The Marcher Lords of England were knights given land at the edge of the kingdom. These brave, devoted warriors were set as the first line of defense against menace from raiding tribes in Scotland and Wales. They were placed in the frontier, without an easy life of a regular noble, charged with clearing the way and establishing their hold on new land.

This is according to Jeff Gerke’s website, Marcher Lord Press, a new Christian publisher for speculative fiction. This is the stand that Jeff is taking in his love for exciting stories that aren’t your typical Christian worldview title.

From the site:

What is Christian speculative fiction, you ask? It’s the “weird” stuff: fantasy, science fiction, time travel, spiritual warfare, alternate history, chillers, superhero fiction, near-future technothrillers, and supernatural thrillers. All the Christian stories that are off the edge of the map.

This is a unique, daring venture his part. Marcher Lord Press is purposely smaller in order to have a lower overhead to be able to support the speculative fiction genre that is often short-changed in Christian book stores. It is a print on demand publisher, meaning that it will be printed when you order it. It is not a vanity press (the type of publisher that an author PAYS in order to see their book in print). The authors are truly solicited and paid.

Jeff Gerke is a visionary and a risk-taker. He sees the great potential in well-crafted stories that dare to go into realms that don’t include prairie and Amish romances. I am hopeful to see more speculative fiction (such as Robin Parrish, Jeff Overstreet, and George Bryan Polivka) picked up in the regular CBA/Christian fiction market. However, I am very excited to see someone like Jeff stand up and make a way for some intriguing tales to find readers who like something a little outside of the ordinary. I am convinced that the realms of sci-fi and fantasy offer great opportunity to share powerful spiritual truth in a way that flows from the story, not forced upon it. I hope you will take some time to check out Marcher Lord.

Tomorrow, I’ll share about the launch books for Marcher Lord Press, why you need to mark October 1st on your calendar, and the joy of PRIZES!!! Don’t miss out!

Also, see my fellow tourmates for more.