The Christian Writer's Notebook

War of Attrition, Flashpoint's sequel, is finally out!

2010-11-15T10:07:00.000-08:00

The big LAUNCH-day is finally here! War of Attrition, the long awaited sequel to the award-winning and Amazon best-selling Flashpoint: Book One of the Underground is now out!: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=frank+creed&x=17&y=23

Plot synopsis:
Set in 2037, Calamity Kid and his muscle cell are targeted by the One State's Federal Bureau of Terrorism and must survive alone in Chicago's Underground. At one-half its usual might, the cell encounters traps and snares set by a faceless opponent-and question the suspicious arrival of a bio-engineered One State traitor. Blamed by the media for the very violence they're trying to contain, CK and his fellow saints race for their lives to avoid the high-tech crosshairs aimed into the underground. War of Attrition, Book Two of the UNDERGROUND, is the sequel to Frank Creed's award-winning Christian sci-fi/ cyberpunk novel, Flashpoint: http://tinyurl.com/2blh3x7

Also, for your Christmas shopping needs, Join the Underground: the Role Playing Game http://tinyurl.com/23u8v6d

Faith,
f
http://frankcreed.com/

EC Gags Creation Theory?

2007-06-29T07:41:00.000-07:00

I was a teen during the Iran Hostage Crisis, but when journalists referred to the terrorists simply as Fundamentalist Terrorists, I saw trouble. The thought eventually made it into my writer's notebook, and became the critical part of my end-times sci-fi novel, Flashpoint. 9-11 made the concept of religious persecution for reasons of security, realistic and scary.

The fact that young or old Earth age is having a similar effect in the E.C. is a songbird in the proverbial mine. The United States' cultural trends follow Europe's by fifty to one-hundred years. Our church memberships are plummeting, as they already have in Europe, and Christianity's a rapidly shrinking psychographic in all of North America. The day of real persecution in the West is quite conceivable. What will our world be like between now and the second-coming? The important thing is that we keep living our faith, and avoid a Christendom-subculture-life-raft-leaving-the-sinking-ship mentality. We must be in the world but not of it, and live as he commands. As a witness to a world without love or hope.

One of the "scientific process" steps is observation. The problem of using the scientific process to answer the origin of life? Nobody was there to observe. The Ancient Hebrew word {Yom}, or "Day" was used like the English word: a 24 hour period, a period of daylight, or an era of time. Nobody can disprove that God created the universe in its present form, with partial decayed radiation in rocks, five minutes ago. Young or old Earth age is not a point of doctrine. This very much reminds me of how the Catholic church felt that Galileo's theory blasphemed God's obviously flat Earth.

Charles Darwin proved that God gave life an amazing gift of adaptation. Evolution, one species adapting into a whole new species, is wild speculation. Even in the totality of the fossil record, what's known as "the permanence of kinds", still stands. One kind cannot be shown to have been another kind. In fact, the oldest layer of fossil-bearing-rocks have dinosaurs and modern day house-cats. Few know that the Geologic-Column—that chart with the Jurassic, Triassic, etc. periods—was constructed ACCORDING to evolutionary theory. Few places in the world are the layers even in the proper order.

The EC's consideration of thought-policing Creation-Theory is small minded. Earth-age really doesn't matter to Christians. We fear science for no good reason. God gave us a second book called creation, and He's left His fingerprints all over it. He is "there." I highly recommend Defeating Darwinism by Opening Minds—Phillip E. Johnson, When Skeptics Ask—Norman Geisler, and The God Who is There—Francis Schaeffer.

"So just sit back and relax and let me have your head for a minute—I can show you somethin' in it That has yet to be presented, OH YEAH." —Click, Click, BOOM, Josey Scott, Saliva

To God be the glory,
Frank Creed

Young Earth Age?

2007-06-29T07:32:00.000-07:00

God's word is infinite wisdom in the finite container of human language. Consider that Christ fulfilled over three-hundred OT prophecies, and how many of His contemporary Jews missed their Messiah? God shifts mankind's paradigms all through history and, we know from Genesis, prehistory.

Creation and humankind's moral fall are points of doctrine that won't bend. We have a reasonable creator who created a reasonable universe. Those with Christian presuppositions have learned creation can be understood through reason. Again, nobody was there to observe these things and these space time events. They're being interpreted to us in a dead language, by a man halfway across the planet 5000 years away in time. Inspired or not, understanding Moses' wisdom is a real challenge.

Forcing doctrinal events into a young Earth age makes two assumptions not backed by Scripture. Adam & Eve's fall took place:

1) on Earth, and
2) in this dimension.

Stay with me now . . .

The Bible was supposed to crack if our Sun was not the Universe' center because that's how Moses' creation story was interpreted. The Heliocentric theory of the universe was disproven, and Scripture still stands.

Check Strong's Concordance for the word "Worlds." It's used in the sense that this huge universe may not have been created for just for Earthlings.

What about Genesis 5:1-2? Did God create more humans after Adam and Eve?

What about extra-dimensional beings mating with human women?

Genesis 6, the Great Flood, wiped out the Nephilim.

People used to live for hundreds of years.

God's acted into space-time creation with huge change—at the fall, and the flood. Every time we get God figured out, He shifts another paradigm. Let's choose our dogmatisms very carefully.

Faith,

You're It!

2007-05-09T22:29:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged! Both on the Christian Writers Notebook and on Shoutlife!

What is it to be tagged? Well, according to HRH (who tagged me, btw) "Tagging is a game played in the blogging community whereby one blogger writes up his or her own list on a certain topic and then "tags" a certain number of other bloggers to respond with their own lists on the same topic."

The first rule of the game, however, is to post the rules of the game. Here they are:

1. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
3. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
4. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blog.

And, here we go . . .

Eight Random Facts about Me

#1 I make Raman Noodles in my coffee maker (and have been known to leave in the old coffee filter—but hey, I like coffee too. Upon hearing the story of the "coffee noodles," my future mother-in-law asked (with no small amount of concern) my then fiancé, "Do you know what the h*ll you are getting yourself into?"

#2 I remarried four years ago after vowing to never do it again, to a woman I met by chance, on-line. I figured I was safe enough since she lived in Vancouver, B.C. and I was 2000+ miles away in Indiana and we chatted/ emailed daily. Even our first face-to face meeting occurred because of a misunderstanding: while in chat we mentioned that it would be nice to meet some day and somewhere in that conversation she thought I had invited her to fly to the midwest and hummed and hawed over it and eventually decided that she would. I thought she had invited herself! Providence was at work and we didn't realize it!

#3 I have seven cats (Mavis McWavis, Molly May, Angst Mayba, Kot, Jess, Koda and Pepper). Mavis has traveled around the United States with us and has visited western Canada and has the distinction of being a "Miss Feline Pine" 2005. She's the kitty in my author pic.
—another pertinent cat fact: my now-wife decided that I was suitable to chat with online because I announced that I was a cat person.

#4 I was in a highspeed head-on collision 10 years ago; LifeLined to Indianapolis and was diagnosed by several specialists to be severely brain-damaged and wheel-chair bound for the remainder of my life. A day after my pastor came and prayed with me, I was miraculously healed. Now I write.

#5 I spent a year in Israel as a foreign exchange student: slept on the beach for a week when I had run out of money, traveled to Egypt, learned to speak Hebrew, witnessed a car-bombing, was nearly abducted by an obsessive host mother (the organization moved me asap).

#6 I am the proud part-owner of the GreenBay Packers. Well . . . I do own a share and have the stock certificate to prove it hanging in a place of honour above the fireplace (much to the chagrin of my wife).

#7 I am an Eagle Scout and totally unrelated, this Christmas on a trip to B.C. saw hundreds of Bald Eagles sitting in Cottonwood trees along the Fraser River. Wow.

#8 I was divorced at an early age and lived the life of a hedonist until I was introduced to the writings of the Biblical philospoher Francis Schaeffer in my mid-twenties.

I've tagged: Daniel I Weaver, The Stiltskins, Grace Bridges, Sue Dent, Karri Compton, David Brollier over at CFRBlog, S.M. Kirkland on MySpace, and Lydia Daffenberg.

The Problem

2007-05-06T21:55:00.000-07:00

Finding Christian speculative fiction (sci-fi and fantasy and horror), in my youth was impossible. C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia and Space Trilogy graced the lonely shelf. Every modern genre author credits Lewis as their inspiration for good reason: he's all that genre fans could find.

In the seventies and eighties of my childhood, mom would take me into the local Christian bookstores, and I'd straight-edge for the fiction shelves. After years of only finding Lewis' titles, I stopped looking in Christian stores. My favorite fiction came from secular stores.

I'd given up in the early eighties—about a year before Steven Lawhead's Empyrion was published. After Peretti's Darkness books came out, I hopefully scanned Christian shelves again for a couple more years before abandoning hope. Obviously this was a once per decade event.

A year ago the only Christian spec-fic authors of which I'd ever heard were Lewis, Peretti, Dekker, and arguably, Jenkins. Since then, I've discovered dozens of Christian spec-fic authors on the Web. I formed the Lost Genre Guild in September of 2006, and we've erected a respectable Web infrastructure for the promotion of our favorite fiction. Genre fans, read on for a killer link with more traditionally published titles than you'd ever dreamed existed.

Some spec-fic sub-genres have recently broken the CBA publishing dam. Doors opened for Christian fantasy after the Lord of the Rings films scored at the Box-Office. Genre purists and book-retailers don't lump horror into the genre, but the definition of setting and characters does. The race we call "angels" are supernatural extra-dimensional beings. At some point when nobody was looking, some creative librarian tacked up a "spiritual thrillers" label on the shelf that ought to have read "horror." "Spiritual thrillers" sounds more like Hannibal Lechter sitting across a confessional from Clarisse Starling than fallen angels under the bed, but at least the belief system that inspired The Exorcist is also moving forward. I wonder if The Prophecy series of films, featuring Christopher Walken, didn't also have an effect. And Anne Rice accepting Christ surely looked good to the CBA world.

That leaves one of spec-fic's three main sub-genres still floundering behind the dam: science fiction. I believe there are several reasons for this. There have been no sci-fi cross-over films or popular culture fiction to shoehorn publishers into risking bets on new authors. Many view Christianity and science to be a contradiction in terms. Sci-fi's been such an anti-Christian world-view genre it's no real surprise that mothers dodge children around the aisle.

You've just read introduction to a four part series that will explore the concept of Christian science fiction. Because you're still reading, you get a cookie! The most complete Biblical spec-fic book store I've ever found belongs to Jeff Gerke, AKA novelist Jefferson Scott. Any genre fan will want to see and bookmark this site of Lost Genre novels:
http://www.wherethemapends.com/Booklist/booklist_intro.htm

Frank Creed
www.frankcreed.com
email: admin@frankcreed.com
http://www.lostgenreguild.com/index.html
blog.lostgenreguild.com

Biblical CyberPunk?

2007-04-29T20:27:00.000-07:00

Biblical What?

Fiction authors must write with a very specific audience on their frontal lobes. They must write for their niche. I've found the terms Christian science fiction & fantasy and Christian speculative fiction, to be too broad.

I'm tired of the debate surrounding "Christian fiction." One side says you must write subtle or secular, and leave your skill to glorify God. The other side insists Christianity must be included in character and plot. I say, every author's fiction-ministry has a different purpose, voice, style, etc. We're like snowflakes—no two are the same. My fiction purpose is discipleship, not evangelism, so I use the descriptor "Biblical."

Sci-fi invokes visions of spaceships and ray-guns. My own dystopian sci-fi is set only thirty years in the future, and focuses on bionics and cybernetics: the fusion of technology and anatomy. This sub-genre of sci-fi is called cyberpunk, but cyberpunk is, by definition, exclusively anti-religion. I've flirted with using the term faithpunk, but I'm not sure it's meaning would click with readers. So, for lack of a better term, my niche is Biblical cyberpunk.

Read 3 of Frank Creed's Biblical Cyberpunk short stories in Light at the Edge of Darkness.

And, while you're at it, read about his Biblical Cyberpunk novel Flashpoint, coming in Septmber 2007.

Growing Sales for Religious Books!

2007-04-16T08:06:00.000-07:00

Writer's Digest ran an article in '06 that predicted a boom in religious books for the next five years. I hoped that boom would include Christian fiction. The following article indicates that Christianity's lost genre (speculative fiction), just might be set to boom. Feast your eyes on this article that appeared in the April 15, 2007 issue of AtlasBooks Advocate:

Religious Books Sell!

By Sarah Bolme

If you have pondered whether your publishing company should enter the realm of religious books, you will be delighted to hear that this category of books is selling well. Religious books were ranked second in sales growth for 2005 (first in sales growth for the year were Education/Curriculum books). Religion book sales, with their nine percent sales increase, are growing faster than overall book sales, which increased around 5% this past year.
Growth for the religion book category is not new. Sales growth has now been the trend for this category for the past few years. Although religious book titles account for about 5% of the total book market according to AAP (American Association of Publishers), sales in this category grew 37% in 2003, 11% in 2004, and about 9% in 2005.

Religion buyers for both Barnes & Noble and Borders Group, Inc. report that their religion sales have increased steadily over the past several years with Borders reporting that its religion sales have increased 36% since 2000. Religion sections in both of these stores continue to grow with the most sales in the Christian Fiction (sales of Christian romance titles have grown 25% a year since 2001) and the Christian Living titles.

Industry veterans have differing views on what has spurred the continued growth of religion category books. Some feel it has been the move from publishing mostly theological material to publishing more books with practical everyday principles. Others claim it is due to the few mass market religion-themed and Christian bestsellers such as the Left Behind Series (which has sold over 40 million copies), The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren (has sold over 20 million copies) and Bruce Wilkinson’s The Prayer of Jabez (sold over 10 million copies). A number think that it is a new willingness of American people to talk about and incorporate “religion” or “faith” into their everyday lives, a changed spurred by the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Still others think that it is due to the aging of the Baby Boomers, who – confronted with their own mortality – are now considering spiritual issues. A few others feel that the growth is in part due to the fact that mass-market outlets (such as Wal-Mart and Target) now carry religious titles.

As with sales growth in any arena, when there is profit potential, companies jump at the chance. While the religious title category encompasses more than just “Christian” titles, the fact is these titles do make up the majority of this category. Historically, Christian titles have almost exclusively been published by “Christian” publishing houses (Zondervan, Thomas Nelson, Multnomah, etc.). With the increase in religion sales, large New York Publishing houses have jumped on the bandwagon and are creating more and more imprints for Christian titles. Simon & Schuster launched Little Simon Inspirations this past February, its first Christian imprint for children; and Random House Children’s Books’ imprint Golden Books recently returned to the Christian market with a new Christian-interest publishing program introducing a dozen new titles this past year.

The good news is religious books are selling. The increase in religion category sales appears to be boosted by more than just the few religious best-seller titles mentioned earlier. A recent report by ECPA (Evangelical Christian Publishers Association) shows that consumers of Christian books read more and spend more on books than the general population. Another study by the Barna Group showed that nearly half of all Americans have read at least one religious book other than the Bible from cover to cover in the last two years. With an overwhelming majority of the population of the United States reporting a Christian religious affiliation, religion title sales have the potential to continue to grow for years to come. So whether you already publish religious titles or are looking to break into the religion category with a new title this year, there is room in the market for your next project.

***************************************************************************************************************Sarah Bolme is the director of Christian Small Publishers Association (CSPA) (http://www.christianpublishers.net) and the owner of Crest Publications (www.crestpub.com). Sarah’s newest book, Your Guide to Marketing Books in the Christian Marketplace, can be found at http://www.marketingchristianbooks.com. © 2007

Flashpoint: Chicago 2036 RPG

2007-03-25T16:24:00.000-07:00

Roleplaying game of the Underground series

Christian Role Playing Game designer Mike Roop is goin out on a limb. It's all his fault that there will be a Flashpoint RPG. I'm personally very pleased but don't let on. Plausible deniability and all. Just blame Mike. You know the rep that RPGs have in our subculture. So, why risk this? The short answer is it's a killer discipleship AND evangelism tool into the world of gamers. To understand why, one must know what an RPG really is.

Role Playing Games are vehicles for theme, purpose, plot etc. just like novels, or films. The difference is that they're interactive—characters are not written or played by actors. You get to be part of an unfolding story. RPGs have a bad rap among Christians because the first to get popular, Dungeons & Dragons, had magic. RPG fans also tend to fixate on the vehicle, and spend WAY too much time on them. It would be like you or me discovering novels or movies—we'd become obsessed.

The same strength of spec-fic (total creative license over setting and character-types), for presenting world-views, is true of RPGs. A Satanist could create a novel, film or RPG that would blaspheme as completely as Chronicles of Narnia, Passion of the Christ, or a Flashpoint RPG glorifies. A game using Christian Theology has awesome potential as a ministry tool, and while others have tried, I can't believe that none have successfully marketed such a tool.

A group of players faced with plot conflict have to make decisions and choices with consequences for their characters. Biblically pleasing decisions are rewarded. This is discipleship. A group of believers can even interest unbelievers in joining the game, and the purpose becomes evangelism.

I'm very excited about this project, but suspect there's a CBA angle here. Anyone with tips, please contact me at: frankcreed-at-insightbb-dot-com

From Bible Study to Paying Gigs

2007-03-24T19:18:00.000-07:00

BIBLE STUDY

For those people who like to hear the word of God through Bible studies, my all time favorite Bible study is 25 Basic Bible Studies, by Francis Schaeffer. It examines the basics of the Biblical worldview, and made me consider how I could best use what God gave me for His glory.

Description: Does the Bible speak to the real problems of real people in the real world? Does it offer viable solutions to those problems? You can weigh the evidence and decide for yourself with these 25 Bible studies, which show what the Bible actually teaches regarding our most fundamental questions about God.

Compiled and written by one of modern Christianity's greatest thinkers, this book highlights Scripture passages on the central doctrines of Christianity--such as creation, man's sin and God's grace, the person and work of Christ, future events--and briefly explains how each passage supports the biblical teaching on that particular theme. It's all right here. Laid out simply. So you can see for yourself what the Bible says--in God's own words.

Schaeffer's window into Scripture made me realize who I am and gave me the courage to step out in faith.

How to turn what we learn into paying publications . . .

Paying the bills with our writing allows us to glorify him with the forty-ish hours that a full time job consumes. All right, it's more like sixty or eighty hours, but you'd be doing what you love and would actually have more time for your other spheres of life. I've met too many Christian writers who make humility an excuse for not submitting their work. I've challenged every one of them with the Parable of the Talents, and I've yet to field a contrary position. If you've ever skipped a meal to write, this means you. The Web is a gift that He's dumped in our laps. I can't believe the number of e-mail questions I get, that fifteen seconds on Google couldn't answer. Just make a list of search parameters, Google them,and bookmark from the top hundred results (organize files as you go or this will haunt you).

FICTION

Everyone reading this has an article or story in them that can reach a particular audience. The adage says "Mum is always right," and like Mum says, locating paying markets is the best way. For novelists, it's not that simple. I have a recently updated bookmarks file geared toward Biblical fantasy and sci-fi that I'll share with any who contact me. The concept would help any author of Christian fiction--just get ideas and Google. There are scads of tools, resources, crit groups, publishers, and e-zines on the Web, you just need to find them.

If you have something to write and an audience in mind, You've been called to a writing ministry. Have the courage to step out in faith for His glory. We glorify Him where He's placed us in space and time, by dwelling at the intersection of given talents and passions.

Blasphemy or Ministry?

2007-03-22T10:46:00.000-07:00

Guest Blogger: publisher Cynthia MacKinnon

About one year ago, a friend (and non-fiction author) questioned: How can science-fiction and Christianity be compatible? She wasn't judging, her inquiry was an honest one.

I myself have asked similar questions about the acceptance of speculative fiction in the Christian community. There is no end to the responses responses found: in one's circle of friends, at one's church, or on the internet. The following are excerpted from an online article about Christian fantasy ( from the Biblical Discernment Ministries ) :

Most true Christians would recognize fantasy, such as the movie Star Wars, as being extremely wicked (in this case, sorcery— "The Force" being equivalent to black magic and white witchcraft). Yet, apparently, when we call it "Christian," this somehow sanctifies what we do with our minds (imaginations), or what we allow our minds to entertain.

For example, one can look in any issue of the Christian Book Distributors Fiction Catalog and find the most outrageous fantasy literature, yet it is all dubbed "Christian." The following is taken from theCBD Fiction Catalog, 9/94 premier edition:
". . . now there's no more compromising for those who love Christian fiction, because you are holding the key to your next escape-from-it-all right in the palm of your hand . . . CBD's brand new Fiction Catalog? It's filled with the latest and the best
refreshing, thrilling, inspiring, wholesome fiction for you and your family."

Wholesome? The following is a sample of that which CBD considers "wholesome." [Much of this type of writing comes from medieval mysticism, which
God hates (cf. Deut. 18: 10-12).]:
(a) Millennium's Dawn, by Ed Stewart (p. 25):"June 2001. The future never seemed brighter for Dr. Evan Riderand his new bride, Shelby, as they prepare to embark on the honeymoon of their dreams. But the dream quickly becomes a nightmare as a long-buried secret shared by three college friends erupts, engulfing the couple in a sinister plot ofblackmail, terror, and betrayal."

(b) Till We Have Faces, by C. S. Lewis(p. 34): "The unlovely Orual, eldest daughter of the King of Glome, becomes so consumed by her mingled love and jealousy of her beautiful half-sister that she makes a complaint to the gods—and receives an answer she did not expect. This novel, possibly Lewis' best work and the one he considered his own favorite, is his compelling rework of the myth of Cupid and Psyche."[Sound like something you could want your children to read —about "the gods"?]

"Well," someone might say, "I'm not doing anything wicked, I'm just reading about wickedness." But does this align with godliness? There are four things about fantasy which must be considered:

I. It is Anti-Truth.
II. It Slips Into Reality.
III. It Does Not Fit True Godliness.
IV. A Love for God Will Oppose It.

These 4 points appear to have merit and certainly leave no room for wishy-washy Christianity. And, it seems that my non-Christian friend has every reason to ask the question about the compatibility between sci-fi and Christianity.

Obviously, the value (or danger) of Christian speculative fiction is fixed firmly in the beliefs of the reader. But with such a bias against spec-fic from within the sub-culture, does the genre even stand a chance? What steps can be taken to alleviate the skepticism and pull Biblical spec-fic from the shadows out into the light of the day?

When Will They Ever Learn

2007-02-22T10:10:00.000-08:00

Christian spec-fic is in a limbo of sorts: people seek and search for good spec-fic written from a Christian worldview, but it is hard to find, even in Christian bookstores. Talented authors of Christian spec-fic stockpile entertaining manuscripts because the traditional houses (in accordance with the CBA) are reluctant to publish them. Hit counters on Christian SF sites all over the web indicate that there is a huge untapped market out there, just waiting to be connected. Many of these readers have been forced to secular bookshelves.

There were another group of genre fans who didn't wait patiently . . . who gave up altogether on finding spec-fic in Christian bookstores. After reading Lewis' chronicles, whenever Mom took my sister and I into our local Christian bookstore, I headed for the fiction shelves. Nothing.

Mom liked that we were interested in reading, and in secular stores we found plenty of sci-fi and fantasy. By the time I was a teen (early eighties), I gave up looking. Last year I discovered that I gave up one year before Lawhead hit the shelves.

Then I learned of Peretti. Frank's Darkness novels raised my hopes again but two more years of drought taught me to stop wasting my time. I believe there to be a large demographic of Christian genre fans who've never heard of Bryan Davis, Karen Hancock, Donita Paul, or Jefferson Scott.

Yes, we have to spread the spec-fic word. CBA publishers hit empty when they advertise because genre fans aren't there. We have to use new mediums like the Web to breed new strains of viral-marketing. It will take years, but by networking on the Web with blog tours, newsletters, PDF catalogs, and live events, we can do this.

I have to wonder if this isn't His will. In an age when the protestant denominations are in decline, sci-fi and fantasy worldview fiction could spark a rebirth.

"So just sit back and relax and let me have your head for a minute--I can show you somethin' in it That has yet to be presented."--Josey Scott.

To God be the glory,
Frank Creed
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

e-mail Frank
FrankCreeddotcom
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The Fall of the U.S.

2006-08-16T19:44:00.000-07:00

This Wall Street Journal article: "25 Years of Pushing the Envelope: MTV is Our Leading Purveyor of Crudeness"(06.08.04), was brought to my attention by fellow author Jim Bowers. The writer of "25 Years" contends that MTV has not only "violated cultural boundaries" just like many other tv programs, but has, in fact, blurred the distinction between pornography and pop culture. The result? a generation of children who now see pornography and crudeness as acceptable and desirable.

Edward Gibbon was a self-educated man, but his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire—published in the late 1800s—is still regarded as a definitive work on the topic.

According to Gibbon, one of the five social signs of the Empire's decline was perversity seen as originality in the arts.

This cuts across the entertainment spectrum--sex sells and the free-market is wallowing in it. Original works are rare in Hollywood too—Baby-Boomers go to see re-make movies so that's what the studios crank out. Look at the automotive sculpture of the Big Three: re-makes.

Incidentally, the US has experienced all five of Gibbon's signs since the 1960s and we’re now in a spiral. Unless we divorce our culture from free-market morality (greed), our greatness is going the way of the British Empire.

French writer Alexis de Tocqueville http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexis_de_Tocquevilletoured America in the mid 19th century, for the purpose of discovering what made the US so great. After crossing the land and seeing all the churches, he concluded that America is great because America is good.

When it ceases to be good it will cease to be great.

We have arrived.

"In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity."--Martin Luther.

To God be the glory,
Scott “Frank Creed” Morris
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Lost Genre Guild http://www.lostgenreguild.com
Lost Genre Guild Blog http://lostgenre.blogspot.com
email Frank Creed
frankcreed.com
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The Redemption (M. L. Tyndall)

2006-07-22T21:03:00.000-07:00

The Redemption, by M.L. Tyndall
A review by Frank Creed

A Christian Pirate novel, what a concept, what an oxymoron! M.L. Tyndall, author of The Redemption, is quick to point out that the genre is actually historical romance—with plenty of gritty swashbuckling. So what am I, an industrialized-blue-collar-yankee-Christian reader and writer of adventures, doing reading what Barbour categorizes as fiction/ general/ romance? It is with pleasure and complete surprise that I found myself completely engrossed in The Redemption from start to finish.

The Redemption is no more or less a romance novel than is Robin Hood. Anyone interested in classic swashbuckling action stories which just happen to include a leading lady and man reluctantly falling in love, must read this book, regardless of the bookstore shelf label.

Not only was I relieved to discover The Redemption to be all Robin Hood with a thimble of Maid Marion, I was ecstatic to find that the quality of M.L. Tyndall's writing rivals that of Robin Hood author, James Clarke Holt! Every scene that could have lapsed into page-flipping predictability instead edged me on my seat then riveted me there with clashing cutlasses, strategic naval maneuvers and dire conflict: I'd found a gold and pearl true pirate treasure. Those are pumped-up-classy review terms but remember I'm a writer. This is what makes The Redemption true literature . . .

We begin with a shipwreck introduction of the heroine: must be the Godly woman who leads all the pirates to Jesus, right? Wrong. Lady Charlisse Bristol is a non-Christian who hates the church. She's rescued off a desert island when a pirate ship stops for careening and fresh water. The Redemption (the pirate ship) is captained by a Christian—yes, my eyebrows did the same thing.

While this story is not easily labeled, The Redemption can be best categorized as alternate-history, a sub-genre of speculative fiction. One of the reasons I'm drawn to write spec-fic is the creative latitude granted by the genre: If you can make something like a Christian pirate believable to your reader, it's allowed. Not only does M.L. Tyndall make apparent contradictions believable, she makes them logical and does so with the most powerful tool of fiction—deep characterization:

Captain Edmund Merrick was raised in Britian's high society,

found snobbery unfulfilling and fled to the Caribbean to seek

adventure. Years of piracy proved equally unfulfilling and eventually

he found Christ. The only reason Merrick's still in the pirate-game

is that he was contracted by England to raid the Spanish Main.

In classic style and voice, Tyndall skillfully braids breathing characters with Raider's of the Lost Ark non-stop plot conflict and action, forcing you to turn pages until the very end.

My breathless thanks to M.L. Tyndall for an autographed first-edition of what I seriously consider to be the best spec-fic novel I've read in over twenty years. This is a book that will be around for a long, long time, and one that I look forward to re-reading!

To God be the glory,
Scott “Frank Creed” Morris
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email Frank Creed
frankcreed.com
Blogs:
The Christian Writer's Notebook
A FRANK REVIEW

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Frank and the Mave

2006-07-07T21:48:00.000-07:00

Frank Creed and little Mave, the award-winning member of the family. Check her out at http://felinepine.com/rewards.html
Frank and the Mave

2006-07-04T12:23:00.000-07:00

Interview with Jackie Moore

2006-07-04T00:57:00.000-07:00

JackieMoore@virtuousliving.com
http://www.virtuousliving.com

Enjoy the words of this amazing woman and learn the true meaning of Christian activism . . .

Writers have different motivations. What is it that drives you?
I know this may sound like a cliche, but I am just in awe of the talent that God has given me to write. He has revealed so much to me in his word, that I am bound to share what I have learned with others. I realize and recognize that he has done so much for me in my life, that I must do the same for other women and show them just how much power they themselves have if they would just learn to trust and depend on God.

As a staff writer to Bahiyah Woman Magazine (BWM) www.BWMMag.com, actively searching for a publisher/agent, submitting to anthologies, starting a new job, living as a single mother of two, and enrolling in fall classes, how on earth do you find quiet-time to write?
I generally write late at night when the house is quiet and my sons have gone to bed, but can often find various times throughout the day when something really hits me.

Readers can read about you and sample your work at this link: http://www.virtuousliving.com/wst_page5.html

How do you keep all these threads straight? Do you work from a writer's notebook?
Surprisingly, no I don't use any tools. I generally update my main site each night and will find time when ever to update the rest. Most of what is posted are things that I have already completed so it's just a matter of posting them to my various blogs.

You've been active for years in volunteer and citizenship capacities, working to improve your community in Detroit. In what ways have these experiences affected your writing?
I write about real life experiences. Each of us has a responsibility to our fellow man, to our communities and to our children. So often each of us see so much in the world that is wrong. If we don't take an active part in trying to change some of those wrongs, then we are essentially turning our backs on those that we love, including God. I see my writing as a way to affect change.

Which of your works do you expect to market first: your novel The Lady and the Cabdriver, or your non-fiction Virtuous Women?
I am actually working on marketing "The Lady and The Cabdriver" (At the suggestion of my editors, I actually changed the name to "Serving Justice"), first. I think it so relevant to today's society that I feel that even though it is a work of fiction, the message that lies within, is too important to let pass.

What do you hope to accomplish in your workshop/ seminar based upon "Virtuous Women"?
So often most women can't relate to the story of the virtuous woman because the don't see a correlation between her and today's woman. I take the story of the Virtuous Woman and show women how it relates to the here and now. It doesn't matter if you are single, married, young or old. We as Christian Women need to be able to recognize the lessons in the Virtuous Woman and apply it to everyday living.

If you could give single moms out there one piece of advice, what would it be?
Don't ever feel that you are alone. Things may be seem hard sometimes but when you have the desire and the passion to do what is right, put God first, be strong and know that no matter what your circumstances and situations, you can do all things through Jesus Christ.

I don't know how you find the time to do everything that He has you doing! Thanks so much for your answers.

Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to share!

If anyone ever feels overcome by life, spend a few minutes at Jackie's site: you'll come away humbled. oin her online treasure hunt in July to winautographedovels.
email Jackie
Jackie's Website

To God be the glory,
Scott “Frank Creed” Morris
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email Frank Creed
frankcreed.com
Blogs:
The Christian Writer's Notebook
A FRANK REVIEW

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tales for the Thrifty Barbarian: An Anthology of High Fantasy

2006-07-04T00:47:00.000-07:00

Tales for the Thrifty Barbarian was just released! It is a compilation of high fantasy novellas from members of Fantasy Writers International, a group of writers gleaned from the web’s largest fantasy/ sci-fi site, elfwood.com.

I am one of seven contributors to this anthology which is especially dear to me because the project was my late father's creation. This book has been dedicated to his memory.

Overview of Tales for the Thrifty Barbarian: An Anthology of High Fantasy

a pair of commoners are on the run after accidentally killing their Count . . . a lass with psionic powers must save her Duke’s realm, and the peasant woman who raised her . . . a spoiled Lady and her bitter heir protector put aside all differences when wizards and Orqs attack . . . an alchemist takes in his wraith-haunted nephew, then his wife disappears . . . hunters face-off against environmentalists in a dragon-rights demonstration: an inept Elf/ freelance diplomat comes to the rescue (ever read a fantasy satire?) . . . three warriors defend a village against a dark beast who’s summoned a foreboding storm as hunting cover . . . a wizardling is quested to recover an artifact in order to save his land from an army’s onslaught . . .

You can read more about the anthology and purchase a copy (free shipping on the FWI website) at the: FWI Bookstore

Editor: Cynthia MacKinnon: The Writers’ Cafe
ISBN: 978-1-4116-9407-1
$24.95US trade paper from the FWI Bookstore (or $7.41US download from lulu.com)

Author list:
Larry N. Morris, Jamie Hughes, Frank Creed, A.P. Reckert, Brian David Smith, Jaren Schroeder, Eugene Erno.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To God be the glory,
Scott “Frank Creed” Morris
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email Frank Creed
frankcreed.com
Blogs:
The Christian Writer's Notebook
A FRANK REVIEW

Frank's Interview with Author Tricia Goyer

2006-07-04T00:36:00.000-07:00

Frank’s Interview With Tricia Goyer: author of From Dust and Ashes, Night Song, Dawn of a Thousand Nights, and Arms of Deliverance.

http://www.triciagoyer.com
http://www.triciagoyer.blogspot.com

Whether you're a reader or a writer, this you'll enjoy:

Writers have different motivations. What is it that drives you?
My brand is Reflecting Reality, Honoring Truth. That is my motivation for writing too. My desire for my fiction is to reflect the reality of history—to bring it to life for readers. I also desire to honor the truth of the experiences men and women during WWII . . . and Truth, who is Christ.

To do this, I not only research through books or on the Internet, I also interview the men and women who were there. And I tie spiritual threads throughout the books, which don’t focus on religion, but rather the relationship with Jesus Christ in individual lives.

You’re married with three children, so how do you find quiet-time to write?
There is NO quiet-time to write, since I also homeschool my kids. They are around 24/7. I’ve trained myself to write without quiet time. We have one big homeschooling room/ office. When my kids are working on their homework, I’m working on mine in the same room. I can be crying my eyes out, writing an emotional scene, and then I have to stop to help with a multiplication problem! Yet God blesses me as I serve Him in both of these areas.

To be able to write, I use advice given to me by my writer-friend Anne de Graaf, “Do the next thing.” The next thing may be to write a description, to research a scene, or to write 2,000 words for that day. Or it may be to read a story with one of my kids or to set up a homework schedule. These small steps keep me plugging forward, and helps me not to get overwhelmed. If I tried to think of the whole book at once (or thirteen years of education!), then I’d probably freeze up. But I can do one little part at this moment.And even I don’t have quiet time to write, I do take time for quiet time with my Bible and prayer book every day. I wake up at least an hour before everyone else and spend time with God. This is my priority, and this too transforms my writing.

Apart from interviewing WW-II veterans while writing this series, tell me about your creative method. Do you work from a writer’s notebook?
The first thing I do is get an overview on the time in history. I read some general books and figure out a basic timeline for the story based on historical events.

After that, I weave my characters within the timeline, and then I start specific research. This is when I start interview people who were there.

On each of these levels, I have WORD documents on my computer. Or I’ve recently started using a program called One Note. I have different files for timeline, characters, description, conflict, etc. Each of these have different title files.

Then, once I have the research about 2/3 finished, I start writing. I open a document and plug in my research according to how I will need it.

Then, I start writing.

War and Christian fiction seem like contradictory terms. Did you struggle with moral issues while writing Arms of Deliverance, or was Hitler vs the Allies too black & white?
Hitler vs. the Allies is the general conflict of the book, but I also have more specific conflicts within each of the characters. Each one has their personal goals, motivations, and vices. These are not cardboard people. My “good guys” have personal struggles, and my bad guys aren’t 100% bad. Even with my Nazi officer, I try to get into his head to provide motivations for why he does what he does—not always moral motivations, but motivations all the same.

So in essence war and Christian fiction are not contradictory. The Christian aspects of my novels deal with the people who are involved within the war. Most women stayed home for WW-II, but your main characters, Mary and Lee, are both war-correspondents.

Is your intended audience women?
I would say that most of my audience is women, but I also have a lot of male readers too. In addition to Mary and Lee’s point-of-view, the story is also told from the point-of-views of Eddie, a B-17 Navigator, and Hendrick, a Nazi officer.

My favorite male readers are the WWII veterans I’ve interviewed, of course. Here is what one of them said:
It was a fascinating pleasure to watch the development of the author’s courageous young reporter. The description of airbase activities and flight in a B-17 bomber out of Bassingbourn, England brought back poignant memories of my personal wartime experiences.I too flew with the 91st Bomb Group out of Bassingbourn as a Pathfinder Navigator. The descriptions of flight conditions are thought-provoking and accurate. Further, the author has pieced together an intriguing story with different segments. She skillfully guides the reader through peaks and valleys of why we fought, the struggle to win, nail-biting suspense, divine guidance, and . . . sweet victory.Tricia Goyer has effectively captured the robust ‘Can Do’ spirit of World War II.
~~ John HowlandPathfinder Navigator91st Bomb Group

Is there a feminist message in Arms of Deliverance?
I suppose all of WWII could be considered “feminist” in nature, not out of rebellion, but out of necessity. Women were forced to do the jobs of men, as their husbands, boyfriends, and brothers went off to war. My characters are no different. They use this opportunity to excel in jobs once only held by men. They struggled in these roles, and as my novel shows, some choose to continue with their careers while others return to more traditional roles.

This is your fourth and final book in this series; are you looking forward to a new project?
Yes, I’m currently working on a three book series on The Spanish Civil War. This war took place in Spain right before WWII. Hitler and Mussolini supported Franco and the Rebels. Russia and International Brigades from all over the world supported the Spanish people and their elected government. The first book, A Valley of Betrayal, (which I’m still writing!) will be out February 2007 . . . so I’ve been deep in the heart of Spain in my writing world.

I don’t believe in luck, so I’ll wish you His will.
Where can we pick up a copy of Arms of Deliverance?

Arms of Deliverance is available at local Christian bookstores or at on-line bookstores such as Amazon.com.
You can find out more at http://www.triciagoyer.com
Thanks so much!

Thanks for the interview!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Check out Tricia’s new release Arms of Deliverance at:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0802415563/ref=cm_arms_pdp_dp/102-3823501-9095348?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155

Plot Synopsis: The fourth and final novel in this exhilarating series capturing the tales of men and women swept into World War II. Two friends, Mary and Lee, land similar reporting jobs at the New York Tribune on the eve of the war’s outbreak and soon they become competitors. Mary’s coverage of a bombing raid over Germany leads to a plane wreck and an adventurous escape attempt from across enemy lines. And when Lee hears of Mary’s plight, she bravely heads to war-torn Europe in an effort to help rescue her friend. Will there be enough time for diplomacy or will war get the best of everyone?

There's No Such Thing as Writer's Block

2006-07-04T00:28:00.000-07:00

Donna Conger, author of Forgotten, had this to say about “Fiction Outlines,” my previous blog article:

“Frank,Great blog. Good information. For me, an outline is extremely necessary, because it helps me keep the story organized. It shows me where I’m repeating myself, where the story is contrived, etc. Often, when I’m writing an outline, I get so deep into the story and characterization that I start writing actual dialogue and mixing it with the chapter synopsis. When that happens, I get a much stronger handle on the whole project. I remember the story better, so that when I don’t get the chance to work on it, it’s still with me quite strongly.”

For those who outline in depth, Donna’s method must be a wonderful tool. Such a detailed outline would mesh well with the subconscious mind for creative inspiration. Because of a mental handicap that cripples my short-term memory, I’m stuck with re-reading pages of notes plus my chapter-in-progress in order to “tune-back-in”. My own inspiration only comes either in light-bulbs throughout the day (that I scribble down and transfer into my three-ring-binder), or, more productively, as my left-brain is running SO full throttle that I can’t type fast enough to capture all my thoughts.

Reflecting upon Donna’s technique brought back a conversation that my father (who was also a writer), and I had years ago. He’d been experiencing a period of writer’s block. As he lamented about his problem, it occurred to me that because I’m so used to troubleshooting ways around my mental condition, I’d been manhandling writer’s block for well over a year!

This was my e-mail reply to Donna:
“I’ve experienced that detailed kind of hyper-outlining before, but this topic leads into my definition of writer’s block. I don’t believe in it. Creative writing is left brain stuff. If I find myself sliding into creativity, I open my WIP and go-to-it. When word-count refuses to turn a phrase, that means my right brain is switched “on”. That’s when I work on my marketing plan or pull out my writer’s notebook and organize thoughts.”

A writer’s best quantitative standard of productivity is word-count; we set goals and we record daily figures. Then we get so focused on this single unit of measurement that we forget about less quantitative aspects of the craft. Those one or two thousand words are our eight-days-a-week mandatory discipline; but what about e-mail, research and critiquing? I once read that there are other spheres of life beyond writing: like enjoying family, community, worship and creation around us. It’s so easy to get caught-up. Balance your spheres, and engage yourself in His moment’s gift.

"We who escape into our craft are not unlike junkies; once we admit our problem we can balance our lives. Once we balance our live’s spheres, we’re living as He’d intended."
–Frank Creed

CREDITS:Thanks to my guest quotationist:

Donna Conger http://www.donnaconger.com
I urge anyone who questions whether or not true love exists to read Forgotten. You will know it is alive and well.
–Janet Elaine Smithhttp://janet_elaine_smith0.tripod.com/

Fiction Outlines

2006-07-04T00:21:00.000-07:00

My last blog article detailed the categories into which I’ve broken down my own three-ring-binder writer’s notebook. It finished with thoughts about a tab I call “SEQUEL NOTES” but what happens when a sequel graduates to a WIP?

Jan recently asked the following questions: “Just curious . . . I realize some writers never use outlines, but I’m trying to get various viewpoints on them to make some decisions . . . So, if you use an outline, what format do you use? Basic Roman numerals? Topical? Do you outline chapter by chapter? Outline the entire book before you write? Outline a chapter, then write it? Outlining was recommended to me, and as a former English teacher, I definitely see the benefit. BUT when I tried it for my novel, I found I ended up changing stuff as I got more involved with my character’s lives . . . Just looking for other opinions, I guess. Thanks, Jan”

This is like a painter asking if it’s better to use watercolors, acrylics, or oils. In the arts there is no shortest route between two points, and each artist will develop their own techniques. There are writers who can only work from a strict outline and others whose creativity would be stifled by this technique. While I myself lean more toward the latter variety, my WIP has proven to be a real organizational challenge, teaching me lessons from which any writer might benefit.

To preface Jan’s questions, I first need to define the braided novel. While writing Flashpoint, my own comfortable method of thought-organization worked very seat-of-the-pants-informally-functional. That story is very linear and straightforward. But that was then and this is now.

I’m writing its sequel in a form of which I first discovered while reading Michael Stackpole’s afterword from his novel Wolf and Raven. An anthology, as we all know, is a collection of short fiction. A braided novel is different in that it’s a series of shorts revolving around the same main characters and occur chronologically with each story building on the history of its predecessor. The functional beauty of a braided novel is that each freestanding short can be individually marketed before completing and compiling the stories into a single work. I fell in love with Wolf and Raven because it’s told in the same first-person sarcasm as Flashpoint, but I fell in love with Stackpole’s braided novel form because of its pragmatism.

For a mentally handicapped closed-head-injury victim like myself, keeping story threads alive and organized throughout seven (planned), shorts of a braided novel called for a level of outline complexity that I’d never before required. Because my writer’s notebook is of ye olde fashioned pencil and paper variety, Roman numerals are too rigidly unforgiving: while my characters and setting are fairly concrete, I’m a firm believer in letting a story tell itself. This means I have too many new ideas as I write, and my plot development must remain very fluid.

Flashpoint’s jagged notes scribbled scene by scene. I added chapter breaks later, always at action’s peak in order to create a page-turner effect. But, because a braided novel’s shorts are told in parts (Part One, Part Two . . .), this technique cannot be employed.

To sustain this form where each tale had to be supported by its former layer, work had to progress methodically. Before entering into any word-count writing, I motored up the olde speculative binder. I first chose the themes that I wished to include, followed closely by which plot-vehicles I’d use to deliver them. Using one loose-leaf notebook page for each story, I gleaned details from my notes on scene ideas, concepts and snappy lines then fleshed out the first details. I gave each short a working title, and listed them in a table of contents, for a quick organizational overview reference and major notations.

With this framework in place, it came time to plug-in the threads that I wanted to chronologically develop throughout the stories. Because this is a sequel, a solid cast of characters already existed, and over the years I’d worked up a few new character profiles. This is where I got to cheat a bit, because I already had ideas on how to develop characters with whom I was intimate. In my humble opinion, the most important element of any tale is its characters. They are the beginning point. You can have the best plot ever, but if your characters fall flat, I’m shelving the story. Conversely, if I care about strong characters in an ugly plot, I’ll keep turning pages. My five threads all dealt with character/ relationship development (a real shocker, I know). For easy reference, I listed a thread index on a separate sheet, and assigned each thread a capital letter. On those seven story pages I tracked each thread with its corresponding letter in the left margin.

In the end, every writer’s approach to the art is different. Whatever is right for you is a mantra that fails morally, but preferences are a freedom that we’re all allowed. Each artist must choose the medium and tools that their gift requires. As I’ve said before, every writer’s bag of tricks is of unique cloth but when each of us dumps it out, our work must have detail and depth.

“Trifles go to make perfection, and perfection is no trifle.”–Michelangelo Buonarroti

To God be the glory,
Scott “Frank Creed” Morris
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
e-mail: frankcreed@insightbb.com
Home: http://www.frankcreed.com
Blog: http://frankcreed.blogspot.com

The Notebook

2006-07-04T00:07:00.000-07:00

Since my childhood in the 1970s, I knew I wanted to write. I cannot recall when I first read that a writer always needs to carry a pen and paper for inspiration’s lightning strikes, but a few months later I was the proud owner of scrap paper piles. I said to myself “Wow, this is helpful.”

Then I heard about keeping a writer’s notebook; the concept impacted my skull like a brick. This eleventh Commandment (somewhere in Leviticus I think), inspired me to load a three ringbinder with two hundred sheets of filler paper and two packs of index tabs. Many hours of scribbling later gave me a full trash bin and an invaluable personal fiction reference resource: my notebook has become a lifestyle.

Later I began writing in another genre: my first act was to split my notes into a second notebook. Duct tape could not revive my original binder, may it rest in pieces, but the system upon which I’ve come to depend, lives on. It doesn’t matter if you write notes in a hard copyfolder or type in e-file, the important thing is your ability to access your own catalog of ideas.

THE TABS: These will vary depending upon one’s form and genre. I write speculative and fantasy fiction so my own look like this:

MARKETING/BUSINESS PLAN
NAMES LIST
SLANG DICTIONARY
ONE LINERS & PHRASES
SETTING AND BACKGROUND
CHARACTER PROFILES
RESEARCH
RPG/COMIC NOTES
WRITING TIPS
WISDOMS
NON-WIP IDEAS
SEQUEL NOTES

I’ll detail each of these categories in coming months, but a recent question from the Fellowship of Christian Writers Newsgroup makes me focus on the last in this list: the nebulous SEQUEL NOTES.

gificor@gmail.com asked, “I am trying to organize some of my short story ideas into coherent story outlines. Does anyone have advice and examples?”

The following methodology serves either long or short fiction:

I begin with a concept, an inkling of story-line and characters, then turn to my SEQUEL NOTES tab to gather up some particulars. My loose outline is left intentionally rough in order to accommodate brainstorms that occur as I create.

Themes: this is where I start. Meaningful fiction carries messages. List here the social concerns that have weighted your heart to address in future fiction.
Plots: I’ve begun with a kernel, but this treasure of notes fleshes out the skeleton.
Scene Ideas: little mind’s-eye concepts that add silk leather and velvet to each tale.
Characters: the heart of any story. By now I have enough of the story constructed that I can fill one page bios.
Concepts: The little things that would otherwise slip the cracks between characters and construct: symbolism, misdirection, strategy, etc.
Snappy Lines: a record of THAT’S-what-I-should-have-said. One of the advantages of our craft is time.

Every writer’s bag of tricks is of unique cloth, but each of us dumps it out our work must have details and depth.

“Trifles go to make perfection, and perfection is no trifle.”
–Michelangelo Buonarroti

To God be the glory,
Scott “Frank Creed” Morris
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
e-mail: frankcreed@insightbb.com
Home: http://www.frankcreed.com
Blog: http://frankcreed.blogspot.com

A Writer's Tortured Soul

2006-07-03T23:58:00.000-07:00

April third, 2006

The news yesterday of my father’s death obviously blew the day’s creative productivity right off the itinerary. I am so thankful for the sixteen years He allowed Dad and I to have together.

My Mom and Dad divorced when I was about five, and she kept him out of my whole childhood. It wasn’t until 1989 when I was living in the Chicago burbs that my sister located Dad here in Lafayette, Indiana, and set up our first meeting in nearly two decades.

Over the next five years we visited regularly and developed a wonderful relationship. In May of1994 I moved to Lafayette and stayed at his house until I got established. Back then I was working on my fantasy work, White Iron. Dad had focused his lifelong creative efforts into entrepreneurism, and had started several companies, but never enjoyed any degree of success. My bouncing ideas off the old guy nourished a drive that he never knew he had, and in the late nineties, he funneled his creative energy into his first fantasy novel.

Like the work of any new fiction writer, itwas bad, but he had a natural gift for plot-development and in six or seven years really learned how to turn a phrase. I’d been driven to write my whole life, so my father’s new interest opened a commonality that gave a new depth to our relationship. A few yeas ago dad discovered elfwood.com, the web’s largest fantasy and science fiction site. He made many friends there and after a year, founded Fantasy Writers International, a writer’s club for aspiring novelists. In January of 2005 he solicited FWI’s members for contributions to an anthology of high fantasy.

The anthology’s completion was delayed by a family crisis involving his sister in California. He and my grandmother flew to California to support my aunt. The trip dragged out longer than anticipated, and the decision was made that Dad would fly back toIllinois and drive my grandmother’s car to San Deigo.

On the evening ofApril first, somewhere around Fort Worth, Tx, the car left the road and rolled. He was ejected from the vehicle and found some fifteen feet away by paramedics. Dad was immediately alert and responsive, but once in the ICU the only movement of which he was capable below the waist was the movement of his big toes. Then he went unconscious.

My brother informed me that dad coded four times in the early AM hours of April second and never regained consciousness.

At about 7:30 PM my brother again phoned, this time with the news that Dad had been declared brain-dead.

C.S. Lewis wrote A Grief Observed after Joy, his wife of three years, was taken by cancer. After weeks of his soul’s torment Lewis turned a corner. At this point he wondered why he couldn’t see that there was nothing to do with suffering but suffer it. In 1996 these words comforted me when my mother died of complications brought about byMultiple Sclerosis. Lewis’ same words sustain me now.

Dad was so happy in the last years of his life, and although he was not able to hold the finished book in his hands, assembling this anthology for his fantasy fiction club was his dream come true. My wife, Cynthia, is the anthology’s editor and told me last night that she’s decided to see this project’s completion. Dad’s dream will be posthumously realized. It has, over the last twenty-four hours, slowly occurred to me that this book will stand, in my mind, as a memorial.

Regardless of any future success that I may enjoy as a novelist, this secular fantasy anthology will undoubtedly stand as my life’s most meaningful published work. It will be a physical symbol to the years with my father with which He blessed us.

Thank you Father for the time with my father.

Self-Publishing: Frank's Counterpoint

2006-07-03T23:49:00.000-07:00

How can we bridge the gap and give both professions more courtesy and respect they deserve?

I chose to address the second question first because its implication answers the first question. We’re asked to bridge the gap, give courtesy and respect to two different PROFESSIONS (?): SP writers and ‘traditionally’ published writers (?) The fact that the latter doesn’t even have an abbreviation (that I’m familiar with), speaks of the distinction. I fear this prejudice to be wide-spread. For example: I turned eight years old in 1974, and decided then that I wanted to write story-books. Since then I dreamed of the day that I’d open an envelope, find an acceptance letter, and leap in the air for two-weeks-straight like a Publisher’s-Clearing-House winner. OF COURSE anyone who’d PAY to be published MUST be a loser! Then in January of this year I’d read something that made me Google . . .

Do you feel there is a stigmatism that says, “self-published writers aren’t as good of writers as ‘traditionally’ published writers”?

“In 1994 Barnes & Noble reported that books from the 10 largest publishers accounted for thee quarters of their purchases. By 1997 these 10 leaders accounted for less than half of the books bought.”–Jump Start Your Book Sales, by Marilyn and Tom Ross.

Indies and SPs are biting into traditional houses’ market shares, which is why the big boys only solicit famous authors, why it’s harder than ever for a new author to receive an acceptance letter, and why Random House has entered the POD game. RH is either trying to snatch up all the little fish, or has entered into the if-you-can’t-beat-em-join-em wisdom. Even if a ‘traditional’ house accepts an author, all they get is a little shotgun marketing; you’re accepted not because you’re good, but because you can sell books. The days of holing-up with a muse and a keyboard in a comfortable apartment, are over. The only person who’s going to publish a new author is the new author. This concept is what changed my mind about SP.

I’ve also seen Peter Bowerman’s self-publishing strategy reflected in the January’s Writer’s Digest (cover story I think, but the cat messed on it and we had to toss it out). The upshot is that internet has forever changed the industry because SPs now have access to all the privileged information that used to keep us at the mercy of thepedestaled ‘traditional’ houses. I own a 2002 Writer’s Market (stop laughing), and in that year compiled a list of Christian Fiction publishers. In 2004 I subscribed to WM online, and discovered that MORE THAN HALF of the publishers on my list were either out of business, or ceased accepting unsolicited unagented manuscripts. As long as one has a polished edited manuscript and successfully creates market demand, booksellers will be driven to the SP. I’ve spent a decade on Flashpoint, and now I’ve CHOSEN to make five dollars per copy instead of bowing before the altar of tradition, and netting less than one dollar. In order to use the talents He’s invested in me as a full-time income in our modern world, I have to make ends-meet, and pay the bills. If I can do that on one fifth the book-sales of tradition, then SP seems the wiser choice.

From the moment I picked your book up until I laid it down I was convulsed with laughter. Some day I intend reading it. — Groucho Marx

The Bible vs. Rock Music, Fantasy, Sci-Fi and Role-Playing Games

2006-07-03T23:42:00.000-07:00

By Frank Creed

In my youth there existed a large demographic of Bible-believers who referred to Christian Rock & Roll as demonic. Their argument ran something like this: If you’d lived in the puritanical Fifties like we had, and you saw Elvis-the-Pelvis move like that, you’d have crossed yourself with holy water.

Given the times, I probably would have.

But this is a different millenium. Every television two-minute-commercial-break, North America is spammed with sexually-explicit-cubed. Our animated-G-rated “children’s” movies are seeded with adult comments once-per-minute, yet we’re trying to raise a new generation of ambassadors from Heaven in this place? We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God was making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God (2nd Corinthians five, verse twenty, (NIV)). Me-thinks that if there were a New-World to which we could all sail and start anew, most would be packin’ even as I type. But we’re fresh outta’ new worlds. We can no longer flee the Biblical command to be in the world but not of it. Since we’re stuck here, what do Christian children think when we allow them to watch Cinderella, Snow White, and The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, then curse Harry Potter? Why is Star Wars okay, but Isaac Asimov bad, and why on Earth do Christians file Role-Playing-Games in the same mental box as Ouija boards? With this kind of confusion, how will they be equipped to make proper distinctions when encountering the mysterious?

Now back to Elvis. In the late Seventies and early Eighties, when it finally occurred to Christian record-producers that they could imitate pop-music and reap healthy profits (yes, it took some twenty-five years—we are a slow bunch) they met with outcry from old-school Bible-believers. Rightly outraged grandparents argued that rock-music was of Satan, and could not glorify God.

I submit that this was impotent hand-wringing.

Inanimate objects are neither morally Satanic nor Theistic. Art forms may be employed to either worship or blaspheme. The old-school was wrong.

Yet in our new millenium, the people who haven’t figured out how to diagnose sin, still bemoan that which threatens them, that which they don’t understand. Is rock-music inherently evil? What if it’s Christian rock? Have you ever read any Creed lyrics (my personal favorite)?

Are ideas of intelligent alien life-forms blasphemous? Do you believe in angels?

Is magic the equivelant of Satanism? What about Fairy Godmothers and the Good Witch of the North?

I am not saying that morality is shades of grey, it is indeed very black and white. I am saying that we who are quick to judge must not do so from some instinctive and ignorant fear. Our sub-culture is in full retreat from popular culture. Because of this we fall into the Islamic mindset of idealizing an earlier golden-age that never existed: an age when Fantasy (Snow White), was not yet a taboo genre. We protectively cocoon our children, and purchase firearms (I personally have and use an Indiana hand-gun license-to-carry).

With her children’s best interests enshrined, our mother secluded my sisters and I behind a trusty societial curtain. She ignored Second Corinthians: three through six: For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weaopns we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we will take captive every thought to make it obiedient to Christ (NIV). Rather, Mom tucked us safely away within the folds of her Christian subculture.

Her problem was, we grew up, moved out, and faced the world, with wide eyes. She’d not thought that far ahead. Rather than exposing us to limited doses of ‘secular’ and using given opporutunities to discuss current events, Mom forceably stuck our heads in the sand. Without revealing personal demons, suffice-it to say that my siblings and I met the real world naked as a monk on brown-robe-laundry-day.

But Mom got one thing right—the exception to our cultural isolationism. She allowed us to play Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.

I know, the unforgivable sin; take a deep breath and read-on.

She had faith in her ability to teach us the difference between Biblical reality and magical fantasy. She allowed us to fantasize, and therefore encouraged our imagination (the result is that I’m a novelist and my sister, Lydia, is a Blogging poet). But once Mom had heard the media’s controversial reports on gaming, she became attentive to our past-time, feigning interest, asking confusing questions that had nothing to do with AD&D but everything to do with weirdness. Our being baffled at weirdness convinced Mom that we were just having fun, and in the end she came away convinced that we were safe.

My point is that Harry Potter and The Matrix are discussion-points for Christian families, not taboo materials. Fantasy and Sci-Fi explore human ideas, as will our children. These genres seek answers to important questions, questions to which the Bible contains thunderous answers.

Someone once said that Fantasy and Sci-Fi are the handmaidens of philosophy, because they explore the possibilities behind reality. Sooner or later, our children will face these boundaries. They’ll face them either with, or without us. Parents too busy to provide real guidance will be ignored.

Since we have the wisdom of experience, the logical arguments of theologians, and the loving trust of our children, let’s not cement those ill-mannered rascals behind brick-walls. Rather, communicate His answers to their curiosities. For centuries, both believers and unbelievers have tried our own solutions in place of His, and for centuries we’ve failed . . .

When will we learn to trust Him?

Naming Characters

2006-07-03T23:32:00.000-07:00

Trifles go to make perfection, and perfection is no trifle.
Michelangelo BuonarrotiItalian architect, painter, & sculptor (1475 - 1564)

I’m a perfectionist. When a reader takes in my work, I want them to see flawlessness. While fiction is a collection of description, action and dialogue, names are an element, a detail, a common thread that crosses all phases of one’s work. Over the years I’ve worked out some logistics on getting good names to where they need to be.

My need for names began in High School, with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. I’d create likeable characters, outfit them with sharp blades and flasks of oil, then stare off into space with only one blank space on my character sheet: NAME:. Of course a week later I’d come up with the perfect name, but Jonathan Doe had already set out on his quest, and the moment was lost. I was stuck in the that’s-what-I-shoulda’-said mindset. So I began writing down the names I-shoulda-said, and tucked that paper inside the cover of my Players Handbook.

A fellow gamer was inspired by my growing names list, and for our College-Prep class’ weekly journal assignment, filled one whole side of notebook paper, three columns wide, with NAMES! Scott Krebec’s Journal assignment is the oldest of my dozen sheets of notebook paper, three to four columns wide, filled with names.

As my writing became more important than gaming, I kept gathering names in my writing notebooks. Names of places, company names, first names, last names, nick-names; I keep two three-ring binders, labeled Fantasy and Sci-Fi. When I have a need, I flip to the genre ‘names’ file and start scanning. Even if I can’t find exactly what I want, the least I’ve come away with are syllables that sound appropriate to the character I’m writing.

Apart from my nagging about keeping a writer’s notebook, here are four more name tips:
Suitability – Have you ever met someone whose name fit them so well, that every time you’ve heard their name, your mind’s eye sees them? Seek that level on naming intimacy in your character creation.

Connotation – Here’s a trick for when you need a name that carries an idea. Select a word archetypical to the personality that you wish to convey to your reader. Now, stuff the word into a pillowcase, and beat it until it’s beyond recognition. Poke a funnel into the top of your computer, and empty the pillowcase into aforementioned funnel. Shake pillowcase to get every drop. Burn pillowcase to destroy forensic evidence. Now then, the word you see on you monitor is totally unique, but still has enough phonetic similarity to the-word-you-just-bludgeoned, that the connotation of its meaning still carries over to your reader.

EXAMPLE: In my Fantasy Novella White Iron, I needed a name for a primitive group of Orq barbarians. I landed on the word Neanderthal, and one pillowcase later, Clann Nintrithaal was born. There’s more. I informed my first two critiquers of my naming strategy, then asked them to guess the connotation word. Twice, the word Neanderthal was Bach to my ears!

Aesthetics – Be a word-smith. While selecting a name suitable to your character, craft syllables that are pleasing to both the eye and ear.

Simplicity – Don’t get so carried away making nice syllables that your reader trips over the name every time he sees it. An example of my own: Zuielmann. I thought the reader would easily pronounce this, Zool-men. I was wrong.

The moral of this non-fiction story is that names are an author’s fingerprint on their work. Story details last on a reader. I read Terry Brooks’ Sword Of Shannara when I was sixteen. I’m nearly forty now, yet the exotic name Panamon Creel still lingers in my memory. Do that!

His Will be done, Frank Creed