by Andrea Graham
Writer's Style. When a reader picks up any given novel by a particular author, they pick it up, trusting they're getting a story that, while in some way unique from all the other titles this author's put out, but also will feature the familiar as well, even if it's not a series.
If a reader picks up a novel with "Adam Graham" on the cover, you can expect an action-driven story, and a quirky sense of humor to provide some laughs, regardless what the genre of the week this versatile writer is trying his hands at.
And if my name is on the title, you can expect to find a character-driven story, where the plot turns at least in part around internal or relational conflict of some kind, and maybe a twin or two. You can also expect that sooner or later the Kingdom of Heaven will break in, usually on our world or one all too similar, in some small, major, and sometimes fantastic way. The plot or setting will probably be founded upon a what-if, and you'll find Light at the edge of darkness, and not just so I can work in a plug for our anthology. ;) What I mean is my work usually reveals some truth about God and His love, as well as the gritty reality of sin.
And if a reader picks up a book with both our names on the cover, expect that literary child to have recognizable features inherited from both it's Mommy and it's Daddy. When we work together, rather than a watered down half and half of each, or an ugly, awkward hodgepodge, the result is the best of both our strengths.
As long as we've worked together, we've always had a gritty edge to our work, sometimes we quivered at the edge, but we never tumbled into the abyss of horror and nightmares.
Until now.
Last weekend, Adam and I finished writing a novella on the edge of novelhood at 43,000 words as of this writing. Genesis of Judgment is to date our darkest work and the hardest we've ever had to write. Though Adam had to write the dark, scary sequences, so the hardest scene I've personally written is still a tie between the scenes in Heaven's Mark where the heroine is nearly raped "on stage", and the scene that shows her being seduced by a much older man.
Genesis of Judgment is different. None of the primary or secondary characters are sexually assaulted in the course of the story, no. It's darker in the same sense that constant murky-gray bordering on navy is more frightening over all than a brief flash of total darkness at dawn. Instead we have a twenty-seven year old Christian, living in the shadow of a foreign dictator's rule, seeking his license to practice medicine, and determined to pay any price. And with licensing requirements that would make Hitler envious, it could cost him his family, his soul, and his sanity. This frightening descent into madness and a personal Hell is the closest we've ever come to Horror.
Yet despite the elements that set it apart from previous works, it still has our hallmarks: Adam’s plot-driven focus; my relational conflict exerting it’s influence; a pair of fraternal twins.
Chief of all, his sense of humor shines through the murk. Though, the laughs only make the darkness of the characters’ sin seem even darker.
In May, Genesis of Judgment will be (or part of if I finish the braided novel it will be featured in) the Novel of the Month at Daniel I. Weaver's critique group, Christian Fiction Writers, Readers, Etc.,, and available for free in manuscript form. The only requirements to read a Novel of the Month are joining the critique group, also free, not violating the author’s copyrights, and providing reader feedback/critique on the manuscript.
Also, we’re looking for six Novels of the Month for our summer and fall quarters, so if you have, or will have, a completed novel manuscript of approximately 40-100,000 words, you’re welcome to join us and add your manuscript to our schedule. Note Novel of the Month writers are required to critique each other. If you are not willing to critique others, please hire an editorial service instead of seeking a critique of your work.
4/13/2007
4/10/2007
Science and Catholicism
Catholic Science Fiction? Isn't that a contradiction in terms?
Rob and I have been asked this several times before, during and since putting together Infinite Space, Infinite God, an anthology of science fiction with a Catholic twist. And, of course, our answer is a resounding, "no."
The Catholic faith does embrace science. After all, God created us as reasoning, thinking beings and to deny that side of ourselves would be to reject part of God's creative work. The Catholic faith embraces the fact of the natural world as made by God. Thus, faith and science should not contradict, but compliment. If one seems to negate the other, there is a misunderstanding somewhere. It's one of the things Rob and I love about being Catholic. One of our favorite songs has the line, "The profoundest act of worship is to try to understand."
Much of the perceived contradiction probably stems from the bad reputation the Catholic Church got for its treatment of Galileo. However, the Galileo case is much more complex than simply the Church denying heliocentric theory because it "didn't agree with Scripture." I've read several accounts and interpretations, each different according to the historian's point of view: The Church was too attached to Aristotelian theory; Galileo went too far by directly challenging the authority of the Pope in writing; Galileo insisted he could interpret Scripture better than the Pope; the Church was afraid of anything that contradicted its authority, even in the area of science... The point is that it was not just--if ever--a case of science contradicting Scripture. Copernicus, who proposed the heliocentric theory well before Galileo, was a monk and was not punished for his views.
One thing that is fact, though, is that Galileo was not able to prove heliocentric theory with his evidence. His theories were later proven in the 1800s with stronger telescopes.
The Catholic Church has always taught that reason (logic) and faith need to stand together. Much of the Church's intellectual history is wrapped into scientific thought today, although many scientists and laymen don't realize it. St. Albert the Great and St. Thomas Aquinas pioneered the scientific method. Mendel, a monk, conducted one of the first systematic studies of genetics. The Vatican has its own observatory, and it supports scientific research across the globe--and across faith lines--via the Pontifical Academy. Even today there are scientist religious. In fact, Brother Guy Consolmagno, a famous astronomer and science fiction aficionado, is going to write a back-cover blurb for our book. So science, and science fiction, is definitely something that the Church can accept and even support.
Rob and I believe the Church not only has a presence in science, but will have a presence in space once Mankind leaves the Earth for the other planets and the stars. After all, wherever humans go, they will want and need faith leadership. An online search of the Vatican archives produced 2300 documents about space science, 737 about "space exploration" and one specifically on space colonization. Several Popes have spoken at international conventions on the topic, and the Pontifical Academy holds conferences about it. The late Pope John Paul II summed it up in his address to the delegates of the Interagency Consultant Group in 1996:
Infinite Space, Infinite God is not about the conflict between science and religion, because Rob and I don't think there is a conflict. The real challenge is not in resolving science to faith, but, as the late Pope John Paul said, in allowing faith to guide our curiosity and the fruits of our discoveries--or to deal with the aftermath of irresponsibility. That, in fact, is where many stories found their conflicts.
So we would have to say that there's no contradiction so much as the perception of a contradiction, encouraged by a society trying to segregate faith and fact. (Or to force facts to squeeze into their narrow definition of faith.) However, as faith-filled scientists and works like Infinite Space, Infinite God and others by LGG members confront this contradiction, we will again come to understand that faith and science are indeed important for a bright future.
Infinite Space, Infinite God, edited by Karina and Robert Fabian, is out in e-book right now. It comes out in print August 15. For more, go to http://isigsf.tripod.com. To order, go to www.twilighttimesbooks.com.
Rob and I have been asked this several times before, during and since putting together Infinite Space, Infinite God, an anthology of science fiction with a Catholic twist. And, of course, our answer is a resounding, "no."
The Catholic faith does embrace science. After all, God created us as reasoning, thinking beings and to deny that side of ourselves would be to reject part of God's creative work. The Catholic faith embraces the fact of the natural world as made by God. Thus, faith and science should not contradict, but compliment. If one seems to negate the other, there is a misunderstanding somewhere. It's one of the things Rob and I love about being Catholic. One of our favorite songs has the line, "The profoundest act of worship is to try to understand."
Much of the perceived contradiction probably stems from the bad reputation the Catholic Church got for its treatment of Galileo. However, the Galileo case is much more complex than simply the Church denying heliocentric theory because it "didn't agree with Scripture." I've read several accounts and interpretations, each different according to the historian's point of view: The Church was too attached to Aristotelian theory; Galileo went too far by directly challenging the authority of the Pope in writing; Galileo insisted he could interpret Scripture better than the Pope; the Church was afraid of anything that contradicted its authority, even in the area of science... The point is that it was not just--if ever--a case of science contradicting Scripture. Copernicus, who proposed the heliocentric theory well before Galileo, was a monk and was not punished for his views.
One thing that is fact, though, is that Galileo was not able to prove heliocentric theory with his evidence. His theories were later proven in the 1800s with stronger telescopes.
The Catholic Church has always taught that reason (logic) and faith need to stand together. Much of the Church's intellectual history is wrapped into scientific thought today, although many scientists and laymen don't realize it. St. Albert the Great and St. Thomas Aquinas pioneered the scientific method. Mendel, a monk, conducted one of the first systematic studies of genetics. The Vatican has its own observatory, and it supports scientific research across the globe--and across faith lines--via the Pontifical Academy. Even today there are scientist religious. In fact, Brother Guy Consolmagno, a famous astronomer and science fiction aficionado, is going to write a back-cover blurb for our book. So science, and science fiction, is definitely something that the Church can accept and even support.
Rob and I believe the Church not only has a presence in science, but will have a presence in space once Mankind leaves the Earth for the other planets and the stars. After all, wherever humans go, they will want and need faith leadership. An online search of the Vatican archives produced 2300 documents about space science, 737 about "space exploration" and one specifically on space colonization. Several Popes have spoken at international conventions on the topic, and the Pontifical Academy holds conferences about it. The late Pope John Paul II summed it up in his address to the delegates of the Interagency Consultant Group in 1996:
…we live in a very special moment. Using the talents given by God, people of science have been able to develop unprecedented means of obtaining knowledge. Extraordinary means of transportation and communication have been developed. Computers have reached capacities and speeds previously unimaginable. Serious plans can now be made for space stations, space colonies, and for manned missions to planets as far away as Mars. Scientists and technologists are developing the possibilities of making the whole planetary system a home for the human family. But all of these developments will lead to truly significant results only if they are employed within the frame-work of a new humanism, where spiritual, moral, philosophical, aesthetic, and scientific values are developed in harmony, and where there is a profound respect for the freedom and rights of the human person.
Infinite Space, Infinite God is not about the conflict between science and religion, because Rob and I don't think there is a conflict. The real challenge is not in resolving science to faith, but, as the late Pope John Paul said, in allowing faith to guide our curiosity and the fruits of our discoveries--or to deal with the aftermath of irresponsibility. That, in fact, is where many stories found their conflicts.
So we would have to say that there's no contradiction so much as the perception of a contradiction, encouraged by a society trying to segregate faith and fact. (Or to force facts to squeeze into their narrow definition of faith.) However, as faith-filled scientists and works like Infinite Space, Infinite God and others by LGG members confront this contradiction, we will again come to understand that faith and science are indeed important for a bright future.
Infinite Space, Infinite God, edited by Karina and Robert Fabian, is out in e-book right now. It comes out in print August 15. For more, go to http://isigsf.tripod.com. To order, go to www.twilighttimesbooks.com.
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