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A book reviewer is not an avenging angel, a warrior in an ideological battle, or a corrections officer. · Shannon McDermott

Into The Hands Of Amateurs

Through Amazon and Goodreads, through blogs and a multitude of outlets, book reviewing has gotten out of the hands of professionals. Now a good deal of reviewing, especially of novels, is done by unpaid amateurs. But why did we take on the job? · Shannon McDermott

Story Weariness

I’ve had other instances of story weariness, which I guess I’ll define as familiarity with a story to the point that another rendition seems needless and unappealing. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

The Esther Syndrome

Our perception of stories is easily colored by our expectations and assumptions. Call it the Esther Syndrome. · Shannon McDermott

An Unfolding Saga

The Wingfeather Saga unfolds through four books into an intense and beautiful story. · Shannon McDermott

Divergent, Great Stories, And Good Writing

The book series was one more hot story that had fans craving the next book and the next. Granted, though the first book opened as #6 on the NY Times best-selling list, it didn’t reach the stature of Twilight or Hunger Games and certainly not of Harry Potter. Still, it had a loyal and avid following. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

The God Who Hides

About fifteen years ago, when I was attending Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, I had the privilege of taking a course entitled “The Gospel and C. S. Lewis” from a man we called Rev. Rossow. Essentially, the course was a […] · John Otte

The Monster In My Bookshelf

Sorry to have disappeared on you, folks. Part of the reason why is because I was in the middle of overhauling my personal website. Go take a gander and kick the tires if you want. I like it. It is, […] · John Otte

An Answer To Readers

When the reviews came in, not only was my book being critiqued, but my editors, my publisher, and the entire industry was as well. · Patrick W. Carr

Speculative Fiction And Our Culture

How do we as Christians know what to do when we face troubling circumstances: disabilities, abortion, choices between life and death? All of that makes me think, What do we as Christians do in a world of super drones and string theory and cloning and possible pandemics and the push for euthanasia? · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Reading Classics

Why do we read some books over and over? Why do some books end up in curriculum, each generation savoring the story of an author long dead? · Donita K. Paul

Books To Love

I recently talked with a friend about a book I was reading and enjoying. The question came up: why was I enjoying it? What was it about this book that made it a satisfying reading experience? · Rebecca LuElla Miller

‘The Hobbit’ Story Group 3: A Short Rest

Do your fantasy-world Elves sing “tra-la-la-lally” from treetops? J.R.R. Tolkien’s do. And he entreats us to meet these unique Middle-earth residents in “The Hobbit,” chapter 3. · E. Stephen Burnett

Wars And Warriors

Certainly thanking those who served in the military is appropriate as is commemorating those who died. And what better way than to think about wars and warriors in speculative fiction. After all, there are plenty of them. Fantasy is filled with armed conflict–good fighting evil. Science fiction isn’t short on military engagement either, Avatar being a prime example. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

The Fine Line Between Reality and Fantasy

When I started writing my recently released young adult novel, Fathom, I knew there would be otherworldly creatures involved and that they would play a big part in the story. However, I always felt that at its heart, Fathom was a contemporary story · Merrie Destefano

Stories Of Sacrifice

I think there’s something to the idea that self-sacrifice is appealing. C. S. Lewis was particularly good at weaving self-sacrifice into his stories. It, of course, is crucial in the (traditional) opening book of Narnia–The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

News And Your Views

A smattering of this and that today. An update on our First Ever Spec Faith Writing Challenge, then news for For fantasy lovers. Finally, your views, in two parts. · Rebecca LuElla Miller
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