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148. Why Do Some Christians Revile ‘The Chosen’? | with Josiah DeGraaf and Jenneth Dyck
Fantastical Truth Podcast, Feb 7, 2023

Into the Darkness
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The Chosen Succeeds Where ‘Woke’ Stories Fail
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The Wayward, Tabitha Caplinger
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Calor, J. J. Fisher
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148. Why Do Some Christians Revile ‘The Chosen’? | with Josiah DeGraaf and Jenneth Dyck
Fantastical Truth, Feb 7, 2023

147. Why Can Christians Celebrate Stories about Merlin and King Arthur? | with Robert Treskillard
Fantastical Truth, Jan 31, 2023

146. How Did Animators Adapt The Wingfeather Saga For Streaming TV? | with Keith Lango
Fantastical Truth, Jan 24, 2023

145. How Did Edmund Spenser’s ‘The Faerie Queene’ Shape Christian Fantasy? | with Rebecca K. Reynolds
Fantastical Truth, Jan 17, 2023

144. Which Top Six Fantasy Franchises Gave Fans Grief in 2022?
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143. Which Top Ten Lorehaven Stories Proved Most Popular in 2022?
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Into the Darkness
“Charles Hack’s Into the Darkness summons a close-range science fiction story, focusing on the personal challenges of space warfare among alien cultures with a steady pace and serious tone.”
—Lorehaven on Feb 3, 2023

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“A Crown of Chains creatively retells a biblical tale to explore themes of providence, racism, faith, and fidelity.”
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Lander’s Legacy
“Lander’s Legacy stacks modern thrills and complex characters on a foundation of biblical what-ifs.”
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Prince Caspian
“Pacing starts slow but creature lore grows in C. S. Lewis’s sequel, introducing practical tyrants and talking-beast politics into a Narnian resistance.”
—Lorehaven on Jan 13, 2023

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Lorehaven helps Christian fans explore fantastical stories for Christ’s glory: fantasy, science fiction, and beyond. Articles, the library, reviews, podcasts, gifts, and the Lorehaven Guild community help fans discern and enjoy the best Christian-made fantastical stories, applying their meanings to the real world Jesus Christ calls us to serve. Subscribe free to get any updates you choose and to access the Lorehaven Guild.
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Out Of The Slush Pile

The award-winning team blog, Novel Journey held a year-long contest they called Out of the Slush Pile. They featured a different genre throughout the year and named a monthly winner. Then in January 2011 they’ll put all the winners into […]
Rebecca LuElla Miller on Dec 13, 2010
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The award-winning team blog, Novel Journey held a year-long contest they called Out of the Slush Pile. They featured a different genre throughout the year and named a monthly winner. Then in January 2011 they’ll put all the winners into the mix and choose a grand prize winning entry.

The month of November was Round II for Speculative Fiction. I’m happy to announce that Sally Apokedak, soon to be a guest blogger here at Speculative Faith, was the winner. You can read the first chapter (ignore the pictures) of her completed fairy tale stand-alone The Button Girl, then leave Sally a comment here, at Novel Journey, or at her own blog.

To whet your appetite, here’s the opening:

The Button Girl
by Sally Apokedak

Sorrow crouches quietly
at the heart’s door,
awaiting the perfect moment to spring.

– Lawful Atwood III, in the first year of the captivity

Chapter 1

Repentance Atwater sat still as a rock, clenching her hands in her lap to keep them from trembling. Staring at herself in the reflecting wall before her, she attempted a happy expression, but only accomplished the terrified look of a rabbit caught in torchlight.

Her mother stood behind her, gently raking her fingers through Repentance’s freshly washed hair. She hummed a lively buttoning tune, obviously unaware of the pain that would come with the night.

A weeping and a wailing.

There would come a weeping and a wailing. Repentance had been to plenty of failed button ceremonies. She knew what it felt like to stand helpless before the overlords as they loaded up the slave carts.

Mercy Atwater began to plait Repentance’s hair. All the button girls wore braids to keep their hair from frizzing in the humid air.

Repentance closed her eyes, trying to focus on the tune her mother hummed, but she could not shut out the sound of the steady drip from the fog-drenched trees. Even sitting in the back of the cave, through thick stone walls and two leather curtains drawn down, she could hear the incessant drip, drip, drip.

A weeping and a wailing.

She didn’t want to be the cause of it. But what could she do? Inside she’d been weeping and wailing all her life.

Rebecca LuElla Miller
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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  1. Sally Apokedak says:
    December 13, 2010 at 10:06 pm

    Hey, I liked those pictures.

    🙂

    Thanks for the shout out.

    Reply
  2. Rebecca LuElla Miller says:
    December 14, 2010 at 1:14 pm

    OK, then, other readers don’t need to ignore the pictures. Mostly they didn’t fit with the images in my head. But I did think it was remarkable that they had pictures so closely aligned with the story.

    I hope lots of people take time to read your chapter. I know it’s a hard thing to ask since they know they aren’t going to be reading the whole story. That’s why I thought I’d post a bit of a teaser here.

    Again, Sally, congratulations on the win. And wouldn’t it be terrific if a speculative would win the grand prize. 😀

    Becky

    Reply
  3. Morgan L. Busse says:
    December 14, 2010 at 4:45 pm

    Congrats Sally!

    Reply
  4. Sally Apokedak says:
    December 15, 2010 at 8:49 am

    The pictures don’t fit the images in my head, either, but I love that someone took the time to find pictures to illustrate something I’ve written. I like that someone is interacting with my story to even form mental images.

    And yes it would be cool if a speculative story would win. It would be even cooler if it was my speculative. heh heh I’m kidding. It’s a cool contest and whoever wins will be worthy, I’m sure, and that’s what we want, right? More good fiction written from a Christian worldview to find its way to agents and editors and to eventually find a place on the bookstore shelf. If that happens, we all win.

    Reply

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Lorehaven helps Christian fans explore fantastical stories for Christ’s glory: fantasy, science fiction, and beyond. Articles, the library, reviews, podcasts, gifts, and the Lorehaven Guild community help fans discern and enjoy the best Christian-made fantastical stories, applying their meanings to the real world Jesus Christ calls us to serve. Subscribe free to get any updates you choose and to access the Lorehaven Guild.
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