Rachel Starr Thomson

My most recent article on Boundless.org is a reminder to us all to love our countries — and a tribute of sorts to mine:

I saw something in Vancouver that I don’t often see in this northern nation of ours. Patriotism. People bursting with pride in being Canadian, faces painted red and white, waving hockey sticks with Canadian flags on the end. After I’d returned home, I was driving down the freeway and listening to commentators on the CBC (the Canadian Broadcasting Company) asking whether this event, this upswell of Canadian identity and pride, had changed us forever.

Maybe it had, they thought.

Certainly the Olympics helped bolster my own sense of identity as a Canadian. My patriotic journey has been an unusual one. My grandmother was born and raised in Iowa, and though she moved after her marriage to the border city in Canada where my grandfather lived, she remained passionately American all her life. Her eight children were all born in Canada, but obtained dual citizenship early on, and they too developed a strong sense of American identity.

(Read the rest of “Loving My Country” here: http://www.boundless.org/2005/articles/a0002322.cfm .)

After the article posted, I got this lovely e-mail from fellow Boundless writer Elisabeth Adams:

Hi Rachel,

Just wanted to let you know that I enjoyed your latest article on Boundless — both because it’s an excellent articulation of the subject, and because I lived in Canada for a year, and prayed for her alongside my Canadian friends. I still feel a tug on my heart when I hear “we stand on guard for thee.”  I did grow up with a Canadian uncle and later went to school with a Canadian, who hated the igloo jokes and clued me in to the fact that it can be Very Annoying to have such a large and loud neighbor nation soaking up so much of the attention.

But oh, was I an innocent when I went up there! I figured Canada was just like America, only further north. Not so much. :O) I saw Loyalist cemeteries. (That was a shock!) Heard a much less pugnacious attitude towards politics. Felt the gentle, Old World spirit and experienced over-the-top hospitality. Celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving. Drank tea! Enjoyed seeing British spellings. Got used to seeing French everywhere.  Enjoyed a bit of my Scottish heritage, including kilts, Gaelic, and fiddles.  Lived so far from town that the stars were brighter than I’ve ever seen them before or since, and by woods so thick, it was easy to imagine Indians stepping out of them. Saw my first bald eagles in the wild (ironic, that). Bought milk in bags, and actually had both milkman and bookmobile come my house. Got lost in Quebec, and watched my non-French-speaking dad try to get directions from a very non-English-speaking hunter. (Lots of arm waving involved).

When I’m abroad, people of numerous nationalities hear my accent and guess that I’m Canadian. And it makes me smile. I love being American, but I’m glad I’ve gotten to know our sister nation just a wee bit more.

Thanks for reminding me of so many good memories!
Elisabeth

Here’s to both our countries today!

Jill Williamson is the author of the Christy-Award-winning fantasy novel By Darkness Hid, as well as its newly released sequel, To Darkness Fled. The CSFF bloggers toured By Darkness Hid back in May (my review is here), and Jill was kind enough to grant me a late interview. Below, we talk about Jill’s amazing world-building process, Marcher Lord Press, paths to publication, and more. Enjoy!

Rachel: First off, your book has been nominated and recognized in several exciting ways lately. [Note: Since I wrote these interview questions, Jill became the winner of the 2010 Christy Award in the Visionary Category! She's now gone beyond "nominated" to "award-winning."] Can you tell us about that? How are you feeling about all this recognition?

Jill: I’m proud and humbled at the same time. It’s very exciting and slightly intimidating. I sometimes feel like I’m on the sidelines watching my life and wondering what God is up to. I’m so honored to be blessed by these recognitions. I pray that I can finish the trilogy in a satisfying way for my readers.

Rachel: You said in an earlier interview that some of your motivation to write By Darkness Hid came from the reaction to Harry Potter within Christian circles—that you wanted to write a fantasy novel “everyone would like.” How’s that turning out?

Jill: LOL. Not so well. I was very naive to think any book could meet the expectations of Christians everywhere. I’ve since learned that you can’t please everyone. And I’ve discovered that Christians can be the biggest critics. Some people feel that fantasy novels are not safe for their children to read. And some Christians actively seek new clean fantasy books for their kids. For the most part, teen readers like my books, which was my goal. Their parents might not, though. ?

Rachel: It struck me as I read By Darkness Hid that its world felt very real. You didn’t give an overload of details, but I got the feeling there was a lot of depth and texture to these places and cultures and people. Can you describe your process of world building?
The first thing I did was draw my map. And it was way too big and looked a bit like Africa, but I went with it. I noticed I had about 50 dots on it that were meant to become cities. It overwhelmed me to think of naming them all, so I erased a few. But I still had a bunch to name, so I used Hebrew words to name most of them. For example, “allown” is Hebrew for “oak” or “tree” so Allowntown in the center of the map is where my half dead-half living tree is.

Jill: Once I’d named all the places, I created a character sheet for each. I used a set of encyclopedias to look up similar places. For example, Barth Duchy is supposed to be desert, similar to northern Africa. So I looked up some countries in northern Africa and jotted down climate, crops, animals, plants, industry, that sort of thing. I also brainstormed a culture for each town. I did all this for every town in my land.

Then I needed character names. I’d been using Hebrew for many of them, but I wanted some variety. So I came up with some tricks. Allowntown, for example, is an orchard town. So I wrote a list of types of apples. Gala, Pippin, Cortland, Concord, Crab, Ginger, Fuji, etc. And when I needed a new character from Allowntown, I’d pick a name from the list. Each town had a theme. Carmine is a vineyard town, so I brainstormed a list of things having to do with wine: Rioja, Flint, Terra, Keuper, Pinot, Concord, Malbec, etc. For Berland I used Inupiat names. For Magos I used Gaelic names. For Cherem, I used names of stars. It was fun. I also sketched out the castles in cities where major parts of the story took place. I sketched characters. I wrote a history of my land with a timeline of who was king when, what major events took place, wars, births, deaths, etc. I wrote family trees so that I knew who married who. I kept everything in a 3-ring binder. At one point my husband said, “Jill, I thought you were going to write a book.” So I finally set the world building aside and started to write.

Rachel: Achan is a classic hero, an underdog who rises from the ashes to take his rightful place. During the CSFF blog tour, a few of us discussed whether someone in Achan’s position could really develop the character he did. We talked about the influence of “good genes,” God’s protection, and Achan’s own choices. How do you see this character’s development? What makes him a good guy instead of a resentful, scarred individual who’s only in it for himself?

Jill: His friendship with Gren Fenny. She rescued him from being alone. She taught him to swim and was kind to him. Told him that he should be treated that way. That he was worth more. That inspired him. He wanted to be to others what she had been to him. Plus, he saw her parents interact and how they loved each other and hoped that he might have such a family someday.

Rachel: Your handling of “love” in the book intrigued me. More than one character thinks he or she is “in love,” but rather than giving them the classic fantasy/fairy tale “true love,” you’ve made their feelings much more—shall we say adolescent? They’re a bit fickle and not so deep as the characters believe. Was this intentional? What are your thoughts on love in fiction?

Jill: I think many times, love in fiction is not realistic. I’ve worked with teens for twelve years. Most of their “true love” relationships don’t turn out to be true love. Break ups. Heartbreak. Lies. Cheating. But teens are confused. Hollywood paints this magical, unrealistic view of love and sex. And since I wrote for teens, I wanted to show things teens struggle with. I also wanted to show that love is a choice. So many people today give up on love when the “feelings” go away. They jump from one relationship to another, wondering what’s wrong with them. Why can’t they find that magical love? But love is more than “feelings.” Love is a choice to give another person kindness and affection and patience and forgiveness. So that’s what I try to show…eventually. *wink*

Plus I need to keep the tension going. If my characters were already living happily ever after, I loose all that. That’s why the people you want to get together on your favorite TV show never do. Think of Clark and Lana or later, Clark and Lois on Smallville. The writers drag this out for as many seasons as they can. And if they do let the characters get together, their love is quickly thwarted. It’s a trick to keep the tension up. ?

Rachel: Your publisher is Marcher Lord Press, a very nontraditional small press that specializes in Christian fantasy. Did you find them, or did they find you? How did your relationship with Marcher Lord come about?

Jill: I met Jeff at the 2007 Mount Hermon Christian Writer’s conference. He told me he freelance edited for a few famous spec fiction authors. I’d been frustrated with all the rejections and lack of interest in teen YA and had been looking for someone to read my book and tell me if I knew what I was doing. But I wanted the right person. So when I heard that, I started saving my dollars because I knew that Jeff would get my “weird” YA book. Almost a year later I paid him to freelance edit my first book—a teen spy story. His feedback was fabulous and encouraging. So when I attended the Oregon Christian Summer Coaching Conference in the fall of 2008, and saw that NO ONE wanted to see YA books, I gave Jeff the first chapter of my medieval teen novel to see what he though of it. He wanted to meet with me to talk about it, asked why it had to be YA, asked if it was really, truly 100% done, asked if I’d send him the full. And I did. And he wanted to publish it. I figured this could be the opportunity to get a book out there and promote it and start my writing career. So I accepted his offer.

Rachel: MLP’s Web site says its titles “titles are not expected to find their way to bookstore shelves. The primary sales channel will be the Internet. A Marcher Lord Press author may never see his or her novel at the local bookstore or Wal-Mart . . . Marcher Lord Press will do very little in terms of marketing the novels we publish. There will be no multi-city book tours or TV appearances or advertisements in Publisher’s Weekly.” These days, it seems writers have to be salespeople as well as writers. How do you market By Darkness Hid? In what ways has MLP benefited you more than, say, self-publishing could have done?

Jill:As soon as I signed the contract I started marketing. I’ve learned a lot over the years. I knew that it was all me. Even if Zondervan had picked up my book, it still would have depended on me to promote. I had already made my own website. I signed up for a blog tour. I sought out a list of influencers. I asked Jeff if I could print my own ARCs and mail them to Publisher’s Weekly and Library Journal. He got excited and offered to make real ones. I wrote my own press releases and sent them to newspapers. I submitted to any contest I could. I solicited endorsements. I gave at least 100 books away to reviewers and friends and contests and libraries. I set up my own book signing. I volunteered and still volunteer to speak at schools and libraries and to teach writing workshops.

Marcher Lord Press benefited me more than self-publishing because I didn’t have to pay anything to get my books produced. Jeff paid me. My book earned out in the first three months and I started to receive royalties. Also, Jeff is an amazing editor. He gets what makes a great story. He’s sharp about when things aren’t working. He has a reputation in the industry already and I knew that I would benefit from that. Jeff also designs great books, inside and out. I have a gorgeous, award-winning cover thanks to Kirk DouPonce. Jeff designed the interior layout. Also, Publisher’s Weekly and Library Journal would not have reviewed my book had I self-published it.

Rachel: I’ve not yet had a chance to read To Darkness Fled, though I look forward to it! Can you whet our appetites for it?

Jill: Achan and Vrell and the knights have fled into Darkness to escape Esek’s wrath. Their destination is Ice Island where they hope to free an Old Kingsguard army that has been falsely imprisoned. Achan struggles with a new host of pressures due to his new identity. And Vrell continues to hide, but her secret won’t be safe for long.

Rachel: Finally, what are you reading these days? What writers have had the heaviest influence on your own writing and sense of story?

Jill:I’ve been reading Christian fiction. I recently read Eric Wilson’s Valley of Bones, Tosca Lee’s Demon: a Memoir, and Stephanie Morrill’s So Over It. I also read what’s popular in general market YA. I’m reading The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan and I recently finished Inside Out by Maria V. Snyder.

The Harry Potter books totally inspired me. The storyworld most of all but also the complex plot and the way Rowling balanced all her characters. I love how deep the layers go. How she knows so much about every minor character. I’m also inspired by Frank Peretti’s premises. I love adding some kind of spiritual warfare to my stories. And I love the epic style of Tolkien.

“Remember how I followed you and Adrian like a little puppy until I was eight?”

Jason grinned. “I remember. We didn’t mind. We needed a fair maiden to rescue whenever we stormed the sand castles.”

“Well, I always knew you’d be a warrior. Remember what I used to say when we were getting ready to wade across the Elbon?”

“I remember. ‘Lead the way, warrior.’”

“Those were good days.” She hooked her arm around his and sighed. “I feel like they’re back. I’m a little girl again, a maiden rescued from a witch hunter.”

In yesterday’s interview with Bryan Davis, I asked about the magical elements in Starlighter — the mysterious gifts possessed by Koren and Elyssa. The gifts add to the appeal of both characters, by making them fascinating in their own right and placing them both in peril — Koren because her power is coveted by evil rulers, Elyssa because people with her gifts get burned at the stake. Yet both believe that the Creator has endowed them with their powers, and both seek to use their gifts in His service.

Controversy could enter, however, as it does so often with Christian speculative fiction, because in our world Koren and Elyssa’s gifts would probably be demonic at worst and anti-biblical at best (for example, the title used for Elyssa, “Diviner,” calls to mind Scripture’s admonitions against divination).

In the interview, Bryan revealed his process for dividing reality and fantasy:

Since the Dragons in our Midst series takes place in our world, I had to draw the line between reality and fantasy very carefully, more so in that series than in Dragons of Starlight. In Dragons in our Midst, I adhered to the realities of our world and added the fantasy elements without violating the truths of the Bible’s revelations of the spiritual world. I have the real God, and I mention the real Jesus, which established my story as one that could not trespass lines drawn by the Bible. So all my heroic characters never use magic or other powers that Christians in our world would consider demonic or as arising from forbidden sources.

Starlighter . . . takes place in another world. The characters have inherent abilities that would be considered demonic in our world, but in this world, they are endowed by the Creator. Just as the Holy Spirit gives different gifts to humans in our world, God does the same in the Starlighter world, but some of the gifts don’t match those in our world . . .

I realized when I wrote the story that some people would challenge these abilities as demonic. That’s why I created the persecutors who chase Elyssa and characterize them as dark-ages style inquisitors who are blind to the possibility that God is able to endow people with gifts they don’t understand.

Bryan’s answer touches on something Christian fantasy writers understand: powers or abilities are not evil in and of themselves; it’s the source of those powers or abilities — and the way that we access and/or use them — that make them good or evil.

In another world, the rules could very well be different than they are here. By exploring these possibilities, fantasy writers can turn a mirror on our own world and our attitudes and responses to people, to events, and to things we don’t understand. It’s this transferral of the familiar into the strange that gives fantasy its emotional and spiritual power: taken out of our usual surroundings, we’re forced to see life differently for the duration of the story, to ask questions of ourselves and challenge our assumptions.

The best fantasy will give us a vision we can take back into the real world with us — not blurring the lines between fantasy and reality, but equipping us to see through the outsides of things and into the heart a little more clearly.

Today, I interview Bryan Davis, author of Starlighter, on the characters, upcoming titles, the strange and fascinating journeys that lead to publication, and the difference between magical powers in fantasy and magical powers in the real world.

Rachel: So let’s start with a really easy question: who’s your favourite character in Starlighter? Why?

Bryan: I get asked about favorite characters many times, and it’s always hard to answer, because I like so many of them. I create characters (the heroes, of course) who are appealing to me. If I had to pick one, I think I would go with Koren. There’s something special about a heroine who suffers greatly but still rises to sacrifice for others. I find her captivating. Koren is vulnerable, yet strong. She is naïve is some ways, yet filled with wisdom in others. She despises the cruelty of slavery, yet is willing to endure it for the sake of others. She is truly heroic.

Rachel: I ask because you did something in this book that’s an essential for me: wrote great side characters. For some reason I never like protagonists as much as I should, so I latch onto side characters, and I like big casts. Jason and Koren take center stage in Starlighter, but I was equally fascinated by Wallace, Randall, Tibber, and especially Elyssa. Will any of these folks be playing a bigger role in the coming books?

Bryan:Elyssa and Wallace will definitely take bigger roles, especially Elyssa. She is a mysterious character who has gifts that go unexplained in Starlighter. I didn’t understand them myself until I wrote the second book. I am working on the third book right now, and her role grows even more.

Rachel: I was intrigued by Starlighter’s mix of classic fantasy with sci-fi elements. What inspired you to mix genres this way, and what are the challenges of doing so?

Bryan: I’m not sure where to draw the line between fantasy and science fiction. I have defined science fiction as fiction that could be true if technology developed far enough, and fantasy is fiction that doesn’t explain the strange elements at all. Usually, a fantasy story can’t happen no matter how far technology advances. I see Starlighter as pure fantasy, because the technology, for the most part, is behind our own, and the strange elements could never happen. I don’t explain how the portal works, how the litmus finger guides Jason, how the river reverses course, etc. I provide no science to explain it, so, to me, Starlighter falls squarely in the fantasy category.

Rachel: Dragons of Starlight is your fourth YA fantasy series—and three involve dragons. How did you fall into this ongoing relationship with our scaly, fire-breathing friends?

Bryan: My Echoes from the Edge series doesn’t involve dragons at all, so Dragons of Starlight is my third dragon-oriented series. Dragons in our Midst began when I had a dream about a boy who could breathe fire. I told my eldest son about it, and he suggested that I write a story about the dream. He and I brainstormed together and decided that the boy’s father was once a dragon. Eight years later, AMG Publishers took a chance on that story, and it became Raising Dragons, the first Dragons in our Midst book. Oracles of Fire is a sequel series, so it also had dragons. After I wrote Echoes from the Edge for Zondervan, they wanted me to write a dragons series for them, since my other dragons books were so successful for AMG, so that led me to write the Dragons of Starlight series.

Rachel: Do you anticipate moving into non-dragon waters in fiction at any point?

Bryan: Besides the Echoes from the Edge series, I have written I Know Why the Angels Dance, a standalone contemporary novel, published by AMG. I have ideas for other non-dragons stories that I am excited about, so I hope I get the opportunity to write them soon.

Rachel: Speaking of waters, you’ve entered some potentially controversial ones in this book. Several of your characters possess gifts that, in our world, most Christians would condemn as demonic. (Koren essentially “channels” the voice of the dragon prince, and Elyssa’s hyper-awareness of the world around her earns her the title “Diviner” and has her all but condemned as a witch.) Talk to me about the line between fiction and reality and how (and why) to walk that line as a Christian fantasy author.

Bryan: Since the Dragons in our Midst series takes place in our world, I had to draw the line between reality and fantasy very carefully, more so in that series than in Dragons of Starlight. In Dragons in our Midst, I adhered to the realities of our world and added the fantasy elements without violating the truths of the Bible’s revelations of the spiritual world. I have the real God, and I mention the real Jesus, which established my story as one that could not trespass lines drawn by the Bible. So all my heroic characters never use magic or other powers that Christians in our world would consider demonic or as arising from forbidden sources.

Starlighter, however, takes place in another world. The characters have inherent abilities that would be considered demonic in our world, but in this world, they are endowed by the Creator. Just as the Holy Spirit gives different gifts to humans in our world, God does the same in the Starlighter world, but some of the gifts don’t match those in our world. Koren can spiritually speak to the unborn dragon and make her stories come alive. These abilities are inherent in a Starlighter, and they are provided by the Creator. The same is true for Elyssa. Her Diviner gifts come from the Creator. Again, it’s a different world, so humans can have abilities that we don’t have here.

I realized when I wrote the story that some people would challenge these abilities as demonic. That’s why I created the persecutors who chase Elyssa and characterize them as dark-ages style inquisitors who are blind to the possibility that God is able to endow people with gifts they don’t understand.

In our world, people who seek power from sources other than God are rightly criticized if, indeed, the source of power is from darkness. A problem arises when someone has a gift from God that people simply don’t understand, and ignorance gives rise to fear, and fear gives rise to attack. This happened when the Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out demons by the power of Satan.

Starlighter presents a similar situation in which we have a character who is able to do things the religious elite don’t understand, and they accuse her of having demonic influence. They refuse to consider the possibility that God provides some humans with these gifts. I cast these persecutors as the Pharisees of the Starlighter cosmos, people blinded by their own religiosity.

So, in essence, if people accuse me of promoting the powers of darkness in this story, they are really in that category as well, since they are unable to comprehend that this is a different world with different rules. They are blinded by their religiosity.

Rachel: Starlighter’s dedication credits Amanda (your daughter?) with giving you the idea for this story. Can you share how that came about?

Bryan: Amanda is my 19-year-old daughter. I mentioned before that Zondervan asked for a dragons story, so I asked my children if they had any ideas. Amanda suggested a story about a world populated by dragons that enslaves humans kidnapped from a world of humans. She also came up with the idea that two teenaged humans would go to the dragon world to try to bring the slaves home. I told Zondervan about the idea, and they loved it. I made up the details as I wrote the story, included the Starlighter and Diviner characters, but Amanda invented the basic storyline.

Rachel: You’ve left us with something of a cliffhanger at the end of Starlight. Can you whet our appetites for the next book?

Bryan: Telling about the next book is challenging for two reasons. One is that the next book is not part of the Dragons of Starlight series. Two is that I don’t even know the title for the next Dragons of Starlight book.

Originally, Zondervan was going to publish two series, one for young adults and one for adults, so I wrote Starlighter with that fact in mind, creating two adults in Starlighter, Adrian and Marcelle, who had minor roles. I planned to make them the main characters in the adult series. After I wrote the first adult story and submitted it, Zondervan canceled the adult series because of the departure of the editor who acquired it. AMG Publishers picked it up, but they are not allowed to use the “Dragons of Starlight” name, so they are calling the two-book adult series, “Tales of Starlight.”

Therefore, the next book will be Masters & Slayers, book one in the Tales of Starlight series. It will debut in September. After that, sometime in January, the second book in Dragons of Starlight will come out. In that story, Jason and Koren continue their journey toward the Northlands to find the ally that Arxad said would be there, but when the black egg hatches, the new prince will use his influence on Koren to try to bring her back. In the meantime, Elyssa and Wallace begin their search for Jason, and they make an amazing discovery in a secret room in the Zodiac’s lower level. What did they find? I’ll just say that it is something that Arxad and Magnar have kept secret for many years, and if the prince from the black egg obtains it, all will be lost.

Rachel: Bryan, thanks for a great interview!

Tomorrow, a few of my own thoughts on the reality/fantasy division and how fantasy can act as an all-too-revealing mirror on the real world.

Jason Masters is trained to be a hero, a peasant whose skill takes him to the top of warrior training. With his brother Adrian, he grows up fighting homemade dragons and “rescuing” his best friend, Elyssa, from all manner of peril. But growing up brings unwelcome realities with it. His oldest brother, Frederick, disappears, and Adrian’s involvement with an underground movement that believes in real dragons places him in constant danger. Elyssa’s unusual gifts bring her under the scrutiny of witch hunters, who are foiled only when she’s dragged away in the night by a man-eating mountain bear. And Jason’s dreams of glory are brought down a few pegs when he’s appointed bodyguard to the corrupt, selfish Governor Prescott.

Life is not looking up.

But then Adrian tells Jason where he’s going — to find the gateway to the dragon world, another planet where, rumour has it, humans are kept as slaves to the fire-breathing beasts. Adrian gives Jason a message — from Frederick — and a mission. Murder, political hijinks, and the rescue of Elyssa from the dungeon (not from a mountain bear’s cave) turns life around again, and suddenly Jason finds himself on a dangerous journey to rescue the slaves from the dragon world and prove himself a true hero after all.

Meanwhile, on the dragon world, a slave girl named Koren memorizes the Creator’s Code, dreams of freedom, tells stories to dramatic and mysterious effect, and hopes that rumours of a home world to which escape might be possible are true. Events — and her own storytelling gift — soon promise to reveal the truth. But they also threaten Koren’s life, and more, her heart, as she’s drawn into the service of a dragon prince whose power is seductive and deadly.

Starlighter is an engaging story, made especially so by its cast of characters. It’s a clean read, appropriate for any reader who can handle a little (non-gory) violence and scariness. Davis writes with good humour and plenty of heart. The story is at times thought-provoking, and I’m looking forward to seeing where the characters’ journey takes them.

This month’s CSFF feature is Bryan Davis’s Starlighter, a book I almost didn’t get to review. You see, Zondervan was only sending review copies out via UPS, and as a Canadian that didn’t work for me. I asked Bryan for an interview anyway, and when he learned about the situation, he sent me a (signed!) copy at his own expense.

Which establishes that Bryan Davis is a Really Nice Guy.

He’s also the reigning king of YA Christian fantasy, much as Donita K. Paul is the reigning queen. Maybe that makes dragons the reigning pets of YA Christian fantasy, because both authors write a lot about them.

In Starlighter, dragons have kidnapped humans from another planet in order to force them into slavery, and then covered up the truth about their own nefarious deeds with lies. Tomorrow, I’ll write a review that looks at the story in a little more detail, and my interview with Bryan Davis will post on Wednesday. Thursday I’m hoping to write up some thoughts provoked by the book and interview (although I failed to do so for Matt Mikalatos in the previous tour — sorry about that!).

For now, check out the other tour(ists? ers? guides?) people, listed below.

You can also check out Bryan Davis’s blog or his website.

Brandon Barr
Beckie Burnham
Jeff Chapman
R. L. Copple
CSFF Blog Tour
Stacey Dale
D. G. D. Davidson
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Andrea Graham
Tori Greene
Nikole Hahn
Ryan Heart
Becky Jesse
Cris Jesse
Jason Joyner
Julie
Carol Keen
Krystine Kercher
Dawn King
Leighton
Jane Maritz
Rebecca LuElla Miller
John W. Otte
Donita K. Paul
Crista Richey
SarahFlan
Chawna Schroeder
Rachel Starr Thomson
Steve Trower
Fred Warren
Dona Watson
Phyllis Wheeler
Jill Williamson
KM Wilsher

This just in from Becky Miller:

Now that the World Cup is over and we’re at the mid-point of summer, what a perfect time to carve out some quiet moments to read! As part of the Clive Staples Award, we’ve designated July Read Christian Speculative Fiction Month. I’d love to have you help spread the word.

And speaking of the CSA, voting  for this readers’ choice award will begin in August. A number of the nominations are books CSFF has featured, and several are books by CSFF members. What an opportunity this gives us to draw attention to quality Christian speculative fiction.

Currently we’re posting introductions of the the nominations at the award site – http://clivestaplesaward.wordpress.com/ . Stop by and take a look, then tell others. Special point of emphasis: to be eligible to participate, voters must have read at least two of the nominations.

If you’re a fan of spec fic (or just want a good story to read!), I encourage you to check out the nominations, which Becky has laid out with lots of intriguing detail, and head for your local library or bookstore. There’s some great reading here, including several books that I’ve reviewed over the last year — Karen Hancock’s The Enclave, Jill Williamson’s By Darkness Hid, and George Bryan Polivka’s Blaggard’s Moon, among others.

(I already know which book I’ll be voting for — any guesses?)

Yesterday I got a package in the mail containing three new books on writing:

The Art and Craft of Writing Historical Fiction: Researching and Writing Historical Fiction

102 Ways to Earn Money Writing 1,500 Words or Less: The Ultimate Freelancer’s Guide

179 Ways to Save a Novel: Matters of Vital Concern to Fiction Writers

They’re all published by Writer’s Digest Books, which is really a great resource for writers. As you know, I love to read, and I strongly believe in constantly educating myself. I don’t actually write historical fiction (yet), nor am I currently trying to save a novel, but I love to read about writing — all kinds of writing! You never know where you’ll find a new perspective or piece of advice that transforms your own writing, helps you break into a new market, or simply advise someone else with wisdom and knowledge.

Besides, reading about writing is just fun.

What have you read on writing in the past year? Any classic favourites you would recommend or that you continually return to?

This is fantastic. Thanks to Jeffrey Overstreet for posting the link on his Facebook.

If you live a daily walk of faith, as I do, you probably read the Bible often. You may even study it. (If you don’t, why not?) Since this blog centers on reading and writing and faith, I figure it’s fair game to give some Bible reading advice.

Remember Tuesday’s post on entering the moment in your writing?

Have you ever tried that with a Bible story?

I challenge you to try it. Pick a character in a story (any character except God — this won’t work as well from His POV, although I suppose you can try it if you must). Now, put yourself as thoroughly in that character’s shoes as you possibly can. Draw on everything you know (or can learn) about the biblical and cultural setting, the character’s past life experiences or personality, and other factors in the story’s context. Try to get inside that character’s brain. Get as comfortable there as you can. Do your best to forget things you know that this character doesn’t.

(For example, when Peter first goes to meet Jesus, he doesn’t know that he’ll become one of the chief disciples, witness miracles, see Jesus transfigured, betray his lord, be filled with the Holy Spirit, convert 2,000 people at once with his preaching, and lead the Jerusalem church. At the moment you’re entering, he’s just a fisherman who’s heard some rumours about a local carpenter’s son.)

Once you’ve done that, read on — because most often, in Bible stories, characters get their boats upset. God comes in and does something to turn that character’s world upside down. And the great thing is that the more you’ve identified with that character, the more your world can be turned upside down, too.

This method of Bible study is somewhat subjective, and of course it has its limits. But it works surprisingly well for me. It gives me new insights into what was happening in many biblical stories, and into the surprising ways God enters people’s lives and bends their expectations. So today I challenge you to try it.

(If you need a starting place, I recommend trying this with Matthew or Acts. I’ve read both books doing my best to be characters in the story, and I can tell you, it’s an enriching experience!)