New Editing/Mentoring Service!

If you want to write a novel, or if you've started and need some support, check out Joyce Magnin's new Editing and Mentoring Services.  Joyce is a terrific writer and teacher. She's tough, but she knows her stuff.  Joyce has published seven adult novels and two middle grade novels.  She also teaches at conferences and offers one day workshops. Joyce makes even the most difficult aspects of writing easier to understand. She's encouraging, but doesn't allow you to stay where you are. She pushes you to better yourself and cheers you on when you do. You can't get better than Joyce!

http://joycemagnin.blogspot.com/p/editing-and-mentoring.html 

What kind of fantasy should we write?

I just read an interesting article on fiction and the Bible. http://www.compellingtruth.org/Bible-fiction.html

In this article, the writer talks about people in the Bible who told stories, or parables. These stories, while fiction, were used to teach some truth. I believe this is the same with fantasy stories. We can reveal great truths in fantasy at the same time we engage and entertain.

As a Christian person, whatever I write is filtered through my Christian worldview. That includes my fantasy, whether I mention God and the Bible or not.  Just like the book of Esther, which never mentions God by name, my fantasy reveals my faith and love for God and His truth.

How do you handle telling the truth in your fantasy?

ACFW Conference 2013

hey FFFers - I attended the ACFW conference (American Christian Fiction Writers) this past weekend in Indianapolis, IN, and it was terrific! I met some other speculative authors and hope they will join us.  I'm also going to get this blog started again.

I wanted to let you know THREE editors are interested in my fantatsy novel, Fairyeater! I'm totally excited and working on the proposals. I also met an agent this summer at the Philly conference and am hoping she'll like my writing enough to represent me.

So, let's get things going again. I'll be posting once a week unless I have news that needs telling.

What are you all up to?

A Must Read Blog Post

hey FFFers! I'm sharing a link for a blog post about writing horror stories from a Christian perspective. It's an excellent post for all of us, whether we write fantasy, sci-fi or horror.

I look forward to your opinion on the post.

http://historythrutheages.blogspot.com/2013/04/why-horror-story-is-not-necessarily-of.html

I'm back and ready to get started again!

hey FFFers - after a l-o-n-g time away, I'm back and hoping I have the kinks in my blog worked out. I want to back to our discussions! Let's get right into it.

Whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable. I try to work these things into my writing by having my characters learn them without my saying they are learning them.

During a writing exercise with my group that meets once a year, our mentor gave us something that helped me a lot. She said, without thinking about it, writing down five movies you could watch over and over again. Then look at them and see if there is a common thread.

I did that, and while the movies I selected were different from each other, the common thread was self discovery. And yes, my characters all learn something about themselves. They discover they are more than what they thought. The one true God has made them unique and equipped to do what was planned for them to do.

I also focus on the verse that says, there is no greater love than laying down your life for a friend. I believe that sums up all the things we're to focus on in Philppians 4:8.

I want my readers to srive along with my characters and come out of my books feeling like they, too, can do what God has called them to do.

How do you work in the things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely and admirable into your stories?

Summer Reading

Hey FFFers - before we go on with talking about writing fantasy, and because I'm up to my eyeballs with summer theatre and my husband's health issues, let's talk about some good books. 

Right now, my reading consists of my script. But after the show is done and we're on vacation, I'm planning to read Harriet Beamer Takes the Bus by Joyce Magnin, Cooking the Books by Bonnie Calhoun and a nonfiction book, Unleashing the Writer Within by Cec Murphey.  I may reread The Hunger Games.  Depends on how busy my family keeps me and how often I can get to the pool by myself.

Good writers are avid readers. We can read to learn, to enjoy, to glean what we can from those who have gone on before us. So, let's hear from everyone! What are you reading now? What are you planning to read?

Yay! It's working again!

hey FFFers - I can finally post something new!  I want to update you on what's been going on with me before getting onto the next thing in fantasy writing.

I attended the Colorado Christian Writer's Conference in May - on faculty - and taught a workshop on writing fantasy. It was great. I also met with several editors and was asked for the full of my YA fantasy novel, Fairyeater. I'm super jazzed and will keep you posted.

An agent I signed up to meet with ended up with pneumonia and couldn't make it, so I signed up for a phone conference when I got home. I spoke with her assistant for almost an hour and was asked for three proposals: Fairyeater, a middle grade novel and a nonfiction book. I'm also waiting to hear and hoping it won't take too long.

I'd love to see more first paragraphs that show us something about your main character, so please send me something and I'll take it apart like I did for Russell in the previous post.