You See It Here, You See It There—Christian Fantasy Everywhere

With all the attention on the Motiv8 Fantasy Fiction Tour, I don’t want to neglect the other ground breaking fantasy event that took place last week. Marcher Lord Press released its first books.

In one forum, I learned that there was a midnight lineup of fans trying to be the first to order. It turns out that over a hundred people had the same idea. I wonder if there’s ever been an online rush to buy books before.

Without a doubt, MLP has focused the spotlight roundly on fantasy and other speculative genres written from a Christian worldview. One bit of evidence is the fact that oft-declared non-fantasy reader Nicole Petrino-Salter conducted an interview with MLP founder, Jeff Gerke, which she posted last Tuesday.

Earlier this year Jeff taught on speculative fiction at the Oregon Christian Writers’ Conference. Here’s a man who has seized an opportunity. Not only does he recognize the ongoing popularity of speculative fiction, he’s paying attention to the development of new technology. The Marcher Lord Press model of publishing just might revolutionize the industry.

But promoting the genre with feet on the ground are our heroic eight authors—Wayne Thomas Batson, Bryan Davis, Sharon Hinck, Christopher Hopper, L.B. Graham, Donita Paul, Eric Reinhold, and Jonathan Rogers. Their tour is quickly coming to an end, and I can’t wait to hear in person their stories of the many encounters with fans, new and old.

Report after report mentions the fun, the crowds, the enthusiasm. The video journal has clips of happy readers walking out with stacks of books. One comment begged the writers to tour the heartland next. Others suggested the entire US. Personally, I’d like to see them return to the West Coast and stay right here in SoCal. I know of a dozen places that would love to have them.

Regardless, there are two days remaining, and you can enjoy the events live or by rerun simply by clicking over to the Motiv8 Web site.

By the way, did you discover who the mystery guests were at the beginning of the tour? Authors of the brand new, very eye-catching middle grade fantasies—the Hunter Brown series—brothers, Christopher and Allan Miller.

Who knows? The fantasy tour might grow by half next year and there will be a group of twelve. Sounds very biblical!