New approach - lots of news!

Hi guys, and here we are back again by popular request. But it's not going to be the same-old same-old we've had before. I'll be moving back to one post a week with all the news, and hopefully some commentary on it as well rather than just dry links.

Without further ado, here is the amazing new trailer for To Darkness Fled by Jill Williamson - put together by several of her readers and members of the LGG. Well done guys!

Other news this week includes the release of the long-awaited Tales of the Dim Knight by Adam and Andrea Graham. Trust me, you don't want to miss this one. Check out their post on Top 10 Reasons to Love Tales of the Dim Knight. And be aware of the beverage ban, for your own safety!

Also newly appeared lately is War of Attrition by the legendary Frank Creed. This is an amazing book for sure, continuing right on from his award-winning debut Flashpoint. Plenty of heart-pounding action and heartfelt raw emotion in this one. Here's the link to grab it on Amazon.

Facebook News: Both the Lost Genre Guild and Speculative Faith have taken a new run at FB pages this week. The LGG one is here (or use the box at the left of the blog) and the Spec Faith one is here.

Both promise to be useful sources of updates and places to hang out and talk. Be sure you go over and "Like" them both - note that in the case of the LGG, this is a new page because the old one got overrun with spam and we couldn't remember who was the admin!

Diane Graham of the New Authors Fellowship has created an Anvil Review and Interview for Fred Warren, author of The Muse. Comment on either post for a chance to win one of two signed copies.

Bill McGrath announces the release of his novel Eretzel on Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Eretzel-Sword-Fire-ebook/dp/B0046LU8II

Rick Copple got a new review for Transforming Realities: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/6040268/transforming_realities_by_r_l_copple.html?cat=38

Sherry Thompson also got a review of Earthbow Vol. 2 at http://vantiltool.blogspot.com/2010/11/review-of-earthbow-volume-2.html by Forrest Schultz.

Guest Post, anyone?

If you'd like to write something for this blog, please get in touch! Make use of our wide readership and get yourself some exposure.

News for October 1, 2010

Guildie Chris Solaas has been interviewed at Examiner.com about the writing life:
http://www.examiner.com/christian-writing-in-memphis/the-unburied-talents-of-chris-solaas-1

This week's update from Laser & Sword ezine:

The Great Search, Part Four (http://lasersword.adamsweb.us/the-great-search-part-four/) Captain Justice meets up with an old friend--and a new rival.

The Emerald Avenger v. The Corruptibles, Part Three (http://lasersword.adamsweb.us/the-emerald-avenger-v-the-corruptibles-part-three/) The Emerald Avenger meets the Invisibility Master's missiles.

Countdown, Part Thirteen (http://lasersword.adamsweb.us/countdown-part-thirteen/): Snyder and Kendall pursue the mad Dr. Rawlings.

News for April 28th, 2010

The CFBA tour is featuring The Sword by Bryan M. Litfin. Two of the reviews can be found at these links:
Review by Andrea Graham: http://askandrea.adamsweb.us/the-sword-by-bryan-m-litfin/
Review by Becky Miller: http://rebeccaluellamiller.wordpress.com/2010/04/21/cfba-tour-the-sword/
You can look up more linked reviewers at http://www.christianfictionblogalliance.com/.


Kat Heckenbach is in the papers again: check it out at http://brandonnews2.tbo.com/content/2010/apr/21/161420/valrico-mom-pens-inspiration---and-horror/.


Jill Williamson paid a visit to Peg Phifer's blog for Genre Month: http://goaheadandwearthepurple.blogspot.com/2010/04/genre-jill-williamson.html.


And Stuart Stockton has a Facebook fan page you need to be sure and join: http://bit.ly/bPRSDz.

News for March 15th, 2010

Laser and Sword Magazine Updates: 
March 11, 2010 - Farewell Jirel, Part Four, the latest installment of the Rise of the Judge web serial.

A juvenile delinquent caught meting out vigilante justice gets inducted into a dystopian Army under threat of a noose. Can a double agent get Snyder back on track? Will Snyder survive to discover his destiny?

March 9, 2010 - Powerhouse Carries on, Part seven,  the latest installment of the Tales of the Dim Knight web serial.

A mild-mannered janitor discovers a symbiotic alien cylinder that brings his dreams of being a superhero true. One question haunts: can there be such a thing as a good Symbiot, even if he isn't black tar?

March 8, 2010 - The Fifth Column, Part Nine, the latest installment of the Order of the Sword web serial.

A comic book CEO seeks to defeat terrorism as the Sword by uniting the world's greatest superheros. Will he learn bad guys masquerade as good guys before the traitor in their midst sends the heroes to their doom?

Updates from Mindflights Magazine:

"Balance of Power"
 by Lindsey Duncan
As a mediocre Lightweaver and a former swordswoman, Tanasdra is entirely expendable as a stand-in for the Eye, the most gifted foreteller in centuries. But the ruse won't be enough.


"Patience" by Rosalind Casey (A Student Contributor)
She comforts herself in the waiting

"The Never-People"
 by Douglas Kolacki
How do you tell people about heaven when they never die?

Announcing the Idahope Writers' Conference 2010

February 27 @ 8:30 a.m. at Grace Bible Church at 4262 North Eagle Road in Boise

Want to become a better writer? Would you like to meet other Treasure Valley Christian Writers? Come to this year’s mini-conference.

We have two fabulous keynote speakers this year:

• Donna Fletcher Crow is the author of more than thirty books, including Christian romance, historical fiction, and non-fiction. Her most famous book is the epic, Glastonbury: A Novel of Christian England. Her latest book, an ecclesiastical mystery entitled A Very Private Grave will be released later this year.
• Jill Williamson is the author of By Darkness Hid, a Christian Fantasy novel. She will be representing Marcher Lord Press. She is a former editor for Wild Rose Press. She also writes the Novel Teen Book Review blog. Jill has just signed a movie option for her Blood of the Kings Trilogy.

Also speaking at the conference are:

• Jon Colson is a professional author and speaker from Meridian, Idaho.
• Ray Ellis is a member of ACFW and Idahope Writers. He is a 20-year veteran of law enforcement and lead investigator for the city of Meridian in crimes against children.
• Sherrie Lord is “a Christian Biker Writer” who writes full throttle Christian Romance. She has two published books. More information on Sherrie is available at her websitesherrielord.com
• Adam Graham is President of Idahope Writers and was published in the 2007 Anthology Light at the Edge of Darkness along with his wife Andrea. He and his wife, Andrea collaborate on Laser and Sword Magazine. He is a columnist for Pajamas Media and has been quoted in the Los Angeles Times, and the New York Times Best-seller Do The Right Thing.

The cost of attending the 2010 conference is $20, which includes a one year membership in the Idahope Christian Writer’s group (normally $10.) NNU students are elligible for a special $10 rate. Your membership will help you to continue to grow as a writer through regular meetings which provide opportunities for learning and fellowship. Please note this does not include the $50 membership dues of our parent organization, ACFW.

Andra Marquardt says: My novella A Reason to Hope is now available on Kindle at: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00213K6JY. For other electronic options including the first 10 pages for free: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1412

Donna Sundblad says: Just wanted to share that my YA fantasy novel, Beyond the Fifth Gate, received a 4 Star Review at Teens Read Too! You can read it here:
http://www.teensreadtoo.com/BeyondFifthGate.html

Marcher Lord Press is poised to release its second list of Christian speculative novels. The excitement has been growing as the time left on the countdown clock has been dwindling. And now we're just hours away from launch. MLP's second season has received unprecedented pre-release coverage. Library Journal, one of the publishing industry's top 2 magazines--and the most influential magazine for library book orders--has mentioned Marcher Lord Press in its April 1 issue. And not just one mention, either. Nor two. But three mentions in one issue. This is almost incomprehensible for any Christian publishing company, but it's all but impossible for a small press in its second season. One of these mentions is a review for By Darkness Hid by Jill Williamson, one of the three titles in the season 2 list. Library Journal calls By Darkness Hid a "thoroughly entertaining and smart tale" and gives it the coveted "highly recommended" stamp of approval. Incredible. Advance praise continues to come in for the other books in the second list as well. Christian fantasy novelist Donita K. Paul says of Starfire by Stuart Vaughn Stockton: "I was thoroughly enmeshed in this out-of-this-world world!" And an early reader of Dark Man by Marc Schooley calls it simply "Amazing!"
Are you ready for these books? They're every inch as exciting as the launch list--and the covers are every bit as beautiful. As a fan of Christian speculative fiction, you'll want all three of these titles on your shelf. They're coming on April 1. No foolin'! Keep your eye on the Marcher Lord Press store!

Karina Fabian says: I'm pleased to announce the Magic, Mensa and Mayhem book tour starts April 1! I have 40-some stops over 30 days covering blogs, podcasts, SecondLife and Twitter. You can find the schedule on www.dragoneyepi.net or www.fabianspace.com. Drop by a couple of the blogs on that day and read the interviews with me or my main character, Vern, the guest posts on everything from writing funny to developing my world, and enjoy yourself. I'm also having a contest for those who purchase the book. I'll have 10 trivia questions posted at my DragonEye, PI website, and will take answers through May 15. The ones with the correct answers will go into a drawing to get the next DragonEye, PI book, Live and Let Fly, for free.

And for writers, Andrea Graham has posted a great article called Still Life of an Adrenaline Rush.

Blogs and Online Happenings

Today, Wednesday January 14th, from 7-9 PM EST, Karina Fabian will be interviewed on The Writers' Jungle. They're going to talk about editing, anthologies and DragonEye, PI stories. There is a call-in number, so you can ask your questions, too! (646) 929-1455 or http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Lea-Schizas

Penny Lockwood Ehrenkranz wrote a review of Terri Main's writing prompts book, Creative Calisthenics. Penny said: "If you are like many writers, you often find yourself at a loss for words..." (more)
She also interviewed Terri about the book at this post.

Deborah Cullins Smith wrote a review of Infinite Realities by R.L. Copple. She says: "The journey was so profound I didn't want it to end..."(more)

The Laser & Sword Magazine of Adam and Andrea Graham now has a Facebook page. It's easy to become a fan and follow the updates this way as an alternative method of subscribing.

Jennifer AlLee hosted guest blogger Grace Bridges with a post about dreams. Here you can leave a comment if you want to be in to win a copy of Faith Awakened. In virtual stasis to escape a deadly virus, an ex-slave finds far more than just survival...

Stuff to read - Sci-fi ezines galore!

Wayfarer's Journal has a new edition out and includes the following stories: Code Seven by Karina and Robert Fabian, The Death Experiment by Vincent Scarsella, Blueprints by A. G. Elrod; plus new poetry by Cindy Emmet Smith and Jack Willard. Also look out for Brandon Barr's essay The Masters: Walter Miller.

Then, just in case you missed it, there's Issue 49 of Raygun Revival with the usual wide range of stories from many authors.

And Frank Creed takes you behind the scenes for a personal introduction to Adam and Andrea Graham, publishers of the Laser & Sword ezine.

I reckon these folks deserve a rousing round of applause for all their hard work putting together these amazing collections of terrific stories for the reading public. Yay for ezines!

New to this blog? Read Welcome to our world to find what we're all about.
News to submit? Yes please! Check out the Submission Guidelines.

Defining Magic in Christian Fiction

Please welcome our first guest blogger of the new era - the one and
only Andrea Graham, as she defines magic according to Biblical principles...

Stage magic: smoke and mirrors. Illusions of natural origin without any supernatural power involved. Only scripture anyone could possibly hang someone who does this on is to avoid even the appearance of evil.

Magic as the Bible defines it: supernatural power given by demons rather than by God. This magic is by definition evil (whatever its color) and is strictly forbidden in the bible with no exceptions. Before the Cross, those who practiced it were to be stoned. After the cross, in Acts, the Church had occultists who repented and embraced Christ burn their spell books, a way of renouncing their old way of life and completely turning their backs on their former allegiance.

Spiritual gift: supernatural power that comes *directly* from God. This is the real deal that the devil seeks to imitate (crudely) and counterfeit via magic. The bible contains very specific lists of supernatural abilities that God gives, plus Christ's miracles--in His first coming, He laid His own power aside relied upon the same Holy
Spirit that empowers His people.

Note the confusion between the first two is precisely why wiccans spell their magic as "magick," to differentiate it from stage variety.

Also, in Fantasy, to be biblical, you mainly need to make it clear that any supernatural power the good guys use comes DIRECTLY from the Lord God (Jehovah/YHWH/Whatever name you give Him). The bad guys can use all the magic they want, but it needs to be the inferior crude imitation that the reality is, or at least the good guys need to make such a distinction and not use the same terms to describe their power.
Now, an apprentice good guy may well have to wonder, "if their power is so inferior, why are they whipping our tails?" (A: because the bad are often better at being bad than we are at being good)

In Science Fiction, you can do technological miracles, which are by definition natural and hence not magic. For instance, in the Order of the Sword (a Laser & Sword serial) the Sword's sidekick, er, equal partner, Revelator invented a nanobiotic device that can detect and interpret brainwaves, which he can mentally block or focus in on to eavesdrop on folks' thoughts. He also has the device set to unconsciously scan the brainwaves of those around him and inform him of any danger. Voilà, demon-free telepathy. Laser & Sword invented this technological miracle because the first draft had our assistant editor (that would be me) threatening to resign.

Of course, God knows everything, and can reveal what He pleases to whom He pleases; we call this prophecy. In practical practice, it takes discernment and a firmly grounded knowledge of God's Word to distinguish between God's power, Satan's counterfeit, and human error.

In Christ's Truth,
Andrea Graham

Audiobooks: a new kind of reading

Today we'll be highlighting some sites where you can listen to stories online. Have fun!

Bill McGrath says: The first chapter of the audio version of my fantasy novel Asulon is
now on YouTube. I've divided the 27 minute chapter into seven segments so they will be easy to download. Each segment is paired with a different illustration from the novel. The audio is done by veteran British actor James Brinkley.
You'll find the first segment of Asulon here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNS69i_VncM&feature=related
The other parts can be found in the Related Videos list on that page.

Also check out The Spirit Blade Underground Podcast - A weekly 30 minute podcast including reviews and conversation about comics, sci-fi and fantasy in all their incarnations, along with a "non-churchy" but truth-centered Bible study.

Don't miss out on a listen to Chion by Irish author Darryl Sloan. It's worth it just for the accent :) And once you're finished with the section available on audio, you can download the e-book free to read the rest. Trust me - you'll want to!

And going back a year or two, but just as hot as ever: the Light at the Edge of Darkness podcast featuring ten short stories by Lost Genre Guild authors as recorded by Adam and Andrea Graham. Just click the Download button for each story.

New Books for Christmas Shopping!

Congratulations to Adam and Andrea Graham on reaching the one-year mark for their zine Laser and Sword! Newly released: the first Annual Edition containing all four issues is available here, or check Adam's storefront to see individual issues.
Stories include The Sword - Sword Comics owner Jesse Miller seeks to defeat terrorism by uniting the world's greatest superheros; Snyder - A juvenile delinquent living in the 78th Year of the Empire, loathes Earth’s dictator; and Mild Mannered Janitor Dave Johnson discovers an symbiotic alien and this superfan’s dreams of being a superhero come true with hilarious results.

David Gelber announces the release of his book ITP Future Hope. What's ITP, you ask? Interdimensional Transport Protocol, of course! Brash astropilot David Sanders travels through interdimensional space to a world he could never imagine and a destiny he could never expect.

Elena Bowman's The Telepaths of Theon, Book 2 of Sarah's Landing, is also now available. Joshua teleports to Earth to inform his Earth family of the desperate decision he must make to ensure their
safety.

And Rick Barry's new book Kiriath's Quest is released today! When King Jekoniah of Xandria is kidnapped by evil Grishnaki, Prince Kiriath resolves to undertake a secret mission into the Grishnaki's valley.