R.M. Archer's Blog, page 12

Book Review: The Bridge of Little Jeremy by Indrajit Garai

I must confess that this review is long overdue. It’s taken me four months to get through The Bridge of Little Jeremy to review it. But here we are, hopefully better late than never.

What is The Bridge of Little Jeremy about?

The adventure of a young Parisian artist and his dog. A novel of action and reflection; of fidelity and trust; of resilience, love, and the power of art:

Jeremy’s mother is about to go to prison for their debt to the State. He is trying everything within his means to save her, but his options are running out fast. Then Jeremy discovers a treasure under Paris. This discovery may save his mother, but it doesn’t come for free. And he has to ride over several obstacles for his plan to work.

Meanwhile, something else is limiting his time…

Review

This is a long book. It’s nearly 400 pages, and many of the chapters are quite long within that, and when you pair that with its slow pacing it can be a challenge to get through—at least on Kindle; I may have preferred it in paperback. I have mixed feelings on the pacing in general. I tend to enjoy slower books, and I did enjoy some portions of this book’s meandering flow. It’s a lovely look at the city of Paris, and some of the philosophical themes are interesting to ponder. However, it often felt like there was no driving plot—especially in the first half of the book. I wasn’t invested in the stakes or the goal, nor even really in the characters themselves. The setting was my primary motivation in reading, and while that was done well… I would have liked it to have been balanced with more interesting characters, at least, and ideally plot as well.

The characters weren’t unpleasant (with intentional exceptions), but for the most part they weren’t anything special. Jeremy’s narrative voice seemed inconsistent as far as how mature he sounded, and he rarely sounded like a 12-year-old. Leon, the dog, seemed to have far too human an intelligence. Paolo was intriguing, but we didn’t really get to see much of his character. And the rest were mostly just… there. There was little depth to any of the characters, really. And many exchanges of dialogue—especially between Jeremy and his mother—were extremely flat and unbroken by movement, which could make them hard to follow.

More interest did arise in the plot later in the book, as more conflict arose that had to be directly faced. But it didn’t feel like it fully wove in with the more internal conflict of the main plot, so the weaving of the two at the very end felt rather unsuccessful. And the ending as a whole was… odd. It seemed to continue longer than necessary after the primary conflict was resolved, and then the very end seemed unnecessary and a little weird. The religious undertones toward the end were very odd; they seemed inconsistent. And Jeremy’s perception of the painting as a being was reasonable at first but grew rather extreme in the last few chapters.

For the beautiful exploration of Paris and the interesting philosophical ideas sprinkled through the book, I can give The Bridge of Little Jeremy three stars, but I wouldn’t need to read it a second time.

Here’s a quote I did like:

Each of these roses is as beautiful as the one on that mound of compost, but, cramped together here, none of them stands out as distinct. And they don’t have the contrast of that ugly mass of compost to nourish their beauty.

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Worldbuilding for a First Draft

Worldbuilding can present a number of challenges—often different for each author—but one that seems to be a universal struggle is the challenge of knowing how much worldbuilding to do before you start a writing project. Whether you’re an author who gets sucked into the worldbuilding and has trouble getting into the actual writing process, or an author who leans into the writing process and finds later that their worlds don’t have as much depth as intended, hopefully this post will be a help and encouragement on the subject of worldbuilding for the sake of drafting.

Enough is Enough

You don’t need to know everything before you start writing.

Those of you who prefer to dive into drafting are probably relieved right now, while those of you who (like me) can worldbuild for weeks on end might be grumbling that now you have to set it aside and actually write something.

But seriously, you only need to know enough to write your story. I know that’s pretty vague on its own, so let me give you some examples. If you’re writing about royalty and court intrigue, you should probably know a lot about the government of your culture, etiquette, titles, wardrobe… Those things that will be relevant to the characters and plot of your story.

If, however, your story focuses on a small town and calligraphers’ involvement with the world’s magic system, you’ll need to know a lot less about government and a lot more about your world’s magic system, the work environments of your world, and the relevant wildlife in that area of the world.

Develop what you need to understand the story; set aside the rest.

Theme & Atmosphere

Worldbuilding doesn’t only shape the characters and plot. It can also be important to develop elements of your world based on the themes you want to explore and the atmosphere you want to invoke. If you want to write a story with strong family themes, you’ll need to look at family structure in your culture. Or you might discover that the community-centric atmosphere of your culture requires you to rethink the education within that culture (been there, done that). If you’re writing a coming-of-age story, you’ll need to know what that means within your character’s world. If you want your society to have a particular look, architecture or fashion might be important to focus on.

Some of these will be secondary for a first draft. While thematic elements tend to be important for the structure of a story, more atmospheric details can usually be woven in later. And some things you won’t even notice are necessary until later in the writing process (as with the educational system in Calligraphy Guild, which didn’t strike me until a few drafts in). But we’ll discuss that a bit more in a moment.

Keep Notes While Worldbuilding

This applies especially to authors who lean into their worldbuilding more than their drafting, but it’s applicable to both types of writers. All worldbuilding is interconnected, stemming from particular values or driving details and branching out in all sorts of directions, which makes it really easy to get distracted with irrelevant information

My best solution to this is to make notes to expand on later. Mention something that cropped up, outline anything that pops into your head right away, and then set it aside and go back to the most crucial parts of your worldbuilding for this project. Once the project is drafted, you can come back and explore those extra areas to your heart’s content!

Keep Notes While Writing

Not only will extra things pop up while you’re worldbuilding, but you’ll almost certainly end up improvising details in your book that you didn’t initially realize would be important. You don’t want to lose those! It’s just as important to keep notes as you write as during the worldbuilding process, to ensure you keep all of your information together so you can find it later and expand on it where needed (or desired).

Personally, I keep all of my worldbuilding notes in a running document and move them from there to World Anvil*, as the mood strikes to collate them in a more orderly fashion.

*This is an affiliate link, which means I earn a commission at no extra cost to you if you purchase a subscription within 15 days

Whether you notice and write down these new details as you’re drafting or go back through with a later read-through to collect them, it will help you with continuity in any other projects you write in that world—plus the world for its own sake—to ensure all of your information is in one place.

Background Depth

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with building more world than you need—unless it’s interfering with your ability to get the book written. In fact, fleshing out more than you need can add to the depth of the world as those outside details bleed into your story in casual allusions to outside conflicts, neighboring cities, past history, etc

These allusions won’t always crop up (and they certainly shouldn’t be forced), but there’s a good chance of outside details coming up in small ways that will add to the feel of your world as an organic entity and can help to establish future stories that may focus on those areas more directly.

If you’re likely to get distracted by your world, these outer details are generally better to build up after a draft or two.

Want to learn more about how to create a world that feels real without devoting months to developing every detail? Get The Worldbuilding Toolbox for just $15!

There you have it: my five tips for developing a world you can promptly write in. Which of these did you find most helpful? Are you an author who leans toward drafting or who leans toward worldbuilding? What are your best tips and tricks for setting up worlds for writing projects? Comment below and let’s chat!

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How Should Christians Write About… Magic?

Magic can be a hot-button topic in Christian fantasy circles. Is magic ever okay? What is the difference between the magic in Lord of the Rings and the magic in Harry Potter? Should we just avoid it all? Does the faith of the author make a difference?

As with the other topics addressed in this series, magic in fiction is a matter of personal conviction and the intention of these posts is not to tell you what to think but rather to pose food for thought and my personal understanding of the topic based on what I see in Scripture.

To start with, I want to highlight a few different categories of “magic,” because I think a lot of conflict arises when we’re unclear about what we mean by “magic.”

I tend to see three categories of “magic” in fiction. There’s “magic” that comes directly from the world’s God-figure, “magic” that is built into the world (which thus comes indirectly from the world’s God-figure), and there’s the type of magic condemned in the Bible which is an attempt at gaining power apart from God (usually through outright evil/demonic methods).

Magic #1: Divine Intervention

“Magic” #1 would involve things like miracles or a river that’s given supernatural properties. This category encompasses things that have been specifically put in place by God and are acknowledged as such, generally things that cannot be explained any other way. Miraculous healing in a world where healing abilities are unheard of, the sudden blinding of an enemy army (2 Kings 6), speaking a foreign language without knowing that language, etc.

I doubt most Christians would have a problem with this sort of “magic,” unless it’s called such in a story and the simple name trips them up. While I don’t see the point in throwing out “magic” simply due to its title (whatever category is discussed), it may be more considerate to write miracles and the like without using the word “magic” so as to avoid confusion.

Magic #2: Part of the World’s Make-Up

This category would encompass most fantasy magic systems and refers to abilities or boons that are inherent to a world, built in by its creator. “Magic” #2 would include, for instance, my many magic systems which are passed down through genetics or are otherwise a part of the world’s inherent make-up. “Magic” in my sci-fi world, for instance, is a semi-sentient life form that lives in humans like a symbiote, interacting with a particular gene to grant people supernatural abilities. It’s something that was created with the world by the Creator and therefore is, indirectly, a gift from him.

This category would be more of a fantastical science than magic, since it’s as natural to the world as gravity, though we often refer to it as “magic” for its difference from the real world. I don’t think a fantasy world has to adhere to the same limitations as the real world as far as what is naturally possible, so I don’t see anything wrong with this category.

When creating a “natural” magic system, authors should be careful that it doesn’t too closely resemble real-world magic. Magic systems that are clearly fictional aren’t likely to gain any serious imitators, but something that dabbles too closely to real-world witchcraft, even if it’s built into the world, could be a stumbling block. (This is, to the best of my understanding, one of the main reasons for Christian objections to Harry Potter’s magic system.)

Inherent magic systems also ought to have clear limitations, the bounds of which cannot be crossed without consequences. Attempts to cross these bounds might be categorized with Magic #3, which brings us to…

Magic #3: Stolen Power

Magic #3 is the only one I believe is wrong. This would be magic along the same lines as real-world witchcraft and would be anything otherworldly (for the fantasy world) and evil, as well as anything that involves characters trying to gain power without God/through unnatural means. Allying with darkness, dabbling with death, etc. Even trying to do something good, but pursuing means other than what the world’s God-figure has provided, would qualify as sinful.

I suspect this will be the most controversial part of this post, but I think even this type of magic can be written… ONLY so long as it’s shown to be evil and the author is verrrrrrrry careful about how deep they go. As with other sin, magic can be written about without being gratuitous or participating in the sin. Don’t write spells. Don’t describe seances in vivid detail. But if magic is not going to tempt you or your intended audience, if you’re writing it as the evil it is and revealing its consequences, if you write to expose the works of darkness (Eph. 5:11), if you’re called to expose this particular evil, then go ahead and approach with caution and discretion.

Circumventing the world’s God-figure isn’t the only way characters might try to steal power; they might instead try to harness the God-figure’s power themselves, outside of the intended design (take Acts 8:9-25 as an example). This might include things like bending “magical” resources to their own will or altering their genes to harness a genetic ability. (This latter example is the biggest error in my sci-fi world, where a company forces the world’s “magic” symbiote to latch onto people’s genes to create super-soldiers.)

Personally, I think the safest way to approach this issue within a fantasy world is to make use of a distinct “natural” magic system and reveal the consequences of operating beyond its boundaries, without venturing too close to real-world witchcraft—the great thing about fantasy is that it provides opportunities to explore themes like this without the real-world trappings—but I think that each option can have its place in revealing the darkness and consequences of seeking power apart from God and the gifts He’s already given us (again, carefully and with care to communicate expectations to readers, as with false religions).

Application

With any type of magic in fiction, it’s your responsibility to be clear on the boundaries of your world and the cultures within it, to know how those boundaries do or don’t parallel boundaries in the real world, and to make those boundaries and differences (where applicable) clear to your intended audience.

If you want to reveal the hazards of stealing power by way of a culture that doesn’t see anything wrong with it, you need some way to make clear to the reader that what’s fine in this culture is not just fine altogether (through consequences, a contrasting worldview, etc).

If there is some magic in your world that you think is fine within a fantasy world but would be hazardous in the real world, there needs to be a clear distinction between the rules of one world and the other. The positively-viewed magic system within the fantasy world ought not be similar enough to real-world magic or its trappings to mislead the reader. If a magic system can be intentionally imitated in the real world, it’s probably not a good idea to portray it as a good thing. If, however, your magic system is clearly fantastical (and both you and your readers are clear on the rules of both the real world and your created world), you probably don’t have much to worry about.

What do you think? Is there anything you think I missed? Do you agree with my categories? Share your comments and/or questions below!

Want more help tying your worldview into the world you’ve built? Sign up to my newsletter for access to my list of worldview focus questions to help you shape a world that reflects your values!

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Know the Novel – Part One: Introduction (2022)

After a two-month hiatus, I figured a link-up introducing my latest writing project would be a good way to ease back into blogging. I get a relatively easy post to start with and y’all get an introduction to what I’ve been working on during my long silence. So first off, thank you to Christine Smith for hosting the Know the Novel link-up, and with that… let’s get started!

Questions

1. What first sparked the idea for this novel?

I honestly don’t remember. XD I know it started with the characters Rhys and Alaric and their relationship, because a couple of scenes between the two of them were what I first wrote in November of 2017, but I don’t remember what prompted any of those ideas.

I also don’t remember when Erika, Nyla, and Ash showed up, or why.

I do remember that I wrote the introductory scene while I was doing a blogging challenge in April of 2018, sharing snippets from story ideas starting with each letter of the alphabet. At the time, Lightning was titled “Grantech” (which wasn’t confusing at all…) and it was the only G I had, so I wrote up the intro and really enjoyed it!

While I was going back through my archives this August, I came across that again and decided it would be fun to write. (Re-watching The Maze Runner about that time was also a factor, partially because they’re both dystopian but moreso because Thomas Brodie-Sangster is the faceclaim for Ash. XD)

2. Share a blurb (or just an overall summary)!

The scientific mega-corporation Grantech dedicates a large percentage of its resources to the manipulation of Esleon’s natural “magic” to create a line of super-soldiers (known to the public as Genetic Deviants or GenDevs). The main characters grew up in this program: Nyla, whose powers didn’t integrate properly and cause her chronic pain; Erika, whose powers never seemed to manifest, causing her to be “eliminated” from the program; and Alaric, who uses his powers at Grantech’s behest to bring more kids into the GenDev program, despite his guilt.

Along with some help from ordinary Grantech employees who are starting to see the truth behind Grantech’s propaganda, these GenDevs must find a way to escape Grantech’s control—for themselves and for the others stuck in the program.

3. Where does the story take place? What are some of your favorite aspects of the setting?

It takes place in a far-future New York city, after an apocalypse and several centuries of rebuilding. Though, to be honest, the setting is one of the elements that needs the most work. XD It currently resembles our own New York too closely and I haven’t done the research and finagling to make it totally its own thing yet.

But I do like the urban setting in general; it’s very bright and shiny, glimmering even at night. Basically, the total opposite of somewhere I’d actually want to live, but a fun setting for a story. XD

4. Tell us about your protagonist(s).

Ooh boy. There are five of them, so buckle up. XD

Erika is the first POV character the reader meets. She’s sarcastic, doesn’t take (or dish) any nonsense, and likes to think she’s invincible. She’s often abrasive and thoughtless, but she pushes everyone else to face the truth they don’t want to see and to do what needs to be done… and she does have a heart under there somewhere.

Nyla is the next POV character, and the majority of the chapters are from her POV. She’s kind and selfless but tends to think the worst of people when it comes to relationships, assuming they must want something. Ever since Grantech’s experiments on her, she’s dealt with chronic pain and malfunctioning powers that she generally tries to pretend away.

There are no scenes from Ash’s POV, but since he’s most closely connected to Erika and Nyla I’m putting him next anyway. Ash is the guard that Grantech has assigned to Erika to ensure she doesn’t endanger herself–or Grantech. He’s a firm believer in the idea that Grantech is a bastion of order and the GenDevs wreak havoc and destruction everywhere they go–unless they remain under Grantech’s benevolent authority. But he’s also a man of reason and enjoys a fair number of respectful debates with Nyla over Grantech’s character and methods.

Rhys also works for Grantech, but more for the resources they can provide her family than because she believes in their cause. She’s a skilled analyst, good with computers, and optimistic to a fault. She sees the best in everyone and does what she can to bring out that quality when it’s been buried.

Alaric is a GenDev within Grantech’s Sentinel program, entrusted with tasks like containing rogue GenDevs and bringing in new subjects for enhancement. Alaric’s tasks normally fall into the latter category, and he hates it, but he’s been trapped in the job so long that he feels there’s no escaping it–or the stains on his soul–despite his efforts to hold onto some last shred of integrity.

5. Who (or what) is the antagonist?

Grantech has two primary faces: Erdiana Class and Tamerin Lance.

Erdiana is head of the scientific division. She’s elegant, precise, and has a superiority complex. Yet despite said complex, she believes that mankind isn’t good enough and ought to be pushed into the next state of evolution. She’s seeking to create the perfect race, with the power to access their full mental and genetic potential.

Tamerin is head of the security division, and he simply likes the flavor of power. He likes toying with people to see how they react, and shaping the world to his own whims–at least insofar as Erdiana and their superior allow. He’s actually quite personable with most people, but there’s always some ulterior motive under the surface.

6. What excites you the most about this novel?

Ooh, good question! I think the character relationships are the biggest thing. There’s such a variety, and all of the characters react to one another so differently, and all of the arcs are going to be so fun to watch play out… So yeah, the character relationships are really fun. ;D

7. Is this going to be a series? standalone? something else?

A duology! It was going to be a standalone, and then I started plotting in earnest and realized I needed a second book, and suddenly it fell perfectly into place with those two parts and titles and everything. ;D

8. Are you plotting? pantsing? plansting?

I started with a scene-by-scene outline and then pulled out Structuring Your Novel by K.M. Weiland and used that to plot out the first book in broader strokes, so I’m actually reaching the end of my detailed outline and stepping into more mysterious waters soon. (I started drafting last month. XD) So I guess plantsing is the most accurate for Lightning?

9. Name a few unique elements in this story.

Ooh. Chronically ill superheroes (and superheroes who deal with mental health issues). A mix of 1st and 3rd POV. The more “sidekick” character becomes a hero in her own right. It’s not an especially action-heavy sci-fi (at least in the first book). I’m sure at least most of those have been done before, but hopefully those give some idea? XD

10. Share some fun “extras” of the story (a song or full playlist, some aesthetics, a collage, a Pinterest board, a map you’ve made, a special theme you’re going to incorporate, ANYTHING you want to share!).

There are a playlist and a Pinterest board for the overarching story on my new book page, so here are the boards for each of the characters:

 

Comment below which character you’re most excited to read about, or what you think of Lightning in general, and let me know what you’re working on this fall if you have a novel (or short story) in the works!

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5-Year Blog Anniversary

Today marks the 5-year anniversary of Scribes & Archers! 5 years ago today I got serious with my blog, rebranded everything, and set up an official schedule. The rest, as they say, is history. Today we’re going to delve into some of that history and look at what the next five years may hold, plus there will be a giveaway and I’ll open the floor to questions in the comments! Stick around to participate in all the fun. :)

*Links with an asterisk are affiliate links, meaning purchases made through them earn me a small commission at no extra cost to youThe Story So Far

The history of this blog really extends back further than five years, because I started blogging all the way back in 2014. I was inspired by my mom’s blog, and my little “Alpine Writer” blog started out as a random blend of reviews, “lifestyle” posts, and gradually more and more writing-related posts. I was eleven, after all. Come to think of it, my blog started right around the same time I was realizing writing was what I wanted to do long-term… as opposed to spy work, lol. So this site has, in some version or another, been around for nearly all of the most critical points in my writing journey.

The purpose of Alpine Writer was really more to provide an outlet for my thoughts than anything else, though I did begin to imitate some of the author bloggers I followed and some of my posts were also helpful—or as helpful as the writing advice of a 12-year-old can be, lol.

That was the “for fun” stage of both my blog and my writing. I just wrote… and wrote… and wrote… and wrote… I was exploring. I think this stage is super important, which is why one of my greatest tips for new writers is to ignore writing advice and outside pressure for a while to just write and explore instead. Advice is important and pressure can be helpful later, but it’s critical to enjoy the exploration stage first and find out where your strengths lie and what you truly enjoy to write. I played around with a lot of different things in those years, some of which I should probably bring back and some of which can stay in the past, lol.

In 2017, my attitude changed. I’d been reading blogs and following authors online for a while. I was trying to publish a novel (which was an ill-advised prospect at the time, but I digress). I knew I wanted to get serious about my blog and start building a real platform. So I rebranded and became Scribes & Archers. I set up a schedule (a rather intense schedule, lol). I started making pinnable images for my blog posts so I could leverage Pinterest to get people to read my posts. I did a lot of things wrong, but I also did a lot of things that laid the foundation for where I am now.

2017 is also when I started to understand my love of worldbuilding! I’d been worldbuilding ever since I started writing, really, but it had all come very instinctively and I hadn’t really thought about it. I hadn’t made the connection that fictional worlds were one of the biggest lures I had toward writing. I had just set characters loose to explore and built worlds as I went. But in 2016 I read Midnight Thief by Livia Blackburne* and was inspired to actively and intentionally build a world, so in 2017 that’s what I did and I chronicled the process and the lessons learned as I went.

Mid-2018 was when I finally started finding ways to build worlds that reflected my interests. “Worldbuilding Based on Ancient History” is one of the earliest examples, if not the earliest example, of a post from that angle! It was written shortly after I started developing Kersir, which would soon develop to house Calligraphy Guild!

Before Calligraphy Guild there were The Mirror-Hunter Chronicles, and Scribes & Archers was a big part of promoting that book. I ran my first blog tour for TM-HC, reached out to more famous authors even though it scared me, did character interviews, and shared some of my favorite fairytale retellings. That was pretty much the last book I published before discovering that it helps to have some sort of common ground among published works, lol. But while TM-HC is pretty far outside of anything else I’ve written (besides maybe Lost Girl), it was fun to write and it was my first serious foray into the full self-publishing process.

Throughout 2019, I honed in on worldbuilding more seriously. I redid my worldbuilding series from 2017, adding depth, more direct advice, and new insights I was learning from building Kersir. I still hadn’t quite hit the sweet spot and found my unique strength in writing about worldbuilding, but I was definitely moving in the right direction.

Calligraphy Guild showed up later that year, out of nowhere, and I immediately fell in love with it. The idea showed up in August (a lot of big changes seem to crop up in August for me) and I couldn’t wait until November to start writing. The first draft was done before November was over. Calligraphy Guild consumed my writing attention for the three years following, which I think contributed to my better understanding of why I loved worldbuilding and how I could write about it more specifically, even though it wasn’t until 2020 that I finally pinpointed “WORLDVIEW!” and started consciously recognizing the power of worlds that reflect the author’s interests and worldview. And now look where we are. ;)

2020 was the year that I found my passion not only in writing for authors (about utilizing their worldview in their writing), but also for other readers (exploring the idea of Christian fiction, discussing the benefits of reading particular things, etc.). Really all of it boils down to worldview, whether it’s a discussion of writing from a worldview or reading based on a worldview. Which is really cool because that’s a lot of what my mom blogs about in a more general real-life context, so I guess I’ve come full circle in a sense.

Finding my spot enabled me to compile what I’d learned about building worlds I actually love, that feel purposeful, into a course to share with other authors last year! The Worldbuilding Toolbox seemed like a natural next step in helping other authors have the lightbulb moment I’d had.

Scribes & Archers was critical with my release of Calligraphy Guild in June, as I posted related book reviews, ran a blog tour, wrote about relevant worldview and worldbuilding concepts, etc. PLUS it pushed me to set up my site shop, which lets me ship books directly to U.S. readers with an added personal touch. ^-^

That’s sort of Scribes & Archers’ history in a nutshell, but that doesn’t even cover the role of short stories, or the story of why I became an editor (and how much I love it!), or all the false starts I had before I finally got a novel published… God has given me a long, eventful story thus far, and it’s been a huge blessing to be able to do what I do, all from this home base that started as an online journal for my 11-year-old self.

What’s Next?

I have no idea what’s in store for the next five years; that’s for God to reveal as time goes on. But I do have hopes and tentative plans.

My primary goal is to help more authors and readers, through blog posts, book reviews, my editing services, my course, my books (hopefully a new nonfiction book and at least one new fiction book within the next five years, too!), collaborations with more authors and bloggers… anything I (or you!) can think of. I love to engage with readers and authors, to encourage them and equip them to write and read with confidence, and I want to focus on building stronger relationships as I move forward. I have a lot of surface-level contacts at the moment, and I want to be more intentional about investing in people and supporting their work in whatever ways I can.

I also want to do some more experimenting, because it’s been a few years of intentional focus on just one or two things and sometimes the sense of fun that I used to have in my blogging gets lost in the seriousness. Being serious is important, but fun is also a big part of keeping things going and making sure it doesn’t get too dull for y’all, either, so I want to work on a more intentional balance.

I hope you’ll join me as the adventure continues! If you want to be closer to the action, my mailing list and Discord server are good places to be. And I’m always open to questions, suggestions, and requests in the comments section if there are things you want to know or topics you’d like me to cover or people you think I’d collaborate well with or whatever the case may be!

But I promised a giveaway, didn’t I? I’m giving away copies of all of my books (paperback for a U.S. winner or ebooks for an international winner), a Calligraphy Guild themed candle and tea (for a U.S. winner only), four Calligraphy Guild themed bookmarks (two of which were painted by my sister), and a character art print of Tora. There will be only one winner, the prize just varies slightly depending on whether they’re in the U.S. or from out-of-country. (Unfortunately. If I could afford the international shipping, I would send the full prize either way in a heartbeat.)

You can enter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you for following along with my journey. I hope it’s been an encouragement to you, and that it continues to be, and I hope you’ll stick around a while!

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Book Spotlight: Aivan – The One Truth by Kayla Green

Kayla Green has been a superstar when it comes to spreading the word about my books, especially Calligraphy Guild, so today I’m thrilled to return the favor and spotlight her new book Aivan: The One Truth!

What is Aivan about?

Two young people from opposite sides of the Great Continent must make sense of their life.

Rune has grown up all of her life in the mountainous northern nation of Kansanai. As granddaughter of the Senior Elder, she has been a devout believer of the Vihishki gods her whole life. Yet, when a prophet challenges the Vihishki gods against his Aivan, the One Truth, everything she thought she knew is turned upside down. Will she be able to let go of the life she thought she deserved for something far greater than what she could have ever imagined?

Rolf goes through the motions of everyday life in the southern nation of Etalentin. Yet, his routine is disrupted when a voice claiming to be the one true God speaks to him. Listening to his heart, he follows Aivan, but he is thrown temptation after temptation on his journey. Will Rolf be able to resist the temptations in order to fulfill Aivan’s plan for him?

Aivan: The One Truth is a story about self-discovery, identity, and faith.

Where can you get it?

Aivan: The One Truth is available for purchase on Amazon!

About the Author

Kayla E. Green is a speculative fiction author and poet in eastern North Carolina where she resides with her husband and furbabies. A daydreamer at heart, Kayla loves creating new stories and building new worlds. When she isn’t writing, reading, or taking photos for her bookstagram, she loves singing loudly and off-key to KLove Radio, napping, and pretending she’s a unicorn. Kayla also enjoys watching anime, collecting sugar skulls, and knitting.

Her debut poetry collection, Metamorphosis, is available from book retailers and her YA fantasy novella, Aivan: The One Truth, releases today. Kayla has work featured in the anthologies The Depths We’ll Go To, The Heights We’ll Fly To, Aphotic Love, and Finding God in Anime Vol. 2. Find her on Instagram @theunicornwriter93 or connect with her at theunicornwriter.com!

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Books Spotlight: Aivan – The One Truth by Kayla Green

Kayla Green has been a superstar when it comes to spreading the word about my books, especially Calligraphy Guild, so today I’m thrilled to return the favor and spotlight her new book Aivan: The One Truth!

What is Aivan about?

Two young people from opposite sides of the Great Continent must make sense of their life.

Rune has grown up all of her life in the mountainous northern nation of Kansanai. As granddaughter of the Senior Elder, she has been a devout believer of the Vihishki gods her whole life. Yet, when a prophet challenges the Vihishki gods against his Aivan, the One Truth, everything she thought she knew is turned upside down. Will she be able to let go of the life she thought she deserved for something far greater than what she could have ever imagined?

Rolf goes through the motions of everyday life in the southern nation of Etalentin. Yet, his routine is disrupted when a voice claiming to be the one true God speaks to him. Listening to his heart, he follows Aivan, but he is thrown temptation after temptation on his journey. Will Rolf be able to resist the temptations in order to fulfill Aivan’s plan for him?

Aivan: The One Truth is a story about self-discovery, identity, and faith.

Where can you get it?

Aivan: The One Truth is available for purchase on Amazon!

About the Author

Kayla E. Green is a speculative fiction author and poet in eastern North Carolina where she resides with her husband and furbabies. A daydreamer at heart, Kayla loves creating new stories and building new worlds. When she isn’t writing, reading, or taking photos for her bookstagram, she loves singing loudly and off-key to KLove Radio, napping, and pretending she’s a unicorn. Kayla also enjoys watching anime, collecting sugar skulls, and knitting.

Her debut poetry collection, Metamorphosis, is available from book retailers and her YA fantasy novella, Aivan: The One Truth, releases today. Kayla has work featured in the anthologies The Depths We’ll Go To, The Heights We’ll Fly To, Aphotic Love, and Finding God in Anime Vol. 2. Find her on Instagram @theunicornwriter93 or connect with her at theunicornwriter.com!

The post Books Spotlight: Aivan – The One Truth by Kayla Green appeared first on Scribes & Archers.

How Should Christians Write About… False Gods?

This is the first of a couple posts I have planned on controversial topics among Christian authors of fantasy. Beyond this post, I want to write one about writing magic and I might add one about writing God’s speech (or the speech of an allegorical God figure). They won’t be consecutive, but they will all crop up eventually.

Do note that while these are titled “How should Christians write about xyz,” these are all topics I think are dependent on personal conviction and spiritual maturity and my goal is more to present my thoughts and provide food for thought and biblical insight than to say “This is the one right way to do things.”

With all that out of the way… How “should” Christians write about false gods?

Perspective One: Just Don’t Do It

Some Christian authors will say it’s never a good idea to write about false gods, whether because it’s idolatry, it detracts glory from God, it could mislead readers, or for some other reason. And some of these are valid concerns (certainly any of them can be depending on the author and their attitude toward the false gods they’re writing about). But I don’t personally think this is the right approach across the board. For some people, certainly, avoiding fictional religions in their work is the wisest option, but I don’t think it’s a one-size-fits-all solution.

(As an important side note, this post tackles fictional religions that are false within your fantasy world. Writing a truthful religion into your world raises its own challenges, which would be extensive enough to fill an entire future post. In the meantime, you can check out this general post about creating foundational truth for a fiction world.)

Since my thoughts on writing false religions into fantasy worlds line up fairly neatly with these three arguments, I’ll address these concerns as a framework: Is writing false gods idolatry? Does it detract from the glory of God? Will it mislead readers?

Idolatry?

I don’t think that writing about false gods as false gods is inherently idolatrous. Scripture says that we are to “have no other gods before [Him],” to “not make for [ourselves] a carved image–any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.” (Ex. 20:3-5, emphasis mine) Our worship is to be dedicated to One God alone, and we are not to place anything or anyone else on His throne. No one and nothing else is to usurp His power and authority. But if we were to say that portrayals of God or of false gods are automatically putting up idols, then we would have to exclude all portrayals of religion in fantasy and that’s simply unrealistic and unfeasible.

For that matter, God Himself doesn’t shy away from talking about false religions. Scripture is full of references to and even stories of false gods, each one revealing them for the weak substitutes they are and demonstrating His power over them.

We must recognize that false gods have and do exist–be they the sort we think of or not–and that they do try to steal the glory that is rightfully God’s, but also that they are ultimately in subjection to Him. They don’t truly have the power that they claim, and they do not satisfy. I don’t think it’s wise for all Christian authors to pretend away these influences; I do think it’s our responsibility to reveal them for what they are: cheap replicas of the real thing, stealing what rightfully belongs to the Lord of Lords.

As with many other topics, I think there is a way for Christian authors to reveal the world for what it is, to refuse to shy away from the reality of sin and the broken or wicked parts of the world, without promoting wickedness or falling into sin themselves. And, beyond personal discernment and knowledge of one’s own weaknesses, I think the key really does lie in revealing the world for what it is. Sin does bring pleasure… temporarily, and alongside guilt. But sin also has dire consequences and it can never truly satisfy. To shy away from either truth–sin’s appeal or sin’s consequence–is to portray life with a false veneer.

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. ” – Ephesians 5:8-11

Of course we ought not participate in evil, but we can’t expose sins without showing the truth of them, either.

I won’t lie and say that it’s easy to strike this balance–or lack thereof, since ultimately good should win out and does win out, and if we portray sin as too pleasing or virtue as too painful we are being just as dishonest as if we portray sin as toothless and virtue as easy–but it is important. And this is a principle that I believe can be applied to the issue of any sort of sin in fiction, idolatry or otherwise.

And portraying sin does not automatically equate to participating in that sin. Can it? Absolutely. If you’re prone to lust, it’s probably not a good idea to write lust in more than the barest terms, for example. This is where wisdom and discernment come in. If writing the sin will tempt you to sin–or if you start writing and find yourself unexpectedly tempted–don’t do it! But just as it’s not inherently sinful to write about a character committing violence or lying, it’s not inherently sinful to write about lust or idolatry or whatever the topic may be. If you’re reveling in it… that’s a problem. If it’s carrying into real life… that’s a problem. If you’re writing it for the sake of the story, to show its consequences, to reveal it as the sin it is, that’s not a sin.

Maybe I’m diving into this point more than I need to for the topic at hand, but all of this is fundamental to some of the other subjects I want to talk about (magic, for example) and my view of Christian fiction as a whole.

Moving along…

Detracting from God’s Glory?

As with the idolatry point, whether or not a false religion contests God’s authority depends on how it’s written (as well as the perspective and maturity of the reader). God is glorious. Nothing can truly take away from that. He is as glorious now as He was in the beginning and will be in the end. However, our attention can be drawn away from His glory so that we honor other things… resulting in idolatry.

If we create fictional religions that fulfill the characters’ needs, that give them the peace and success they crave, we’re prone to mislead readers. If, however, we create fictional religions that leave doubt and emptiness, even a sense of guilt and wrongness, we are revealing idolatry for the hollow façade that it is.

Beyond that, even false religions can point to Christ and bring Him glory. Truth is woven through everything; the world is built on His true Word. The enemy can create nothing new, only twist what already is. As such, we can see biblical themes and parallels to truth in pagan mythologies in the real world, and we can do the same in our fictional worlds. Not to mention, we can show the same struggles of faith in characters who follow false gods as the struggles we face in our own lives. The difference being that we have an answer to our doubts, which leads back to the part about portraying false religions as insufficient and unfulfilling.

As yet another strength of portraying fictional religions, false religions create contrast to the truth. In the real world, we wrestle against those who believe in false gods–even if those gods are greed, selfishness, governments, corporations, or anything else put in the place of honor that rightfully belongs to Christ. We struggle to learn how to love them while exposing the falsehoods they believe in for what they are. We might struggle with grief, with anger, or simply with the balance of truth and kindness. We might struggle to hold to the truth when it feels like we’re alone in the fight. Having the stark contrast of a false religion within a fantasy world can provide great opportunities to explore these themes, also, and point to Christ as the only truth and our only fulfillment, who is faithful through everything.

My approach in Calligraphy Guild was to show a fictional religion that doesn’t satisfy those who follow it, that fosters doubts, and that makes the truth stand out as perplexing and appealing for its stability. Most of the characters believe in this false religion, but it’s not the answer to their problems and it’s hardly even a comfort. Sure, it’s helpful to believe in something, but the only character to find supernatural peace is the one who believes in the truth. I’m sure there are flaws in the way I wrote it all and I don’t claim to have it perfectly figured out. As I said, this is just my personal conviction on the matter. But hopefully this provides a more concrete example of what I’m talking about.

We can also draw attention to God’s glory by revealing the false gods’ place under the true God’s authority. By subjecting powerful beings to the proper authority of the all-powerful God whose place they can never truly take, we give readers a glimpse of God’s ultimate victory and the hope that even the most powerful evil does not compare to Him.

Misleading Readers?

Yes, you could mislead readers with the portrayal of a fictional religion. We have a very real, important call not to cause our brothers to stumble, and we should take that seriously and do what is in our power to honor our brothers and sisters in the faith. But the fact of the matter is, anything could be a stumbling block. We ought not to knowingly put a stumbling block in front of someone. I think we should be clear about the content within our books so that readers who are sensitive to false religions (or magic or lust or violence…) can go in with their eyes open and avoid books that would be a stumbling block to them. But we can’t simply avoid exposing sin altogether. Just as we can portray sin without glorifying it, we can also portray sin without blindsiding readers.

We are responsible for our own words and actions. If we write about a topic that we’re convicted against writing about, we are in sin. If we write about a topic that we have no conviction against writing and then put it in front of readers who do have convictions against it, we are in sin. If, however, we write about a topic that we have no conviction against writing and we give readers the information they need to avoid it or not as their conscience demands, we’ve done our job and it is now a matter of the reader’s discernment to decide whether or not to read what we’ve written.

If we believe that the portrayal of idolatry is not inherently sinful (and that is an important “if” which you’ll have to answer for yourself), then the (willful) misleading only occurs if we fail to be honest about the contents of what we’ve written. Should we still take responsibility for any problems that our writing does cause? Absolutely. We do have a solemn responsibility to honor our readers and be considerate of what we write, in a similar way to teachers having a heavier responsibility to those they teach (James 3:1). We do not abdicate all responsibility when reader discernment becomes the primary issue. Rather the failure is no longer due to authorial neglect but human error.

This is a big topic, which different authors will come to different conclusions about based on their own personal convictions and their understanding of Scripture, but those are the primary points behind my own conviction based on my understanding of Scripture. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments, along with other Scripture verses you think apply to the subject!

Also comment below if you have any topic requests for this series. What issues would you like to hear a Christian perspective on within the writing sphere and worldbuilding?

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Book Review: Wishtress by Nadine Brandes

If you’ve been around a bit (or if you read my recent interview with Kayla Green), you may know that Nadine Brandes is among my favorite authors. So, naturally, I was thrilled to receive an Advance Reader Copy of her upcoming book Wishtress! I was already super excited about this one due to it being a straight-up fantasy, which is my favorite genre. And it’s a standalone, which I think is underrated these days—especially in the fantasy genre. Y’know, besides Nadine being the author. And Wishtress did not disappoint!

(Required disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from the publisher but was not required to contribute a positive review. The following thoughts are entirely my own, honest review.)

What is Wishtress about?

She didn’t ask to be the Wishtress.

Myrthe was born with the ability to turn her tears into wishes. It’s a big secret to keep. When a granted wish goes wrong, a curse is placed on her: the next tear she sheds will kill her. She needs to journey to the Well and break the curse before it claims her life–and before the king’s militairen track her down. But in order to survive the journey, she must harden her heart to keep herself from crying even a single tear.

He can stop time with a snap of his fingers.

Bastiaan’s powerful–and rare–Talent came in handy when he kidnapped the old king. Now the new king has a job for him: find and capture the Wishtress and deliver her to the schloss. But Bastiaan needs a wish of his own. When he locates Myrthe, he agrees to take her to the Well in exchange for a wish. Once she’s fulfilled her end of the deal, he’ll turn her in. As long as his growing feelings for the girl with a stone heart don’t compromise his job.

They are on a journey that can only end one way: with her death.

Everyone seems to need a wish–the king, Myrthe’s cousin, the boy she thinks she loves. And they’re ready to bully, beg, and even betray her for it. No one knows that to grant even one of them, Myrthe would have to die. And if she tells them about her curse . . . they’ll just kill her anyway.

Review

Wishtress gives the Out of Time series a run for their money as my favorite Brandes story. Though, to be honest, I had some trouble with Myrthe as a narrator for the first third of the book or so. As a character, she was well-done. I didn’t find her too annoying, and her struggles felt realistic. It was her relationships that really gave me difficulty, and especially her relationship with Sven at the very beginning. Her impression of certain side characters—Sven most notably, and later Anouk—didn’t always line up with the impression I got of those characters from their actual behavior, so there were times Myrthe almost felt like an unreliable narrator. Eventually things smoothed out and what Myrthe had been saying became more evident, but it felt like she was too far ahead of how the characters were actually behaving and we didn’t get to see what she saw until later than I would have liked.

Aside from that, the characters were all excellent. Bastiaan and Runt were both amazing. Anouk was great (and her story! It was done so well and handled so honestly and tactfully and I give huge props to Nadine for tackling the topic she tackled in such a graceful manner). Coralythe was really interesting, with her different facets. Sven’s arc was well-done. And most of the relationships were done well, also. Oma and Myrthe’s relationship felt realistic from start-to-finish. Bastiaan and Runt’s relationship was the best (brotherly vibes are my favorite). Anouk and Runt were super sweet. Bastiaan and Myrthe worked… almost surprisingly well together, and the way they handled disagreements—especially on Bastiaan’s part—was so refreshing! Honestly, Bastiaan in general, with his struggles and his growth and how he took care of Myrthe and Runt and handled things with antagonists and everything… He was just a fantastic character and I really, really enjoyed reading about him and seeing inside his head.

The world and the themes… Where do I start with this. First of all, I love when worlds are intrinsically tied to story themes, and vice versa, and Wishtress was amazing in that department. The world had only a couple of really unique/memorable elements—the climate with the ice skating that came of that, and the Wells—but it worked well to really highlight those elements and let the rest of the world serve as a backdrop that didn’t distract from the key themes and plot and all of that. (I’m not usually one for worldbuilding as a backdrop to any degree, but that’s the right way to make use of more generic worldbuilding elements.) But then the Wells. And the allegory thereof. And the way The Well was written. And the battle, both shown and left behind (if you read the book, hopefully that wording will make sense). It was so well-done. I don’t even know what to say more specifically, because it was just so well-done all-around. Though I can say that Bastiaan’s climax scene was powerful, and the “resolution” of the main plot was such an interesting way of handling things and such an interesting allegory (that I’m not sure I 100% agree with, but I can certainly 100% appreciate).

And then the ending. I stopped, stared, and then laughed out loud as I turned the page to see the first line of the acknowledgements: “To every reader who just turned the last page and either hates me, loves me, or vacillates between the two…” (I was definitely in that last camp. XD) Anyway. You have to read it to see what I mean, but it was very well-done.

Overall, Wishtress was amazing! It comes out September 13th, but you should definitely go ahead and pre-order it! It’s fantastic and you’ll definitely want to read it ASAP.

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Have you read any of Nadine Brandes’ books? Are you planning to read Wishtress? Or, if you’re one of the lucky few who has gotten to read it already, what did you think? Comment down below!

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5 Types of Dragons (with Examples)

A reader recently asked me where to start with books featuring dragons, and I ended up giving a handful of recommendations featuring different types of dragon portrayals. I thought it would be interesting to write a blog post about these different portrayals, plus provide some dragon book recommendations for other readers, so here we are!

*Marked links are affiliate links, which means purchases made through them earn a small commission for me at no extra cost to you. These are BookShop affiliate links, which means you also support local U.S. bookstores while you shop!1. Villainous Dragons

In western literature, anyway, dragons were originally villainous figures, in keeping with Revelation’s portrayal of Satan as “the dragon.” They were huge and dangerous, often intelligent but malevolent—or, at the very least, greedy.

Smaug in The Hobbit* is a great example of this, as are Tolkien’s other dragons in The Silmarillion* or even Farmer Giles of Ham*. The same trope comes up in Wayne Thomas Batson’s Door Within trilogy*, and there are villainous dragons opposite the supportive dragons in many dragon rider series including The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini*.

2. Epic Dragons

This is one of the most well-known portrayals of dragons: dragons that are there for epic adventures. These are the dragons you see in dragon-rider stories like The Inheritance Cycle. They’re intelligent, but they bond with humans (or elves, or whatever other fantasy species) and support them in their quests. These dragons are often also huge and dangerous (at least to their enemies), retaining vestiges of the original, more villainous portrayals of western dragons.

I’ve seen dragons of this type in The Inheritance Cycle (which inspired me to write dragon riders of my own, though that story is still in storage) and Melody Jackson’s Dragons’ Bane series* (which I haven’t managed to get through because the characters and their relationships are really not my style, but Melody is cool so I’ll mention them anyway). The Guardian dragons in Calligraphy Guild also resemble this trope, though they’re less of the adventurous type and more the stoic guardian type (as revealed in their name); they’re more aloof from humans than some other portrayals of “epic dragons.”

3. Whimsical Dragons

With “epic dragons” removing the “villainous” requirement for western dragons, portrayals of dragons continued to evolve and more whimsical portrayals were born. Miniature dragons, especially, as companions and pets started to crop up. Some retain their “epic” roots, with more serious and/or dangerous varieties; others are quite de-clawed and outright sweet.

Melody Jackson’s Dragons’ Bane series features miniature dragons that still lean toward “epic,” as does Calligraphy Guild. The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O’Neill* is a great example of really whimsical dragons, and some of the dragons in Calligraphy Guild lean more toward this end of the spectrum as well.

4. Dragons as More Creature than Character

Still other books feature dragons as lacking sentience, instead behaving within the world as animals, perhaps resembling creatures like Leviathan, Behemoth, and other dinosaurs. The Memoirs of Lady Trent series by Marie Brennan* is an excellent example of this approach done well! Dragons along these lines also have a place in Deseran, though not in the same part of the world as Calligraphy Guild; they’ll come along in later stories.

5. Mechanical Dragons

Taking dragons even further from sentience, some books feature mechanical dragons of one type or another. The Fire Rain Chronicles by Miranda Marie*, for example, which also features “epic dragons” and some “whimsical dragons.” Mechanical dragons might be the only type in the world, or they might be based on true dragons that are either still flying around or have since gone extinct. Mechanical dragons can also serve a variety of purposes.

Bonus: Eastern Dragons

Most of the examples I’ve mentioned have involved western dragons; I’m American, so those are what I’m most familiar with. However, Eastern dragons are also quite interesting! I’ve particularly gained a greater appreciation for them in reading comp titles for Calligraphy Guild. Eastern dragons showed up in Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan* (which I didn’t enjoy, overall) and in Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin* (which I’d present as a better example due both to its better storytelling and its more focused attention on the dragons involved).

There are still more dragon categories I could go over—I haven’t talked about shapeshifting dragons or dragons who are the leading characters themselves, for example—but hopefully these provide a fun starting point! Comment below with your favorite dragon type and/or your favorite books about dragons!

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