Dean Hardy's Blog, page 2

New Magnus Kir Study Guide, Day one of “5 days of giveaways”, and a HINT!

Our first winner for the week is Marissa Franks Burt. She’s also an aspiring author who’s slated to release “Storybound” in April. You can check out more about the book at her facebook page:

Storybound

Every day this week I will post a blog entry with a clue about what question will be asked on our facebook page. This may give you a bit more help as the questions may get a little more difficult during the week. Hint: In the first chapter there a couple young women that are named. Last time the answer was Maybelline. This next question will be about one of the other women. See the first chapter here: Magnus Kir First Chapter

Also, I’ve written a discussion/study guide for Magnus Kir for individuals or groups who’d like to dig deeper. You can find a link to download here: Study Guide

New Magnus Kir Study Guide, Day one of "5 days of giveaways", and a HINT!

Our first winner for the week is Marissa Franks Burt. She's also an aspiring author who's slated to release "Storybound" in April. You can check out more about the book at her facebook page:

Storybound

Every day this week I will post a blog entry with a clue about what question will be asked on our facebook page. This may give you a bit more help as the questions may get a little more difficult during the week. Hint: In the first chapter there a couple young women that are named. Last time the answer was Maybelline. This next question will be about one of the other women. See the first chapter here: Magnus Kir First Chapter

Also, I've written a discussion/study guide for Magnus Kir for individuals or groups who'd like to dig deeper. You can find a link to download here: Study Guide

5 days of giveaways start on Monday the 3rd!

Here's some information on our celebration of 1,000 likes on the Magnus Kir Facebook page!

Starting Monday the 3rd we will start the celebration of 1000 likes! Each day we will have a giveaway on the facebook page. I will ask a random question or assignment sometime during the day. It could be about the first chapter of the book (found here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/51542868/Ma... ) or we may ask you to do something crazy and post a picture. There will also be special deals on www.MagnusKir.com during the week if you don't happen to win a copy.

Other happenings:

I've sent in the draft of my article for the Res Aliens website. The topic ended up being a little different than I initially thought- but I think it turned out well. The title: The Metaphysics of Magic: Writing Christian Fantasy from a Christian Worldview

Upcoming events…

Quick events post:

I'm speaking tonight at a homeschool community gathering. I'm looking forward to a discussion on apologetics as well as Magnus Kir.

I'm starting an apologetics series at Team Church on Wednesday nights. Would you like to join us? http://www.teamchurch.com/

I just noticed that the National Apologetics Conference is a little over a month away! Wow… I am speaking on atheism and our response to modern atheists. http://conference.ses.edu/

Lastly, keep an eye out for two things: 1) I've been asked to write an article for the Resident Aliens website. I'll post a link when it's finished and posted. 2) I'll hopefully have a signing at Park Road Books in the next few months…it's in the works!

Day Three of CSFF tour of ResAliens.com- articles on Christian Fantasy

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I've looked at a piece of fiction on day one, overviewed the actual website and its editor on day two, so how about a few pieces of non-fiction on the ResAlien.com website and blog?

 

First, John Ottinger's Christian Fantasy: More than Tolkien and Lewis 

When I read this post today, I quickly noticed that I was re-reading it. I had seen the post months before and even had posted it on my Magnus Kir facebook wall.  It's a great article that all who are interested in the genre should read. In the post, after reminiscing on his personal introduction to the world of fantasy, Ottinger notes how, "There are many accomplished Christian writers of science fiction and fantasy who are not recognized globally or even nationally. While some Christian leaders trumpet how much modern fantasy has been shaped and molded by Christian authors, few can name more than a handful of contemporary, faith-inspired fiction writers. And those in the pews have little knowledge of fantasy or science fiction beyond Lewis and Tolkien. Most people of faith are simply unaware of the wealth of speculative literature available today that both edifies and entertains."

While I completely concur with John's statement, I cannot help but wonder why it is so? Why haven't any of our amazingly talented, modern Christian authors become "the face of modern Christian fantasy" in the way the inklings and others of their era did? Is it bad PR? Do they not have the wit and humorously plump tummy of Chesterton? Do they not have Lewis' ability to speak to an entire nation over the airwaves of the BBC?  It is pretty interesting that we live in the age of the interwebs and social networking, but for some reason, something is just not "clicking" with the public. Is the problem in the marketing, the quality (which it likely is not), the Christian public, or the fact that Christianity itself has been placed on the backburner? Your comments are welcome.

Second, in R. L. Copple's Fantasy and Christianity he takes an apologetic approach and defends the genre of fantasy.  He writes, "Therefore, on the issue of magic and fantasy, which on the surface can appear to be pagan, an attempt to apply the faulty logic of "guilty by association" derives from a view of the world where some elements are not from God and so should be avoided at all cost, even the appearance of a relationship. But this very division is not a Christian worldview." I thought this was really interesting, but I sure he'd differentiate between the author's promotion or demotion of these instances of "apparently pagan" magic. This would obviously cut a clear line between Christian and non-Christian fantasy.

While it was an interesting read, he didn't really tackle the ideas that even I, as a writer of Christian fantasy, wonder about how my writing fits within the lens of Christianity. For instance,  Copple writes, "So, one characteristic of good Christian fantasy is the underlying reality that all comes from God, whether the characters realize that or not." For me this begged the question; can a Christian write a tale in which there actually is no obvious recognition of God as the source of everything natural and supernatural?  He mentions Tolkien's LOTR; but is there an obvious God figure there?  I for one am still considering my answers to the former questions, but I think I will likely land at "no" for both.  (Possibly we'll discuss why at another time?)

Comments welcome!

 

*Participants' links

Noah Arsenault

Brandon Barr

Thomas Clayton Booher

Grace Bridges

Beckie Burnham

Jeff Chapman

CSFF Blog Tour

Carol Bruce Collett

D. G. D. Davidson

Dean Hardy

Katie Hart

Ryan Heart

Bruce Hennigan

Jason Joyner

Carol Keen

Shannon McDermott

Rebecca LuElla Miller

Lyn Perry

Sarah Sawyer

Jessica Thomas

Steve Trower

Fred Warren

Phyllis Wheeler

Day two of CSFF blog tour of the ResAliens Website- seeking short stories!

In yesterday's blog about the ResAliens website   I focused more on one of the short stories than I did on the actual web/webzine, so, here's a little more on this cool website.

Lyn Perry is the editor of ResAliens as well as the publisher of the print format of their magazine.  (e-copies are usually 2-3 bucks and well worth it, print copies are $7-8, see link to purchase!)   Well, why the name "ResAliens?" Lyn answers, "ResAliens is short forResidential Aliens. A resident alien is, of course, a foreigner who is residing temporarily in a country not her own – an expatriate of sorts. Believers in heaven (or a "coming new age") often consider themselves to be simply passing through this world on their way to a better land. The idea is that, although we're currently inhabitants of earth, we're really citizens of heaven and thus pilgrims, or aliens, on this planet."

Great, so, is ResAliens only written by Christian writers? Lyn continues, "I am a believer and follower of Christ, yes. The authors and audience, however, may or may not come from a position of faith. But what I think you'll find here is a collection of quality stories with a moral or spiritual thread that appeals to the broad and varied interests of fans of speculative fiction." (This may have been helpful yesterday, as I was wondering if the article I read was written from a Christian worldview. While I'm still unsure (it wasn't mentioned in his bio), it does help me to understand that the writer's worldview may not have been Christian in the first place.

The other cool think about the site is that they are actively seeking writers to write for the magazine. They accept family friendly (PG-Pg13 max) writing of speculative fiction in the following lengths:

+ Flash Fiction (900 to 1500 words)

+ Short Stories (1500 to 6000 words, firm; 7k to 9k stories are too long)

+ Query First: Serials (2 to 4 episodic installments; up to 20k words)

+ Query First: Poetry/Verse (Limited! Note: This is a very hard sell.)

+ Query First: Artwork/Artist Interview. Email: lyn at resaliens dot com.

Visit here to learn more about how you can write for ResAliens!

Noah Arsenault

Brandon Barr

Thomas Clayton Booher

Grace Bridges

Beckie Burnham

Jeff Chapman

CSFF Blog Tour

Carol Bruce Collett 

D. G. D. Davidson

Dean Hardy

Katie Hart

Ryan Heart

Bruce Hennigan

Jason Joyner

Carol Keen

Shannon McDermott

Rebecca LuElla Miller

Lyn Perry

Sarah Sawyer

Jessica Thomas

Steve Trower

Fred Warren

Phyllis Wheeler