You Are Who You Are Because …

Have you ever thought about the influencing events of your life? Not the people. Not even the books—writers in particular are fond of discussing which books had the greatest impact on them. I’m talking about some key experiences that played a significant role in shaping you into the person you are today.

Not sure what made me think of this, but one experience—more like a way of life—jumped to mind. Before I was even born, my parents bought a goodly-sized piece of mountain property in Colorado. For the next eight or so years, we, the family, set about building a log cabin.

That became the place of choice for most vacations. You need to understand, this was about as isolated a piece of land you could get in Colorado. A long section of the road was dirt, though from year to year more of it was paved or grated. Still, after driving through a fenced pasture, and creeping over rock strewn lanes, we had to park the car and hike the last 3/4 of a mile.

All that to say, there were no neighbor children I played with when we went to the cabin.

Instead, when I wasn’t gathering wood for the fireplace, hauling water from the creek, fetching food from our version of an “ice box,” or doing any of the other kid-sized chores, I was playing games with my brother and sister or sitting out front on a nice sandy bank beside the “road” and making up stories.

I created roads, towns, good guys and bad guys (I grew up when Westerns were big), hideaways, ambushes … you name it. And I provided the dialogue for all the players. Yes, there were players—tiny plastic cowboy figures, horses, Indians. There was even a woman or two and as I recall I generally made them head of the outlaw band.

Hold onto that experience.

Another was with my sister’s paper dolls. My sister’s, not mine. Ooooohh, I wanted a set of paper dolls. You could DO things with paper dolls—dress them up, give them conversations, have them interact with each other. But my sister, undoubtedly believing I would harm her paper dolls—they were, after all, made of paper, and I was not known for being … gentle with toys, or clothes, or dishes, or much of anything—my sister put those paper dolls off limits.

I confess, once in a great while I would sneak into my sister’s belongings and pull out the paper dolls and play with them, which is why I know just how fun they were.

But here’s the connection. What if I had my own set of paper dolls and played dress up with them and took them shopping and gave them new purses and shoes—rather than spending hours at a time planning ambushes and creating towns and trails?

Could it be I’d be writing women’s fiction instead of sword-and-sorcery fantasy? Just maybe …

Reading, Writing, and ???

I love the name of Kathleen Popa’s blog—Reading, Writing, and … What Else Is There? That’s just about the way life is for me right now.

Well, if you count working on the CSFF Blog Tour and Latest In Spec as “writing.” Blogging definitely falls within the category of writing. Visiting other blogs falls within the category of reading. You might think that’s all I do. And you’re close.

I also work on a few free lance projects and write an occasional short story, but my main work is novel writing.

Just yesterday I finished a rewrite of Return to Efrathah, first in The Lore of Efrathah trilogy.

I’m excited about this for several reasons. One, I’d finished the rough draft of the third book and realized the whole story would be stronger if I strengthened some foreshadowing, changed a relationship arc, adjusted character motivation, and improved character voice.

These were not easy changes. Thing was, I’d done some of that for chapter one already. Every time I prepared a proposal for a conference, I was doing some fine-tuning of the early chapters. I didn’t realize how far chapter one had drifted from the rest of the book—until I prepared a three-chapter proposal and actually reread all three.

YIKES! I thought. This is what editors have been seeing? No WONDER they don’t want it! Double YIKES!! And of course, as I worked on the first three chapters, I quickly realized I needed to work on the rest of the book as well.

After I finish a freelance project that is next on my plate, I’ll tackle book two, Journey to Mithlimar. Then on to the final book, Battle for Revín.

I can’t help wondering, though, if, when I finish, I won’t once again see major things that need improving.

How do other writers complete a book in six months?

What Else?

I’ve been talking a lot about fantasy of late—which should be expected, since I AM a fantasy writer. And we just finished a CSFF tour highlighting a fantasy. And the Fantasy Four tour is about to launch. And Publisher’s Weekly has had fantasy articles the last two months (once including this blog, even). And The Fantasy Challenge is about to wrap up. And I just finished my own pleasure read, the Arthurian fantasy I mentioned by Gillian Bradshaw. So, yes, fantasy has been on my brain.

But I do read other books. For years, I read mostly non-fiction. It was my own personal rebellion against the way the ABA was going. What fiction I read came in the sanitized form of Reader’s Digest condensed books. (I think it stilted my prose. OK, “stilted” is not a verb, but it should be!)

Beyond the non-fiction, I’ve enjoyed a wide variety of genres, and list Pride and Prejudice and The Scarlet Pimpernel among my favorite books.

I have to say, I also thoroughly enjoyed The Bourne Identity et. al. And of late have soaked up Brandilyn Collins’ books, T. L. Hines’ Waking Lazaras, Sharon Hinck’s Becky Miller books, Julie Carobini’s Chocolate Beach.

So what’s in your wallet—uh, book shelf, or more specifically, in your summer to be read pile, that is not speculative fiction?

I’ve been so focused on my genre of late, I think I need to throw in something else, just to keep connected to the real world!

My one non-fiction title I’ve been strolling through is about Lewis and Tolkien and the influence of the Inklings on them, so that hardly counts—still all about fantasy.

Any recommendations?

Speaking of Challenges

Don’t forget that The Fantasy Challenge is winding down. We have a great group of participants, some who have taken advantage of the opportunity to enter the challenge more than once, but you have a few more days to add your name.

On July 1 I will be doing the drawings to determine our prize winners, first for Sharon Hinck’s The Restorer, then for Bryan Davis’s Dragons in Our Midst.

I’ll post the names of the winners once I’ve made the drawings, but just a word of caution in advance to whomever might win—both Bryan and Sharon will be participating in the Fantasy Four tour, so they may not be able to send out the prizes until after they get home towards the end of July.

My post yesterday on the Spring Reading Thing has me thinking about summer reading. Add to that The Fantasy Challenge, and I’m locked in on summer fantasy reading, secular or Christian. (As much as I support Christian fantasy, published by CBA houses, I am by no means advocating a policy of exclusion. Not to mention that for writers, it’s good to learn by reading top writers, and sometimes those are found in the ABA.)

So fantasy fans, what fantasies are you planning on reading this summer?

In no special order, my list includes the following:

In Winter’s Shadow, Gillian Bradshaw

DragonFire, Donita Paul

The Hand That Bears the Sword, George Bryan Polivka

Shaman’s Crossing, Robin Hobb

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J. K. Rowling

The Return of the King, J. R. R. Tolkien

Who, in your opinion, should I be adding to the list?

Spring Reading Thing Report

OK, I performed dismally.

The Spring Reading Thing, in case you aren’t aware, was the wonderful idea Katrina introduced at Callapidder Days. In a blog post last March, she challenged readers to create a spring reading list we would aim to complete by June 21.

Unfortunately, my eyes were bigger than my reading time. I thought I had a modest number of books selected, and even tried to take into consideration those I knew I’d read for blog tours.

Alas, I did not account for my yen to reread The Two Towers, or for the length of time it would take to read the books (not on the list) I was judging for a contest.

Of the nine books on my list, I only finished four, the latest being Gillian Bradshaw’s Kingdom of Summer. This is one of those “just for fun” reads, a recommendation from another fantasy-lover, a non-writer friend from church. We were discussing Christian fiction one day, and he said he’d be interested in my take on Bradshaw’s books, published by Simon and Schuster.

My take on the two books of hers I read is, they are most definitely Christian fiction, some very well-written Christian fiction. My friend doesn’t have the third book in the trilogy, and now I’ll have to find it in the library because this is too good to stop short of the complete story.

I might mention, these are Arthurian tales. There are two kinds of fantasy I don’t particularly care about—stories that are fantasy re-writes of Bible stories, and Arthurian tales. Mostly I feel like both areas create stories that hold no surprises because the premise is already familiar, well-known even.

Imagine how astounded I am to find myself hooked by a series of Arthurian tales!

Even though my performance in the Spring Reading Thing was a dismal failure (yes, failure—less than fifty percent can’t be seen as anything else), I’m hoping there will be a Summer Reading Thing or a Fall Reading Thing. Not that I need more incentive to read, I guess, but I think it gives me permission to read some of the books I WANT to read, not just those I feel obligated to read.

Plus, it was fun to find so many other people spending time reading, fun to see what kinds of books they had on their lists, fun to read reviews. I might have failed, but the Spring Reading Thing was a definite success.

Discussion questions

I’ve noticed an interesting trend of late. It seems more and more Christian fiction is including discussion question in the back.

I’ll admit, I have a bias against including discussion questions. It seems like a great irony to me. So many Christian writers say they do not intentionally include themes (which they call messages) but then include discussion questions to help readers discover their accidental themes.

Something seems wrong with this to me. If Christian fiction is trying to become unshackled from the image of dressed up evangelistic tracts, then what is it becoming—dressed up discussion prompts? Not that I am against discussion of good books, mind you. I can only hope my fiction might some day be discussed by others, for good or bad. Fiction should make us think, and should draw people together who want to dig into meaning. But my point is, shouldn’t that come from the story itself?

I would think an author or a publisher putting discussion questions on their web site would be perfectly appropriate. Many readers would find that helpful.

But in the back of the book? Somehow, that distorts fiction, in my mind—makes me think that the author all along had “discussion prompt” as the purpose of the novel. I know this isn’t so. I’ve talked with several authors and they have been asked to write up discussion questions and for some it seems as if this is one of the last jobs before a book goes to print.

I don’t like it.

And yet, in our last blog tour, several of the participants answered questions that came with the book. It is obvious these questions were helpful and sparked the kind of thought an author hopes for.

Still … I’d so much rather see it as a supplement apart from the book. But maybe that’s just me.

Your thoughts?

Who’s Your Audience?

In some ways, this question, Who’s your audience? is for writers to consider, but in another way, it applies to everyone.

First for writers. I guess the subject is on my mind because Sharon Hinck, author of The Restorer, first in the Sword of Lyric series (NavPress), wrote for a very specific audience. She understood early in her writing career the importance of pinpointing who bought books in Christian bookstores and writing the genre she loved slanted with those buyers in mind.

Listening to Sharon in various interviews, I conclude it was not a hard decision because she wrote for those she knew. I suppose we could formulate a corollary to the adage, Write what you know and phrase it Write for those whom you know.

Thing is, when I started writing fiction, I wrote what I wanted to read. Perhaps I was my audience, then. I hadn’t studied fiction writing and certainly hadn’t learned anything about the publishing business. I was on an adventure, writing because it was fun. And because I had something to say.

When I was first confronted with creating a book proposal with that section called “Target Audience,” I was a little confounded. The instructor spelled out how we could not say we were writing For Everyone, yet that’s what I had assumed.

Sure, I was writing what I liked to read, but what I liked to read was not some kind of obscure, difficult, specialty book. What I liked to read was what thousands of other folks liked to read. I just assumed a writer wrote for the largest audience possible.

So who was I writing for? I had to take a hard look.

I discovered through that process a philosophy for my writing. I want my books to accomplish something specific, something that books alone don’t accomplish. I want my writing to influence other people’s faith.

In some respects I feel a little like the old-style seed sower scattering seed to the wind. My “seed” is tucked inside a story—a three-book story, no less. It needs watering, probably some weeding. Maybe some birds need to be fended off to allow the seed to send down a root or two.

Of course, I’m not sitting alongside readers helping to keep the story alive in their thought, explaining it in terms of real life, and certainly not in terms of their own personal life. But friends can.

So I write my fiction to Christians who are friends, those who will perhaps see in my stories a seed they’d like to pass on to someone else. Not very specific, I know. But that’s one layer of my target audience.

So I realize, all of us—even non-writers—have target audiences, those we want to influence. We even have layers of audiences, some more important than others.

Who’s your first-layer target audience?

CSFF Blog Tour – The Restorer, Day 3

If you stopped by A Christian Worldview of Fiction expecting to find a blog tour stop discussing The Restorer, Sharon Hinck’s first fantasy novel, you are in the right place. And, yes, that cover is different from others you’ve seen on the tour.

Since I’ve already posted a review of the book over at Speculative Faith back in March, I decided I’d give you a look ahead. Consequently, this is a review of the second book in the Sword of Lyric series, The Restorer’s Son, targeted to release in September.

The Story. For those of you who have read The Restorer, you know that the door opened to this new story, even as the first one came to a resolution. However, even the title has a surprise connected to it.

And because I do not believe in spoiling a story by telling too much about the plot, I can’t say a lot. The People of the Verses still need a Restorer. The Restorer does not volunteer for the job but is chosen by the One for a job that seems unlikely, even impossible. Throw in some personal stakes, some unexpected complications, some unanticipated appearances, and you have another fast-paced, gripping story.

The Characters. Hinck takes her readers back into the land of the People of the Verses to encounter many of the same characters introduced in The Restorer, but there are also some new allies and enemies to deal with, all believable, interesting, realistic.

I particularly like the fact that the characters struggle, that they make decisions they aren’t sure about, that even appear to be wrong. They doubt but continue to try. They hope and continue to try. They fear and continue to try. There’s a realness about their range of emotions that make them engaging, I think.

The Setting. The fantasy world continues to develop. In The Restorer, Hinck portrayed a believable place, in some ways more primitive and in other ways more advanced than this world—an interesting approach to fashioning a fantasy place. This setting is fleshed out even further in The Restorer’s Son. More details about the religious practices become key to the story events. Also, the larger world becomes critical to the plot, so we learn more about the neighboring peoples.

One thing I particularly like about Hinck’s writing is that she does not bog the reader down with unnecessary facts to demonstrate how neatly she has figured out her imagined world. Only as the specifics are necessary to the story do those surface in appropriate doses.

The Theme. The themes are strong, clear, powerful, but not in any way preachy. The characters come to realizations about their own situations, their own lives as a natural part of their development and of the resolution of conflict.

The reader is left alone to come to his own conclusions, to think about the truth of what the characters encountered.

Strengths. Once again, Hinck demonstrates what a quality craftsman she is. With an economy of words, she paints vivid pictures, understandable characters, dramatic action.

Without a doubt, The Restorer’s Son contains one of the best scenes I’ve read in Christian fiction. I’d explain more, but I’d be spoiling the story. Let me just say, it is memorable. The conflict is vibrant, the tension high, the emotional pay-off complete. Wonderful, wonderful scene.

In this story, Hinck also does something quite venturesome with point of view. I wasn’t sure if I’d like it at first, but I think she—and the subtle clues at the beginning of chapters—made it workable. My hat’s off to her for even making the effort at something bordering on innovative (not that it’s never been done before, but it is far from common).

Weaknesses. As much as I love Hinck’s writing, fantasy world, premise, characters … all of it, really … I did stumble a time or two. First was an action fairly early into the story that happened off stage. I had a strong sense of being cheated. I didn’t want to whip past that event.

The bigger problem for me was a coincidence that drove the story. I don’t like coincidences. The thing is, I think this particular coincidence could have been given a proper motivation that would have made it believable. It was not.

Granted, like deus es machina, “coincidence” can actually be the hand of God working to order events. But for a novel, I think the coincidences need to be given human motivations with the understanding that God directed the humans to be so motivated. It’s not easy, not at all, to show God doing what He will do in a novel because it so often looks like the author doing what she will do instead.

I realize that a coincidence like this one in The Restorer’s Son will not be a distraction to most readers. I’ve seen far more egregious coincidences all throughout some novels that are highly successful, loved, and acclaimed. Keep in mind, I am in the minority with this issue.

Recommendation. Because of The Wonderful Scene alone, The Restorer’s Son is a Must Read. But besides The Wonderful Scene, this is a delightful story, well written. Christians should read it. Fantasy lovers should read it (and because it is about the Restorer’s son, male fantasy readers who didn’t find a soccer mom someone they could connect with, should have no problem becoming fully engaged). Those who love Sharon Hinck’s work should read it.

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There’s some lively discussion going on at some of the other blogs discussing The Restorer. Be sure to check out these tour participants’ posts:

Trish Anderson
Brandon Barr
Wayne Thomas Batson
Jim Black
Justin Boyer
Grace Bridges
Amy Browning
Jackie Castle
Valerie Comer
Karri Compton
Frank Creed
Lisa Cromwell
CSFF Blog Tour
Gene Curtis
D. G. D. Davidson
Chris Deanne
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Linda Gilmore
Beth Goddard
Marcus Goodyear
Andrea Graham
Russell Griffith
Jill Hart
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Heather R. Hunt
Becca Johnson
Jason Joyner
Kait
Karen
Dawn King
Tina Kulesa
Lost Genre Guild
Rachel Marks
Shannon McNear
Eve Nielsen
John W. Otte
John Ottinger
Robin Parrish
Rachelle
Cheryl Russel
Hanna Sandvig
Chawna Schroeder
Mirtika Schultz
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Jason Waguespac
Daniel I. Weaver

CSFF Blog Tour – The Restorer, Day 2

When I was at the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference this past March, I had the opportunity to meet Reagen Reed, Sharon Hinck’s editor for The Restorer, first in The Sword of Lyric series (NavPress).

Not only meet her, but interview her along with Sharon. It was a lot of fun, but I have to admit—I didn’t capture half of the conversation. To do live interviews well, you either have to have a tape recorder, the ability to write fast, or a great memory. I have none of those. Still, I think you’ll be interested in what I came away with.

RLM: Reagen, tell me what it was like to work with Sharon.

RR: I’m actually working with her right now [March 2007] on the edits for The Restorer’s Son. She’s a good author to work with. She has an excellent attitude. We go back and forth—I’ll send her suggestions, then she makes changes and sends it back. She’s not afraid to resist me but she always has a reason. I’m always impressed with her creativity.

SH: The best times are when she gives an example and I just leave it the way she suggested.

RLM: How long was the editorial process?

RR: Five to six months.

SH: She’ll give me the big picture notes first, then some line edits.

RR: That’s another thing about working with her. She always turns things in early.

[At this point I failed to write down what question I asked. but here is Reagen's response]

RR: I’ve found it hard to find good fantasy. It tends to degenerate. I’ve read Jordan and am addicted to Paolini. I tend to read more YA fantasy, but I don’t mind the darkness. It’s the smut I avoid.

[Here was a lapse again. We began discussing Kieran, one of the characters in The Sword of Lyric series. Reagen said he is her favorite character, mentioning that he is feisty. Then this interchange].

SH: He [Kieran] has such disregard for doing things right.

RR: He’s so sarcastic.

SH: He’s a little bit dangerous. Other characters are safer. Susan is safe. He’s more unpredictable.

RLM: What would you say to someone who doesn’t want to read a series and be left hanging between books?

RR: Sharon did an excellent job wrapping up the story, but there are doors left open, and if you walk through them, you’ll find another story.

RLM: How do you feel about study questions [in the back of the novel]?

SH: There’s lots of Biblical imagery. The Restorer is inspired by the story of Deborah. The study questions give the readers a place where they can go.

RR: Readers groups can use them as guides to help readers discuss the book. Subtle themes can come out.

SH: It’s fun to help readers discover the themes.

[Another unknown question, but I suspect it had something to do with the favorite part of the book]

RR: Near the end, there’s a sacrifice from an unexpected corner that is very powerful.

SH: My favorite scene is where she confronts what she’s feeling—betrayed—and letting God speak to that. She’s saying, God I don’t understand. Why did you let this happen?

RLM: What can we look forward to in The Restorer’s Son?

SH: Fractions in alliances. The surprise of … we can’t talk about that. There are some really strong plot twists.

RR: Exploration of new countries. Confrontation of darkness.

RLM: Sharon, did you have any clue that you were being considered for the Mount Hermon Writer of the Year Award?

SH: No. I knew a friend was turning in a nomination, but I didn’t know my agent was also turning in my name.

RLM: What were your thoughts about winning the award?

SH: I came here [Mount Hermon] feeling exhausted and asking for a drop of encouragement, and God gave me an ocean of encouragement.

The cool thing is that He orchestrated a series of encounters and messages and speakers that had refreshed me before the award was announced. I knew I was me again.

God validated my heart this whole week. Because He had already validated me, the award was just a special treat from Him. It was a very tender blessing from Him.

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Take time to visit other blogs participating in the tour for The Restorer:

Trish Anderson Brandon Barr Wayne Thomas Batson Jim Black Justin Boyer Grace Bridges Amy Browning Jackie Castle Valerie Comer Karri Compton Frank Creed Lisa Cromwell CSFF Blog Tour Gene Curtis D. G. D. Davidson Chris Deanne Jeff Draper April Erwin Linda Gilmore Beth Goddard Marcus Goodyear Andrea Graham Russell Griffith Jill Hart Katie Hart Sherrie Hibbs Heather R. Hunt Becca Johnson Jason Joyner Kait Karen Dawn King Tina Kulesa Lost Genre Guild Rachel Marks Shannon McNear Eve Nielsen John W. Otte John Ottinger Robin Parrish Rachelle Cheryl Russel Hanna Sandvig Chawna Schroeder Mirtika Schultz Steve Trower Speculative Faith Jason Waguespac Daniel I. Weaver

CSFF Blog Tour – The Restorer, Day 1

One of the cool things about being an author is meeting authors.

Not just to hob nob with the rich and famous ( - read, laughing hysterically, as most authors will tell you, it’s not even a living, and the criticism makes a person feel more infamous than famous).

Meeting authors puts another writer on familiar territory. Especially when the writers work in the same genre. Especially when the genre has faced some resistance.

Here, at last, is someone In Person, who knows the struggles, the crafting problems, the blank stares, the rejection letters, the hopes, the prayers … you get the idea.

Without a doubt, it is a pleasure to see another writer of like mind succeed. And certainly, The Restorer (NavPress), Sharon Hinck’s first fantasy novel, the kick-off to The Sword of Lyric series, has all the potential for great success.

Here’s why.

1. The writing. Pure and simple, this is a great writing, accessible to any reader, not just fantasy lovers, though there is no shortage of what the fantasy aficionado longs for.

2. The story. This is one of those unpredictable stories that keeps you reading late into the night. It is exciting, suspenseful, filled with tension on so many levels.

3. A timely tour. Nope, I’m not referring to the CSFF Blog Tour. Sharon Hinck is part of a reality tour—The Fantasy Four, featuring Wayne Thomas Batson, Bryan Davis, Christopher Hopper, and Hinck. These four fantasy authors will be leaving from Atlanta right after the ICRS (International Christian Retailing Show) and touring up the East Coast, stopping for book signings at seventeen locations over ten days.

4. Prayer. Many of us feel the time for fantasy has arrived. But the thing is, this is territory Satan has held for a long time. He has taken a genre with the good-versus-evil motif and often twisted it to compromise “good” or glorify evil. Christian fantasy puts a stop to that, not something he likes to see. Prayer is our biggest weapon against him. That and the Sword of Truth, which is the word of God.

Surprise, surprise. The protagonist in The Restorer has been called to restore the Verses to a people who are forgetting. Now that’s something Satan would want to distort or stifle. Thankfully, God is greater than the enemy of our souls.

5. Our culture is enamored with fantasy. People are so ready for quality fantasy. They just need to know it exists.

6. Christian publishing houses are doing a great job getting Christian fiction into the venues where people buy books. Barns and Noble. Borders. The discount stores. You can actually find Christian fiction in stores where you see the NY Times best sellers.

Special kudos to NavPress for picking up The Sword of Lyric series. Their timing couldn’t be better. But, I guess, that shouldn’t be a surprise either. God isn’t known for anything other than timeliness, and surely, He has His hand on this book, this series.

Once you read it, you’ll know what I mean.

Take time to check out what other bloggers are saying this week on the virtual CSFF tour for The Restorer:

• Trish Anderson
• Brandon Barr
• * Wayne Thomas Batson
• Jim Black
• Justin Boyer
• Grace Bridges
• Amy Browning
• Jackie Castle
• Valerie Comer
• Karri Compton
• Frank Creed
• Lisa Cromwell
• CSFF Blog Tour
• Gene Curtis
• D. G. D. Davidson
• Chris Deanne
• Jeff Draper
• April Erwin
• Linda Gilmore
• Beth Goddard
• Marcus Goodyear
• Andrea Graham
• Russell Griffith
• Jill Hart
• Katie Hart
• Sherrie Hibbs
• Heather R. Hunt
• Becca Johnson
• Jason Joyner
• Kait
• Karen
• Dawn King
• Tina Kulesa
• Lost Genre Guild
• Rachel Marks
• * Shannon McNear
• Eve Nielsen
• John W. Otte
• John Ottinger
• Robin Parrish
• Rachelle
• Cheryl Russel
• Hanna Sandvig
• Chawna Schroeder
• Mirtika Schultz
• Steve Trower
• Speculative Faith (I have it on good authority, this is one post you won’t want to miss )
• Jason Waguespac
• Daniel I. Weaver

*recently added to this month’s list