/ SpecFaith

Exit, Stage Left…

This will be my last post as a recurring columnist at Speculative Faith.
on Nov 27, 2012 · Off

This will be my last post as a recurring columnist at Speculative Faith.

I’m not departing as a result of hard feelings, or editorial infighting, or the exchange of inappropriate e-mails with my biographer, nor have Stephen and company kicked me to the curb for playing the crazy uncle in the attic once too often.

I’ve simply taken a hard look at my online activity and realized I’ve been spending a lot more time writing about writing than actually, you know, writing. Some of my other projects have been sitting on the shelf far too long, and I owe some material to people who have been extraordinarily patient with my inertia.

A site dedicated to the exploration and discussion of speculative fiction needs a regular influx of fresh voices and ideas, too. So, it’s time for me to go.

I’ve had several tons of fun contributing weekly articles here. I started in March, 2011, from a little village outside Rome, and have wandered hither and yon through past, future, and a few alternate dimensions with a mix of stories, essays, commentary, and even a bit of fractured poetry during the past year-and-a-half, finally ending up at a platypus stand in west Texas. Many thanks to all of you, readers and staff, for your indulgence and insightful conversation.

That leads me to what I’d like to say in parting. Keep the conversation alive. Places like Speculative Faith wither and die when people stop talking. It’s the conversation–the dialogue, debate, reflection, and exchange of information that make things interesting, attract new readers, and induce folks to hang around and see what fresh madness is going to happen next.

Be the place people seek out when they want to know what’s new and exciting in the world of Christian spec fic. Honor the classic voices, demand solid craftsmanship, and identify the next big thing before anybody else does. Find those elusive authors who swirl eternal truth and quality storytelling into a delicious literary confection, and point readers their direction.

But don’t get so bogged down in analysis that you forget to have fun. Imagination is a gift from God. Revel in it.

See ya ’round the universe.

— Fred

Fred was born in Tacoma, Washington, but spent most of his formative years in California, where his parents pastored a couple of small churches. He graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1983, and spent 24 years in the Air Force as a bomber navigator, flight-test navigator, and military educator. He retired from the Air Force in 2007, and now works as a government contractor in eastern Kansas, providing computer simulation support for Army training.Fred has been married for 25 years to the girl who should have been his high school sweetheart, and has three kids, three dogs, and a mortgage. When he's not writing or reading, he enjoys running, hiking, birdwatching, stargazing, and playing around with computers.Writing has always been a big part of his life, but he kept it mostly private until a few years ago, when it occurred to him that if he was ever going to get published, he needed to get serious about it. Since then, he's written more than twenty short stories that have been published in a variety of print and online magazines, and a novel, The Muse, that debuted in November 2009 from Splashdown Books, which was a finalist for the 2010 American Christian Fiction Writers Carol Award for book of the year in the speculative genre. Speculative fiction is his first love, but he writes the occasional bit of non-fiction or poetry, just to keep things interesting.
Website ·
  1. sherwood smith says:
    November 27, 2012 at 1:05 pm

    Will miss your posts, Fred, but glad you are not stopping because of anything negative–but to have more time for your own creative work.

  2. Morgan L. Busse says:
    November 27, 2012 at 1:05 pm

    Bye Fred! Don’t be a stranger 😉

  3. Lelia Rose Foreman (@LeliaForeman) says:
    November 27, 2012 at 1:08 pm

    Bye. Sorry to see you go from here, but we’ll see you other places.

  4. Kessie says:
    November 27, 2012 at 3:42 pm

    Aww, so sad to see you go, Fred. I know how draining it can be to have to say something pithy every week, though. Make sure you come back and comment sometimes!

  5. D.M. Dutcher says:
    November 27, 2012 at 4:03 pm

    Nuts, I’ll miss those columns of yours. But if the upside is more stories, I can’t complain one bit. Good luck on the writing, Fred.

  6. Lauren says:
    November 27, 2012 at 4:09 pm

    Good luck, Fred! I’ll miss the laughs. 

  7. Bainespal says:
    November 27, 2012 at 4:16 pm

    You’ve got some true classics on your resume.  I was particularly fascinated by your Speculative Christmas, Speculative Death, and Rearranging Icons columns.
    Intaglio lives!

  8. Alassiel says:
    November 27, 2012 at 4:27 pm

    I’m going to miss your weekly columns and sense of humor!  It ‘s been fun to read about random things like platypuses and the Wild West and wooden puppets.   Do stick around and comment sometimes.

  9. Rebecca LuElla Miller says:
    November 27, 2012 at 6:48 pm

    Goes to show you, humor is harder than serious writing. I don’t feel at an end of what I want to say and I’ve been at this for how many years! (Oh, you say, I should have hung it up, way back when! Too late now. 😆 )

    Seriously, Fred, we’ll really miss you. You provided the perfect change up, the curve ball that kept us swinging off balance but much more attentive because of it. You make me laugh and think at the same time. I have thoroughly enjoyed your columns.

    Yes, keep writing those stories. We need those too. But please don’t be a stranger here at Spec Faith.

    Becky

  10. Galadriel says:
    November 27, 2012 at 10:27 pm

    We’ll miss you. Stop by sometimes, okay?

  11. Fred Warren says:
    November 28, 2012 at 12:39 pm

    Thanks for the well-wishes, everyone. I’ll be checking in now and again. 🙂

  12. Bob Menees says:
    November 28, 2012 at 1:05 pm

    Enjoyed your humor.
    Thanks Fred.

  13. PaulC says:
    November 28, 2012 at 9:42 pm

    But don’t get so bogged down in analysis that you forget to have fun. Imagination is a gift from God. Revel in it.

    I love this statement so much. Thanks for the reminder.
    I’ll miss your blog posts; your slightly quirky means of making your points always provoke me to both laugh and think (personal favorite: “When bad things happen to good characters”; the villain having the proper perspective amused me immensely). May God richly bless your creative endeavors!