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message 101:
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Mojoboy31
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Apr 21, 2015 02:06PM
Psh. you'd better!
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Excuse me? I am the Dark Lord and - *senses the glares of the girls from CGBC* *coughs* Er.... it's all cleaned up. *runs out*
the dark lord, eh?... I'm shaking in my boots.
Firefly!!!!!! What are you doing here??? Your causing disruption in this calm topic, in this calm group....You're supposed to keep it contained to the Last One To Post Wins topic in the Christian Girls Book Group!!!
I know, I know... *sighs* I solemnly swear to keep the evil crazyness contained to The Last One To Post Wins discussion.... *wanders off into the wilderness muttering dark foreshadowings*
Good. *nods in satisfaction* No sense in other people being dragged into our crazyness.
No,it was, but I was distracted by a plot bunny
I miss plot bunnies. I feel like it's been forever since I've seen one.
You can have some of mine... They've been lying in wait and then ambushing me (when I can't get to a notebook to write them down) for the last few days...
Oh, why thank you. I've been hunting for them, but they're just too smart for me.
Mod
When I started reading reviews, I looked for content. Basically if it was clean and had an interesting synopsis I would read it. I'm a pickier reader now. Now I look for content as well as what the reviewer thought of the overall plot, characters, and writing style. Of course people's opinions differ, but if the review is well balanced (not overly glowy or negative) I will take note of it.
Mod
Thanks, Rebecca! So far in my reviews I have my Pros, Cons, Age range, and genre! anything else you would want to see in a review??
Oh that sounds good! Age range and genre is always a plus!!The number of POVs or male vs female POV would be good to add.
Mod
Mod
I agree with Rebecca. It sounds like what you've already got is pretty good, too
Hey all!! :) Can I change the subject here? I would like to know what you all thing of magic in Christian fantasy and all that. I'm going to say right out here that witchcraft is a sin (because the Bible clearly states it is) and that books portraying the witchcraft type of magic (magick) as "good" are not okay. Here's a link to my full thoughts: http://shantellemaryh.blogspot.com/20...However, I'm also wondering about more smaller-scale, not-as-dark, yet still iffy stuff. Like have you ever heard of telepathy? Where people read each other's minds when they're far away from each other? Well, that sounds weird and I'm thinking maybe its a part of witchcraft/sorcery... and yet many Christian books that I myself have enjoyed have that in them. It's called bloodvoicing in By Darkness Hid by Jill Williamson, and something else in The Ryn by Serena Chase. Not, I do NOT think that the authors are blatantly promoting witchcraft or even that they knew of their ideas' connection to telepathy... BUT is it okay to have this stuff in books if indeed telepathy is an occult practice?
I would love to know your thoughts!! I'm really exploring the whole 'magic' vs. 'magick' and what is contradicting God's Word and what's not. And sometimes I'm just...confused.
Here's some more links on this subject if you're interested in reading them before you respond:
http://liannetaimenlore.blogspot.com/...
http://www.edocere.org/articles/harry...
http://unamsanctamcatholicam.blogspot...
http://morganhuneke.blogspot.com/2015...
http://www.studyyourbibleonline.com/c...
http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~spence/e...
Thanks, guys! I look forward to hearing your thoughts! Blessings! :)
Mod
Telepathy, now.... I've never heard of that considered occult. I've always thought it was fine, but it also depends on how it's portrayed.
I saw a video a while back that addressed this (magic in books), and the two young ladies had some great insights. You can watch it here, if you're interested: https://tiallarising.wordpress.com/20...
I also LOVE fantasy, and write it too! :) And yeah, I agree... witchcraft can be portrayed in books, as long as its portrayed as evil. And you maybe don't want to go too into it! *Meep*!About telepathy. I looked it up online, and there was like these instructions on how to do it in real life. Like how to see someone's thoughts and communicate that way when you're miles apart. So...what WOULD that be? So since its a real thing that some people try out, is it okay to be put in even a fantasy book as a "good" things? Because then people could read about in fantasy, yet look in up online and learn how to do it in real life.
I did watch most of the video, and thought it was really good! They had some great points. The source and the way you use it is a good way to tell if magic is good or bad.
BUT. Say you used divination in your fantasy as good, and the magic power of it came from a higher Being. Yet, divination is called an abominable sin in the Bible, and the power for it in real life would come from Satan. (Because it doesn't come from God). How can we change an evil thing to represent good just because its in fantasy?? So if telepathy is wrong in real life, how can it ever be good in fantasy?
Do you see what I'm trying to say?
I really am just confused here, because I know a lot of Christian authors use things like this as good in their stories. So yeah. I feel like God has just kind of been laying this on my heart, you know, and I really want to figure it all out, so I can draw a line on what I read and make sure I'm only reading stuff that glorify God!
Again, I'm not saying that Serena Chase's or Jill Williamson's or any of those author's books DON'T glorify God.
I'm just searching, you know. It's good to search...and ask...and seek God's thoughts on everything in our lives, right? :)
But yeah. It is a tough issue. Sorry about that. I'm just feeling the need to discuss it with other believers! :)
This is a great question, Shantelle!!Personally, I don't have a problem with magic in the books I read. But I don't do witchcraft (unless, like Lena said, it's portrayed accurately). In my writing, I put a magic system, though I put restrictions on it--the good guys have an ordained (from the God of the story) magic, while the baddies have a darker, somewhat unbounded magic (just like a practicer of witchcraft has more willpower to do "magical" things whenever he/she wants than a Christian does*). I'm always careful with it though! I don't want to make it look like the dark magic is more powerful than the God-ordained magic.
And, about the telepathy thing...I think maybe (and this is totally just my opinion), you could use it as a gift to talk to God. I mean, the prophets in the Old Testament had a more direct communication with God than the other Christians--that's a way you could portray it, I suppose! That's just a preference! ;)
*I'm totally not saying here that witchcraft users are more powerful than Christians (they're not!) Often times though, Satan grants quite a bit of power to his servants, as our (Christians) power is more through prayer and faith in our Father! After all, "we are more than conquerors"!! ;) (I really, really hope this message doesn't come across as blasphemous... and if I'm out of line, someone please correct me!)
Oh, and I read your blog post, Shantelle...I agree with EVERY WORD you said!! I love LotR, The Hobbit, and Narnia, and I'm so glad that we view them the same way. :) You really opened my eyes about some thing about Harry Potter too--definetely going to be cautious about that. So, thank you!! LOL.
Aw, thanks, Zac!! I'm so glad you enjoyed my post! Yes, I do love Narnia, and also really enjoy The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings!! I really want to read the books of The Hobbit and LotR now! :)Well great! Your welcome! :D :) Yeah, I think its really good to just be cautious when it comes to books with magic. Make sure its portrayed in the right way!
Oh, and your magic system that you use sounds really good! I don't think I would have a problem reading that at all! :) It's just when real evils are portrayed as good things in a fantasy world that warning bells go off.
Hmm...interesting thoughts for sure! I, personally, in my story, had an angelic being speak kind of into this girl's thoughts because he was temporarily "crippled" (muted in this case) by darkness's power. So...I just started worrying that that's too much like telepathy...and is telepathy witchcraft?...and yeah. Thanks for your thoughts though! I will keep searching on this!
Oh, and what you said totally did't come across to me as witchcraft users having more power than Christians. I think you said it all very well! :)
Thanks!! I'm glad to hear that. ;)That seems like a great way to portray it! Very unique. :) I think the use of telepathy/magic is just something between every individual and God. Personally, I love your perspective on it!!
Okay, good. *phew* I'm glad! LOL. (And thanks!) ;D
@Astrid, WOW, you have some really great points!! Thanks!! :) Okay, that makes sense. And yeah, there are so many supernatural powers and miracles that a lot of people may just view as "magic" in fantasy, so I get what you're saying! I was also thinking about how Moses turned his staff into a snake (by God's power) and turned the river to blood and all that. So the SOURCE of the power is VERY important, is what I'm getting. And also, like you said, we need to be careful not to portray things the Bible says are ONLY wrong as good. That's what I was worrying about with telepathy... So thanks so much for all your thoughts! Could you maybe give me some examples of when God and angels and/or people communicated "telepathically"? Okay, yeah. It was more like this angel in the form of a man was sitting right in front of her, but he was sort of muted, and she was so afraid and doubtful that her ears were kind of deafened to his voice. So he spoke into her thoughts instead. I was thinking maybe I should change it to the King (represents God) allowed the girl to hear the angelic being's thoughts.
...Anyway! Thanks so much for all your comments and ideas. This has been great!! :) :)
@Astrid: Okay, I get what you're saying! Thanks!! :)Aw, thanks!! I hope it will be an adventurous and profound story in the end! :) Yes, great idea! I definitely will be praying hard and looking into it more. Wanna make sure its glorifying God and all that! :)
Thanks for discussing this with me, and all your helpful points and stuff! So appreciated!
And I'm totally with you! I'm suddenly more careful about the books I read. If you're ever feeling confused about magic, witchcraft, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter...all that, I would really recommend this article. It was SO, SO helpful to me and helped me understand a lot more! http://liannetaimenlore.blogspot.com/...
Thanks and blessings!! :)
Astrid wrote: "Thanks much Shantelle!! I'll have to check it out. :)"Great! :)
Mod
Mod
Hey guys! Just wanted to let you know that its the last day of my blog tour today, and the winner has been announced! (Just in case you were following the tour). And I shared an excerpt from A Dream Not Imagined, :)Oh, and I was wondering: how do you merge versions of books? Because I have two versions of my A Dream Not Imagined kindle edition for some reason...and some people are rating one version, some people the other. I would really like them merged!! So if anybody knows...
Thanks and blessings!!! :)
Mod
I think you have to be a Goodreads librarian to merge editions. I can take care of that for you.
You have to go into "Contact Us" part of Amazon's Author Central. First go to "help" page (you can find the button right next to your name on the top right-hand corner) and then click the orange "Contact Us" button at the top of the left-hand sidebar. Then you follow the following instructions:Under "Select an issue," select My Books.
Under "Select details," select Update information about a book.
In the field that appears, select Update something else.
In the next field that appears, select I want to link one edition of my book to another edition.
Select how you would like to contact us.
I've done this a few times, usually linking the physical to the kindle. Not hard, and they usually have it resolved and all the reviews combined within twenty-four hours.
What I'd like to figure out is how to UNcombine two books that DON'T belong together.
Mod
@Kendra: I'm a GR librarian, so I can separate editions that are not the same book, if you let me know about them
@Lena, thank you!!! And yay!! :D I hope you enjoy the story, and buy some great books with the giftcard...or something like that! ;DAnd that would be lovely!!! I was able to combine to the two editions, but there's still TWO kindle editions. So yeah...
@Kendra, thanks for the information! I shall look into it if things still aren't right! :)
Yeah, hmm, that's not good! :{ I hope you can figure it out!!
And I just gave you the amazon formula. Um. Yeah.Yeah, I think you're going to have to find a librarian, because although Goodreads Authors are supposed to have the many of same powers with their own books, the page keeps dumping me out when I try to do anything there. (Basically, go to your books goodread's page, find the info box under the description, and hit "combine.")
I need to find a librarian as well, because I have the opposite problem - two of my books are joined together when they're not supposed to be.
@Kendra, okay, haha! We'll see what Lena can do I guess. Yeah I did figure out how to combine, but not how to only have ONE kindle edition!!Wow, that's weird! No good! Yeah, hopefully you find someone to help!!
@Kendra: I'm a GR librarian, so I can separate editions that are not the same book, if you let me know about them"Ah, thank-you! On Goodreads, the books that are combined that shouldn't be is "Saffron's Big Plan and Other Stories" (which is paperback) and its individual short story "Saffron's Big Plan"
Saffron's Big Plan and Other Stories
Again - thanks so much.
(My other short story collection - Woodcutter Quince - is messed up on Amazon, but I don't think you can help me there. I think I may have to have them call me ...)
Shantelle wrote: "@Kendra, okay, haha! We'll see what Lena can do I guess. Yeah I did figure out how to combine, but not how to only have ONE kindle edition!!Wow, that's weird! No good! Yeah, hopefully you find so..."
Hmmm ... I was just reading down the list of Q&A and I think "Report Duplicate Listings" is the one you want. Try that.
Mod
Shantelle, I don't think there's a way to actually merge the editions into one edition, without deleting one of them. I'll look into that, though
Yay!! My bookcount is a nice, pretty fourteen again, rather than an unlucky thirteen. (Yeah, I'm a bit superstitious - must be my dwarf ancestry ...)And ... now I have the issue of the wrong one's listed as part of the series. (Granted, it's currently the only one in the series, but it's still the wrong one ...)
Mod
Mod
@Lena, yeah, I read somewhere that you're supposed to combine the identical editions. And then delete the one that's less popular. And it should do that without loosing any rating and reviews, because it was combined...right? But I couldn't find any "delete book" on the editing book section...
Mod
The delete button is next to the 'Save Changes'/'Cancel Changes' buttons
@Lena, okay, thanks!! I will look into it! :)
Mod
I hope nothing else changes majorly.... ;)
I know I haven't been terribly active in this group yet, but I feel like I need to say that I'm going to be gone all next week.Camping!! First trip of the year! ^D^
So, if no one hears from me next week, there's no need to panic/wonder or anything... :)
Jesus Freaks for Writers
Books mentioned in this topic
Saffron's Big Plan and Other Stories (other topics)The Experiment (other topics)
Across the Stars (other topics)
