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125. Why Do ‘False Prophets’ Predict Doom for Movie Theaters and Other Cultural Experiences?
Fantastical Truth Podcast, Aug 16, 2022

The Choice
Reviews, Aug 12, 2022

124. How Should Christian Novels Help Secular Readers?
Fantastical Truth Podcast, Aug 9, 2022

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Blood Secrets, Morgan L. Busse
When Legends Rise, Daphne Self
The Withering, P. S. Patton
The Wonderland Trials, Sara Ella
Shadow of Honor, Ronie Kendig
Lost Bits, Kerry Nietz
Rats of Dweltford, Matt Barron
Vivid, Ashley Bustamante
The Godot Orange, Bruce Roberts
My Soul to Take, Bryan Davis
The Gift of Dragons, Rachel A. Greco
Into Shadow's Fire, Mark Castleberry
Deceived, Madisyn Carlin
Arena (2022 edition), Karen Hancock
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The Choice
“Bradley Caffee’s tight prose makes The Choice a quick Empire Strikes Back–style dystopian sequel that is difficult to resist.”
—Lorehaven on Aug 12, 2022

100 Cupboards
“With thoughtful narrative voice and emotional honesty, N. D. Wilson’s 100 Cupboards (2007) opens doors to worlds of mystery and adventure.”
—Lorehaven on Aug 5, 2022

Blood Secrets
“Blood Secrets charts a satisfying conclusion to the Skyworld duology, with dashing prose that draws readers into this world of steam and mystery.”
—Lorehaven on Jul 22, 2022

Jabberwock’s Curse
“In Jabberwock’s Curse, R.V. Bowman blends different elements from Lewis Carroll’s classic into a quick-paced coming-of age story whose three heroes must learn who they were created to be.”
—Lorehaven on Jul 8, 2022

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125. Why Do ‘False Prophets’ Predict Doom for Movie Theaters and Other Cultural Experiences?
Fantastical Truth, Aug 16, 2022

124. How Should Christian Novels Help Secular Readers?
Fantastical Truth, Aug 9, 2022

123. Which Fantastical Novels Won Big at the 2022 Realm Awards?
Fantastical Truth, Aug 2, 2022

122. Why Are More Fans Turning Against Their Favorite Franchises?
Fantastical Truth, Jul 29, 2022

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The original SpecFaith: est. 2006

site archives | statement of faith
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Yes, Speculative Faith Is Closed, At Least For Now
E. Stephen Burnett, Dec 30

Last Stands, Custer, General Gordon, and Being a Christian Warrior
Travis Perry, Jul 2

How Christian Must Christian Fiction Be?
Rebecca LuElla Miller, May 24

Gender In Fiction: The Implication Of Failure
Rebecca LuElla Miller, May 10

Making a Story Visual UPDATE: Behind the Scenes of the Animal Eye Comic
Travis Perry, May 9

What Does “Woke” Culture Have To Do With Christian Fiction?
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Apr 26

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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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We Have A Winner—2018 Spec Faith Winter Writing Challenge

Again, thank you all for participating, and watch for Spec Faith’s Summer Writing Challenge later this year.
Rebecca LuElla Miller on Mar 5, 2018
5 comments

Congratulations to our 2018 Spec Faith Winter Writing Challenge winner:

Melinda K. Busch.

I’ll be contacting her privately about her prize. I honestly thought any of our four finalist might win, they were that good. And the close voting bears that out. So congratulations to the other three finalists for their excellent entries: Esther Brooksmith, J. L. Rowan, and M. A. Zeller.

Special thanks to all of you who participated. We had a great group of entries, more than last time, as I recall. It’s not easy putting your writing out there for others to read, especially when you have a limiting prompt and word count and you’re writing with a deadline. Thanks to each of the entrants for sharing their stories with us.

Also we wouldn’t have a contest without the visitors who commented and gave + votes during the first round. The comments in particular help us accomplish what this contest was created for—it gives writers feedback so they have an idea what readers think when they are engaged with your story or story fragment.

Finally, a hearty thank-you to those who voted in the poll to select the winner. Yes, we Spec Faith administrators and writers could serve as a judging panel, but I think the general reading public should be the ones to judge. We had a great turnout—the most voters we’ve had for our writing challenges throughout the years.

Contests like this are fun. The thing that continues to amaze me is how varied the stories are even though they all begin with the same first sentence. We had such a wide range of fantasy, science fiction, allegory, supernatural. That shows a lot of creativity.

For those who may have missed Melinda’s winning entry, here it is again:

By Melinda K. Buschr

Jenni fidgeted with her ring—the one only she could see—while she waited to hear the verdict.

The doctor sat behind his desk. His delicate fingers skimmed through pages of notes. “Ms. Lucien.” His words came in a sing-song as if he spoke to a small child. “You have one last chance to recant your claim to have sight. If you do this, I could discharge you immediately.”

She remained silent, staring at the ground. His empty eyes frightened her, almost made her wish she were still blind. But she could see. She had found the ring while feeling through her late grandmother’s possessions. When she slipped it on, the dark haze that had surrounded her since she could remember began to lift. Soon light flooded her consciousness, revealing a beautiful world. She shivered with delight at the memory of her first sight of a sunset, tendrils of colored clouds stretching across the sky.

When she did not respond, the doctor continued in his condescending tone. “Sight is a fairy tale, Ms. Lucien. If you will not recant, I can only conclude that you must be admitted for reprogramming.”

She twisted the ring and considered how to answer. To deny she could see would be a lie and Mother had taught her to value honesty; to speak the truth would doom her to remain a prisoner until she embraced darkness again.

Her decision made, she raised her head. Whatever may happen, she would rest on the truth. “I can see, Dr. Teneborn.” She slid the ring off her finger and let it clatter onto the desk. He felt for it and pulled it into his hand. “Put that on; see for yourself.”

He held it a moment, then set it back on the desk. “Foolishness,” he crooned, “to think a ring could grant sight. Do not fear, Child… we will cure you of your madness soon enough.”

– – – – –

Again, thank you all for participating, and watch for Spec Faith’s Summer Writing Challenge later this year.

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.
Website ·
  1. Esther Brooksmith says:
    March 7, 2018 at 1:44 pm

    Melinda, I am so thrilled that you won. Yours was my absolute favorite!!!!

    Reply
    • Melinda Busch says:
      March 11, 2018 at 3:22 am

      Thank you, Esther! I really liked your entry too!

      Reply
  2. Skye says:
    March 7, 2018 at 3:09 pm

    Congrats Melinda! You had a cool twist.

    Reply
    • Melinda Busch says:
      March 11, 2018 at 3:23 am

      Thank you, Skye!

      Reply
  3. TimothyH says:
    March 13, 2018 at 1:44 pm

    Congratulations, Melinda. Neat story ending twist. That was unexpected. 🙂

    Reply

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  • Finalists - 2018 Spec Faith Winter Writing ChallengeFinalists - 2018 Spec Faith Winter Writing Challenge
  • 2018 Spec Faith Winter Writing Challenge Feedback2018 Spec Faith Winter Writing Challenge Feedback
  • We Have A 2017 Summer Writing Challenge WinnerWe Have A 2017 Summer Writing Challenge Winner
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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.