Some of you may be new to Spec Faith, and some of you may be wondering about any changes we’ve made, so I thought I’d do a quick drive by of . . . well, Spec Faith.

First, we are a group of volunteers who blog at this site because we are Christians who want to increase the interest in speculative fiction, primarily that which Christians write. We ourselves are all fiction writers. And we are Christians who adhere to a basic statement of faith.

Here’s our line up. On Mondays I kick things off, usually later than most because I write from the West Coast. While you easterners are thinking about what to have for lunch, I’m just kicking off my day. As you can see in my bio, my fiction is fantasy—good ol’ classic fantasy. I’m one of the original founders of Spec Faith. The others were Stuart Stockton, Mirtika Schultz, Beth Goddard, and, if memory serves me right, Shannon McNear and Rebecca Grabill. Our archives apparently have not captured all of those early days.

At any rate, one by one the other members of the founding group departed—some to a different genre, some because of health reasons, some to get married, and some simply because life happened. About four years into our existence, E. Stephen Burnett, who had become a regular contributor, returned from his own goin’-ta-get-married hiatus to revitalize and enlarge the vision of the site.

We’ve been blessed to have a wonderful crew of writers, some staying around for some time. We’ve also had a great guest lineup, ranging from agent/publisher Steve Laube to established and well-known authors like Karen Hancock, Chuck Black, Donita Paul, and Jill Williamson, to self-pubbed or just getting started writers like Jillian Adams and Mike Duran.

Under Stephen’s leadership, Spec Faith has expanded and looked to partner, not only with authors, but other organizations that also seek to further the fortunes of speculative stories written by Christians. Some years ago we added a library, established a place where reviewers can talk about the stories they love (or hate, but probably love), and connected with Christian Geek Central to bring our content to YouTube. Most recently, Stephen has launched Lorehaven. While not an official part of Spec Faith, the sister site is dedicated to promoting the genre to a broader audience, specifically through the establishment of book clubs within churches.

2018 promises to be more of the same with a few tweaks. Stephen will move from his Thursday writing slot to Tuesday. On Wednesday Shannon McDermott and Mark Carver will continue to alternate weeks. Then on Thursday, filling in for Zac Totah, who is on wedding/marriage sabbatical, is Travis Perry. We’ve had the privilege to host Travis a few times this past year, and he officially kicked off his stint as substitute writer this past Thursday. If by chance you missed his inaugural article, you may want to take a few moments to read it now since it is part 1 and will likely provide context for his article this coming Thursday. At any rate, our Friday slot will once again be split between a guest author and our Fiction Fix feature, an excerpt of a recently published work of speculative fiction authored by a Christian. This week we’re anticipating a guest article from Kat Heckenbach.

Another item of note. Spec Faith has conducted a semi-annual writing contest, called the Summer/Winter Writing Challenge that we plan to continue. Since Winter is officially upon us, look for the contest in the near future.

Mostly, I personally want to thank those of you who continue to be faithful visitors to the site. We’ve had various issues with spam and hackers and glitches, but through it all, we continue to see our traffic remain steady, sometimes soaring, sometimes dipping. We’ve had some news-breaking posts, some controversy, some humor, some wisdom, and some healthy discussion.

As you may have notice, we have another new subscription system for those of you who prefer to receive Spec Faith through email. Of course you will continue to find it on Facebook also. So whichever means you have used to find us, thank you. And don’t be shy about voicing your opinions, whether that means doing a review, adding a book to the library, or leaving a comment. We welcome your participation.