Lost Genre Guild : A personal journey

Usually, during these blog tours, I give a good objective review of the book or website. Sometimes, I include a philosophical essay or interview. Today, I'm going to do something different. I'm going to get personal, because the Lost Genre Guild literally changed my life and restored something I thought I had put away forever.

I began writing my first science fiction story during the summer between 6th and 7th grades. I pounded away on my mother's 1939 Royal typewriter on some story about a time traveler from the 20th century and one from the 22nd century getting stranded in the 21st century at the home of their grandson/grandfather, the only non-scientist in the bunch. Unfortunately, I had a premise, but no story, but it started my love affair with writing in general and speculative fiction writing in particular.

By the time I hit college, I had all sorts of unfinished stories mostly Twilight Zone and Star Trek (original) inspired. In college my attention drifted to journalism, but still writing the occasional short story and saying, "When I get out of college and have the time, I'll get back to fiction writing." Out of college, I landed in radio and was writing commercials and promotions and news. And I said, when I get time, I'll write fiction.

I lost my job in radio (like Johnny Fever of WKRP said, "They all fire you eventually.") So, I had the time and set up shop as a full-time freelance writer. But I had to pay the rent. Advertising, stringing for a local radio station and writing magazine articles paid the rent. And I said, "When I have the time, I'll get back to fiction."

I wrote some stories, even started a novel or two. Tried to take the Writer's Digest Fiction Writing course. For awhile, I taught creative writing and could justify my time writing as an example to my students. But, I went to work in PR and had to write press releases and brochures. And I said, "When I have the time, I'll get back to fiction."

I got my dream job, teaching full-time, tenured at a college in a small town in the Central Valley of California. It took a few years to settle into the routine. For several years I drove 30 miles one way to work. And I came home worn out and I said, "When I have time, I'll write fiction."

My schedule cleared and I moved closer to the college. I began teaching more classes online. I got involved in internet ministry and was designing a bunch of ministry web sites and said, "When I have time I'll write fiction."

Then about five years ago, I joined the Fellowship of Christian Writers email discussion group. My fervor for writing was rekindled, but by now I said, "I'm a nonfiction writer. I just don't have the talent or skill for fiction writing. At one time I thought... but no more." But I was a whiz at marketing, and posted several things about marketing one's writing. Those items caught the eye of Frank Creed, founder of the Lost Genre Guild. He invited me to join the email discussion group. I told him. "I'm not a fiction writer. But I do love to read speculative fiction, and I'll help out any way I can."

The first several months, I felt out of my depth, fearful of contributing much beyond some marketing ideas because I was not a fiction writer. Then I noticed that while there were plenty of sites for Christian Fantasy which sometimes included science fiction, there were very few for science fiction. So, Wayfarers Journal was born. Since I had an ezine, I figured I could at least try to write something for it. I did, but didn't need it because I had plenty of better material available.

But it got my fingertips itchin' to do more fiction writing. So, all these folks at LGG were talking about National Novel Writing Month and the craziness of writing a novel in a month. So, I decided to try. My first effort was not spec fiction oriented, but I visited that forum a lot during the time and surprised myself by doing a credible job with a mystery Death Gets an "F" . Nothing to write home about, but hey, it was finished and it had words on a page and didn't read too badly.

By the time the next Nano came around, I had written three more short stories and was reading for a speculative fiction novel. Dark Side of the Moon was begun. This week, over a year later, I am within 10-15 hours of finishing the first draft. It ain't too shabby. I am working with Frank Creed and The Finishers off and on to get it into publishable shape. Frank is a fantastic writing mentor and coach.

So, I encourage you, even if you have deferred your own dreams of writing, to get acquainted with the Lost Genre Guild . Visit the website and drop by our forum and maybe join the Yahoo Group . Who knows, it may change your life as well.

Read what others are saying about LGG on the tour


Brandon Barr
Justin Boyer
Keanan Brand
Kathy Brasby
Grace Bridges
Valerie Comer
Courtney
Frank Creed
Amy Cruson
CSFF Blog Tour
Stacey Dale
D. G. D. Davidson
Janey DeMeo
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Karina Fabian
Andrea Graham
Todd Michael Greene
Katie Hart
Timothy Hicks
Joleen Howell
Jason Isbell
Cris Jesse
Jason Joyner
Kait
Carol Keen
Lost Genre Guild
Mike Lynch
Magma
Margaret
Rachel Marks
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Nissa
John W. Otte
Steve Rice
Crista Richey
Mirtika
Hanna Sandvig
James Somers
Robert Treskillard
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Jason Waguespac
Phyllis Wheeler
Timothy Wise

Frank Creed: Living Life at the Flashpoint

Those of you who read this blog know that I never run Q&A Interviews. There's a good reason for this. Generally speaking, I need to cut out a lot that is either repetitious or just plain boring. However, poring over the transcript of Frank's interview, I was having a hard time finding something to cut. So, I'm giving you this interview in its entirety. (Note: You can read Donna Sundblad's review of Flashpoint in the Essays Section of Wayfarers Journal)


Q: Tell a little bit of basic biographical background such as age,
family/school/work background, anything interesting about yourself
outside of writing.

A: The boring stuff. Born in 1966. Some of the cooler stuff with which He
shaped my life:
* 1984-- Achieved the rank of Eagle Scout by the BSA.
* 1984-1985-- Lived in Israel for more than ten months as an AFS
foreign exchange student, visited Egypt for a week.
* 1993-- I'd been a reader of fantasy and science fiction novels my
whole life, but the works of Theologian Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer
launched my reading list into theology, philosophy and history of
western civilization.
* 1993-- Only months later, my sister joined a Grotto of Anton LaVey’s
Church of Satan. Her soul at stake, I entered into a written debate
with her Satanic High Priest. I volunteered an Apologetic article to
the Grotto's desktop published magazine, Diabolic Creation, and
exchanged letters with CoS readers. I've debated a variety of world
views since, and have never found a credible counter to the
Cosmological or Axiological arguments for the existence of God. This
goes on the cool list, because (and I still tear-up at the thought),
after seventeen years of prayer, in January of 07, my sister accepted
Christ.
* 2004-- Married a schoolteacher from the Vancouver burbs. She moved
here to Indiana and started her own editing business, which grew into
an independent publishing house, http://www.thewriterscafe.com/ Mixed
blessing to be sleeping with your publisher--gives "fear of rejection"
a whole new meaning, I tell ya!

My life's also been tempered by fire--tough times and tragedies
necessary to torture a serious writer's soul as well. I dropped out of
college in my first year to elope, worked no job that paid more than
$8.50/hour until 1995. I was divorced by twenty-two, and lived as a
hedonist until I read Schaeffer in my mid-twenties. I've faced down a
fallen-angel who entered our home after a stepdaughter brought in a
book on witchcraft and tried to cast a spell.

Susan Kirkland (Light at the Edge of Darkness, Higher Honor), and I had
just e-mailed about this--when we look back at our sojourns, it's so
clear how he's shaped us to be exactly who and where we are.



Q: Tell a bit about your writing in general such as awards, previous publications, etc.

A: When I was seven and living in Lombard Illinois, my divorced, working
mom sent me to a creative writing program at this really-cool-humongous
building fulla books: the Helen Plum Memorial Library. Since then, I
loved reading and dreamt of fiction, but never acted on it until High
School. There, I benefitted from the encouragement of a wonderful
teacher, Mrs. Marsha Stewart of Kaneland High School, who entered my
first short-story victory in the U.W. Whitewater Literary conference.
Hundreds of students from three or four states competed and attended
lectures on fiction. At the end of the day mine won Best Short Story--I
was floored.

Between high school and the spring of 1998, most of my fiction
energies were spent creating worlds and characters in role-playing
games. My fiction meandered and jammed. Then on May ninth of 98, a
high-speed head-on collision nearly broke me in half and induced a
severe closed-head injury. That's code for: I've got a real thick
skull. After two weeks, it was the doctors opinion that even with
extended therapy, I'd only recover sixty percent of my mental capacity.

Then my pastor visited.

We enjoyed my first lucid conversation, prayed His will be done, and I
went to sleep. The next morning, I awoke mentally healed. There are a
few lingering symptoms common to closed head-injury victims, but that's
it. A fake hip and pelvis likely dooms me to a wheelchair by age fifty,
so I've got about eleven more years on my vocational-odometer as an
Subaru of Indiana Automotive auto-worker.

We ask ourselves why God drops disasters into our lives. I'm
self-educated beyond 12th grade, and now needed to replace my
blue-collar income and benefits.

Then He turned on my fiction tap. Post-accident, stories flowed. I
finished a Fantasy novella and Flashpoint, but still had to "learn the
craft", and get the polish on.

In June of 06 Lest Ye be Judged was published in Tales for the Thrifty
Barbarian: An Anthology of High Fantasy. Finally published, wahoo!

January of 07, found me jumpin on the bed, as Flashpoint won the 2006
"Elfie" for Best Sci-Fi Novel at elfwood.com. Elfwood's the world's
largest SECULAR fantasy and sc-fi art site, boasting over 10,000
members--not a friendly readership for overt Christian fiction.
In April of 07, Miracle Micro, ChairMan, and True Freedom were
published in Light at the Edge of Darkness. These three short stories
share the same cyberpunk setting as Flashpoint: Book One of the
Underground, June 07.

Flashpoint: the Role Playing Game, created by Mike Roop, is based on
my cyberpunk setting and characters, and is scheduled for November of
07.

Last year I founded the Lost Genre Guild for the promotion of
Christian and Biblical speculative fiction: sci-fi, fantasy and
spiritual thrillers. I'm thrilled by our early success--we're networked
with http://csffblogtour.com/ where one may sign-up for the
cutting-edge Latest in Spec newsletter, and http://WhereTheMapEnds.com/


Q: In 25 words or less what is Flashpoint about?

A: The dreaded "elevator pitch" *grumble grumble*:

2036: global government. The One State's only threat? Fundementaliast terrorism. A church bust in the Chicago-Metroplex, sparks Flashpoint in the Underground.

Q: Tell us a little bit about the main characters in the book.

A: Twenty year-old Dave and sixteen year-old Jen Williams are the only two
who evade capture when their home-church is raided by peacekeepers. The
pair are torn from suburban comfort and must integrate into a
muscle-cell: a team of saints working in the underground Body of
Christ. They must use their talents in an attempt to track and free all
their captured neighbors from One-State "Neros", the slang-term for
anti-Christians. Forced into spiritual growth, it comes down to a
confrontation with the antagonist that Calamity nicknames, Nasty Nero,
who ironically wants Calamity Kid to call him "Jesus" (his antagonist
role in the end-times unholy trinity).


Q: You describe this as a "cyberpunk" novel. That sounds sort of grungy like a computer with a safety pin through it's hard drive. How would you define the term?

A: Um . . . it's not a computer with a safety pin through it's hard drive?
YOUGOTTABEKIDDINME!

Cyberpunk's a sci-fi sub-genre set (say that ten times fast) in a near
future post-industrial dystopia (opposite of utopia), and deals with
the affect of technology on humanity. It's anti-religious, usually
postmodern in worldview, so to write Biblical cyberpunk is *almost*
genre breaking. Two months ago I discovered that Jefferson Scott beat
me to it with Virtually Eliminated, Terminal Logic, and Fatal Defect. I
can't wait to find the time to read these titles.


Q: What was the genesis of this novel, if you have one? Was there an ah-ha moment when you came up with the premise?

Way back in high school, it bothered-me when reporters referred to Muslim fundamentalist terrorists, merely as "fundamentalist terrorists". My sister and I were both "churched", and grew up with the idea that Scripture's fundamentally true. After reading Lindsey's Late Great Planet Earth, I began making notes on my cyberpunk setting.

Cyberpunk's the perfect genre for eschatology. Flashpoint's Pre-Millennial, but I'm very open about the Second Coming. Christ fulfilled over three hundred prophecies, yet most of His contemporary Jews missed the Messiah right in front of them.

Q: Were any of your characters modeled on anyone in particular?

A: Nasty Nero is your stereotypical Church of Satan anti-Christian zealot.

A group of teens in a sanitarium were the main characters in One of the
Nightmare On Elm Street films. One of them was a cartoonist. When
Freddy Kreuger attacked the dreaming lad, said lad turned into his
cartoon character--a duster wearin' gunslinger with twin automatic
pistols. That was where Calamity Kid's look originated. I wonder if the
Wachowski brothers had the same inspiration for Neo. My favorite film
to this date is The Matrix, but I cringed as I watched it, cause I knew
Flashpoint would be seen as a Christian copy. Two reviews and one
reviewer have already described it as such. Not a bad film with which
to be associated, but all originality went out the window. *sniffle*
His will be done.


Q: Which character do you personally identify with, if any? Why?

A: Nearly all of them are aspects of or are modeled upon me at various
points of my spiritual sojourn. They say write what you know . . .


Q: You say you write Biblical Speculative Fiction. Could you define that for us?

There's been debate by Christian writers for years about whether we ought to be writing Chronicles-of-Narnia-subtlety, or Space-Trilogy-overt tales. The Editor In Chief has given us all a different job in the novelist Body of Christ, and there's no right answer. Soooo, I call The subtle or symbolic Christian spec-fic, and the overt, Biblical spec-fic. The most complete Bookstore I've ever found for both is located at:

http://www.WhereTheMapEnds.com/Booklist/booklist_pages/booklist_links.htm

This storefront is Jeff Gerke's AKA, novelist Jefferson Scott's effort.
I guess it's not surprising to find Biblical cyberpunk authors
promoting our lost genre on the Web with high-tech viral marketing.

Q: Some Christians would say that "Biblical Speculative Fiction" is a contradiction in terms. Sci-fi, horror, fantasy and such types of stories they say are inherently demonic. How would you respond to that?

A. Remember when Jesus freaks dragged Christian music into the Rock genre in the 1970s? Believers tend to shun things new to our isolationist sub-culture. It's good to honestly examine anything we do, but it requires less energy to plug one's ears and hum loudly.

Here's the trickiest argument I've seen against Biblical spec-fic:

Jesus parables were set in the real world. Spec-fic is, by definition, is not. Therefore, while some fiction may be virtuous, spec-fic is not. That does not logically follow: you can't prove a egative.

When the Lost Genre Guild blog went up, this was our very first topic. No reason to repeat what's been dissected. For detailed thoughts for and against Biblical spec-fic, start at the bottom of this page and work up:

Lost Genre Guild Blog

Q: What is the biggest challenge that you, as a Christian and a writer of speculative fiction faces in your writing other than finding > acceptance in the "mainstream" Christian publishing world?

A: Finding the fans. I'm forty years old, a lifelong genre fan, and a
Christian. A year ago I could have counted the number of authors listed
in Jeff's bookstore on one hand. I gave-up trying to find spec-fic in
Christian bookstores the year before Steven Lawhead's Empyrion was
published. I scanned shelves for a couple more years when Peretti's
Darkness books came out, and gave up again. IMHO, there are tons of
Christian fans that don't even know we're alive, which was why I formed
the Lost Genre Guild. We're wracking our brains and using the Web to
get the word out--pun intended.

Q: What do you see as the future for Biblical speculative fiction?

A: In my lifetime, Peretti was the only really big Biblical spec-fic
novelist since Lewis'. The hopes of publication has been grim for a
long time. The Lord of the Rings and Left Behind films seem to have
cracked the Dam, and I'm very hopeful. As Jeff's booklist proves,
publishers are more willing to gamble lately. The Jan Dennis Agency
represents Frank Peretti, Ted Dekker, Jerry Jenkins, Stephen Lawhead,
Robert Liparulo, Eric Wilson, T. L. Hines, Donita Paul, and James
Beauseigner. This man's doing something right, you'd do better to ask
him! Here's an interview with Jan:

Q: Writing an action-oriented book with Christian characters can't be easy After all, they can't just be James Bond with a cross, joking about killing over the corpses of the "bad guys." Still, you have to keep the storyline moving and that may involve some violent elements. How do you as an author write strong action scenes which are still Christian in nature?

A: This goes to motivation. Had I understood the Bible's thunderous answers as a kid, I'd have not lived as a hedonist until my mid-twenties. Francis Schaeffer's The God Who is There, He is There and He is not Silent, and How Shall we Then Live, to use his own phrase, tore my roof off. Using classical reasoning, he laid bare the foundations of meaning, but this wisdom was stuck in big heavy words. I always knew I wanted to write, but now I knew why: to clearly illustrate Biblical answers to the world's great philosophical questions with modern entertaining fiction.

Entertainment is fiction's first job. Even Lewis' Space Trilogy was a little too subtle for what I
had in mind, and his prose too high. My eye landed on action-packed page-turning realistic pulp.

I got into the habit of keeping spec-fic notes from Role Playing Games, so my sci-fi and fantasy gaming folder transformed into two separate three-ring notebooks with organizer tabs. I grew up with movies, and tend to be very visual. In one of my tabs I listed "archetypes". For action pacing, I listed Raiders of the Lost Ark and Die Hard. For strong characters I listed Hannibal Lechter, and Doc Holiday. Then I set about making 1) God pleasing, 2) fast-paced, 3) character driven fiction, 4) in modern English.

One of the slogans at the Subaru plant is "Quality's built in, not added on." You have to start with the intent of glorifying God--everything else conforms to that. We live in a real and fallen
world, but Biblical fiction must conform. The beauty of cyberpunk is that one can use technology, like non-lethal tranquilizer rounds, tazer net-guns, and chipped sunglasses to push the envelope.

Q: If you could say anything you want to our readers, what would that be?

A: Do what He made you to do. Have the faith to live at the intersection of your given talents and passions, and do all things to His glory.

Then again, I say that to everybody




Learn more about Flashpoint and Frank Creed at his website or at the Books of the Underground Website

You can order a signed copy of Flashpoint by clicking here or visit Amazon.com


Read what other reviewers are saying this week about Flashpoint on the following blogs:

Fantasy Thyme
jamessomers.blogspot.com
Write and Whine
Hoshi to Sakura
Wayfarer's Journal
BlogCritics Interview
Daniel I Weaver
Disturbing the Universe
Grace Bridges
Queen of Convolution
Virtual Tour de 'Net
Christian Fiction Review Blog
Yellow30 Sci-Fi: Review
Yellow30 Sci-Fi: Interview
Back to the Mountains
MaryLu Tyndall
Cathi's Chatter

An Unconventional Christian Dystopia Premise

It seems that much of current Christian science fiction focuses on a Dystopic vision of the future. Dystopias are the opposite of utopias. They are nightmare visions of the world of tomorrow. Dystopias are a staple of science fiction, although, they seem to have become popular in Christian speculative fiction in recent years. Perhaps it is the influence of the Left Behind series placed during the "Great Tribulation" period described in Revelation . Maybe it is just a good way to build a heart-throbbing, action-filled story. Whatever the reason, they are big part of the Christian science fiction scene.

Most of these dystopias postulate an atheistic/humanistic government persecuting an underground, relatively united, Christian church. However, with the notable exception of the communism of the old soviet union, it's satellite states and modern day China, historically, most religious persecution has come from state-sponsored religious groups rather than from atheistic groups. In other words, it is from states that are not anti-religion, but pro-religion to such an extreme that any variation from the state-sanctioned religious belief system is repressed, violently if necessary.

Lately, I've been thinking that an interesting spin on the Christian Underground Church of the future story would be to place it in a world where one particular "Christian" group has taken the reigns of power.

The persecuted church would be composed of individuals who initially supported the "moral" reforms which may have started out innocuously enough like posting the Ten Commandments in classrooms. Later modification of the first amendment to allow repression of certain types of "offensive" materials and religions. This could possibly take place under the rationale that certain religious groups spawn terrorism. Since Christians form the majority, repression of these other religions would be easy to condone.

Then Christianity would be designated as the official religion.Again little objection since most Americans considered themselves Christian, whether they actually went ot church or not.

Over time one segment, the most legalistic of the coalition, gains ascendancy. A Ministry of Religion could be established to provide government assistance to religious organizations, but eventually becoming a vetting agency to determine what is or is not a "legitimate religion." Eventually, it becomes an agency of a new inquisition seeking out "heretics." This list of heretical groups grows to include those teaching salvation through repentance and faith alone, and not through works of righteousness, those holding that there is some flexibility in matters of dress and entertainment, those that practice certain rituals rather than those approved by the state, and possibly those who are simply outside the mainstream of Christianity like Charismatics and Pentecostals.

Lest you believe this to be an unlikely scenario, I suggest you read European history. Entire wars were fought over whether to use one element or two in the celebration of the Eucharist. Wycliffe, one of the first men to translate the Bible into English was martyred for that act alone. John Bunyan, the author of Pilgrims Progress, wrote most of that work while imprisoned for teaching a doctrine different than that sanctioned by the English church at the time.

Even in the Americas, our Puritan forefathers, punished variant doctrines with pillories, beatings, exile and death. Indeed, most of us viscerally approve freedom of religion (or speech or the press for that matter) only in so far as it protects my freedom and not necessarily that of those with whom I disagree. So, it is easy to see how a "majority" religion could slowly turn a moral agenda into a legalistic repressive government.

If Christian speculative fiction is part parable, such a story could be not only action-filled and thought-provoking, but could also be an allegory of the constant spiritual struggle between the forces of legalism and grace.

It has been said that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. Whether that damnation is personal or societal, it is certainly fair game to explore in fiction. Yes, I am working on a story with this premise. When it's finished, I'll let you know how it came out. But, hey, feel free to create your own nightmare theocracy. If it's good enough, it might even appear in a future issue of Wayfarers Journal.

In the meantime, what are your thoughts? Post them here.