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Once Upon A Time: If We Tune In

A concise yet biased summary of the last half-season of Once Upon A Time.
on Feb 3, 2016 · 14 comments

Some time ago, I wrote a critique of the ABC fantasy series Once Upon A Time once upon a time book(motto: “We Forgot What We Were Writing, So We Wrote This”). I tried to balance my praise against my criticism, and I think the overall note was positive.

That was then; this is now. After the last half season, I find the show nothing so much as frustrating. I realize not all of you have been watching the show, and this post will probably make you feel better about that life decision (you’re welcome). It also makes some sort of explanation necessary so that you can know what I’m complaining about. So here’s what we’ll do: I will provide a concise yet biased summary of the first half of the season, one that will neatly combine both the actual events of the show and my reactions.

A caveat: This summary will not do justice to the show. It will be fun, and it will highlight some genuine flaws, but it will also be lopsided. Whatever the faults of the show, it has more to be said for it than I have room to say.

Now to the summary, with key words in caps to facilitate skimming, or whatever.

At the beginning, our heroes go to CAMELOT, because Emma is possessed or something by the DARKNESS and they want the POWERFUL SORCERER Merlin to help her. Whom they actually meet when they arrive is, of course, King Arthur. This sprawls into a King Arthur SUBPLOT, but we will not summarize it, because we find the prospect TIRING, and we will not comment on it except to say that the show’s creators are lucky that King Arthur is a MYTHOLOGICAL figure, because otherwise he might SUE them for defamation of character.

Then our heroes immediately pop back into Storybrooke, with Emma going FULL DARK ONE, black leather and everything. The story in Camelot is now told in FLASHBACKS. Basically, in Camelot Emma is hearing voices and trying to destroy DARK MAGIC, whereas in Storybrooke she hears voices and is trying to destroy WHITE MAGIC. Meanwhile, other people are doing stuff.

In Camelot, the POWERFUL SORCERER Merlin is freed from a tree. He helps free other people from jail, but everyone’s PROBLEMS stay the SAME.

In Storybrooke, Rumpelstiltskin overcomes his cowardice (which we never saw) and his selfishness (we saw plenty of that) to become the HERO WITH THE PUREST HEART. Fans will bitterly remember this later.

King Arthur, Dark Ones, Merlin, BACKSTORY, Merida, Hook Emma romance blah … Somewhere in the middle we miss some episodes, but we don’t bother to go back, because we heard they are about Merida, and who cares? Not us. We weren’t even that crazy about the Pixar movie. We’re still not over how, in that movie, a teenage girl convinced a band of grizzled, battle-hardened Scottish chieftains to give up their cherished ancient traditions by giving them a speech about FOLLOWING YOUR HEART, which is like diverting JULIUS CAESAR from subjugating primitive Germanic tribes with CUPCAKES.

But we DIGRESS.

In Camelot (not technically, but close enough), the Dark Curse is cast AGAIN. Whatever book the villains get their tricks from is evidently SHORT. Also, Merlin – despite being a POWERFUL SORCERER – dies. And we hate to sound unsympathetic, but considering how much use he actually is, our heroes need not have been so concerned about finding him.

Also, we just know he is coming back, which NEGATES the ANGST of the moment. On a similar note, Belle smashes the teacup again, but never mind: This will change again again again.

In Storybrooke, Hook realizes that while in Camelot he was turned into a Dark One, causing him to remember that he is PURE EVIL. In Storybrooke (also in Camelot), he engages in evil-genius PLOTTING and opens the UNDERWORLD, letting out the DARK ONES. And our heroes are going to be DRAGGED DOWN.

So it’s time for BACKSTORY. Hook’s backstory, to be precise, and it leaves us thinking that were Hook a real bloodthirsty pirate instead of a fictional one, he – like King Arthur – could probably SUE. Someday we will manage to forget it. At any rate, Hook’s backstory is why he changes his mind at the last minute and makes a HEROIC SACRIFICE to defeat the darkness and save our heroes from being dragged down.

Unfortunately, it turns out the darkness is merely TRANSFERRED into Rumpelstiltskin, who has an IQ sixty times higher than anyone else in the realms and thus makes the darkness more dangerous than EVER. And the heroes go down into the Underworld anyway. And Hook will definitely be back. So the HEROIC SACRIFICE accomplishes NOTHING, but it was a good thought. Sort of like Rumpelstiltskin’s character development.

The screen fades to black as our heroes resolutely tread the dark water into the unknown. We don’t know what will happen next, but we are sure of one thing: We are going to see a lot of old (and dead) characters come back in the second half.

If we tune in.

Why Are Superhero Stories So Popular

Superhero movies are all the rage in the entertainment industry these days. From blockbusters like The Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy to lesser-known films such as Ant-Man, superheroes have stormed in and taken over Hollywood. Ten years ago, such […]
on Feb 2, 2016 · 6 comments

Hulk comic book coverSuperhero movies are all the rage in the entertainment industry these days. From blockbusters like The Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy to lesser-known films such as Ant-Man, superheroes have stormed in and taken over Hollywood.

Ten years ago, such stories were scattered trees. Now, thanks in large part to the success of the Marvel film franchise, the scattered trees have become a forest. A thriving forest that seems unlikely to die anytime soon.

Marvel’s Phase 3 is set to kick off in smashing style with the release of Captain America: Civil War in May, followed by ten additional movies over the next four years. Meanwhile, DC, desperately trying to keep pace, has some major offerings of its own, led by Batman v. Superman, Suicide Squad, and Wonder Woman. Several TV shows have also jumped aboard the superhero bandwagon.

The trend is here to stay for the foreseeable future. Which begs the question: why are superhero stories so popular? What makes them capture our attention and draw crowds of fans to the theaters like dwarves flocking to a barbecue party?

I see five main forces driving this trend.

1. Wish-fulfillment

Let’s admit it. Being able to cling to walls and ceilings like Spiderman, zip around in a self-designed suit like Tony Stark, or summon lightning like Thor would be AWESOME!

Defeating an army of Chitauri. Saving your city from destruction. Thwarting the efforts of an obsessed pseudo-Nazi. Swinging like a modern-day Tarzan through the skyscrapers of New York City. How cool would that be?

Superhero stories are filled to the brim with amazing exploits that while unrealistic at times, still echo with the sound of what it means to be human. There are plenty of things in life we wish we could have, or do, but we know it won’t happen. Tales featuring extraordinary characters doing amazing things allow us a way to fill that gap.

2. Vicarious living

In a sense, books and movies are escapist because they allow us freedom to let our imaginations soar, unshackled by the realities of life and science. We form a connection with the characters, and it’s as if we slip into their skin and make their experiences our own.

Through the magic of storytelling, we grieve in their pain, sense their dread, rejoice in their triumphs, revel in their escapades. We relate to their ups and downs on a basic level. We see fragments of our lives played out in their experiences.

To paraphrase George R.R. Martin, “Viewers live a thousand lives.”

Iron Man3. Adventure and adrenaline

Today’s culture demands bigger and better. More destruction, more action, more pulse-pounding moments. While it can quickly become overkill, superhero movies, with their plethora of godlike characters, massive battles, advanced technology, and are primed to fill this demand.

For the most part, they seem bent on outdoing the last movie. People keep watching for the epicness. The movies keep delivering. Everybody’s happy.

4. Cross-generational appeal

Unlike certain genres, superhero stories appeal to a wide audience. Many adults undoubtedly remember reading comic books as kids, and now they get to experience those stories in the sensory-stimulating environment of the theater. The characters are three-dimensional, animated from their static existence on the page of a comic book.

Of course, kids of all ages adore superheroes. They’re the good guys who fight the villain, do incredible things, save the day. What’s not to love from a child’s view of the world?

5. The ordinary in the extraordinary

With the exception of some key characters, most superheroes are (or were) average Joes and Jills. Nothing special or intrinsically amazing about them. No inherent powers or abilities. Consider Steve Rogers. A skinny kid from Brooklyn who looks vulnerable to a strong gust of wind. He undergoes quite the change, and now as Captain America is anything but ordinary.

This ties back to wish-fulfillment and vicarious living. Realistically, none of us will undergo such a startling transformation. Yet because of our connection with the fictional Steve Rogers, we get a small taste of what it would be like to go from ordinary to extraordinary. That feeling intersects with the ability to have our fantasies brought to life, and voila. We have a character we relate to, whose story we want to follow.

Another aspect at work here is the powers, the plots, the people all taking place in our universe. In familiar places. The new, different side of reality brings up the question “what if this actually happened, and furthermore, what if it impacted our world?” The answer brings an intersection of science and fiction, reality and imagination that makes the stories vibrate with life.

Why do you think superhero movies have gained such popularity?

Christian Fantasy And Magic

If we are writing Christian fantasy, and our goal is to reflect something of God’s truth through our craft, shouldn’t we take a page out of the Holy Spirit’s playbook and portray the power of God as it actually is—amazing, miraculous, magical?
on Jan 29, 2016 · 8 comments

fantasyimage1Three Stories Filled With Magic

The Rescue

The mob pushed closer to the house, beating on the doors and windows. It was only a matter of time before they broke in and killed us—or worse. One of the strangers stood and walked toward the door. He nodded, and the door burst open. He casually raised his hand and a blinding light radiated from it like a shockwave, leveling the men outside. They screamed, clutching at their eyes while blindly stumbling over one another in an effort to flee.

***

The Wizard

Priests danced around the fire, muttering dark enchantments. Nothing happened—no fire, no divine light—nothing.

Finally, the wizard stood up. The corners of his mouth twitched with mirth. “Need a little more practice, my friends?”

One of the older priests flung a curse in his direction.

“My, my! There’s no need for that. Don’t bite unless you have teeth. Here, let me show you how it’s done.” The wizard raised his staff into the air and closed his eyes. Two heart-beats later, the sky answered. Lightning, wrapped in flames of blue and green, struck the stones behind him. The lifeless bull, the rock altar, the water—all were gone—vaporized by the power of his God.

***

The Victory

A figure draped in a black robe wreathed with ebony flames stood guard by the stone—invisible to the onlookers. Invisible to all except me. He hovered just above the ground like some disembodied shadow barring my way. Despite their ignorance, the others reacted to his presence—weeping, beating their chests, wailing loudly as if the din alone could make him flee. No, that wouldn’t do it. What lay inside was his, and he would not give it up so easily.

I felt the Power rise within me, and the dark sentinel immediately blanched. From somewhere within his robes his eyes zeroed in on me. He trembled, giving more life to the dark flames. I held out my hand and took a deep breath. One word burst into my mind. I couldn’t hold it back and shouted it like a battle cry.

“Live!”

The stone split in two and fell away from the cave entrance. Like a stream of dust before a gale, Death was driven up over the mountain and into the open sky, shrieking as though I had dealt him the final blow. But no, that battle was still to come. With a clap of thunder, he was gone.

I let my eyes fall back to the cave. My friend stood in the dusty entrance, bound hand and foot by tattered strips of grave cloth.

“Take those off and let him go,” I ordered those standing nearest me. “He is alive.”

 ***

Magic

What should the Christian author’s attitude toward magic be? In the Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis writes much of magic. There’s the Deep Magic, the Deeper Magic, the enchantments of various magicians and witches, the curses of dragons, star magic—you get the picture. I have read that not all Christians at the time looked with kindness on his fictional amalgamation of the secret arts and Christianity. I guess this shouldn’t surprise me. Even now, with such a literary giant as our forebear, how many people squirm when we Christian Fantasy writers show them our stories? After all, magic has connotations of supernatural power derived from somewhere other than God. But does it have to?

fantasyimage2In my mind, Lewis, and others of his caliber (Tolkien, Lawhead, etc.) redeemed magic to its higher, nobler form—the creative display of God’s power through his children to further the Kingdom. A brief glance at Aslan, Gandalf, or Merlin’s power is all it takes to see how authors can elevate magic from darkly arcane, to holy and vibrant. Of course, to make ourselves feel better, we call this sort of holy power “miracles” when we discuss it in Sunday School. But in reality, the definitions for both magic and miracles include the same core element—supernatural power altering the course of normal events. And when we read Biblical accounts of God intervening in the world, we shouldn’t lose sight of how “magical” they would’ve appeared to those experiencing them—hence the examples above.

I know, I know: I embellished the details. But honestly, I didn’t change the stories that much. Isn’t it reasonable to think an angel would have telekinetic powers, that Elijah would have been viewed as a wizard by the ignorant, or that Jesus would’ve seen into the spirit world while raising Lazarus from the dead?

Okay. Great. So what?

fantasyimage3I’m glad you asked. When God moves to spread the gospel among unreached people groups, there are frequent displays of supernatural power . . . even in our modern times. Want some proof? Check out Craig Keener’s Miracles, which is one of the first encyclopedic, rigorously researched forays into the reliability of modern miracle accounts. I have both volumes and they are HUGE and chock-full of corroborating evidence. His goal was to methodically catalog for the Western church what the Body of Christ in other parts of the world already knows: God still works miracles and pretty frequently. Displays of supernatural power further the gospel. Who wouldn’t be impacted by a true, genuine healing?

Therefore, if we are writing Christian fantasy, and our goal is to reflect something of God’s truth through our craft, shouldn’t we take a page out of the Holy Spirit’s playbook and portray the power of God as it actually is—amazing, miraculous, magical? I think so. If we left magical elements out of our stories, we would not represent God as he presents himself to us in the Bible. And it is, after all, THE archetypal fantasy story.

So, Christian Fantasy writers everywhere: hold your heads high when next you write of good magic. You’re in impressive company.

All images courtesy of sattva at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

– – – – –

Author Bio

NathanLumbatisNathan grew up in the woods of Alabama, where he spent his time exploring, hiking, and dreaming up stories. Now, as a child/adolescent therapist and author, he’s teaching kids and teens how to redeem their stories using Biblical principles. He still lives in Alabama, where you will find him with his wife and three kids every chance he gets.

You can contact Nathan and follow him on his Website, Facebook, and Twitter.

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cover_DanielAndTheSunSwordTo learn more about Nathan’s fiction or to purchase a copy of Daniel And The Sun Sword, visit Amazon.

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C. S. Lewis: Don’t Chase Fandom Thrills For Their Own Sake

C. S. Lewis: “Let the thrill go—let it die away … and you will find you are living in a world of new thrills all the time.”
on Jan 27, 2016 · 2 comments

Mere Christianity by C.S. LewisRecently I’ve been re-listening to C. S. Lewis’s classic nonfiction work Mere Christianity.

This book1 is the source of many Lewis quotes we see spread about Christian devotionals, articles and internet “memes.”2

But I am rediscovering — as I do each time I re-read great books — other bits of wisdom that Lewis shared, which aren’t quoted as often.

One bit of wisdom is about the art and purpose of marriage, in book 3, chapter 6, “Christian Marriage.” For example, C. S. Lewis, known for his love of fairy tales, is not too good to question a popular understanding of a fairy tale trope:

If the old fairytale ending “They lived happily ever after” is taken to mean “They felt for the next fifty years exactly as they felt the day before they were married,” then it says what probably never was nor ever could be true, and would be highly undesirable if it were. Who could bear to live in that excitement for even five years? What would become of your work, your appetite, your sleep, your friendships?3

But it turns out Lewis’s advice about “falling in love” applies with equal force to fans of stories and “geek” fandoms. In fact, I think Lewis accidentally stumbled upon the cure to one tendency I keep seeing among fans.

Especially in internet comment sections, you will find those Charlie Bucket types who, in the words of Willy Wonka, are “just lucky to be here.” I find those comments delightfully refreshing; they are closer to the kind of fan I want to be, for the intentional glory of God. However, others fans are often seen, say, nitpicking cast choices or adaptations of Marvel or DC superhero movies, or trying to turn box office successes into competitions between franchises, or reacting to the announcements of cast members with lewd or rude remarks.

But the commonality between these behaviors seems to be this: They want to feel like they did when they were children, to have their nostalgia desires met. They want to recapture what they remember as a sense of “falling in love” with a story. They want to have those same old thrills.

Among Christian fans in particular, this behavior manifests in other ways. Some of us resort to nitpicking pastors, or denominations, or movements, because they don’t give us the same positive “thrills” we may recall when we first encountered saving faith, or when we were children. Among fantastical fans, we might also find ourselves dissatisfied with Christian-authored fantastical novels, not because they are poorly written (not all of them are), but because they don’t give us that “thrills” we desire — “thrills” we might recall other (perhaps secular) stories meeting more easily.

This is the very thing C. S. Lewis warns against chasing. Even more, he promises the best chance of “gaining” this thrill is by dying to the desire for it. In his words, we must replace that early infatuation with mature “sober interest.” Only then can we find, in a mature pursuit of Someone greater, not only the thrills reborn, but newer “thrills.”

He writes in Mere Christianity:4

In this department of life, as in every other, thrills come at the beginning and do not last. The sort of thrill a boy has at the first idea of flying will not go on when he has joined the [Royal Air Force] and is really learning to fly. The thrill you feel on first seeing some delightful place dies away when you really go to live there.

Does this mean it would be better not to learn to fly and not to live in the beautiful place? By no means. In both cases, if you go through with it, the dying away of the first thrill will be compensated for by a quieter and more lasting kind of interest.

What is more (and I can hardly find words to tell you how important I think this), it is just the people who are ready to submit to the loss of the thrill and settle down to the sober interest, who are then most likely to meet new thrills in some quite different direction. The man who has learned to fly and becomes a good pilot will suddenly discover music; the man who has settled down to live in the beauty spot will discover gardening.

This is, I think, one little part of what Christ meant by saying that a thing will not really live unless it first dies. It is simply no good trying to keep any thrill: that is the very worst thing you can do.

Let the thrill go—let it die away—go on through that period of death into the quieter interest and happiness that follow—and you will find you are living in a world of new thrills all the time.

But if you decide to make thrills your regular diet and try to prolong them artificially, they will all get weaker and weaker, and fewer and fewer, and you will be a bored, disillusioned old man for the rest of your life. It is because so few people understand this that you find many middle-aged men and women maundering about their lost youth, at the very age when new horizons ought to be appearing and new doors opening all round them. It is much better fun to learn to swim than to go on endlessly (and hopelessly) trying to get back the feeling you had when you first went paddling as a small boy.

What do you think of Lewis’s warning?

Have you seen fans who seem “bored, disillusioned … maundering”?

How can Christian fans of fantastical stories and “fandoms” apply this truth to their particular pursuits of “thrills”?

 

  1. It’s really a collection of three books based on Lewis’s broadcast talks, edited and combined into one book. ↩
  2. For example, “Aim for Heaven and you will get Earth ‘thrown in.’ Aim for Earth and you will get neither.” ↩
  3. This is likely the source of my wife’s and my occasional expression of gratitude that we don’t often feel as overtly “in love” as those whirlwind heady days of our early long-distance relationship. That time period was exhilarating, but also exhausting. Often I much prefer a night like the evening when I’m writing this, with the “normalcy,” even dullness, of regular life. ↩
  4. I have added a few extra paragraph breaks for readability. ↩

Engaging Entertainment With Intention

What’s the worst thing you’ve ever read or watched? By worst I don’t mean something of bad quality or poor execution. I mean forms of entertainment with questionable content. The topic of what counts as questionable (i.e. “we should avoid […]
on Jan 26, 2016 · 9 comments

What’s the worst thing you’ve ever read or watched?

By worst I don’t mean something of bad quality or poor execution. I mean forms of entertainment with questionable content. The topic of what counts as questionable (i.e. “we should avoid this because it’s sinful”) is something no one can agree on perfectly, and has been debated in circles, so I’m not getting into where we draw the lines.

That conversation, however, provides an excellent backdrop for what I am going to talk about: the way in which we engage, with thought and attentiveness, the entertainment we consume.

Perhaps, amid this endless debate of what’s good vs. what’s bad, what’s “safe” vs. what’s off-limits, we’ve missed an important aspect. Intentionality.

Last week, I talked about the gray areas of fiction—the blurred morals and a shift in trends away from stories tied up in a neat package of good or evil. This goes hand-in-hand with the act of engaging entertainment. It’s not completely about the content (though everyone has the line they won’t cross, and that’s as it should be).

We need to enter the arena with the proper mindset.

Engage

Capt. Picard - ENGAGEI was talking with some friends a few months back, and this topic came up. Where do we draw lines? When has a book or movie crossed the boundaries of art into glorification of violence, swearing, sex, or anything else? One of my friends made a great point: the only requirement you can have across the board is that you’re engaging entertainment with intention.

Because when the mind is active, paying attention to the content streaming in, it’s like having the shields of the Enterprise up. Nothing gets past unnoticed. When you lower the shields of your mind, you open yourself up for attack.

Maybe some people can tolerate Jessica Jones while others find it excessive. Again, not getting into the debate of who’s right and wrong. The deeper issue is whether or not you’re tuned into what’s going on.

Is your brain on autopilot, not paying attention to where the story is going?

Are you constantly filtering the entertainment you consume through the lens of your worldview?

Have you engaged with the story to the point of identifying what you agree with and why, and what you disagree with and why?

This is something we should constantly be doing. Not in a legalistic, guilt-trip sense, where the shame for something you may have seen or read crushes you. Rather, engage your mind so you can pick out the good from the bad, the echoes of truth from the whispers of falsehood. Discernment is key, and how can you exercise it without an engaged mind?

Every story skews toward a certain worldview, whether with intention or by accident, whether in a subtle or blatant way. Whenever you watch a movie or read a book, you’ll be faced with a particular set of values, a tilted look at the world with which you may disagree.

That’s fine, as long as you’re engaged and can separate the truth from the falsehood, the pure and noble from the profane and distorted.

I haven’t read a wide range of stories stemming from radically varied worldviews and tolerance levels, but I can confidently say that I have yet to come across a story in which there was nothing to be gained. No takeaway or thought worth pondering further.

Hunger Games may paint the world in a depressing hue, void of the hope and comfort enjoyed by Christians, yet that doesn’t discount its powerful messages. The effects of violence, the horror of tyranny, the pain of loss.

So far, I’ve been dealing with the shadowed side of Entertainment Boulevard, where the low-life lives and the corruption stains. But engaging entertainment is equally important on the bright, sunny side.

Why? Because it can too easily present false, overly-simplistic versions of reality, which is unhealthy in its own way. This is where typical Christian fiction runs into problems. Living vicariously through the life of a character, we can easily become disillusioned when reality doesn’t line up with the idealized existence we expect for ourselves because that’s how it turned out for the characters.

Not saying any positive outcome is worth a skeptical analysis and summary dismissal, but that we need to approach every aspect, every thread of a story, with a level head and open eyes.

Suffice it to say, we need to engage entertainment with intention across the board. Examine, taking the good for what it offers and acknowledging the bad for the ugly face it is.

So in the famous words of Captain Jean-Luc Picard…

ENGAGE!

Have you seen any personal value or advantage in engaging entertainment?

2016 Spec Faith Winter Writing Challenge

For the last several years, Spec Faith has held a winter writing contest, a type of writing exercise, with rewards. There’s feedback from other Spec Faith visitors and there’s the potential for a $25 gift card from either Amazon or B&N.
on Jan 25, 2016 · 194 comments

2016 Spec Faith Writing Challenge

It’s time!

Winter presents the writer with the perfect opportunity to snuggle inside and concentrate on stories and words and characters. For the last several years, Spec Faith has held a winter writing contest, a type of writing exercise, with rewards. There’s feedback from other Spec Faith visitors and there’s the potential for a $25 gift card from either Amazon or B&N.

Here’s the way this particular winter challenge works:

I’ll give a first line, and those who wish to accept the challenge will write what comes next (not necessarily the complete story, though it could be if you wish)—in 250 words or less, putting your entry into the comments section of this post.

In keeping with Spec Faith’s primary focus on the intersection of speculative fiction and the Christian faith, writers may wish to incorporate Christian elements or to write intentionally from a Christian worldview. Likewise, speculative elements of one kind or another should be incorporated.

Since our new comment “thumbs” are . . . well . . . new, readers should give a thumbs up AND reply to the entries you like most with YES. (It’s not a bad idea to name the person whose entry you’re liking, in order to avoid any confusion). You can give a thumbs up/YES response to an unlimited number of entries. If you wish, you may also add why you liked the entry or what particularly grabbed your attention.

I encourage such comments—that way all entrants will benefit, even if they don’t win, since they’ll receive feedback on their writing.

After the designated time, I’ll re-post the top three (based on the number of thumbs up votes—which should have a corresponding number of YES votes) and visitors will have a chance to vote for the one which they believe is the best (one vote only).

As I mentioned above, there’s a prize for the winner—a $25 gift card (from either Amazon or Barnes and Noble). In the event of a tie, a drawing will be held to determine the finalists and/or winner.

And now, the 2016 Winter Challenge first line:

The approaching cloud wasn’t natural—it was too dark, too dense, and too fast—but Daniel had no place to hide and no chance to out run it.

Finally, those silly little details we all need to know:

  • Your word count does not include this first line.
  • You will have between now and midnight (Pacific time) this coming Sunday to post your challenge entries in the comments section.
  • You may reply to entries, giving your thumbs up/YES vote, this week and next. To have your thumbs up/YES counted to determine the top three entries, it must be posted before midnight, Sunday, February 7.
  • Finalists will be announced Monday, February 8, then voting for the winner will begin.
  • Past winners, published authors, other SpecFaith columnists, first time visitors—all are eligible to enter.

Please share this post with your friends, both writers and readers. The more entries and the more feedback, the better the challenge.

Editorial Add, Tuesday: If the number of thumbs up and YES votes are not the same, the YES votes will take precedent since they are the votes that can be verified.

Reading Fantasy

Some might think fantasy is pure escapism, but in reality, it helps us deal with the darkness in our own lives, inside and out.
on Jan 22, 2016 · 8 comments

fantasy isI think everyone should read fantasy.

Or any derivative of speculative fiction for that matter. Let me explain.

This past year I was contemplating God, life, and writing fantasy. And a thought struck me. Fantasy gives us something that no other genre can give, or at least not as well as fantasy can: Wonder and awe and the greatest portrayals of battle between good and evil. Something that the awesome David Farland reiterated at Realm Makers this past year.

So I decided to sit down and write up why I think everyone should read fantasy.

Motivation.

When I get done reading books like Cast of Stones or watching a kick-butt movie like Avengers, I feel motivated to learn how to fight with a staff or take up sword play. Or, you know, learn astrophysics overnight. Not only do I feel motivated to improve my life, I feel like I CAN do it. Well, maybe not the astrophysics. When the zombie apocalypse comes, I want to be ready for it. The only problem is I like food too much. Ha!

cover_SecretsKeptInspiration.

Books like Blaggard’s Moon and movies like Man in the Iron Mask make me want to BE a better person. Samwise makes me want to be a better friend or their fight against such insurmountable odds inspire me to never give up. There are so many! Merlin in Merlin’s Blade. Anna’s sacrifice and love for her sister, Elsa. Tinkerbell standing up for the Neverbeast. The My Little Ponies and the magic of friendship—we can be friends despite our differences. Can you tell I have young kiddos in the house?

The loyalty and honor, the self-sacrifice, the kindness that I all too often fall short of. That’s the kind of life I want to live. Those are the kinds of stories I want to write.

Challenged.

Fantasy can be a reflection of life, the world around us, and our inner journeys. It challenges us to look beyond ourselves while it holds up a mirror to our souls.

It helps us to understand our world better, explore concepts of right and wrong, and the possible consequences of people’s decisions on a world-wide level. We can get so caught up in our bubble and forget how our choices and actions affect others.

Pirates of the Caribbean. I almost hated the third movie. Where was my happy ending??? And then I realized that it was as about as happy as Will or Elisabeth could have had. Then the movies deepened for me as I shared in an older post, What Pirates Taught Me: It’s no longer about the fun and the adventures to be had, but about the consequences of our choices, standing up for what we believe is right, whether or not it is acceptable in other people’s eyes, whether or not it brings us happiness or not, but because it was noble, self-sacrificing, putting others first, etc.

The Mummy & The Mummy Returns. LOVE those movies. What I find amazing in Mummy Returns, is that we see the contrast of committed love (Rick & Evie) and lust. (Imhotep & Anck-Su-Namun) What a great way to demonstrate the principles of God in action!

cover_atimetodieA Time to Die challenged me to live life to the fullest. What if I had only one year to live? How would I live?

Fantasy is also a reflection of our inner world. Just like Zachary Totah mentioned in his post about Epic Journeys, we can all relate to characters setting off on quests and adventures, because it echoes our own journeys. Journeys of overcoming great obstacles, of healing, of finding hope amid the darkness, and finding our way in this crazy thing called life.

And because fantasy can be a reflection of life, the stories can get dark.

I appreciate the darker stories, because life is dark. You’d think reading darker novels or watching darker movies that we’d be more depressed or something. And perhaps for some that is the case. Only you can answer that. But for me, it can inspire us to overcome our own darkness. Like G.K. Chesterton said: “Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.” I think that’s why I love the Tales of Goldstone Wood so much. I can recognize the dragon in me and I know I need the Prince of Farthestshore to help me fight it.

God.

If you are a Christian and you’re reading the Bible, you would know that we serve an amazing, fantastical God. The God who created the world, set the planets spinning, and the stars a burning. The God who set aside His glorious immortality and took on mortal flesh to live among us and redeem us. How crazy amazing is that? And then we have the stories. Balaam and the talking donkey. Angels. The walls of Jericho. The day the sun stood still. Parting the red sea. Healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, raising people from the dead. What other genre can better demonstrate the wonder and power of God? Or make the invisible visible? Or see His principles in action?

There have been many times that God has spoken through a story to me. The above paragraphs point to a few examples. Many times fantasy books and movies have given me greater insight into my journey or God’s Word.

Example. Harry Potter. When I read that Voldemort couldn’t touch Harry because Harry’s mother had sacrificed herself to protect him, I had an aha moment. Satan cannot touch me because of what Christ did on the cross. Sure I’ve read about it in scripture, but it hit me. Now. I’m not trying to Christianize anything here. All I’m saying is that God can use stories to speak to us. But we all knew that already. Jesus did it. A lot.

And Thankful.

Last but not least, when I finish watching an out-of-this-world movie like Stargate, or turn the last page in a book like The Shock of Night, I am THANKFUL. Thankful to be alive here and now. Thankful that we don’t live in a world with aliens trying to eat us. Thankful that we don’t have to deal with zombies or monsters or fire-breathing dragons. Thankful that we have things like the laws of Thermodynamics and gravity and such. I’m thankful that we know how this story will end and Who wrote it.

Some might think fantasy is pure escapism, but in reality, it helps us deal with the darkness in our own lives, inside and out. It can give us the motivation for self-discipline, the inspiration to rise above and become better, and it can challenge us to look at life and ourselves differently. It can help us understand our spiritual journey better and help us to see the light oh so much brighter. And the escaping part isn’t too bad either. I should know. Books were once my drugs.

So what say you? What stories have inspired or challenged you?

– – – – –

Jennette Mbewe photo

Writing as J. L. Mbewe, Jennette is an author, artist, mother, wife, but not always in that order. Born and raised in Minnesota, she now braves the heat of Texas, but pines for the Northern Lights and the lakes of home every autumn. She loves trying to capture the abstract and make it concrete. She is currently living her second childhood with a wonderful husband and two precious children who don’t seem to mind her eclectic collections of rocks, shells, and swords, among other things. Here, between reality and dreams, you will find her busily creating worlds inhabited by all sorts of fantasy creatures and characters, all questing about and discovering true love amid lots of peril. She has two short stories published in The Clockwork Dragon anthology, and four short stories set in the world of Nälu. Her debut novel, Secrets Kept, was nominated for the 2014 Clive Staples Award, and its sequel, Darkened Hope is coming May 2016.

Stay up-to-date with all things Nälu and her journey as a writer mama at JLMbewe.com. Connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and/or Pinterest.

The Best-Worst Cliches

Today, we are going to talk about cliches in fiction, or at least one special subset of them: those that annoy us.
on Jan 20, 2016 · 5 comments

Today, we are going to talk about cliches in fiction, or at least one special subset of them: those that clicheannoy us. These are cliches that cross genres and mediums, ambushing hapless audiences in romance novels and fantasy TV shows alike. Some might have been all right once – not all, mind you, only some – but they’ve been played too many times, become a little too ubiquitous, and now they trigger impatience at every new appearance.

I am going to provide some of these best-worst cliches in a list format, because this requires essentially no organization and is frankly the easiest format to write.

“I thought you were my friend.” This was all right once, probably before the turn of the nineteenth century, but after hearing far, far too many melodramatic exclamations of “I thought you were my friend!” – I’m done. Even if justified by the story, this sentence will always make me sigh … with the sole exception of when it’s played for humor.

“Follow your heart.” All this really means, if you bother to think about it, is, “Do what you want to do.” There are times when this is highly sensible advice, but these days it’s thrown around like some sort of profound insight, like it cuts the Gordian knot and leaves everything clear.

And truly? It doesn’t. The heart is often confused and confusing, and it does not, like a compass, point true north. I am tired of seeing dilemmas resolved by emotional exhortations to “follow your heart.”

Everybody’s got a sob story. Everybody. Villains, heroes, anti-heroes. Now, everyone has his reasons, but must they always be tragic ones? I want to see the happy heroes, and the villains who do what they do because they enjoy it – or enjoy what they get from it.

“I feel sorry for you.” As a comeback to the villain who has just sentenced you to death, this just doesn’t cut it. For one thing, who actually thinks like this? Of all the things even a hero would think or feel at the moment of imminent death, pity for one’s own murderer seems rather unlikely. For another … look, why should the villain care? Pity can sting, but usually only when you feel yourself, in some way, pitiable. And a villain who is, or thinks he is, about to achieve total victory over an enemy will not believe he is the one who needs pity.

keep-calm-and-drop-the-cliches“I have my own code.” Let it be noted, first of all, that this line is usually uttered by pirates, thieves, or other miscreants; it is the last refuge of scoundrels. “My own code” is for those who find the Ten Commandments too rigorous.

I include this cliche not so much for itself as for the treatment given to it. I have seen this statement taken to be reassuring, which is … oh, why not just say it? It’s dumb. Even if, say, a pirate’s code does forbid robbing you, because you are poor or an orphan or some other affecting thing, you have no reason to feel secure. After all, the pirate wrote his own code, and he can always add a new bylaw for you.

I deny even more strongly any suggestion that there is nobility in following your own code. You wrote it yourself. Of course you can follow it. It suits you.

“He lives in your heart.” Somewhere along the way, our culture adopted this as a means of comforting people regarding death without mentioning God or heaven. And every time I hear it, the more insufficient it seems. Is this what anyone truly wants?

 

Those are my top cliches. And now, it’s your turn. What cliches bother you?

The Gray Areas Of Fiction

Once upon a time, stories enjoyed a simpler existence. Literature from centuries past dwelled in the bucolic—if overly idealistic—fields of clear moral standards, objectivity regarding what was right and wrong, and clearly drawn lines between the hero and the villain. […]
on Jan 19, 2016 · 15 comments

knight and princessOnce upon a time, stories enjoyed a simpler existence. Literature from centuries past dwelled in the bucolic—if overly idealistic—fields of clear moral standards, objectivity regarding what was right and wrong, and clearly drawn lines between the hero and the villain.

The divide between good and evil was obvious—a line separating light and dark. I’m not saying this was true across the board. Anytime you have rules, you find exceptions to those rules, but in terms of majority, the tales who laid out a black-and-white world had the upper hand.

Entertainment—books and movies being my primary focus—has taken a different shape and hue. Whereas once the black-and-white stories abounded, they’ve dwindled in number and popularity. Not cast aside, but rather blended, obscured, so that what has emerged in popular entertainment is a wide swath of gray.

The modern mindset, shaped by worldviews such as relativism, demands a less clear-cut view of the world than simplistic stories of the knight in radiant armor battling the black-cloaked villain.

Two examples illustrate this trend.

  1. Antiheroes

Batman. Green Arrow. Han Solo.

The casting department for modern stories is churning out antiheroes faster than Marvel is releasing new movies. Taking a mini-sidetrack for a moment, antihero is a tricky label. For the purposes here, I’m using the terms in the sense of flawed heroes. Dark Knights. Characters with a healthy mix of admirable and questionable qualities.

I present Batman as Exhibit A in this gallery. A quick look at his attributes reveals a fascinating dichotomy. On the good side:

  • Noble motives
  • Loyalty
  • Strength

And on the bad:

  • Pride
  • Deception
  • Brutality

In the case of Batman, an even clearer departure from the virtuous hero is apparent in a visual sense. Batman is truly a dark knight, who lurks in the shadows and wears, compared to the noble knight in polished armor riding a white steed.

  1. Blurred morals

Where is the line between right and wrong? Is there, as some stories would have us believe, a sharp distinction, casting everyone into either one camp or the other? Or does there exist a middle ground, where the black and white bleed together, where anti-heroes lurk in the shadows, symbols of virtue yet more flawed than we care to admit?

One manifestation of a gray morality that pops up regularly is the question of the ends justifying the means.

  • Was Batman right to kill people outside the restraints of the law, when the law itself was corrupt?
  • Was it wrong for Stark to create Ultron, knowing the potential risks?
  • Should the rebels have killed the soldiers of the Capital without mercy if it meant winning?
  • Do the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few?

In a sense, I enjoy such probing questions because they stimulate my brain and cause me to contemplate things I normally wouldn’t. I sit there wondering, “If I was on one of the ferries the Joker had rigged to blow, which way would I vote?”

Borrowing Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. jargon, “Could I make the tough call?” Whatever that call happened to be?

Moral conundrums add conflict, intrigue, and, but are such gray areas necessary? Do they cross the line into unsafe territory?

A Gray Landscape

foggy roadReturning to the untainted knight image, my biggest beef with such a stereotype, and of stories in general that paint the world in such unambiguous terms, is the way they avoid the reality of life.

Thanks to sin, imperfections mar every jot and tittle of life, a stain not only on the world around us, but on our hearts. In a way, antiheroes provide a familiar foundation, characters to whom we can relate because if we’re honest, we’re more like them than the ne’er-do-wrong heroes.

Not an excuse to go around bashing heads or swearing because, “hey, that’s just who I am,” but neither a conscience-binding burden of perfectly emulating the flawless role-model character.

Do modern stories overstep the bounds of portraying these gray areas in an attempt to paint a realistic picture of the world, confusing good for evil and evil for good? Yes, but not always. And the presence of a “hero” who engages in an unsavory activity—Sherlock and his addiction to morphine, for example—doesn’t mean we should denounce the story as a piece of dangerous garbage and run for our the sake of our spiritual lives.

Discernment is necessary when dealing with any form of entertainment, but not to the point of creating legalistic boundaries. If I were to only watch movies or read books I agreed with and that aligned with my worldview, the list would be as short and boring as Bilbo’s beard.

Engaging entertainment isn’t an all-or-nothing proposition. The gray areas are no exception. Read and watch, think, consider, question, evaluate.

Take away lessons from the good, understand and identify the bad.

Let such stories sharpen your mind, challenge your thinking, and present a clearer understanding of what you believe and why.

What’s your opinion on the “gray” trend in modern entertainment?

Christian Speculative Fiction Awards Aplenty

This explosion of contests open to or designed for Christian speculative fiction is an encouraging sign, I believe. For one thing, writers and readers have some way of determining which of the many books that came out in 2015 are among the best.
on Jan 18, 2016 · No comments

ChristyAwardLogo[1]Not so very long ago, the Christy Awards were the only credible awards for Christian fiction, and they dropped their speculative fiction category. Upon further investigation, the powers that be informed the public that there simply were not enough entries.

In response, a number of speculative fiction writers began discussion of a Christian speculative fiction award. Several years later the Clive Staples Award was born.

At about the same time, the Carol Award, issued by the American Christian Fiction Writers association, added a Speculative Category. Membership in the organization and an entry fee are part of the requirements for submission. Carol_Award_trans-Winner

That same year the Christy Award again added the “Visionary” Category which encompasses all the speculative fiction subgenres. An entry fee is required for this “traditional publishers only” award.

Inspy awardsA few years later a group of bloggers established the Inspy Awards, the “bloggers award for excellence in faith-driven literature.” From the start they included a speculative category. Their nominations do not include self-published or ebooks.

More recently the Grace Awards came into being, and they have a speculative category. The Word Award, presented by the Canadian Word Guild, includes a Christian book category with a speculative division.

In addition, a number of writers’ conferences such as the Blue Ridge Christian Writers Conference and the Oregon Christian Writers Conference now hold contests which include speculative fiction categories. These conference awards require attendance.

New this year is the Realm Award for speculative fiction only, hosted by the Realm Makers Conference. There are also six genre categories, open to self-published authors as well as print published. Submission includes an entry fee.

This explosion of contests open to or designed for Christian speculative fiction is an encouraging sign, I believe. For one thing, writers and readers have some way of determining which of the many books that came out in 2015 are among the best. Plus, I think a little healthy competition is good for writers. It pushes us to do better.

clive-staples-seal-2015All this information is by way of introduction. The nominations for the Clive Staples Award will soon be open. This award is reader initiated rather than author or publisher initiated. It also is a mixture of reader choice and judging selection.

Both self-published and traditionally published, by small press or ECPA member publishers, are eligible. There is no entry fee.

Voters must have read at least two of the books on the list of nominations, so one of the important elements for the Clive Staples Award is readers! But here’s the cool thing. As soon as nominations start coming in, anyone wishing to vote who hasn’t yet read two books published in 2015 can find a couple that look interesting and begin reading.

The bottom line is this: more and more organizations, writing groups, and readers are recognizing Christian speculative fiction. It’s a great development for the genre, and it’s a great help to readers looking for good books.

Be sure to watch for more news about the awards.

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