CSFF Tour: Auralia's Colors

Featured book: Auralia’s Colors

Book web site

Featured author: Jeffrey Overstreet
Author blog: Looking Closer Journal

Participants’ Links: Brandon Barr Jim Black Justin Boyer Grace Bridges Jackie Castle Carol Bruce Collett Valerie Comer CSFF Blog Tour D. G. D. Davidson Chris Deanne Jeff Draper April Erwin Marcus Goodyear Andrea Graham Jill Hart Katie Hart Timothy Hicks Heather R. Hunt Becca Johnson Jason Joyner Kait Karen Carol Keen Mike Lynch Margaret Rachel Marks Shannon McNear Melissa Meeks Rebecca LuElla Miller Mirtika or Mir's Here Pamela Morrisson Eve Nielsen John W. Otte John Ottinger Deena Peterson Rachelle Steve Rice Cheryl Russel Ashley Rutherford Hanna Sandvig Chawna Schroeder James Somers Rachelle Sperling Donna Swanson Steve Trower Speculative Faith Jason Waguespac Laura Williams Timothy Wise

New Christian Fiction - Jill's Update

Here's Jill Eileen Smith's update for January:

Happy 2008! A new year filled with fresh promises and new opportunities to see God's glory shine through each of us.

This month's lineup of Christian fiction comes to you with quite a variety of releases. Also this month, I've got a newSpotlight interview with debut authorElizabeth Goddard, author of the recently releasedSeasons of Love from Heartsong Presents. Be sure to stop by and read Beth's interview and visit the websites of the following authors. Enjoy!

1.A Soldier's Promise, Book One in the Wings of Refuge Series byCheryl Wyatt from Steeple Hill Love Inspired. A USAF Pararescue jumper and a special needs teacher teaming to make life matter to a dying child freefall into love and an unexpected family.

2.Every Good & Perfect Gift bySharon K. Souza, from NavPress. A story about the kind of friendship we all wish for, the quest for motherhood in the 21st century, and a catastrophic illness that changes everything.

3.Family In His Heart final book in the Michigan Island Series byGail Gaymer Martin from Steeple Hill Love Inspired. On a Les Cheneaux Island, a young woman escapes her past in Michigan's upper peninsula and meets a man hiding his own secrets and struggling to raise a rebellious teenage son.

4.Just Cause bySusan Page Davis from Steeple Hill Love Inspired Suspense. Laurel Hatcher must face trial for her husband’s murder, not once but twice.

5.Learning to Fly byRoxanne Henke from Harvest House.Learning to Fly is about parenting. Learning to love, live, and let go.

6.Seven Archangels: Annihilation byJane Lebak. Satan has figured out how to destroy an angel...and he begins with the archangel Gabriel.

7.Shadow of Danger byJeanne Marie Leach from Mountain View Publishing. Rachel faces jealousy, false accusations, an unknown danger, and a jail cell before being liberated by the man she loves but who could never love her.

8.The Restorer's Journey, Book 3 in the Sword of Lyric Series bySharon Hinck from NavPress. A new, young Restorer confronts his destiny while Lyric, and the life of his mother, hang in the balance.

Happy reading~

Time Masters by Geralyn Beauchamp - Book 1 "The Call"

When I first read this book's description, I thought it reminded me a little of Doctor Who. Timelords, Time Masters, sound kind of similar? Sure.

The comparison may stand, but you'll need to add a few random elements to the mix. A fierce Highlander, a dozen cats, a grinning African, several worried chaperones, chocolate chip cookies, an antique weapons shop, an alien race, a gruesomely evil villain and his clueless hirelings, and a plentiful supply of cliffhanger climaxes. And that's not even the half of it.

You will need to be fairly tolerant of grammar and sentence structure best described as "original". However, this is certainly part of the author's effervescent style, even if it tends towards chaos at times. The rambunctious storyline is so ''out there" that its daring expressiveness is just one more aspect to leave you shaking your head in disbelief. But dinna fash yerself - the writing style is certainly vivid and gripping, including a particularly evocative rendering of the hero's Scottish dialect. Good job!

The plot will keep you on your toes for sure. You can sense how the author must have had an exciting time writing it. There are many scenes that are curiously poignant, and many profound allegorical images of things like justice, sex, music, faith. But the deepest comments are those regarding the state of being in love, being intended for the other, giving your heart away, and finally sharing one heart. All this across the breadth of three time periods - a distant past, an even more distant future, and one something like our present day.

A zany mix of cliches and genres, often hilarious, quite possibly the wildest journey of your life, aud certainly anything but predictable. If you are able to turn a blind eye to a few anomalies, I think you'll enjoy this rip-roaring tale very much indeed.

Grace Bridges, reporting from a library in Northern Ireland :)

Wayfarer's Journal

This month's CSFF tour is focusing on Wayfarer's Journal, an e-zine published by Terri Main - professor extraordinaire, and one of my most valued professional contacts. I could say we were colleagues, or even friends, but our connection has been mostly "in the biz". Often I have vastly appreciated her wise words in blog articles and mailing list posts. We both belong to the Lost Genre Guild, a group of writers dedicated to Christian speculative fiction. Do yourself a favour and Google it :)

Being a sci-fi freak, I am immensely grateful for the existence of this zine. Fantasy's okay, and I read a fair bit of it too, seeing as it comes with the spec-fic territory. But, except for Lewis and Lawhead, it doesn't make my spirit fly like good SF does. Of course, L&L both wrote SF too. Hang on, I'm getting off track.

As Mike Lynch said in his post, Christian sci-fi has often been the unwanted stepchild of Christian publishing. It's so hard to get anywhere with this genre. I'm glad at the recent wave of fantasy successes, but the Trekkie in me still wonders when SF will have its day in the sun.

Sites like this can only help the cause. Sure, as a new venture, there are still things to work out. The dynamic nature of a webzine takes some getting used to, but don't go thinking you've seen the whole site at one glance. There's more to it than that.

I encourage all writers of SF to contribute to this paying publisher. And even if your story is only slightly SF, you can still try, as Steve Rice said. Terri took my story, although there was only a passing mention of aliens. However, she is very mainly interested in hard sci-fi.

check out what the other bloggers are saying, too:

Brandon Barr Jim Black Justin Boyer Amy Browning Jackie Castle Carol Bruce Collett Valerie Comer CSFF Blog Tour D. G. D. Davidson Chris Deanne Jeff Draper April Erwin Marcus Goodyear Andrea Graham Jill Hart Katie Hart Michael Heald Jason Joyner Kait Carol Keen Mike Lynch Margaret Rachel Marks Melissa Meeks Rebecca LuElla Miller Mirtika or Mir's Here John W. Otte John Ottinger Rachelle Steve Rice Cheryl Russel Ashley Rutherford Hanna Sandvig James Somers Steve Trower Speculative Faith Jason Waguespac Laura Williams Timothy Wise

Wind Follower by Carole McDonnell

I’d heard this book was controversial, and that it doesn’t fit easily in any one genre. I’d heard it was sensual and violent in places, and that there were people who had problems with it. Did it put me off? Nope. Rather, it intrigued me. I’m a fan of genre-bending – and genre-blending! Thus, the idea of a fantasy/supernatural romance tale linked to racial issues and the colonisation of America, among other things, provided plenty to provoke my curiosity. But it wasn't at all what I expected after what I'd been hearing.

Unlike most romances, this story begins with a wedding, a fine introduction to the culture and traditions of the tribes. Their normal world is introduced in vibrant colour and passion. It is only after their marriage that Loic and Satha must face the greatest challenges: separation, captivity, abuse, and battles within themselves.

The story is told from alternating viewpoints of both main characters, in such a way as to carry the story onward from the moment the other paused in their tale. There is a wonderfully clear distinction between two points of view; so clear as to make the apparent breaking of the “one-POV” rule irrelevant. The changing viewpoints are easy to follow; at every moment it is clear who is speaking. Their characters influence the words they tell, giving each narrator their personal flavour. This makes for a varied and colourful narrative of the continuous story flow as seen by two highly unique individuals – each of them strong-willed and stubborn.

At the beginning, I was simply plunged into the strangeness of the world described, and the passions of the two tellers. Yet as the tale moved on, parallels to America’s turbulent early years as a colony became more and more unescapable. The same is true of the commentaries revealed about the white man’s enslavement of other races.

The book is also brimming with Biblical allusions, direct quotes, and shadows of more ancient histories. As it moves towards the climax, spiritual elements flood into Loic’s life, and Satha’s too. Though still parted, their stubborn hope begs to be rewarded.

And the end is not really the end. It is as if a section of a larger history has been told, and much more is to come. Yet the story is complete and gives a sense of fulfillment, while leaving many questions to ponder regarding actual history, Christian parallels, and the deeper spiritual message hidden in every line of the manuscript.

Yes, this is a highly unusual book – in my eyes, typical of the new wave of Christian speculative fiction in its refusal to fall into a tidy category. What’s more, Wind Follower is anything but predictable. It is not a comfortable tale, but it is a solemn, mystical adventure, displaying the hero’s journey to his own heart, and the heroine’s discovery of her beloved’s faith in the midst of impossible circumstances. This one will make you think for sure.

Check out other reviews this week at Blog Tour Central!

I love Stephen Lawhead.

Seriously. There’s no other author on the planet who has contributed so much to my daydreams, my literary enjoyment, my personal fantasies, and my writing aspirations.

When I daydream, I often find my thoughts drifting off to vanished Atlantis, to faraway Fierra, fantastic Albion, historical Istanbul, present-day Scotland, or the misty hills of Wales and Ireland. Charis and Taliesin, Orion Treet, Quentin, Aidan the monk, James and Jennifer, and the mysterious Mr. Embries aka Merlin – these populate my imagination and provide an extended family for my own Faith and Mariah and Caitlin and Blake, and all those others bouncing around in there since my childhood – Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy. Kirk and Spock. Kardia and Gaal. Aslan and the Professor. Need I say more? No doubt Bran and Will and Mérian will soon join their ranks as they go down in literary history.

I believe it was about seventeen years ago when Taliesin was first placed in my hands. Ever since, the effect of alternating viewpoints has fascinated me. Taliesin’s tale, told in third-person, and Charis in first, may seem hard to get into at first, but it’s more than worth the effort. And later, after they meet, the reason for telling it thusly becomes clear: it is Charis penning both their stories.

Stephen is largely responsible for my literary education. I used to hate English in school, but when it came time to pick books to analyse for examinations, I chose Arthur above those schoolroom classics the teachers wanted to insist on. And so at the age of fifteen I dedicated much time to memorising passages about battles fought with prayers, and the sword coming loose from the stone in Arthur’s hand to the displeasure of the gathered lords. In my mind I can still see the candle-lit scene where the young king steps into the church, sword in hand, as the lords are observing the Christ Mass.

And so, how could it be otherwise? Every word I write myself is spurred by the aspiration to such depth of feeling as Yarden “talking” with the empathic fish on the planet Empyrion, or Taliesin singing his son to life and prophesying over him, or Aidan’s first view of the Golden City from a Viking vessel. Dome’s final destruction, Myrrdin’s conversations with the wolf, the Cymbrogi’s pursuit of the Grail, incredible journeys to the Holy Land. I do earnestly wish that Stephen would write more sci-fi – that early stuff was brilliant – but I tip my hat to the continuing flow of novels from his pen. Each one is a gift to the world.

I am writing this away from home, so I have none of these books on hand to refer to just now. But they are engraved in my memory forever. Will I ever attain such sparkling prose? I do not know. In any case, I am blessed with a shining example.
Thank you, Stephen.

Other participants in the CSFF tour for Scarlet:

Trish Anderson Brandon Barr Wayne Thomas Batson Jim Black Justin Boyer Grace Bridges Amy Browning Jackie Castle Valerie Comer CSFF Blog Tour D. G. D. Davidson Chris Deanne Jeff Draper April Erwin Linda Gilmore Beth Goddard Marcus Goodyear Andrea Graham Jill Hart Katie Hart Sherrie Hibbs Timothy Hicks Christopher Hopper Becca Johnson Jason Joyner Kait Karen Dawn King Tina Kulesa Mike Lynch Margaret Karen McSpadden Melissa Meeks Rebecca LuElla Miller Mirtika or Mir's Here Eve Nielsen John W. Otte John Ottinger Lyn Perry Deena Peterson Rachelle Cheryl Russel Ashley Rutherford Hanna Sandvig Chawna Schroeder James Somers Rachelle Sperling Steve Trower Speculative Faith Robert Treskillard Jason Waguespac Daniel I. Weaver Laura Williams Timothy Wise

"Scarlet" by Stephen Lawhead

(This post is part of the CSFF blog tour and is double-posted at the Lost Genre Guild. A full list of participants can be found below!)

For a lifelong fan of Stephen Lawhead’s poetic and moving tales, every new book is a feast for the heart. Last year I read “Hood”, a necessarily brutal introduction to the rough world of the Brits and Normans of a thousand years ago. If that first volume in the King Raven trilogy was a little hard to get into, then it served to lay superb groundwork for this second one. Readers moving from the first book to the second will already know that the hero we have known as Robin is in fact Rhi Bran y Hud, and that our adventures do not take place in Nottingham, but rather in the March Forests of Wales in the times when the Normans began to overrun Britain and impose their cruelly weighted laws upon the Cymry. With this in mind, “Scarlet” grows beyond fantasy and becomes a living, breathing possibility of history.

The journey begins with Will Scarlet in a dark, damp cell awaiting the noose. He tells Odo the priest the entire tale of how he came to join the forest community, and the daring adventures accomplished in the company of his canny lord. Raids on forest roads embarrass the hard-nosed Franks again and again, rousing their ire and inspiring the band of rebels to ever riskier feats of bare-faced cheek, until Will is captured one unlucky night. But this is not the end of the story. I do confess that I began reading and soon after flipped through the back pages to see if Will escaped the impending execution; however, this information was not to be had in that part, and I was forced to find out in the usual way as events unfolded that did not disappoint in the slightest.

One of the most astonishing things about this book is the masterful style of writing. Now, we all know that Lawhead has always given us the very best of prose and adventure. Long have I modelled my own writing inspired by his example. But here, he has raised the standard by several rungs – most visibly in the changing viewpoints within the story. Aspiring writers are invariably told not to attempt this – let alone switch between first and third person narrative – because it’s almost impossible to pull it off without disturbing the natural flow of storytelling. But master that he is, Lawhead has accomplished it with flair. Only the most skilled of authors may break such rules and succeed at it, turning an apparent transgression of style into a many-faceted shine for the tale – thus dragging the reader happily helpless into the rush and flow of what would no doubt be called swashbuckling if this was a pirate tale. I guess young Rhi Bran is a pirate of the road, so the comparison may stand.

Speculative elements are found in the mysterious foresight of old Angharad, whose musings are reminiscent of prophets and druids. Her rituals and prayers seek a supernatural response to see through a complex and confusing matter facing the forest tribe she mothers.

“Scarlet” owns at once the familiarity of the traditional Robin Hood legends and a truer realism of earth and blood and honest-hewn humanity. Rather than the sanitised Robin and the Merry Men known to most of us, Lawhead has instigated a new tradition likely far closer to the truth of those turbulent times. A desperate folk having lost their livelihood and a desperate king denied his rightful throne are more than motivated to irk the strangers who cast them from hearth and home. The end of this book is not the end of the tale – there is another tome to come – but within these pages reside political intrigues, spiritual epiphanies, and tear-jerking romances to shake the world and change it almost beyond recognising by the time you turn the last page. This will be a joy to fans old and new, bringing back memories and hints of the world of Taliesin and Merlin, now long resting in the past. A hard journey taken with humour and zest, twisting into heart-warming surprises – a banquet for the soul, with the hope of more to come.

Trish Anderson Brandon Barr Wayne Thomas Batson Jim Black Justin Boyer Grace Bridges Amy Browning Jackie Castle Valerie Comer CSFF Blog Tour D. G. D. Davidson Chris Deanne Jeff Draper April Erwin Linda Gilmore Beth Goddard Marcus Goodyear Andrea Graham Jill Hart Katie Hart Sherrie Hibbs Timothy Hicks Christopher Hopper Becca Johnson Jason Joyner Kait Karen Dawn King Tina Kulesa Mike Lynch Margaret Karen McSpadden Melissa Meeks Rebecca LuElla Miller Mirtika or Mir's Here Eve Nielsen John W. Otte John Ottinger Lyn Perry Deena Peterson Rachelle Cheryl Russel Ashley Rutherford Hanna Sandvig Chawna Schroeder James Somers Rachelle Sperling Steve Trower Speculative Faith Robert Treskillard Jason Waguespac Daniel I. Weaver Laura Williams Timothy Wise