My Sea

Today I spent some time walking around town, and ended up at a small knobbly hill overlooking an expanse of beach on one side and the city harbour on the other. These are places I've had in mind while writing certain passages in Faith Awakened, although I was far away on the other side of the world when I wrote them. Originally, the story was set in New Zealand, but I shifted it to Ireland when it was half done, to increase global interest and give it a character perhaps more easily recognised by American readers.

Well, anyway, I was there on the beach and the hill, and suddenly I knew I wanted to come back here to live again. It was plainly obvious in the moment I jumped down from the promenade to the rough sand. Because this is my sea. Oh yes, I've seen plenty of sea elsewhere. It's just that it wasn't mine. These are the beaches where I played as a child, where I learned to swim and row. The smell of salt and seaweed hangs heavy in the air, and the wind whips my face and makes me feel alive again.

That's all, really... but I wanted to show you some pictures of my sea.

FLASHPOINT by Frank Creed

“It’s just a little book,” I said to myself after opening the package, “I’ll get that read in an hour or so.”

How erroneous.

This “little book” is so chock-full of action that I had to give it far more time than would be usual for one this size. There are some scenes you have to read over again and again, just for that stunning visual effect in your mind. Ever heard of ground-breaking fiction? This is it. Hot stuff! I had to let it sink in for a few days before I could think about writing a review…

Christians on the run from state troopers who are authorised to lock them up. Brother and sister plunged into an underground they never could have imagined. Supernatural powers given to those who believe. Super-technical gadgets combined with holy extra-sensory perception bring the children of the King to their fullest potential. Matrix-style slow-mo bullet-dodging peppered with Bible quotes.

Yes, I can guarantee you won’t have come across anything like this before. Breathtaking action mingles with ultimate devotion, and reality can resemble a video game at times. Or was that the other way round? Hackers surf the cyber-world to outwit security systems. Love is still the greatest power in the universe.

Bursting with vivid neon colours and the sounds of the future, Flashpoint will take you places in your soul you’ve never been before. A treat not just for your mind and spirit, but for eyes and ears as well. A sympathetic array of characters has no other choice but to rely on divine connections to make it through each day.

One interesting aspect is the spiritual and technical reconstruction of the human mind and soul, making it impervious to fatigue, cold, heat, pain, you name it... and aware of the spirit world. If only it were really so easy… but whyever not? Why not combine spirituality with technology to create a super-Christian? This is heavy stuff, and our heroes are challenged beyond anything they’ve ever known before. But – and this is important – they sure do seem to have an immense amount of fun while they’re at it.

A tale that was ten years in the making is certainly something extraordinary. This huge investment of Frank Creed’s time is one that is paying off in the quality of his finished work. Let’s just hope the next one doesn’t take so long!

P.S. In the days immediately after reading this book, I was pursued by brightly-coloured sci-fi dreams, and one night even delivered a package deal: the main plot and concept for a new space-opera novel, complete with four main characters and several key scenes. Quite different to Flashpoint, but seemingly quite full of action. Look out for the Saga of the Seven Planets…

Grace Bridges, reporting from a 747 somewhere over Mongolia, but it's dark, so I can't say for sure... :)

FLASHPOINT - About the author

About the author - Frank Creed

Frank currently works two jobs. He is an associate
at Subaru of Indiana Automotive (builds Subaru engines) and when he finishes at SIA, he devotes
the majority of his waking hours to writing and promoting. Currently he is working on the sequel
to Flashpoint, War of Attrition and working with a small group of authors on other Underground
projects including Role-Playing Game designer Mike Roop on a Flashpoint-based RPG (due for
release in 2008). Frank is an active member of FaithWriters, a Christian writing group and
participates in weekly writing challenges there. The Lost Genre Guild™ is a group founded by
Creed to gather writers and artists and promote the lost genre of Biblical speculative fiction (sci-
fi, fantasy, thriller, cyberpunk, end times, time travel, etc. from a Christian world view). There
is a very good definition of Biblical speculative fiction at Wikipedia.  

Random Flashpoint Facts

You can get more information from a few of the interviews Frank has done:

      1. Flashpoint Interview
      2. Interview at Blog Critics by Carol McDonnell
      3. Interview at Novel Journey by Gina Holmes


Other Information:
      Frank has his own newsletter: The UNDERGROUND that can be subscribed to at www.frankcreed.com/TheUnderground.html
-this newsletter has been praised: "I honestly think that it's the best newsletter I've ever read"
said author Polly Harris
      The official website at www.frankcreed.com
      Writers Blog at frankcreed.blogspot.com
      Book Review blog at afrankreview.blogspot.com
      Shoutlife page at www.shoutlife.com
      His new book website at www.booksoftheunderground.com



Links for purchasing book:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Flashpoint-Book-Underground-Frank-
Creed/dp/1934284017/ref=sr_1_1/104-7700737-8213530?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1191301005&sr=8-1

The Writers Cafe Press: www.thewriterscafe.com/projects.html
if readers want free shipping within the US and Canada, plus a signed copy of Flashpoint

The book is also available at many other online stores. By using the ISBN, the book can be
ordered into a brick&mortar store as well, if it is not already on the shelves.

FLASHPOINT by Frank Creed - The Tour Begins

CSFF Tour: THE RETURN by Austin Boyd

This book was almost impossible to put down, which certainly made it easy to get through at high speed – which was good, since I got it just last weekend and hurried to read it in time for the blog tour. At first I was skeptical of “just another astronaut story”, but this one is anything but.

A far-reaching tale of bravery versus deception – story strands run through Earth and Mars, looking through the eyes of various characters scene by scene. We are plunged straight into the action, and although this is the third book in the series, it didn’t bother me at all that I haven’t read the first two – this one is complete in itself, and contains snippets of backstory as the characters remember prior events.

Admiral John Wells and his team are hard at work on the Mars base, and he is dealing with the loss of his family six years previously. The discovery of a mysterious second Mars base and its connections to a fertility cult are enough to occupy the NASA astronauts’ attention. Meanwhile, that cult’s leader on Earth is gearing up to fulfill his twisted dreams, spoken to him by a bodiless voice – and the fate of hundreds of teenage girls is in the balance.

This is not your usual astronaut story. It’s filled to bursting with unusual happenings and peculiar inventions – such as a tooth transmitter, an interactive virtual copy of a dead man, an alien hoax, messages in garden patterns, surprise appearances, fresh vegetables and a wagon train on Mars, and an international chase back on Earth. The topic of clones is also very well handled, showing that each is an individual soul even though their bodies are identical.

It’s a space tale with real warmth, humanity, and spirituality. Unlike the Apollo 13 brand of story that depicts space as empty and brutal, Mars is described as a good place to be, and the people living there change and grow through the pages just like the people on Earth. Occasionally you’ll need a fairly big stretch of the imagination to accept the outcome of particular situations, but that’s only a minor niggle and for me, made the whole ride a lot more fun with its unexpected twists and hitherto hidden opportunities. Yes, this story is about space exploration, but first and foremost it’s about people, about hope, and about the ultimate victory of good over evil. Expect the unexpected!

Take a closer look at the book's Amazon page here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/157683946X

Other participants on this tour: Trish Anderson Brandon Barr Jim Black Justin Boyer Grace Bridges Amy Browning Jackie Castle Valerie Comer Karri Compton Lisa Cromwell CSFF Blog Tour Gene Curtis D. G. D. Davidson Janey DeMeo Merrie Destefano or Alien Dream Jeff Draper April Erwin Linda Gilmore Beth Goddard Marcus Goodyear Jill Hart Katie Hart Sherrie Hibbs Christopher Hopper Becca Johnson Jason Joyner Kait Karen Dawn King Tina Kulesa Rachel Marks Karen McSpadden Rebecca LuElla Miller Eve Nielsen John W. Otte Lyn Perry Deena Peterson Rachelle Cheryl Russel Chawna Schroeder Mirtika Schultz James Somers Steve Trower Speculative Faith Laura Williams Timothy Wise

And by the way... Today, my first-ever author interview has been published! You can check it out here: Lena Nelson Dooley's Blog - anyone leaving a comment there will be in to win a free copy of my book.

Name That Planet!

I'm writing a new novel with the working title "The Saga of the Seven Planets". The first planet is called Monday, and our hero and heroine escape from slavery there to go on an epic journey. As you've noticed, there are seven planets in total.

The planets are based roughly on the seven days of Creation in Genesis, but I don't want to name them all after days of the week - the analogy falls down at some point.

So can you help me?

Here's a list of the planets and their individual qualities:
1 - Monday; cloud-covered, chilly, only day and night, slave planet
2 - Airless rock, our heroes stop here for a short time to rest - doesn't necessarily need a name
3 - Oceania, air and water, no land masses


Here are the ones I really need help with:
4 - Plant life, tropical forest, loads of fruit; here our heroes meet the villain, who nearly keeps them from travelling on
5 - Like 4, but with birds and fish; here our heroes fight with temptation and nearly have an immoral scene
6 - Highly refined culture and technology; various races and cities with different characteristics; here our heroes visit many places and learn about racial diversity
7 - a holy planet, visited often by pilgrims from 6. Home of the Great King who sent our heroes on the journey.


So get your thinking caps on! The best suggestions will win either a Faith Awakened mousepad, or a Faith Awakened soundtrack CD.