1. Galadriel says:

    See, I am wierd and proud of it, and carefully notching my geek belt.

  2. Kaci says:

    I don’t feel weird. That in itself makes me weird, however, since many vocal spec faith readers and writers see themselves as a group apart.

     
    Embrace the weirdness, Becky.
     
    Oddly enough, I don’t really think in terms of genre. I do like ‘weird,’ but in my head genre itself is something of a curtain, stage, lights, and soundboard that I get to add set, actors, costumes, and props to.

     
    I was a “mainstream” reader before I was ever a fantasy reader. To exacerbate matters, I don’t really like science fiction, though like other genres, I find that some titles will captivate me. The upshot is, I often don’t feel like I fit with speculative groups. Yet I write fantasy, so I don’t feel as if I fit with mainstream groups. I truly am weird.

     
    I get that way sometimes, but for other reasons.

    Only Christian fiction speaks the truth about God. [Emphasis added this time around ]

    Only if the writer is right in his theology and his fiction doesn’t contradict said theology.
     
     
     

  3. Heh heh.  Herding cats.

    I do think there is truth to the “strength in numbers” adage.

    I also think you just sold a book for Veronica!  🙂

  4. Galadriel says:

    @Kaci  Here is my answer…


  5. Just because I’m afraid I was the one who gave you the impression that Veronica Roth’s world in Divergent doesn’t include God, I’d like to correct that notion. She has a couple of characters who are Christians and the implication is that there are more Christians in the world than the ones we know. She doesn’t go into great detail about what these people believe about God, but they pray before their meals. The book is not selling Christianity, by any means. But it’s obvious that some of the people in the book believe in God. 

    Now that, that’s cleared up…great post. Yes, lets support and pray for one another. I’m all for that.

  6. […] have another book on my to-read list. Discovered it today over at Speculative Faith. There’s no need for me to advertise for the book, since it’s already made it to the […]

  7. Morgan Busse says:

    Ooo, I liked your post 🙂 And I liked your definition of Christian speculative fiction. I think it also comes down to the audience we are writing for. I sat on the fence for years, wondering which side my book belonged (CBA or ABA). Then it hit me one day. If asked to remove the Christian elements of this particular series, I would not. Its not a salvation story, its a story set in a fantasy setting about the cost and choice of following God. This series is for a Christian audience.

    However, I have another story I will begin working on after this series. Its not heavily Christian and I actually don’t have any plans for it to be (at least not yet). So it could go to either audience.

    And then I have a YA in the back of my head that is not Christian at all (just a clean story). I told my son about it and he loved it, so I’ll probably write it someday too 🙂

    All that to say, we are all different writers writing to different people. And one group is not better than the other (those writing for CBA or ABA). In fact, supporting each other is a great idea 🙂

  8. I definitely think we need to somehow come together in an extended, supportive community. I fought for 10 years to have my book published and thought I was alone out there with my “weird” book about extra dimensions and demons and human sacrifice and . . . well more on that in October. I heard from mainstream Christian publishers so many times that my book was “very good” but too “edgy, dark, and violent”.

    Now, I’ve been reading books by Mike Dellosso and Mike Duran and Greg Mitchell and Tosca Lee and I realize I wasn’t alone! There are other authors like me who feel compelled to write the dark stuff so that the world will see His light! If I had only known!!! 

    So, Yeah, I agree we need to somehow accomplish this. We need an extended community of Christian authors who can pray for each other, encourage each other, suggest publishers, agents, editors who will consider spec fic. But, how to? That is the question.

    And, I would say it is more like trying to get a room full of deacons to agree on something and that is as challenging as herding cats. Only, the room is “deacon” possessed!

  9. From Becky:

    I’d like to see a support system of some sort, for readers and writers, for Christians writing Christian speculative fiction and Christians writing speculative fiction.

    From Bruce:

    I definitely think we need to somehow come together in an extended, supportive community.

    This is the mission of Speculative Faith 2.0 (perhaps even, in the future, 3.0).

    Now, what website elements, overlapping with real life, do you want?

    An online library of books, indexed by author and cross-referenced by genres and plot elements? (That is already in development.) A blog network? A message board?

    Specific suggestions would be most helpful. I can start the list.

    1. A comprehensive, interactive library of Christian-visionary books and authors.

  10. I do think Spec Faith can be the hub of a network of Christians who write and read speculative literature. My concern is that we are already so busy, I don’t see many of us wanting yet one more thing (like a forum), but maybe I’m projecting my own circumstances on everyone else.

    My thought is that perhaps the Facebook page could be utilized as a place for Spec Faith followers to post reviews — ones they write or ones about their book — prayer requests, information about book releases, and so on.

    Here we can give information via the library and perhaps a FAQ page that gives links or articles about things people what to know regarding Christians involved with speculative fiction, but there, followers could be more active participants.

    Becky

What do you think?