Revisiting Worldview

Before we get started, just a note to let you know there’s a run-off poll for the June CSFF Top Tour Blogger Award. I went ahead and added it to the original Tour Wrap post. Please take time to vote, and if you didn’t read the eligible posts because you found the number daunting, we are now down to three bloggers, so you shouldn’t have any trouble perusing their articles.

Now to the topic of worldview, but hang on. As those of you who visit here regularly already know, I have a way of making a short tale long!

Five or so years ago, World magazine conducted a short story contest, but they specifically asked for stories written from a Christian worldview. A writer on the only email group I belonged to at the time send a note asking what we thought the editors meant by the term.

So began a discussion that flourished for a time. In truth, I think it may be the most relevant discussion a Christian writer can enter. In essence, we are exploring how our Christianity plays out in our fiction.

It seems to me that we have seen an abundance of stories with overt Christianity. Most of the fiction sold in Christian bookstores would fall into this category, I’m guessing. The “worldview” trend seemed to foster a number of titles that took different approaches, however.

Some, I suggest, are of the “tacked on” variety. The stories have little to do with Christians or Christianity, but for the sake of the Christian audience the book is directed to, some Christian references are tacked on at some point in the story.

Another variety I call “clean fiction,” though it still flies under the banner of Christian. In reality, these stories are not very different from their secular cousins, but they don’t have bad language, explicit violence, or graphic sex.

A third kind crops up most often in fantasy. Many call it allegory, though some describe it as covertly Christian, thinly disguised. The implication is that writers writing in this vein are trying to slip something past their readers. Like a magician, they lure readers in, only to pull the curtain back in the end and present Christianity with a final ta-da!

Well, I don’t think allegorical fantasy does that kind of trickery, and I’ve written before that allegory is a perfectly acceptable form.

But here’s the thing. Are these the only options?

Back when I started this blog, I struggled with the concept of Christian worldview (which led to a discussion of theme). Here’s a part of my conclusion:

So Christian worldview in fiction is not Christian characters doing “Christian” things like going to church or not swearing. Nor is it Christian characters doing sinful things just like everyone else. It is not the protagonist being or becoming a lover of God or of his neighbor. It is not even the protagonist holding to or developing a Christian philosophy of life.

Let me clarify that none of those things prohibits the novel from expressing a Christian worldview. Rather, those things are not required.

So what is? As I mentioned yesterday, the secret, in my estimation, lies in the theme …

As a writer conforms his or her themes to what God has revealed, he or she is writing from a Christian worldview. (Christian Worldview–Day 6)

So a story written from a Christian worldview can have a theme related to the evil of pornography or the harm of divorce or the damage of a greedy lifestyle or … These themes are consistent with revealed truth. They spring to life from the pages of Scripture, though others besides Christians share them.

I can see this kind of Christian worldview fiction fertilizing soil (and yes, unfortunately, some may think it is manure), but where are those books?

Do I Pray My Priorities?

More often than not, when a speaker addressing Christians talks about priorities, an established order surfaces: God first, others second, self third. Generally “others” is broken down into family over friends or neighbors or business associates or church contacts.

I suspect most Christians, when asked, would also say they value missions highly, care about their pastor, and are interested in evangelism. I’m confident many would add a concern for our schools, public or private, and what’s happening in national government, maybe in state government, and some even in local government.

These things we care about and others, according to our priority lists, should be occupying more of our time and money and energy and thoughts than what will make me happy or more comfortable.

I’ll be the first to admit, I don’t “live my list” like I wish I did. But even if I fail to welcome the new neighbors on the corner, can’t I pray for them? Even if I don’t have offering money beyond what I give to my local church, can’t I pray for missionaries? Even though I don’t write a note of encouragement to my pastor, can’t I pray for him?

Living out our priorities is hard, hard work. Prayer? I know some people talk about laboring in prayer, but it seems to me conversations with God about the things I care most about ought to be conversations I rush to have, ones I look forward to, and have to be pulled away from with reluctance.

And if that’s not the case, then maybe the problem is my understanding of prayer, or my list. I know what my priorities SHOULD be … what I say they are. But are my priorities like my New Year’s Resolutions—a list I make knowing full well it’s more wishful thinking than a guide for what I intend to do?

I understand wishful thinking. I’ve wished I was a good housekeeper, a good correspondent, a conscientious exerciser. But do I wish those things to the point of change? The first clue to the answer to that question, I think, is whether or not I begin to pray for the thing I say I care about.

If I believe God hears and answers prayer, and I do, then why, why, why wouldn’t I pray about the things I say are top most on my list of priorities?

Can Christian Fiction Show God?

Can Christian fiction show God? And by “show Him,” I mean, as He reveals Himself to be through the pages of Scripture. I know Christian fiction can show a health-and-wealth version of God: change your heart/accept Christ/profess your faith/resist temptation and God will give you a repentant husband/the man of your dreams/the desires of your heart/a happy marriage.

Don’t get me wrong, God does do amazing and wonderful and miraculous things. He surprises us with good and undeserved gifts, and He answers prayer in ways that surpass what we could ask or think. But that’s not all of who He is or what He does. It seems, too often Christian fiction implies that the sum total of God’s work and person is spelled out in His making a Christian’s life more comfortable or happy.

Why am I bringing this up? Recently in an email group I’m in with other writers, many took to task the Christian side of the book business. Then yesterday I heard the condemnatory statement again, this time from a pastor: I don’t read Christian fiction—it’s too shallow.

I immediately chimed in to say the industry has been and is changing. There are good novels written from a Christian worldview that show God as more than a benevolent overseer or an attentive grandfather or a check-the-list-twice Santa.

In thinking about what I wanted to say in this post, I checked back in the archives here at A Christian Worldview of Fiction. Back in 2006 I did a series of posts about God related to fiction. Here’s a pertinent portion of the final article in the group:

it seems to me, showing God work in our stories should be pretty much like how we see Him work in our own lives and in the lives of the people around us. Some of those people miss what God does, close their ears to what He says. Others hear and ignore. Some question. Some step out in faith based on what they perceive God to tell them and … no earth-shattering events take place.

Not everyone is Job with the restored family and twice the wealth. Not everyone is Joseph, ultimately with the position of second in command to Pharaoh. Or of Esther, Daniel, or Noah. Some are Jonah at the end of the book, not the middle. Some are Stephen. Some are King Saul. Some are Moses, refused admission into the promised land. Some are David, refused the job of building the temple.

Regardless of what the people chose to do with what God asked of them, He comes through as righteous or good, as powerful or loving, as having a greater purpose, an overarching plan. He shows His character through the lives of the people with whom He has to do.

So are there novels out that show God in this way?

I promised this pastor a list of of books with depth. I have a few in mind, but if you have any to suggest, I’d love to hear your recommendations. Hopefully in the next few days, I’ll have a list started that I can post.

Thoughts on the Clive Staples Award

The idea to create an award for Christian speculative fiction came about two years ago when the Christy Awards omitted the speculative category. After considerable discussion here and at Speculative Faith, we settled on the Clive Staples Award as the name for this reader-initiated recognition of top Christian speculative fiction.

For the last two years we collected nominations, using the same guidelines as the Christy Awards. However, in both years, the actual awarding of a winner bogged down because we have no sponsor, no agreement with publishers to provide judges with books, and no judges.

The most serious problem was this latter issue. While I say “no judges,” that’s not completely accurate. We had a handful of people who volunteered to help judge, but no one who volunteered to head up the judging—requesting books, sending them out to judges, tabulating judge sheets and/or spearheading discussions to arrive at a consensus regarding finalists.

Beyond that, we agreed the award, if it was to carry any significance, would need finalist judges of some standing. I preferred someone outside the publishing business to avoid the appearance of partiality, but well informed about speculative fiction. Unfortunately, the people I contacted for that role declined to take part.

So where does that leave the award? Is it over before it actually began?

I’m thinking, this may be the kind of thing that needs to build momentum, to gain in popularity, and thus garner more support as a result. So my current thought is, why not start with a reader award? Not only do readers nominate but readers vote for the three books they want to see in the finals. Then maybe those volunteer judges, if they are still willing to participate, can pick a winner. Or readers can vote again between the three finalists.

We’d need to conduct this contest over several months to get the word out and to give readers time to check out the nominations they haven’t yet read.

We’d have to set some ground rules in an effort to curtail popularity voting (I haven’t read his book, but I sure like so-and-so, so I’ll happily vote for his novel). I can’t think of a way to eliminate that sort of thing completely, but if the award becomes linked with “readers” right from the start, it might alleviate campaigning among non-readers.

Some time ago I set up a site for the award as a kind of home base, but with no activity, there’s been no real reason to send people there. If you’d like to take a look at it, go to the Clive Staples Award for Christian Speculative Fiction.

Since WordPress and PollDaddy make it so easy to include polls, I’m thinking it would be easiest if I started a series of polls to get your feedback. I’ll also need your help passing the word on to anyone else you know who has interest in this genre and particularly in creating this award. Let me know what questions you have, and we can find out what others are thinking about any number of subjects related to making this award work. If there’s still interest in doing so. Which actually is the first question.

I’m looking forward to hearing from you.

Bits and Pieces

Just a few things I thought you might be interested in—nothing deep. I learned from CSFF member Robert Treskillard that agent Steve Laube has joined the blogosphere. Agent blogs are some of my favorite, much as agent panels are at writers’ conferences.

I haven’t mentioned it earlier (though some of you may have noticed the link), but the Books and Such agents and associates (Janet Kobobel Grant and company) are blogging as well. These blogs provide great information, making it much easier to learn about the book business.

Four-time Christy Award winning author Karen Hancock is switching her blog over to WordPress (yea! ), so you’ll want to bookmark and link to Writing from the Edge 2.

Speaking of Karen, the CSFF Blog Tour is featuring her latest release, The Enclave in July. I’m a little over half way (it’s a big book by today’s standards—nearly 500 pages), and completely engrossed in the story. It’s all I can do to put it down and get myself going in the morning. I love the reading experience when it so puts me in the fictive world that I think about it when I’m away and look forward to going back. That’s what Karen’s writing does for me. Already I want to talk about the book and to recommend it to book lovers.

And speaking of CSFF, don’t forget to vote in the poll for the June CSFF Top Tour Blogger Award. It is a very, very close 5 blogger race and we need every vote.

In case you’ve been wondering whether or not I’ll be discussing the writing craft again here at A Christian Worldview of Fiction, I should tell you, I’ve started an editing blog called Rewrite, Reword, Rework. I set it up primarily as a place where potential clients can go to learn what services I offer and what my rates are.

However, as I began working on it, I realized that venue would be perfect for what I’m calling Self-editing Tips. That’s the real blog. So far the posts are all shorter than the ones here and focused on some aspect of the how-to’s of writing. I’m actually having fun with it and am ready to start inviting people on over to visit. So count yourself among the invited!

Thanks to Julie for choosing A Christian Worldview of Fiction for the “Humane Award.” Here’s the definition Julie quoted:

The Humane Award is in order to honor certain bloggers that I feel are kindhearted individuals. They regularly take part in my blog and always leave the sweetest comments. If it wasn’t for them, my site would just be an ordinary book review blog. Their blogs are also amazing and are tastefully done on a daily basis. I thank them and look forward to our growing friendships through the blog world.

Well, I don’t know as my commenters aim for sweetness, but I’m OK with that. Better than OK, actually. I like comments that make me think, but I like encouraging ones too.

So here are my top five visiting bloggers who leave thoughtful or encouraging comments from time to time:

Nicole
Kim
Sally Apokedak
Jason Joyner
Amydeanne

Gaining the Whole World

Michael Jackson, like Princess Di, a number of media sources said, gained the whole world. He transformed music and dance, not just in the US, but in the whole world. An icon, some called him. Or a king. Even a hero.

Hundreds gathered to … mourn. Thousands remembered.

Musicians and dancers credited him with inspiration. Fans and friends bemoaned his passing.

Network TV suspended regularly scheduled programming to air tributes and exposes and old interviews and neighbor reactions

Farrah Fawcett wasn’t far behind in popularity. Not an icon, but a pinup girl, she was acclaimed for her trend-setting hair style, her incredible smile, her marriage, divorce, long-time love relationship, her posters, TV show and movie, Emmy nominations, and courage. Courage to face and fight … death. Or maybe it was courage to face life knowing that she was dying, I’m not sure.

But there’s the point. No matter how loved, or hated, how popular, or forgotten, no matter how much talent or money or influence, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson died. They had gained the whole world. We know that, but the ultimate question remains. Did they lose their souls?

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If any one wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it. For what will a man be profited, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? ” (Matt. 16:24-26, emphasis mine)

So what do these deaths tell us? In no special order:

1) Even the rich and famous and beautiful die.

2) No one is guaranteed a set number of years. Farrah Fawcett was 62, Michael Jackson, 50.

3) Life apart from God may look glamorous for a time, but there is no glamor in death.

4) Cosmetic surgery doesn’t preserve life, and neither do cancer treatments. There is a time appointed for man to die, and our finite understanding of science and life won’t reverse that. Death is the promised consequence of sin. It’s as true today as it was day one, post-Eden.

5) God is sovereign. He will not be mocked and He won’t be replaced. Kings and icons and heroes and pinup girls are false gods our culture scurries after. In the end, God will be God.

6) Entertainers have taken the place of great thinkers and wise leaders.

7) Being good at what you do, doesn’t guarantee your legacy will be positive. The Michael Jackson remembrances included his oddities as well as his genius. Farrah Fawcett remembrances included her broken relationships as well as her awards.

8 ) If you gain the whole world but lose your soul, what have you really gained?

9) God, in His incredible mercy, did not leave us in hopelessness.

10) Following Jesus still equates with finding life—the most important kind: life eternal.

June CSFF Tour Wrap

Poll Run-off added July 3: Please vote in the new poll for one of our top three finishers. It’s a tight race, so every vote counts! You have until midnight (Pacific time) Wednesday.

√ √ √ Nissa
√ √ √ Steve Rice
√ √ √ Fred Warren

- – -
Original Post:

I hope regular visitors here at A Christian Worldview of Fiction take the time to read some of the other blog posts about the CSFF Blog Tour June feature, Vanish by Tom Pawlik (Tyndale). We had over 30 blog sites participate and over 50 posts discussing the book.

One blogger referred to CSFF as a large virtual book club. I love it! That’s really what we are. We discuss books. Particular books—the ones in the genre we prefer.

The thing is “the genre we prefer” is really three genres force-fed into one. Fantasy is a world (literally—and pun intended ) apart from science fiction, which is a completely different animal from supernatural suspense (horror). Nevertheless, we band together and feature them all. Sci fi writers Brandon Barr and Steve Trower, for example pitch in and post about YA fantasy or adult supernatural suspense.

And the amazing thing is, we discover there are books that we would not have thought to pick up except for the tour, but that spellbindingly engage us. In other words, the tour, though it is genre specific, expands our reading selection.

Having said all that, let me introduce you to the bloggers who are eligible for this month’s CSFF Top Tour Blogger award:

√ √ √ Keanan Brand
√ √ √ Melissa Carswell
√ √ √ Nissa
√ √ √ John W. Otte
√ √ √ Steve Rice
√ √ √ Chawna Schroeder
√ √ √ Rachel Starr Thomson
√ √ √ Steve Trower
√ √ √ Fred Warren

And now, you have the opportunity to vote on the one blogger you think most deserving of the award:

I almost forgot to mention – you have one week to vote.

CSFF Blog Tour, Day 3 – Themes in Vanish

Today is the final day in the CSFF Blog Tour for Tom Pawlik’s debut novel, Vanish. Check out what the other bloggers are saying by clicking on the post links (check marks) next to the list of participants below my interview with Tom.

As far as I’m concerned, this is my most important post of my three tour-related articles. While I find a discussion of writing techniques and the enjoyment factor and the viability of Christian horror (supernatural suspense) interesting topics, and even necessary, I continue to believe that WHAT a book has to say is the most significant factor, even in fiction.

And happily, Tom has important things he wants to say, as he stated earlier this week in an interview with blog tour participant Grace Bridges:

I don’t think of myself as writing a parable, but I do want to communicate spiritual truths through the story.

* * * * * SPOILER ALERT * * * * *

So what are the spiritual truths that Tom is communicating in Vanish? There are a number, but the ones that jumped out at me are ones I don’t hear a lot of people talking about these days.

When was the last time you heard a sermon about hell? Or judgment? Or life after death? In eras gone by, these topics were regulars from the pulpit. Today, not so much.

And yet Truth hasn’t changed. There is life after death. There will be judgment. And hell is an actual place prepared for those who turn their backs on God.

These are the themes I saw as central to Vanish, and I have to say, About time. For far too long, we Christians have sat on our hands as false teaching has seeped in our midst—the kind of teaching that says God loves his creation so much he would never do anything so opposed to love as assign anyone to eternal punishment. After all, God is not a wrathful tyrant sitting up in heaven waiting to torture as many people as he can, for surely a god who would assign people to hell would be that kind of god.

Like all false teaching, there is an element of truth in this line of thinking. God is a God of love. No, that’s actually incomplete. God is Love. He is not a tyrant. He does not delight in torturing people.

But to think of God as ONLY love is also to limit Him. He reveals Himself to be a jealous God. Jealous! Not something we normally think of in association with God. He is also just. Jesus makes it abundantly clear that there will in fact be a day of judgment in which people who rejected God will be held accountable. Such accountability includes punishment.

In a number of parables, Jesus concluded with lines like this:

Then the king said to the servants, “Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 22:13)

So what does all this have to do with Vanish? In today’s culture, story has again asserted itself as a significant purveyor of truth. While I still believe we need good sermons about the reality of the afterlife, judgment, and hell, I also think stories like Tom’s go a long way to showing the reality.

The final question is, how faithful to Truth is this story? I’ve actually changed my mind since yesterday.

First, this story, unlike C. S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce, is about people who are yet alive. In the imagined world of Vanish, the characters are conscious only of their spiritual existence, though they see it as if it were their physical world. As far as I know, there’s nothing in Scripture about the spiritual condition of a person in a coma. Consequently, however Tom wants to portray that state, as long as the story doesn’t fall victim to some other lie, should be admissible speculation.

From my reading, I’d conclude Tom is interested in revealing Truth, not diluting it.

Second, I thought to object to the activity of the demons. One of the false beliefs about Satan, as I pointed out in “Satan’s Favorite Lies,” is that he is the king of hell. He is not. Hell is the place God has for his eternal punishment, and not his personal fiefdom away from God’s authority.

Thinking along those lines, I questioned the demons’ pursuit of Conner, Mitch, Helen and the others. But a look at Scripture, shows that demons are all about destruction. In the New Testament they threw people into fires, caused a herd of pigs to rush to their destruction, made a man cut himself and become so violent people tried to chain him up but couldn’t. In the Old Testament, a demon enraged King Saul so he tried to kill David, and so on. Throughout the Bible, demons consistently aimed to bring destruction.

Plus we know from the Bible that Satan is the enemy of our souls. Why, then, in fiction wouldn’t demon portrayals be pursuing near-death people? Chomping at the bit, so to speak, thinking these individuals were about to seal their own fate for eternity. And, in fact, desirous of helping them on their way.

It’s a chilling picture, and dark, as a number of tour bloggers commented, but that doesn’t make it any less true. And it’s a truth we have stopped teaching very often, one our culture no longer believes. Maybe a book like Vanish or it’s sequel Valley of the Shadow will help readers come to grips with these spiritual realities.

CSFF Blog Tour, Day 2 – A Review of Vanish

Vanish, the June CSFF Blog Tour feature written by Tom Pawlik, is an adult supernatural suspense novel. Those of you who hang around here at A Christian Worldview of Fiction are probably rolling your eyes. (I need to come up with some short, snappy way of referring to this little blog. ACWoF just doesn’t do anything for me) Why the eye roll? others may wonder. Because I’ve said often enough, supernatural suspense is not my genre of choice. Yet I end up reading far more of it than I care to because it’s lumped in with fantasy in the “speculative” category.

Except, this time, I am happy my involvement in CSFF spurred me to read Vanish.

The Story. I can’t tell you much. Even giving you the genre feels like I’m spoiling the story. This is one you need to experience sans spoilers. If you haven’t read Vanish yet and plan to take a peek at other CSFF posts, STOP READING IMMEDIATELY if you see a spoiler alert. Too much information will indeed ruin this story. I say this knowing full well that tomorrow I plan to discuss something important that Vanish has made me think about, and of necessity I’ll give spoilers. You are warned!

So what can I tell you? The main character Conner Hayden experiences the strange sensation that he’s being watched, until one evening when he sees an odd storm cloud, then passes out … or goes to sleep. He doesn’t really know. But when he awakens, everyone he knows is gone. No cars on the road. No one answering the phone. Only static on the radio. No TV reception. Stores are empty.

The story, then, is about Conner trying to figure out What Has Happened, and about how What Has Happened affects him.

Strengths. Intrigue! Intrigue! Intrigue! And Suspense in equal measure. Yes, Tom really has written a story that will have you guessing and wondering and worrying and fearing. And maybe in the end, hoping.

I hesitate to say this, but I think this book could be classified accurately as Christian horror. I have to think that one of Tom’s intentions was to scare people. And notice, I put this down as a strength. Hmmm.

At the same time, this is not a blood-bath kind of book. The real fear is generated by the unknown. I think Tom did an outstanding job feeding just a bit of information at a time, gradually increasing the fear factor.

Weaknesses. I didn’t feel a strong connection with Conner at first. So when things started to happen, I didn’t care deeply. Later I came to care, but I think the story would have more impact if I cared more deeply. If the sequel, Valley of the Shadow (which couldn’t have a more distinct cover from Vanish), is the story I think it is, then I’ll already have a connection to the character.

There’s also a theological issue that comes into play. It’s one of those tough things to sort through when writing Christian speculative fiction. How much must we pay attention to theology if we are using our imagination? I’ve said before, when we write about what is real, even if it is real in the spiritual world or in Biblical history, we are obligated to stay within the bounds of that which has been revealed. Within those bounds, I think we can speculate. (For example, a story about angels must be true to what the Bible says about angels, but a lot has been left unsaid, so I think we can speculate as long as we aren’t contradicting what the Bible says).

As I think about Vanish, I’d say there is a theological problem towards the end, but I didn’t find it off-putting or utterly misleading. Am I splitting hairs to say this is a problem? Maybe.

One of my favorite books is The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis, yet many Christians clack their tongue at such a work that seems to suggest man gets a second chance at heaven after he dies. Well, I don’t think that’s what Lewis was saying in The Great Divorce. My theological criticism of Vanish may be as empty for the same reason.

You can be the judge tomorrow, because that issue will be in the forefront of my post.

Recommendation. For those who love suspense and especially supernatural suspense, this is a must read. For anyone who likes a captivating story, I highly recommend Vanish.

Don’t forget to check out the other bloggers (listed below my interview with Tom) posting about this book. I particularly recommend Phyllis Wheeler’s review and possibly the best ever introduction by someone who hasn’t yet read the book posted by Fred Warren.

Author Interview – Tom Pawlik

Tom who? you might be saying. Rightfully so. Tom Pawlik is a fairly new author. His debut novel Vanish won the 2006 Christian Writers Guild’s Operation First Novel contest and was subsequently published in 2008 by Tyndale House Publishers.

It just so happens that the CSFF Blog Tour is featuring Vanish this month, though Tom’s second novel Valley of the Shadow just came out. Much better, as far as I’m concerned, to introduce readers to the beginning of a series instead of jumping into the middle. Readers would definitely miss out if they didn’t experience Vanish first.

All that being said, I was able to ask Tom a few questions about his writing.

RLM: How did you conceive of the premise for Vanish and its follow up, Valley of the Shadow?

TP: The basic premise grew out of a dream I had several years back. I’m not sure about other authors, but I get a lot of weird ideas from dreams. Then I spent the next couple of years developing the story line before submitting it to the CWG [Christian Writers' Guild] contest.

RLM: You are among friends, Tom. I know of more than one speculative fiction writer who got the idea for their story from a dream. In fact, I’m included in that group! But I’m curious about your involvement in the CWG/Tyndale First Novel contest. What do you think set Vanish apart from the other entries?

TP: I don’t believe any of the other finalists were in the Speculative genre. I had convinced myself there was no way I was going to win because Tyndale doesn’t typically publish this type of book. Thankfully, they liked it well enough to pick it as the winner.

RLM: Tell us about the editing process. Did your editors at Tyndale ask you to make any major changes, and if so, how hard was that?

TP: I had always heard how tough the editing process is, but my experience with Tyndale was actually a very pleasant one. We started with a conference call in which they go through a list of items they liked as well as some suggested changes. I had originally written Mitch’s father as a Presbyterian minister and they suggested changing his occupation to avoid that cliche. In the end, I was glad they did because I would have never thought to make him a congressman. And now that change has opened a door for some other, future ideas.

RLM: When you wrote about Conner, Mitch, and Helen’s plight, what kind of reaction were you hoping to generate in the reader?

TP: I wanted each of the three main characters to be flawed but likable. Even though they each had some dark secret lurking in their pasts, I tried to make them sympathetic characters.

RLM: Sympathetic characters in mortal (or immortal) danger. I wondered if you were hoping to generate fear as much as curiosity or surprise or excitement, but I suppose that’s best left to the reader to discover.

Describe your journey as a novelist. What got you started writing, who influenced you, what are your aspirations?

TP: Being a novelist has been a life-long dream of mine. After 14 years of pursuing the career through the conventional routes, I had nearly given up until I came across the CWG website and saw the contest. I was absolutely thrilled to win and get my first publishing contract. I was a huge fantasy and sci-fi fan through my youth (and still am). Obviously, Tolkien and Lewis have both influenced me tremendously. I also enjoyed Gordon R. Dickson’s writing, Asimov, Bradbury and others. My goal is to be the premier Christian sci-fi/fantasy author of the twenty-first century. How’s that for an aspiration!

RLM: Hey, another similarity between us!

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer these questions, Tom. It’s great to get to know another Christian speculative fiction author.

As visitors here at A Christian Worldview of Fiction might guess, I’m not alone on this blog tour. Take some time this week to see what these other bloggers are saying about Vanish (and as I find them, I’ll put √’s with the permanent links to their posts):

√ Brandon Barr
√ √ √ Keanan Brand
√ Grace Bridges
√ Canadianladybug Not on the original list
√ √ √ Melissa Carswell Not on the original list
√ √ Amy Cruson
CSFF Blog Tour
√ Stacey Dale
√ D. G. D. Davidson
√ Janey DeMeo Not on the original list
√ Jeff Draper
√ April Erwin
√ Karina Fabian
√ √ Beth Goddard
√ Todd Michael Greene
√ Becky Jesse
√ Cris Jesse
√ √ Julie
√ Carol Keen
√ Eve Nielsen
√ √ √ Nissa
√ √ √ John W. Otte
√ √ √ Steve Rice
√ √ Crista Richey
√ √ √ Chawna Schroeder
√ James Somers
√ Speculative Faith
√ Stephanie Not on the original list
√ √ √ Rachel Starr Thomson
√ Robert Treskillard
√ √ √ Steve Trower
√ √ √ Fred Warren
√ Phyllis Wheeler