/ / Crew Manifest
Best known for her aspirations as an epic fantasy author, Becky is the sole remaining founding member of Speculative Faith. Besides contributing weekly articles here, she blogs Monday through Friday at A Christian Worldview of Fiction. She works as a freelance writer and editor and posts writing tips as well as information about her editing services at Rewrite, Reword, Rework.
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Realm Makers Awards

For the past several years, the folks who developed the Realm Makers Conference also established their own book awards, including a book of the year award (the Realm Award) · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Managing The Minefield On The Way To Successful Publication

With the changes in the book industry, I think it’s helpful to discuss two particular elements of writing that lead to successful publication. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Readers, It’s Your Turn

Writers are told to write to their audience, but who ever asks that audience what kind of books they want to read? · Rebecca LuElla Miller

We Have A 2017 Summer Writing Challenge Winner

Congratulations to our 2017 Summer Writing Challenge winner: M. A. Zeller. I’ll be contacting our writing challenge winner privately to arrange the gift card from either Amazon or B&N. For those interested, voting results for our summer writing challenge winner […] · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Fiction Friday: Albion Academy By Elijah David

Albion Academyy Book 1 of the Albion Quartet by Elijah David INTRODUCTION—Albion Academy by Elijah David A young adult fantasy Is a Djinni just a trickster? Can a wizard only learn magic? Must a Valkyrie always ferry the dead? For […] · Rebecca LuElla Miller

2017 Spec Faith Summer Writing Challenge Finalists

Be sure to share this post and poll with your friends and family, your Google+ circles and your Pinterest people, your Facebook friends and Twitter followers. The more voters, the better. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Spec Faith 2017 Summer Writing Challenge – Evaluation Phase

We received a good number of interesting and entertaining stories, some coming in at the last minute. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

2017 Spec Faith Summer Writing Challenge

Spec Faith is holding a summer writing challenge, a type of writing exercise, with rewards. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

A Thought Concerning Superhero Movies

Are we turning to a fictitious superhero of the past because we long for heroes or because we want to mold them into a new image to fit with the facts of contemporary society? · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Weekday Fiction Fix: The Button Girl

Sally Apokedak is an associate agent with the Leslie H. Stobbe Literary Agency. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Sacrifice And Speculative Fiction

Clearly self-sacrifice is a key component in both general market speculative fiction and Christian speculative fiction. But what is it about sacrifice that is so compelling? · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Fiction Friday: Bellanok By Ralene Burke

With evil darkening the mountains to the north, the fairy queen, Fauna, must journey from the island realm of Bellanok to the modern world to find the man the Creator appointed to save their kingdom. A man she has been dreaming of her whole life. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Tolerance And Stories? A Discussion Of Carve The Mark

what are Christians to write? What are Christians to read? If general fiction is to be whitewashed of anything that could possibly be considered offensive, what kind of stories will that leave us? · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Weekday Fiction Fix: Edge Of Oblivion

Earth has emerged from a cataclysmic dark age with little knowledge of its past. Aided by the discovery of advanced alien technology, humanity ventures into the stars, joining other sentient races in a sprawling, prosperous interstellar Confederacy. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

On Giving Offense And Being Offensive

Christians are not to be offensive in the way we speak, but the Bible itself says the message of the gospel is offensive to those who are perishing. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Fiction Friday: Threadbare By Bethany A. Jennings

Bethany A. Jennings, whose name you might recognize because she’s won a few Spec Faith Writing Challenges, is a YA science-fiction and fantasy author, and a chronic night owl. She is endlessly passionate about the power of speculative fiction, both to shape hearts and cultures and to unveil hidden realities. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

What To Make Of Dragons: A Reprise

There are legitimate questions about magic and wizards and dragons and ghosts. The Bible is not silent on the subjects of sorcery, and reportedly mediums are under God’s judgment. But what does that have to do with fiction? · Rebecca LuElla Miller

March Madness And Quidditch

The key to Rowling’s worldbuilding is the consistency with which she infuses the different into the normal. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Disney And Culture

Pop culture, and Disney right along with others, has been pushing agendas that clash with God’s moral standards for as long as there has been pop culture. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Sentimentality And Christian Fiction, A Reprise

The novel had a simple, even predictable plot, and the writing was serviceable at best. The characters were not complex, the theme undeniably obvious. Imagine my surprise, then, when I came to the climax of the story and cried. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Christian Fiction Must Be . . . You Know, Christian; Or The Shack Is Back

Not only have writers and readers debated what constitutes Christian fiction, and particularly Christian speculative fiction, we’ve debated the rightness of and the need for good doctrine in our fiction. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Conversions And The Goal Of Christian Speculative Fiction

I don’t believe conversion stories are the problem in Christian fiction. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Fiction Friday – Excerpt, Her Dangerous Visions

On the world of Loam, an ancient evil threatens to conquer the portals that exist on every world, and only a young farm woman named Winter is given the power to destroy it. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Weekday Fiction Fix – The Liberty Box By C. A. Gray

C.A. Gray is the author of the YA Fantasy PIERCING THE VEIL trilogy, as well as the NA Dystopian series, THE LIBERTY BOX. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

What About Christian Speculative Movies?

Speculative fiction by Christians is not uncommon. Readers can find stories about dragons and wizards, about characters trying to survive in a dystopian world, about a clone who escapes the laboratory, about the people in a new fairy world, about space captains, about space aliens, about vampires, about . . . well, just about anything speculative you can imagine. But how will these stories make it to the big screen? · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Fiction Friday – The Long Journey To Jake Palmer

If Jake Palmer had only kept the mundane promise he’d made to himself, his life wouldn’t be headed down a dead-end road at the speed of light. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

We Have A Winner – 2017 Winter Writing Challenge

Congratulations to our 2017 Winter Writing Challenge winner: Liv K. Fisher. I’ll be contacting her privately to arrange her gift card from either Amazon or B&N. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

2017 Winter Writing Challenge Voting Reminder

In case you missed Monday’s post announcing the finalists, you can find it here. The entries appear in alphabetical order, determined by the last name of the authors. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Fiction Friday – The Ice Child By Evangeline Denmark

The Ice Child: A Winter Fairy Tale by Evangeline Denmark INTRODUCTION In the novelette, The Ice Child, Sipp, a clockmaker’s apprentice, dreams of opening his own shop, but the people of Martigny believe he’s marked by the devil—all except for […] · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Finalists – 2017 Spec Faith Winter Writing Challenge

All that’s left is to select the winner. Choose from these entries and vote in the poll at the end of this post for one entry you think is best. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

2017 Winter Writing Challenge Announcement

I encourage you to help all the writers by giving some feedback (besides the thumbs). That way, even those who don’t make the top three can benefit from their participation. Thanks in advance. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

2017 Winter Writing Challenge Status

Feel free to share the original 2017 Winter Writing Challenge post and to invite your friends and family to read and to give their thumbs up votes. The more input, the more feedback, the better. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Winter Writing Challenge Reminder

The 2017 Spec Faith Winter Writing Challenge will accept entries until midnight tomorrow, Sunday, January 15. That’s midnight Pacific time. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Fiction Friday – Wickers Bog By Mike Duran

Myth and mystery collide in this short, 34-page tale of Southern Gothic horror. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

2017 Spec Faith Winter Writing Challenge

It’s time for our winter writing challenge! Winter lends itself to snuggling inside with a good book. For writers, that “good book” might be the one you’re writing. Either way, we’d like to add to your winter writing and reading […] · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Author Profile – Lisa T. Bergren

Lisa was born in Kalispell, Montana, on March 28 and raised in Southern California (there must be a story behind that transition!) Growing up she wanted to be “A nurse. An astronaut. Indiana Jones. A teacher. A journalist. One of the Three Musketeers.” Writing, apparently, has made it possible for her to become any of these through her characters. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Merry Christmas

For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Fiction Friday: “Pearla’s First Christmas”

“Pearla’s First Christmas” is a short story, written from the point of view of one of the characters in the Angel Eyes trilogy, and is available as a free download from author Shannon Dittemore. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

What The World Needs To Know About Christmas

Christmas is the ultimate Reveal! It’s the greatest ah-ha moment since time began. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Review: The Sword Of Six Worlds By Matt Mikalatos

Validus Smith and her best friend Alex Shields know something is seriously wrong when their substitute teacher takes the side of the class bully. When he changes into a creature with fangs and tries to attack Validus, they escape by following two new students through a hole into a different world—one in which animals talk. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Fiction Friday – The Word Changers By Ashlee Willis

Once there was a little small-town girl. She grew up two blocks away from the old, creaky public library. She spent much of her time in that library, either squirreled away in a dusky corner with a book, or loading chin-high stacks of books home to read. Usually barefoot and disheveled. Always brim-full of curiosity and awe at the secret worlds she knew she’d find between those pages. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Author Profile – S. D. Smith

I love to make stories. I want them to be good. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Fiction Friday – The Green Ember By S. D. Smith

“S. D. Smith has a voice for children and families that the world needs to hear.” –Randall Goodgame, singer/songwriter for Slugs & Bugs, Veggie Tales · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Speculation And Christmas

I find it amazing that our world, broken by division and disbelief, still takes from the holiday that superficially celebrates Christ’s birth, the remarkable gifts God gave when He sent “His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh.” · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Fiction Friday – Beast By Chawna Schroeder

When her pack scatters after a surprise raid, Beast must defend herself against slavers hunting down the loners. They are so strong, and she is only a beast . . . or is she? · Rebecca LuElla Miller

The Fantasy Itch: Gettin’ To Be THAT Time Of Year

Ah, yes, I’m definitely ready to settle down with a good fantasy. It’s that time of year! Last year I read Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn, first in the Mistborn Trilogy (which, I learned, is actually a five book series). I’m thinking this year I should finish out the rest, starting with The Well of Ascension. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Thanksgiving–An American Holiday

One way that Christians writers can introduce themes consistent with a Christian worldview might be to include holidays like Thanksgiving. Or in the case of speculative fiction, invented holidays with a religious underpinning. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

The Military, Veterans, And Speculative Fiction

In thinking about the military, I had to wonder about the place of the military in speculative stories. Perhaps most famous are the Storm Troopers of Star Wars, but other stories, particularly dystopian fantasy such as Hunger Games, includes a strong military—as part of the side of evil. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Fiction Friday – Kingdom At Sea, By Jill Williamson

Jill Williamson is a chocolate loving, daydreaming, creator of kingdoms and the award-winning author of several young adult books including the Blood of Kings trilogy, Replication, the Mission League series, and the Safe Lands trilogy. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Halloween Stories In American Literature

It might be interesting to delve into the various traditions that have cropped up around the holiday over the years—bobbing for apples, carving pumpkins, making candied apples, trick-or-treating, wearing costumes, going to haunted houses, and storytelling. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

When Christians Vacate An Industry

When Christians vacate a profession, it necessarily takes on qualities that contradict a Christian worldview. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Prattle

Speaking of true and powerful fiction, Enclave Publishing just released their fall lineup of books. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

The Gospel According To Star Trek, Part 2

All goodness is God’s goodness. All truth is God’s truth. All beauty is God’s beauty. So we mustn’t shy away from something just because we see a philosophical difference in its makeup. If anything, it’s good for us to be in conversation with ideas with which we disagree. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

The Characters We Love

I could go on and on listing characters I loved who appeared as the star of their books, but there’s another set of characters that aren’t front and center, yet they nearly steal the show. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

The Gospel According To Star Trek, Part 1

Initially, the idea that we’re engaging in something philosophical, or even spiritual, by watching a sci-fi adventure show may seem strange, but Star Trek has always been philosophical in nature. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

If You Could Read Anything You Wanted To Read

I started to wonder what sort of stories the visitors here at Spec Faith consider ideal. I don’t think we’ll have a consensus. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Characters Matter, And Their Character Matters

What we see in Christian novel after Christian novel is a flawed character in need of a Savior. The impression this gives is that people without Christ aren’t likable, that their flawed character means they won’t do heroic deeds or stand up for right. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Realism And Twenty-first Century Storytelling

I think there’s something else not particularly real in twenty-first century stories, no matter how real the computer generated characters might appear. We could chalk this up to “that’s just movies” if it weren’t for the fact that screen writing is beginning to dominate the way we write novels, too. I’ll characterize this unrealistic phenomenon as too much conflict. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Fiction Friday – The Mermaid’s Sister By Carrie Anne Noble

There are elements of fantasy, romance, and adventure throughout. The book is a page-turner; the story pulls the reader in and the dynamic characters and plot twists keep interest levels high. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Star Trek On TV

Now, the Star Trek legends are together for the first time on free TV with All Star Trek on H&I. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Weekday Fiction Fix – Capeville By Matt Mikalatos

Today’s fiction fix offering is an excerpt from a book I mentioned earlier this week, a middle grade superhero book by Matt Mikalatos. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Christian Speculative Fiction News Of Note

When presenting news of note, what could be news-ier than the announcement of the Spec Faith 2016 Summer Writing Challenge winner? · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Spec Faith 2016 Summer Writing Challenge Finalists

Be sure to share this post and poll with your friends and family, your Google+ circles and your Pinterest people, your Facebook friends and Twitter followers. The more voters, the better. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Spec Faith 2016 Summer Writing Challenge – Evaluation Phase

To find the entries, follow one of the links in this article (such as this one). The entries are in the comments section of that post. Be sure to click on the “Explore More” button to see all of them. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Spec Faith 2016 Summer Writing Challenge

I’ll give a first line, and those who wish to accept the challenge will write what comes next—in 100 to 300 words, putting your entry into the comments section of this post. “What comes next” may be the opening of a novel, a short story, or a completed piece of flash fiction—your choice. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Fantasy – Not Anybody’s Leftover Stale Bread

One of the unfortunate impressions about Christian fantasy that still lingers seems to be that all fantasy is the same, that it is derivative and stale. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Realm Makers 2016

For many of us, Realm Makers serves as a beacon, a tangible piece of evidence that speculative fiction is alive and well among Christians. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Fiction Friday – A New Threat By Aaron DeMott

A New Threat The Psygen Chronicles, Book One by Aaron DeMott Introduction Finalist – 2015 Realm Makers Genre Award In Science Fiction When an alien ship lands unexpectedly in the middle of her clan’s territory, Bast is sent to investigate […] · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Writing About Jesus

Could it be, then, that writing about Jesus as the Savior who came to die for the forgiveness of sins is “on the nose” writing, and therefore amateurish? · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Guess That Fantasy – A Different Take

I don’t think we can create the contestant aspect of that old TV game show, but it would be fun, I think, if you would post in the comments how many clues you needed in order to guess the title. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Magic, Fantasy, And A Christian Worldview

Part of the inexplicable is that God has allowed His enemies some measure of power (magic), and He chooses to let evil ripen before He puts an eternal end to it. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Fiction Friday – Into The Fire By Kim Vandel

First in the young adult fantasy series, Under Fire by independent novelist Kim Vandel. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Independence Day

Happy Fourth of July. Have a safe and sane celebration. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Favorite New Voice

Various writers have burst on the scene as if from nowhere. They may garner awards or have instant success as far as sales are concerned. People are talking about this author. They’re doing book signings and speaking at conferences. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Fiction Friday – The Hive By John Otte

A pregnant cyborg and a teenage boy fight against intergalactic governments to protect the unborn. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

The Christian Part Of Christian Speculative Fiction

The key to good fiction has always been to show, not to tell. And stories are about characters, so they are the ones readers want to hear from. They don’t want authors to interrupt the story for an explanation moment, no matter what the topic. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Fiction Is The RIGHT Vehicle For Theology

Instead of warning people away from theology in speculative fiction, I think we’d be better served to teach writers how to include themes in effective ways. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Realm Makers Presenters, Part 5 – Mike Duran

Mike identifies closely with the horror genre. In fact, he’s addressed this topic in previous years at Realm Makers, has a guest post here at Spec Faith on the subject, and has a nonfiction book—Christian Horror—that explores the topic. This year he will teach a continuing session on “The Theology Of Speculative Fiction” and an elective on “The Crossover Christian Novelist.” · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Whiplash Wednesday – A Look At Preachy Fiction

How effectively can Christ’s disciples carry out the Great Commission if they never spell out what they’re talking about? · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Realm Makers Presenters, Part 4 – Agent Julie Gwinn

At present Julie is open to submissions. She “accepts queries in the following genres: Women’s Fiction, Romance (contemporary, historical, suspense, inspy. Amish) Spec Fiction and Fantasy, Mysteries and Suspense, Inspirational Fiction and Nonfiction, Historical Fiction, YA.” · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Realm Makers Presenters, Part 3 – Tosca Lee

Most pertinent to writers who are considering attendance at Realm Makers, Tosca Lee continues to garner praise for her writing. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Realm Makers Presenters, Part 2 – Kathy Tyers

Kathy Tyers has also taken up the mantel of writing instructor. Having been certified as a classroom teacher after her graduation from Montana State University, she was not unfamiliar with the ins and outs of imparting information in a formal setting. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Fiction Friday – Dragonfriend By Marc Secchia

The traitor Ra’aba tried to silence Hualiama forever. But he reckoned without the strength of a dragonet’s paw, and the courage of a girl who refused to die. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Realm Makers Presenters, Part 1

Locke’s fiction, while fitting into the classification of inspirational, is not geared toward Christian readers, but toward a broader range, much like Tolkien’s books. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Christian Speculative Fiction News Of Note

“You may sense my excitement for the future of Enclave, and for the genre as a whole.” Steve Laube · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Fantasy, Theology, and The Depiction Of Evil

In contrast to reality fiction, fantasy can have evil show up in whatever imagined form, but inevitably, the real truth about evil comes out: it is opposed to good. That’s the heart of evil. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Learning From The Secular: Christian Science Fiction And Fantasy’s Distinctive

Christian science fiction or fantasy most often dramatizes the spiritual in general terms rather than in the particular. It’s like writing, What is the spiritual journey of Everyman, instead of writing, What is my spiritual journey. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Of Names And Such

As a reader, how much do you pay attention to the names of characters or places? How much do you think about the significance of the name itself? · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Fiction Friday – Rebel By R. J. Anderson

Rebel (Enclave Publishing) No Ordinary Fairy Tale Book 2 By R. J. Anderson Introduction The last time Timothy broke a rule, he got suspended. But when he defies the faery empress, it might well get him killed. Timothy Sinclair doesn’t […] · Rebecca LuElla Miller

The Superhero Who Dies

In the end, Jesus’s death is the greatest superhero death of all. For one thing, it was real. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Dream Treaders: A Review

I think Dream Treaders is a triple (with nobody out), if not a home run. It’s a great book for middle grade boys, a reading group that is highly under served, in my opinion. I applaud Wayne Batson for such a wonderful story (and Thomas Nelson for publishing it). · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Fiction Friday – The Orphan’s Song By Gillian Bronte Adams

Every generation has a Songkeeper—one chosen to keep the memory of the Song alive. And in every generation, there are those who seek to destroy the chosen one. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

We Have A Winner – 2016 Winter Writing Challenge

Special thanks to all of you who participated: the entrants for sharing their stories with us, the visitors who commented and gave YES votes for finalists, and those who voted in the poll to select the winner. · Rebecca LuElla Miller
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