Lorehaven Updates: New Podcast Episode ‘Goes Viral,’ Event Reboots, More Reviews!
Did we release that Randy Ingermanson bonus just one week ago on Lorehaven’s podcast Fantastical Truth? Why yes. Yes, we did. Now just one week later, we have a whole slew of updates about Lorehaven, website upgrades, Realm Makers, and other events that go beyond our next Fantastical Truth.
1. Our new podcast episode ‘goes viral’: is humanity a virus?
At Fantastical Truth, my cohost and chief engineer Zackary Russell pitched this episode. Such a great discussion ensued.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Here’s a clip from the show notes:
“The earth is healing; we are the virus.” Not long ago, that slogan itself went viral. Some made fun of it. A few took it seriously.
But under the slogan lies this faint suspicion: maybe humanity is bad somehow. Something is wrong with us. We don’t belong here.
How do Christians engage with this idea in our nonfiction and in fiction?
2. You may have seen some changes around here.
If our webmaster (hallo) did his job, this Speculative Faith blog and all of Lorehaven.com is now a bit easier on the eyes.
That’s mostly because of a few cosmetic changes.
Among these is the better alignment (in desktop view) of article content, so it doesn’t crash to the page’s right side.
3. More reviews are arriving at Lorehaven.
We’ve done the math. Lorehaven magazine (free subscription here) has now released over 120 reviews since 2018.
That’s 120+ reviews of the best Christian fantasy: Christian-made, published, fantastical novels, anywhere we find them.
Last week, we began sharing those reviews with everyone.
You can find them with the newly restored 🟊 REVIEWS tab at the top of this website.
Some new reviews will continue to be available only to free subscribers. However, with this many reviews—and especially now that we’re having advance reviews of new books!—we want to share them all where more readers can see them.
For the next few months, we will release one review a day!
For example, for this fantasy series conclusion that releases today:
Or this extended review of a space-opera classic:
Or this extended review from the alternate universe when we actually did get to Mars by now:
Even better, book reviews automatically link to the complete book information. And vice-versa.
This will help readers even better in their quest to find their next favorite story. Of course, that will benefit authors too.
Learn more about the Lorehaven project by exploring the author resources page. That’s where you can learn how to get your book listed on the site, how to request a review, and how to sponsor an ad or longer review.
4. Events are slowly resuming, one way or another.
No doubt you’ve heard the Realm Makers conference for Christian fantasy writers is going virtual this year.
(RealmMakers.com has also gotten an even more significant upgrade for this year’s event, and it looks fantastic.)
This means:
- Registration is cheaper (those who’ve already paid have options to share with others or direct it for next year’s event).
- Virtual attendees will still be able to mingle, video-chat, text-chat, network, watch presentations, and share their stories.
- More people can attend the event, including those who would not have been able to reach New Jersey even before the pandemic.
Get all this info and more direct from the source at RealmMakers.com.
For my part, of course Lorehaven will represent. I’ve been entrusted with some mentoring slots. And I may even pitch a fiction work or two.
However, I’m also planning to join the Florida Parent Educators Association conference.
That live, in-person homeschool conference now been rescheduled for July. There with the Realm Makers Bookstore (Lord willing!), I’ll speak on the theme of popular culture, what it’s for, and how Christian parents can train their kids to engage these stories and songs.
Next for live events: Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference, in November? Again, Lord willing!
May our Creator indeed move to ensure these events can happen in these new dates, and with rational health and safety for all involved.
More updates shall be posted here as events warrant.
Godspeed,
Stephen
E. Stephen Burnett creates sci-fi and fantasy as well as nonfiction, such as The Pop Culture Parent: Helping Kids Engage Their World for Christ (coauthored with Ted Turnau and Jared Moore, from New Growth Press). Stephen explores biblical truth and fantastic stories as publisher of Lorehaven.com and cohost of the Fantastical Truth podcast. He and his wife, Lacy, live in the Austin area, help with foster parenting, and serve as members of Southern Hills Baptist Church.
There ARE people that use these stories to put their guilt on other people, but not all of them do. Some actually will hate themselves, or admit that they do contribute to humanity’s carbon footprint. It isn’t necessarily that they expect everyone to stop keeping pets, driving cars, etc. But they do want people to do what they can to reduce the amount of resources they use. And from there they get extremely adamant and judgmental of anyone they think isn’t doing enough.
I care about the earth and believe we should take care of it, but I can’t help but roll my eyes at what some really avid environmentalists say. Many act like humans are uniquely bad compared to other creatures, which isn’t true at all. Animals do all sorts of horrible things. The main difference between them and us is that we look at the ENTIRE world and care about it. We have the ability to consider the impact of our behavior and feel bad about it. So although we do cause problems, we feel guilty about that and often want to fix it for a variety of reasons. What people also forget/don’t realize or take into account is that there’s been multiple mass extinctions caused by other organisms. And most creatures try to survive and multiply as much as possible, which is why animals might be just fine in one environment but become invasive species when placed in another. Humans just tend to be better at adapting and multiplying more than other animals are. It’s not a matter of being more corrupt per se, just better adapted and more skilled. But it’s that very skill that can help us learn to become more responsible and less harmful.
The question would also be whether the earth itself would care if it had any life on it, even if the planet was somehow sentient. Earth or even nature might not really care, considering how many species go extinct or come into existence on a regular basis. If anything, it’s more like the existing life and species would be upset at possibly dying out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qERdL8uHSgI
Yes, that video has an evolutionary perspective, but evolution’s a perspective that a lot of people take so it’s relevant to the discussion regardless. The earth didn’t get its ‘revenge’ on the creatures putting more oxygen into the atmosphere, things simply progressed according to a sense of cause and effect. Life adapted to live with oxygen instead and thus we have all the animals and plants that we say are worth protecting. I’m not saying that we need to be careless about the earth. We should avoid pollution, extinctions and overusing resources. But we should be reasonable and realistic in our perspectives while we’re at it.