New Member Introduction Thread

[Kev]

Thought I'd start an "introduction" thread for new members (like I am now!) to introduce ourselves to each other.

I'm Kevin. I live in southwestern Indiana with my wife, 3 kids, and 2 cats. I work in public safety communications, my wife writes about computer games for a living. I sometimes post reviews of books on my book review blog, including the occasional Christian Spec-fic.

I'm thrilled to have found this group, and hope it's active. I crave good Christian spec-fic (though I'm on a mainstream Sci-fi kick right now.)

Introduce yourselves. I'm excited to meet you!

[Patrick]

Well then, I'm Patrick. I live on Cape Cod, MA. with my wife of 26 years. I have three grown children, one grandson, and another on the way. I run a small custom glass studio and write during off-season/in between commissions. I have a studio website as well as a writing blog.

I am a big fan of military history and good Spec-fiction of any stripe. And like you, crave quality Christian fiction as well.

Nice to be here. Good luck.

[Banner]

Hi I'm Jim (or Banner). I like many kinds of genres but science fiction is my first love. I am trilled to read a good Christian sci-fi. But I also enjoy other sci-fi that presents the Christian worldview fairly. Looking forward to meeting new folks and sharing in our hobby.

[Patrick]

Are either of you authors? Writers? If so, I'd like to hear a bit about your stories.

[Kev]

Not I. I'm a reader!

[Banner]

Hey. Just a reader too.

[Rachel]

Hi, I am Rachel. I live in the northeast with my hubby and three little ones. I read a wide range of genres, occasionally sci-fi both Christian and secular. I write mostly clean romantic fantasy, however. I have one unpublished Christian sci-fi/fantasy manuscript I intend to pursue publishing some day and a sci-fi short story coming out soon. It is nice to meet some more Christian sci-fi fans.

[Janelle]

Hi I'm Janelle, I read all sorts of books, but my favourite in Sci Fi, especially sci fi from a Christian worldview. I live in Australia, am married and have two teenage kids. Its nice to meet you all.

[Rachel]

Nice to meet you, Janelle. :)

[Rachel]

And everyone else. :)

[Michael]

Hi There! I'm Michael and I'm new to Goodreads as well as this group. I am both a reader and an author. I love allegorical fantasy (i.e. Narnia, LOTR), and my debut novel just launched from Harbourlight books. Shadows: Book of Aleth, Part One

Thanks for having this group, I look forward to getting to know my way around. God bless!

[Janeen]

I'm Janeen, I'm an avid reader and writer of what I call "fantastical fiction" which includes paranormal, supernatural, science fiction, fantasy of all types, and especially fairy tales. I find these genres open fascinating windows with which to discuss, consider, recreate, and criticize/satirize the world in which we live. They also provide us with fresh perspectives on how we as humans fit into God's greater scheme.
I'm also a Christian school teacher married to a Christian school teacher. Much of our quality time is spent grading papers while watching science fiction or fantasy TV shows. I blog regularly and I enjoy reviewing fantasy and science fiction books.

[Janelle]

Welcome janeen, hope u enjoy the group

[[deleted user]]

Hi, all, I'm Shawn author of the YA fantasy series Allon and the Christian historical fiction
The Huguenot Sword

I used to write for children's animation. I blog about writing and the publishing industry and have a very kid friendly website with videos, character pages and an interactive map. In fact, I just finished posting all the pictures from a photo shoot "Shannan & Torin" the heroine and her wolf companion.
http://www.allonbooks.com/ShannanTori...

[Michael]

Shawn wrote: "Hi, all, I'm Shawn author of the YA fantasy series Allon and the Christian historical fiction
The Huguenot Sword

I used to write for children's animation. I blog abo..."

Hi Shawn! Welcome. :)

[[deleted user]]

Thanks, Michael.

[Rachel]

Welcome, Janeen and Shawn. :)

[Janelle]

Hi Shawn. Nice to meet u. Your books and your blog both sound interesting.

[[deleted user]]

Thanks, Rachel and Janelle.

[Rebekah]

Hi, I'm Rebekah. I'm a college student and music teacher in Michigan and I live with my wonderful family.
I enjoy several genres of literature, a few would be Christian Fantasy(of course!), History/Historical fiction, Art, Classics, Children's Classics, Biographies, and Music. Currently I'm just a reader, but I have some ideas for writing, when I finally have time!

[[deleted user]]

Welcome, Rebekah.

[Janelle]

Hi Rebecca!

[Janelle]

Oops sorry Rebekah for misspelling your name

[Rebekah]

Shawn wrote: "Welcome, Rebekah."

Thank you!! :)

[Rebekah]

Janelle wrote: "Oops sorry Rebekah for misspelling your name"

That's ok, it happens quite often. :)

[[deleted user]]

Hi, I'm Stewart Prince. My home is near Oxford, England, though I'm now in South Africa for a while. I'm delighted to discover a group devoted to my favourite genre! I've been disappointed by the pathetic scattering of Christian fiction books on the shelves of Christian bookshops in the UK, and I look forward to discovering new horizons and new authors through this group.
Blessings to all!

[Janelle]

Hi Stewart, hope you enjoy the group.

[[deleted user]]

Thanks, Janelle! :)

[Brannon]

Hello, everyone. My name is Brannon Hollingsworth and I was born to create. I'm an author, speaker, poet, game designer, art director, and an unapologetic Christ-follower; I'm also a passionate teacher of youth and I promote family-oriented ministries. I'm the proud father of five, four of whom are home-schooled. By day, I work for an engineering contractor in north Alabama. By night, I create new ideas with boundless enthusiasm.

I have a new speculative fiction novel through AMG Publisher's Living Ink Books imprint entitled H2O the Novel, which I invite you to check out. I'm also running a weekly contest to give away copies here on my Goodreads blog: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...

Hope to see you there!

[Melanie]

Hi, I'm Melanie and I love reading Christian fiction! I haven't read that many speculative fiction novels, but the few I have read, I've enjoyed!

I also have a blog, here is the link: http://christianbookshelfreviews.blog...

If you know of any great books, please recommend them to me!

Thanks,

Melanie

[[deleted user]]

Hi Brannon, good to meet another born (sub-)creator! Sounds like you have quite a few strings to your bow. (We home-schooled our daughter for a couple of years, so I take my hat off to you, home-schooling four!)
One question: When will H2O the Novel appear as an eBook?

[Brannon]

Stewart wrote: "Hi Brannon, good to meet another born (sub-)creator! Sounds like you have quite a few strings to your bow. (We home-schooled our daughter for a couple of years, so I take my hat off to you, home-sc..."

Nice to meet you as well, Stewart! Home-schooling certainly keeps us busy, but it also keeps us close - who can complain? :)

H20 is currently out in Kindle and Ipad formats; we're waiting on the Nook, but it should be any day now. Of course, it never hurts to click that little "Request this book as a NOOK version" button - http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/h2o-t...

Here's the Kindle version link: http://www.amazon.com/H2O-Novel-Etern...

I've been told its on the i-whatever-store, but I'm not an Appleite, so I could not tell you where it is on their site.

Hope this helps!

[Janelle]

Hi Brannon and Melanie!

[Brannon]

Janelle wrote: "Hi Brannon and Melanie!"

Hello Janelle!

[[deleted user]]

Brannon, I followed your Amazon Kindle link, which took me to the US site (amazon.com). Your Kindle version was there, but it says 'Pricing information unavailable'. In any case, I'm not sure that I can pay in dollars. It's definitely not available on the UK Amazon site (amazon.co.uk).
I did find it in the iBooks store; but the price was a little high for me. (Maybe that's why pricing info is not available on amazon.com…)
I know these things are probably outside your control; just thought you might like to know what's happening on the e-ground.

[Brannon]

Stewart wrote: "Brannon, I followed your Amazon Kindle link, which took me to the US site (amazon.com). Your Kindle version was there, but it says 'Pricing information unavailable'. In any case, I'm not sure that ..."

Ah...I did not know that you were in the UK, Stewart. Sadly, I'm not in charge of pricing, I'm "just" the author. :P Just curious, how much was the version on the iBooks store? I'll see if I can talk to my publisher about pricing on the epub version. Thanks for letting me know!

[[deleted user]]

The iBooks version was £5.99, i.e. around $9.30. I normally limit my ebook purchases to a max. of £4.99 ($7.75). Let me know if you manage to wangle a price reduction!

[Celesta]

Hi! So I'm new :)

I just discovered the fun to be had here at goodreads! So exciting! And then I searched for myself and found my books. Double exciting!

I love reading but I'm limiting myself to 1 book a month these days because I'm so busy writing, helping with my husband's business and raising kids.

Anyone from this group -> Feel free to add me as a friend :)

[[deleted user]]

Hi Celesta, and welcome!

One book a month! I could never survive on so little, but I understand your reasons. Raising kids is a full-time job in itself!

I'm also new to this group. It looks like a lot of fun.

[Celesta]

Yeah. I wish I could read more but I have to limit myself. Seem to have a little lack of self-control. Tendency to neglect work and kids because I just HAVE to find out what happens!

[[deleted user]]

I know the problem!

[Brannon]

Stewart wrote: "The iBooks version was £5.99, i.e. around $9.30. I normally limit my ebook purchases to a max. of £4.99 ($7.75). Let me know if you manage to wangle a price reduction!"

Thanks for the info, Stewart. I'll see what I can do!

[Michael]

Hi everyone,
I'm thrilled to join your group. Goodreads has been a welcome new way for me to discover books that have been out there waiting for me for a long time. It's been fun rating and recommended books on this site and seeing what others have been suggesting. My to-read list is now huge. But I like it that way. I love to read. I try to finish a book a week, sometimes 2-3, but something always suffers when I allow myself this luxury...usually paying the bills.

I hope that my love of reading is inherited by my 5 kids, but I've realized over the past few years that a more substantial legacy would serve them better. Like actually writing one of my own. I've shopped around a few children's books that I've finished, but to date have had no bites. However, I do have a publisher for a novel-length book that is complete, a historical christian fiction book entitled ALL LIVING, that should be officially released around the end of April. A short synopsis would be: Kole, the unknown older brother of Cain and Abel...is still alive today, and telling his story. It's been an exciting process.

I live in Indiana, work at a University in the School of Visual and Performing Arts, and have a small window washing business. I am on our local Board of Trustees at the library. I'm married, father of three, dad of five (stepkids)and just got a dog that likes to eat books. As they say, outside of a dog a book is a man's best friend...inside of a dog, it's too dark to read. I have done and love performance poetry, sung in a band, and deejayed at a local radio station. It's been fun living the parts that I someday hope to write about. I am anxious to get to know all of you through this group. Have a great week.

Michael

[[deleted user]]

Welcome, Michael! I was once at IU Bloomington, back in a different century… 5 kids and a book-eating dog! Sounds a fearsome combination, but you seem to be coping well!

Hope you enjoy the group!

[Janelle]

Hi Michael, nice to meet you and hear about your big family and busy life. All the best with your book, it sounds intriguing.

[Celesta]

Hi Michael, contrgrats on getting your book published and good luck with your other ones!

[Michael]

Thanks everybody...I am really enjoying reading about what everyone on here is up to and what you enjoy reading. Stewart, IU is about two hours south of us, and a big rivalry between my town (with Purdue University) and them. But I'll still root for them when they play out of state Big 10 teams. Thanks too Janelle and Celesta.

[Cliff]

Hi all. I'm Cliff, I live in Texas, have published 6 novels, my latest being Times of Trouble a Christian fiction novel

I have a BA in English, getting a 2nd BA in History along with a Technical Writing Certificate, and maybe an MA in Technical Communications.

[Janelle]

Welcome to the group Cliff

[Jason]

Jason Brown, huge fan of Christian murder/mysteries and thrillers, and recently got into Christian sci-fi (trying to wait for Steven James' new sci-fi trilogy, which starts with "Placebo"). And definitely enjoyed Mike Duran's debut horror story The Resurrection.