Call of the Creator: Fantasy Writing from a Christian Worldview

Last week, I had the fabulous opportunity to attend the Superstars of Writing Seminar in Colorado Springs, and being the conference junkie that I am, I soaked up so much goodness and learning until I was goggle-eyed with determination. If there's any conference I would recommend besides Realm Makers, this would be it. No other conference I've attended has the commitment and real sense of tribe that Superstars did. And it didn't hurt to spend the three days learning from mega bestsellers either. In his address, Drawing Out the Dragons, James Artimus Owen told some amazing stories of daring to take leaps of faith in order to do what he loves. He told one story where a risk that looked like an opportunity of a lifetime turned out to be a dead end. In order to pursue the opportunity,  he had sold practically all his earthly possessions and  taken a trans-atlantic flight, only to have the goal fizzle before his eyes and leave him sitting on a bench in the rain, with less tha...

Image Credit: Dog Eared Design, Kirk DouPonce At the header for this blog, the graphic reads "Author-Artist-Ringleader," and for some of the folks who stop by, the "ringleader" part is a bit of a puzzlement. I thought today that I would shed some light on the reason people attach words like that (or nerd-herder) to me. A little over 5 years ago, I started planning this thing called the Realm Makers Conference. It came into being because of several factors that exist in the publishing world that make it difficult for Christians who write fantasy and science fiction to find publishers for their work. On the general market side--that means the Big Publishing Houses of New York, stories that center on traditional values are often passed over as "been there, done that" at best, or "dangerously misogynistic/insensitive/out-of-touch" in more critical scenarios. This climate  has only gotten worse over the decade I've been following publishin...

It has been my privilege, as the founder of the Faith and Fantasy Alliance, to sponsor the Clive Staples Award for Christian Speculative Fiction. Readers weighed in for the past two weeks to nominate their favorite books, and now the award is accepting readers' choice semi-final votes. If you are interested in weighing in on which books should go to the judging panel for the final round, you'll find the voting survey HERE . It's really exciting to be able to "put your money where your mouth is," in terms of sponsoring the award, because as the Realm Makers conference gains momentum and the Clive Staples Award gains name recognition, I'm happy to do whatever I can to help authors build their audience and gain legitimacy in the marketplace. In order to see a full list of the semi-finalists in the award, visit the Realm Makers conference blog , Read the voting rules carefully so that the award has the fairest outcome possible. Good luck to all the semi-fi...

Here on day 2 of the "Draw Something Every Day" challenge, this one has a semi-strange inception. I was talking with some on-line friends about how writers conference attendance is heavily dominated by female conferees. Fun for a guy looking for a mate, I suppose, but perhaps intimidating otherwise. Anyway, that got me thinking about how the population of Geek Girls is also on the upswing. So that led to the pondering: what's the right t-shirt to be the uniform for that club? Hence, the image above was born. I foresee the silhouette overlaying chunky letters that form a pretty exact square that say "geek girl." I haven't found the right font yet, though, so that's why you see no lettering involved. We shall see where this and the other other drawings that crop up over this challenge lead.

Hello friends of the speculative arts! Have you ever had an idea that just won't leave you alone? I keep trying to ignore the concept of creating an annual event for lovers of fantasy, science fiction, and other "weird" stories--for people who also happen to be  trying to live their lives with their faith emblazoned upon them for all to see--but the idea keeps rearing its head no matter where I try to tuck it. And so, here is the first public introduction to this idea: FaithandFantasyCon2012. Here's the concept as I see it: For a couple of days, authors, filmmakers, artists, musicians, fans, anyone at all interested, really, would come together to celebrate what about the speculative arts can serve as a conduit of our worldview to the world, in ways that are effective, winsome, and just plain cool. A time to discuss how to live as a person of faith who also happens to love things not of this world.  It would be a time to encourage one another, that ...