell, I've thought a lot about the issue.

Sexy female characters are pretty much a staple in the world of comics. Comics have, traditionally anyway, been written and drawn by adolescent men of all ages for adolescent men of all ages. I'm joking, but you've got to admit there's some truth to what I'm saying. I grew up with Wonder Woman and the girls in the Teen Titans, the Legion of Superheroes, and the X-Men. Most of them went around wearing outfits that looked like swimsuits with boots, and I never really thought much about it one way or another. That was just how female super-people dressed. The comic book characters I grew up with looked sexy, but the stories were written primarily for younger readers so the sexuality was latent. Somewhere in the eighties, comic books "grew up" and lost most of their innocence.

In designing my own comic book characters and universe, I had to make my own creative decisions about which conventions to imitate and which ones to discard. I also had to decide how being a Christian should influence the sexual element. Should comics produced by Christian artists be completely devoid of all traces of sexuality or should the artists seek a healthy middle ground between the excesses of secular culture and the sweltering repression of the Victorian Era? I've tried to take the second strategy. I see the attraction men and women feel for each other as one of God's greatest gifts, but it's also a gift that's easy to get into trouble with. I don't see a life of faith as a life devoid of all fun, beauty, and joy. Quite the opposite. One thing I feel like we've lost sight of in our modern literature--especially our comics--is romance. Anything goes sexually, but where's the absolute adoration, wonder, and mystery of the relationship between men and women? I don't really see it much anymore. If the previous generation was too sappy when it came to romance, the current one is too cold and cynical. (Just compare the old Battlestar Galactica to the new one. The old one was campier, but the new one was so dark.) So I try to focus on the chivalry and youthful angst angle, not the darker expressions.

There's also the question of appropriateness. A swimsuit might be appropriate for beach volleyball, but you wouldn't wear one to church. There's a difference between in something I'd produce primarily for church use and something I'd send out to the mainstream market. Something I wrote for primarily for the typical comic book reader probably wouldn't appeal to the ladies Sunday school class and vice versa. Either way, there are lines I don't cross regardless. As much as I emphasize that my books are for people of all ages, the younger readers seem to like them best, and I try to write with them in mind...both their enjoyment and the development of their life philosophies.

I've probably gotten myself into enough trouble for now. Until next time....

September 2011 Feature: The Monster and the Hollows by Andrew Peterson

Book Three of The Wingfeather Saga
Janner Wingfeather's father was the High King of Anniera. But his father is gone. The kingdom has fallen. The royal family is on the run, and the Fang armies of Gnag the Nameless are close behind.
Janner and his family hope to find refuge in the last safe place in the world: the Green Hollows--a land of warriors feared even by Fangs of Dang. But there's a big problem. Janner's little brother-heir to the throne of Anniera-has grown a tail. And gray fur. Not to mention two pointed ears and long, dangerous fangs. To the suspicious folk of the Green Hollows he looks like a monster.
But Janner knows better. His brother isn't as scary as he looks. He's perfectly harmless.
Or is he?
Join the Wingfeathers on an adventure filled with mystery, betrayal, and sneakery in a land of tasty fruits. There's a monster on the loose and the truth lurks in the shadows.

Sam Travis lives in a Civil War era farmhouse in Gettysburg, PA, where he awakens one morning to find an old journal with an entry by a Union soldier, Capt. Whiting, written in Sam's own handwriting. When this happens several more times, both at night and during waking, Sam begins to question his own sanity while becoming obsessed with Capt. Whiting and his bone-chilling journal entries

. As the entries begin to mimic Sam's own life, he is drawn into an evil plot that could cost many lives, including his own. Can the unconditional love of Sam's daughter, Eva, break through his hardened heart before a killer on the loose catches up with them and Sam's past spurs him to do the unthinkable?

About the Author
Mike Dellosso is the author of The Hunted, Darlington Woods, and Scream and an adjunct professor of writing at Lancaster Bible College. Mike earned his BA degree from Messiah College and his MBS from Master's Graduate School of Divinity. He lives in Hanover, PA, with his wife and daughters.

A previous CSFF Blog Tour introduced Jeff Gerke's micropublishing venture, Marcher Lord Press. This month I'd like to wish Jeff Gerke much success with the launch of his new micropublishing venture, Marcher Lord Press. The publisher has launched a number of interesting and varied titles, and is now enjoying wider distribution on Christianbook.com, I understand.

To read all about these exciting new titles, visit the Marcher Lord Press homepage at www.marcherlordpress.com and Jeff Gerke's website, Where the Map Ends at http://wherethemapends.com. (NOTE: Where the Map Ends is an amazing site for writers and art fans as well as book fans. Check it out if you have any interest whatsoever in this sort of thing.)

If you're a fan of Christian science fiction and fantasy and want to keep up with the latest and greatest in Christian Speculative Fiction, visit these blog sites:

CSFF Blog Tour Main

Jim Black: Jim's Fiction Review

Justin Boyer: Fantasy Freak

Keanan Brand at Adventures in Fiction (NEW)

Kathy Brasby at Hobbiton Hill (NEW)

Grace Bridges' Blog

Amy Browning's Pages of Discovery

Jackie Castle: Journey into Grace

Christian Science Fiction: Brandon Barr

Valerie Comer: In Val's Little World

Karri Compton: KC Reviews (NEW)

Courtney at A Mom Speaks (NEW)