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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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The Clive Staples Award For Christian Speculative Fiction

For those in the US, blessings on this Memorial Day. For all of us, an update on the Clive Staples Award–specifically three announcements
Rebecca LuElla Miller on May 27, 2013
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CSAbutton 2013I’m so happy Spec Faith is back up and running! For whatever reason, we were hacked last week and repeated fixes only brought the site back up temporarily. Special thanks to Stephen for his tireless work to keep the site running smoothly. We only seem to notice when glitches disrupt the normal activity.

For those in the US, blessings on this Memorial Day.

For all of us, an update on the Clive Staples Award–specifically three announcements:

1. The nominations are now officially closed. We had a great response. Thanks to each of you who added a book you think worthy of the award.

2. Because we received such a large number of nominations (thirty-three), we’ve decided to have readers select the winner in two phases. First we will narrow the field down to five finalists, then choose the CSA winner from those in a second survey.

3. Spec Faith and CSA have teamed with the new speculative writers’ conference, Realm Makers, not only to provide a venue for the announcement of the winner, but also to award a small cash prize to that author.

And now some comments/elaboration on each of these.

First, you’ll find the entire list of nominations posted below. I want to stress the fact that we want the CSA to reflect the best writing as opposed to the most popular author. The two are not always the same.

Consequently, in order to vote in the readers’ choice award, we need voters to read at least two of the nominated books. That seems like a ridiculously low number to me, but we want people to participate so we’re keeping the requirement something readers can easily manage.

Second, the number of nominees jumped fifty-seven percent over the last year the CSA was awarded. I think this increase is due to two factors. One, the book business has opened up and there are far more small presses now. And two, Christians are beginning to embrace speculative fiction more and more.

Regarding the publishers, I couldn’t help but notice the mix between traditional houses and small, independent companies, many existing for five years or less. I like that readers are finding both, and our hope is that the Clive Staples Award, the Spec Faith Library and Reviews, and the daily discussion about speculative literature on the blog will expand the awareness of their books to more and more readers.

RealmMakerslogoThird, the CSA aims to encourage and honor great writing. One way to do that is through a monetary prize, not just high-fives and hand shakes, though we’d like to seem many of those as well.

The Realm Makers Conference is a bold move to provide Christian speculative writers a place to gather and learn. It also allows us the opportunity of celebrating the great stories in the genre. We’re excited that the conference founder and organizers share our vision and want to contribute in a meaningful way to the Clive Staples Award.

By the way, if you’re interested in attending the August 2-3 conference in St. Louis, you’ll have some great teaching from industry professionals like Jeff Gerke, Kathy Tyers, and Bryan Davis. Seventy percent of the spaces are filled, but you have a few more days (until June 1) to reserve a spot at the early bird price of $185.

And now the final list–your 2013 Clive Staples Award nominees (in alphabetical order by author’s last name):

Words in the Wind by Yvonne Anderson (Risen Books)

Daughter of Light by Morgan L. Busse (Marcher Lord Press)

Devil’s Hit List: Book Three of the UNDERGROUND by Frank Creed (Splashdown Books)

Liberator (Dragons of Starlight series) by Bryan Davis (Zondervan)

A Throne of Bones by Vox Day (Hinterlands / Marcher Lord Press)

Mortal (The Books of Mortals) by Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee (FaithWords)

Angel Eyes by Shannon Dittemore (Thomas Nelson)

The Telling by Mike Duran (Realms Fiction)

Risk by Brock Eastman (P&R Publishing/Focus on the Family)

Live and Let Fly by Karina Fabian (Muse It Up Publishing)

I Am Ocilla by Diane Graham (Splashdown)

Seeking Unseen by Kat Heckenbach (Splashdown Books)

Remnant in the Stars by Cindy Koepp (Under The Moon)

The Unraveling of Wentwater (The Gates of Heaven Series) by C.S. Lakin (Living Ink Books)

Prophet by R. J. Larson (Bethany House)

Judge by R. J. Larson (Bethany House)

Spirit Fighter by Jerel Law (Thomas Nelson)

Fire Prophet by Jerel Law (Thomas Nelson)

The Spirit Well by Stephen Lawhead (Thomas Nelson)

The Wrong Enemy by Jane Lebak (MuseItUp Publishing)

Alienation (A C.H.A.O.S. novel) by Jon S. Lewis (Thomas Nelson)

Curse Bearer by Rebecca P Minor (Written World Communications)

Rift Jump by Greg Mitchell (Splashdown Darkwater)

Bid the Gods Arise by Robert Mullin (Crimson Moon Press)

Prophetess (Winter Book 2) Keven Newsome (Splashdown Darkwater)

Failstate by John W. Otte (Marcher Lord Press)

Soul’s Gate by James Rubart (Thomas Nelson)

Starflower by Anne Elizabeth Stengl (Bethany House)

Moonblood by Anne Elisabeth Stengl (Bethany House)

Star Of Justice by Robynn Tolbert (Splashdown Books)

Daystar by Kathy Tyers (Marcher Lord Press)

The New Recruit by Jill Williamson (Marcher Lord Press)

Replication: The Jason Experiment by Jill Williamson (Zonderkidz)

 

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. Aaron DeMott says:
    May 27, 2013 at 1:28 pm

    I’ve read six of those, and four or five more are on my “to-read” pile.

    Reply
    • Rebecca LuElla Miller says:
      May 27, 2013 at 4:06 pm

      Yea! That’s great to hear, Aaron. Be sure and tell all your friends who have been reading like you have!

      Becky

      Reply
  2. Steve Taylor says:
    May 27, 2013 at 1:52 pm

     Welcome back.  You guys must be making some people very uncomfortable which means you must be doing the right thing.
     
    But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 1 Pete 4:13

    Reply
    • Rebecca LuElla Miller says:
      May 27, 2013 at 4:09 pm

      Thanks, Steve. It was an interesting week. We appreciate our loyal fans who visit regularly and those who have subscribed or who stop by the FB page where we could give updates. It was a helpless feeling not being able to tell everyone what was going on!

      Becky

      Reply
  3. Kessie says:
    May 27, 2013 at 7:33 pm

    I can’t believe someone would do that. Was it a person or a bot? I tend to get hacked by bots through old scripts with security holes.
     
    I’m glad you’re moving forward with the contest! I need to read more of these, but I’ll wait until the next stage and the shorter list.

    Reply
  4. Realm Makers Partners With Speculative Faith: The Clive Staples Award | Faith and Fantasy Alliance says:
    May 27, 2013 at 8:48 pm

    […] you’ve seen the news over at Speculative Faith, but in case you haven’t, the Faith and Fantasy Alliance is excited to announce that we have […]

    Reply
  5. Lauren says:
    May 28, 2013 at 10:57 am

    So glad you’re back! I needed my Speculative Faith fix 🙂
     
    Wow 33 nominations! And I’ve only read six . . .  Hope I have time to read the newest Lawhead and Jill Williamson before it’s time to vote!
     
    One question about Realm-makers: If we can’t attend the conference, will we be able to purchase audio of the sessions afterwards? I would love to hear the sessions, but I can’t spring for the trip right now.

    Reply
    • Rebecca LuElla Miller says:
      May 31, 2013 at 9:22 pm

      Great question, Lauren. I’ll see if I can find out about recordings.

      Becky

      Reply
  6. Lelia Rose Foreman (@LeliaForeman) says:
    May 28, 2013 at 1:04 pm

    This is going to be hard. I liked so many of those books.

    Reply
  7. Meagan @ Blooming with Books says:
    May 29, 2013 at 10:16 pm

    Ohhh, hard choices.  I’ve read 14 of these books already and totally loved them all.  I have a couple to read that I just got this last month because they were on my wish-list.

    Reply
    • Rebecca LuElla Miller says:
      May 31, 2013 at 9:26 pm

      Wow, Meagan! Awesome. I’m only going on nine. But you are the perfect person to vote, though I know it’s hard. I mean, you really have a feel for what’s good, and there’s a reason you’ve picked up the books you read. May we have many more voters like you!

      Becky

      Reply
  8. Pauline says:
    May 29, 2013 at 11:59 pm

    I’ve read 11 on the list and agree its going to be a tough choice! So many more are on my TBR…

    Reply
  9. Jennette says:
    May 30, 2013 at 1:33 pm

    I’ve read seven! It will be a hard choice for sure! 
    I’ve read through the article several times, but I’m wondering if I’m missing something. How are we to vote?

    Reply
    • Rebecca LuElla Miller says:
      May 31, 2013 at 9:30 pm

      I agree, Jennette, it is a hard choice. There are some very good books that we have to choose from.

      I want to give others a chance to read some from the list. But in a while we’ll put up a survey that voters will take. It’s really a simple process.

      Becky

      Reply
      • Jennette says:
        June 6, 2013 at 9:33 am

        Thanks! I will keep an eye out for it. 

        Reply
  10. Bryan Davis says:
    June 5, 2013 at 8:19 am

    Becky,
    I’m grateful that one of my books was nominated. Would you mind correcting the title? It’s Liberator, and the series is “Dragons of Starlight.”
    Thank you!
    Bryan Davis

    Reply
    • Rebecca LuElla Miller says:
      June 5, 2013 at 12:43 pm

      Thanks for the heads up, Bryan. I’ll fix it.

      Becky

      Reply
  11. Karina Fabian says:
    June 5, 2013 at 9:43 pm

    Is it appropriate to note here that if anyone would like to read Live and Let Fly for consideration, I would be glad to send them a free electronic copy? If interested, please contact me at http://karinafabian.com/index.php?name=ContactPro.

    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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