by Jason Joyner | Feb 21, 2007 | Blog, CSFF
I wanted to title today’s post “where the map begins” for reasons that will hopefully soon become clear!
As we’ve discussed WheretheMapEnds the last 2 days, I’ve pondered the discussion of Christian speculative fiction we’re having in the tour. It’s not just this tour, but prior discussions at A Christian Worldview of Fiction, Speculative Fiction, and other places that have touched on it.
In Jeff Gerke’s work at WtME, we have a true fan and advocate for speculative fiction in the CBA. He has a vision for further work in this arena. For those of us on the tour and other readers out there who want to see fantastic adventures in sci-fi and fantasy with Kingdom inspiration and execution, where do we fit in all this?
I think it goes back to Becky’s posts on Promotion. The CBA has its constituency, and it serves it well. For the market to realize other niches are out there, those of us who desire good spec fic within CBA are going to, in part, make it happen.
First of all, the Lord in heaven is in control, and His will and ways are paramount. It is important for us to pray into this.
Also, I am reminded of situations like the series Firefly. A show that developed a following in its all-too-brief network life, it was given another chance in the movie Serenity because fanboys (and girls) clamored for more of Joss Whedon’s world.
Without that passion and activism, it probably wouldn’t have happened. That came to me today – all of the wishin’ and hopin’ for CBA to rise up to meet this groundswell of support won’t happen. Unless we actively show this “groundswell”.
We are doing are part by being part of the CSFF tour (Becky’s probably doing more than her fair share :D). Can we do more? Maybe.
1- Writing awesome spec fic that the editors just can’t pass on.
2- Letting publishers know our feelings.
3- Supporting the vanguards that are out there (Kathy Tyers, Karen Hancock, Wayne Thomas Batson come to mind).
That’s my thoughts for today. I’m sure I’ll have others some other time. No deadlines given. I’ve enjoyed this tour immensely, and encourage you to check out other tourmates!
Nissa Annakindt
Jim Black
Grace Bridges
Jackie Castle
Valerie Comer
Karri Compton
CSFF Blog Tour
Gene Curtis
Chris Deanne
Janey DeMeo
Tessa Edwards
April Erwin
Kameron M. Franklin
Linda Gilmore
Beth Goddard
Marcus Goodyear
Andrea Graham
Todd Michael Greene
Leathel Grody
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Sharon Hinck
Christopher Hopper
Kait
Karen
K. D. Kragen
Tina Kulesa
Kevin Lucia and The Bookshelf Reviews 2.0 – The Compendium
Rachel Marks
Shannon McNear
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Eve Nielsen
John Ottinger
Robin Parrish
Cheryl Russel
Hanna Sandvig
Mirtika Schultz
James Somers
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Daniel I. Weaver
Timothy Wise
Rachelle
D.G.D. Davidson
John W. Otte
by Jason Joyner | Feb 21, 2007 | Blog, CSFF
I wanted to title today’s post “where the map begins” for reasons that will hopefully soon become clear!
As we’ve discussed WheretheMapEnds the last 2 days, I’ve pondered the discussion of Christian speculative fiction we’re having in the tour. It’s not just this tour, but prior discussions at A Christian Worldview of Fiction, Speculative Fiction, and other places that have touched on it.
In Jeff Gerke’s work at WtME, we have a true fan and advocate for speculative fiction in the CBA. He has a vision for further work in this arena. For those of us on the tour and other readers out there who want to see fantastic adventures in sci-fi and fantasy with Kingdom inspiration and execution, where do we fit in all this?
I think it goes back to Becky’s posts on Promotion. The CBA has its constituency, and it serves it well. For the market to realize other niches are out there, those of us who desire good spec fic within CBA are going to, in part, make it happen.
First of all, the Lord in heaven is in control, and His will and ways are paramount. It is important for us to pray into this.
Also, I am reminded of situations like the series Firefly. A show that developed a following in its all-too-brief network life, it was given another chance in the movie Serenity because fanboys (and girls) clamored for more of Joss Whedon’s world.
Without that passion and activism, it probably wouldn’t have happened. That came to me today – all of the wishin’ and hopin’ for CBA to rise up to meet this groundswell of support won’t happen. Unless we actively show this “groundswell”.
We are doing are part by being part of the CSFF tour (Becky’s probably doing more than her fair share :D). Can we do more? Maybe.
1- Writing awesome spec fic that the editors just can’t pass on.
2- Letting publishers know our feelings.
3- Supporting the vanguards that are out there (Kathy Tyers, Karen Hancock, Wayne Thomas Batson come to mind).
That’s my thoughts for today. I’m sure I’ll have others some other time. No deadlines given. I’ve enjoyed this tour immensely, and encourage you to check out other tourmates!
Nissa Annakindt
Jim Black
Grace Bridges
Jackie Castle
Valerie Comer
Karri Compton
CSFF Blog Tour
Gene Curtis
Chris Deanne
Janey DeMeo
Tessa Edwards
April Erwin
Kameron M. Franklin
Linda Gilmore
Beth Goddard
Marcus Goodyear
Andrea Graham
Todd Michael Greene
Leathel Grody
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Sharon Hinck
Christopher Hopper
Kait
Karen
K. D. Kragen
Tina Kulesa
Kevin Lucia and The Bookshelf Reviews 2.0 – The Compendium
Rachel Marks
Shannon McNear
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Eve Nielsen
John Ottinger
Robin Parrish
Cheryl Russel
Hanna Sandvig
Mirtika Schultz
James Somers
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Daniel I. Weaver
Timothy Wise
Rachelle
D.G.D. Davidson
John W. Otte
by Jason Joyner | Feb 20, 2007 | Blog, CSFF, resources, writing craft
WheretheMapEnds is the focus of the CSFF tour this week, and being a blog interested in writing, it is appropriate to highlight the Tools for Writers section of the site.
The following links are the breakdown of this section of WtME:
Books and Conferences for Improving Your Writing
Getting Your Novel Published—A large and detailed article on the entire process of publication, with several subtopic pages that spin off from the main article (see the full list of subtopics below)
Tip of the Week—Read these tips from beginning to end for a great education on the craft of fiction
Editorial Services—Sometimes it just helps to get professional help with your novel; read this page to learn about the WhereTheMapEnds editorial services
Idea Starters and World Builders [New This Month!]—To help spark your creativity and build your amazing worlds (don’t miss the Random Story Generator)
I am always excited to find more resources for the budding writer types. I appreciate the effort of people like Jeff provide for those of us just feeling out way in the murky waters of the publishing world. It’s not like Jeff is a stranger to this. Aside from being an editor for 3 different publishers, he is a published author in his own right under the pen name Jefferson Scott.
I invite you to check out others in the blog tour. Some highlights that I’ve found:
Mirathon – The Mir has a special contest! Also wish her a very happy birthday today!
Rachel Marks – Her very lovely site has a interview with Jeff.
Speculative Faith – See Becky Miller’s post for an exciting opportunity.
Sharon Hinck – She also has an interview with Jeff as well.
I haven’t made it to all my tourmates, so make sure to check out others in the tour as well. See yesterday’s posts for all the participants. I’ll have a little more tomorrow.
by Jason Joyner | Feb 20, 2007 | Blog, CSFF, resources, writing craft
WheretheMapEnds is the focus of the CSFF tour this week, and being a blog interested in writing, it is appropriate to highlight the Tools for Writers section of the site.
The following links are the breakdown of this section of WtME:
Books and Conferences for Improving Your Writing
Getting Your Novel Published—A large and detailed article on the entire process of publication, with several subtopic pages that spin off from the main article (see the full list of subtopics below)
Tip of the Week—Read these tips from beginning to end for a great education on the craft of fiction
Editorial Services—Sometimes it just helps to get professional help with your novel; read this page to learn about the WhereTheMapEnds editorial services
Idea Starters and World Builders [New This Month!]—To help spark your creativity and build your amazing worlds (don’t miss the Random Story Generator)
I am always excited to find more resources for the budding writer types. I appreciate the effort of people like Jeff provide for those of us just feeling out way in the murky waters of the publishing world. It’s not like Jeff is a stranger to this. Aside from being an editor for 3 different publishers, he is a published author in his own right under the pen name Jefferson Scott.
I invite you to check out others in the blog tour. Some highlights that I’ve found:
Mirathon – The Mir has a special contest! Also wish her a very happy birthday today!
Rachel Marks – Her very lovely site has a interview with Jeff.
Speculative Faith – See Becky Miller’s post for an exciting opportunity.
Sharon Hinck – She also has an interview with Jeff as well.
I haven’t made it to all my tourmates, so make sure to check out others in the tour as well. See yesterday’s posts for all the participants. I’ll have a little more tomorrow.
by Jason Joyner | Feb 19, 2007 | Blog, CSFF, resources
I missed last month’s Christian Sci-Fi and Fantasy blog tour, to my chagrin. This time around I’m happy to join with the gang to highlight WhereTheMapEnds.
This site is the brainchild of Jeff Gerke, former fiction acquistion editor for Multinomah, Realms, and NavPress. He has a love for speculative fiction and it shows in all he talks about throughout the site.
It is an impressive work and a good resource for budding fiction writers, particularly those who are working on speculative fiction. One impressive resource is the booklist, which is one of the most comprehensive lists of spec fic I’ve seen online. He even graciously gives a low speed and graphics version of the page, with Amazon links to the works he describes. If you’re looking for good Christian sci-fi or fantasy, this is a great place to start.
The design of the site is very good, although on smaller monitors there’s a little overlap with the newsletter registration sidebar that is noticeable. Picky, picky. Well, Jeff is running a pretty high-class setup there, so he needs to polish it up as nice as possible, IMHO.
I’ll point out some other great features presently, but check out these fine blogging folk below for more insight into WheretheMapEnds. Oh, and don’t miss my review of Abiding Darkness here.
Nissa Annakindt
Jim Black
Grace Bridges
Jackie Castle
Valerie Comer
Karri Compton
CSFF Blog Tour
Gene Curtis
Chris Deanne
Janey DeMeo
Tessa Edwards
April Erwin
Kameron M. Franklin
Linda Gilmore
Beth Goddard
Marcus Goodyear
Andrea Graham
Todd Michael Greene
Leathel Grody
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Sharon Hinck
Christopher Hopper
Kait
Karen
K. D. Kragen
Tina Kulesa
Kevin Lucia and The Bookshelf Reviews 2.0 – The Compendium
Rachel Marks
Shannon McNear
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Eve Nielsen
John Ottinger
Robin Parrish
Cheryl Russel
Hanna Sandvig
Mirtika Schultz
James Somers
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Daniel I. Weaver
Timothy Wise
Rachelle
D.G.D. Davidson
John W. Otte
by Jason Joyner | Feb 19, 2007 | Blog, CSFF, resources
I missed last month’s Christian Sci-Fi and Fantasy blog tour, to my chagrin. This time around I’m happy to join with the gang to highlight WhereTheMapEnds.
This site is the brainchild of Jeff Gerke, former fiction acquistion editor for Multinomah, Realms, and NavPress. He has a love for speculative fiction and it shows in all he talks about throughout the site.
It is an impressive work and a good resource for budding fiction writers, particularly those who are working on speculative fiction. One impressive resource is the booklist, which is one of the most comprehensive lists of spec fic I’ve seen online. He even graciously gives a low speed and graphics version of the page, with Amazon links to the works he describes. If you’re looking for good Christian sci-fi or fantasy, this is a great place to start.
The design of the site is very good, although on smaller monitors there’s a little overlap with the newsletter registration sidebar that is noticeable. Picky, picky. Well, Jeff is running a pretty high-class setup there, so he needs to polish it up as nice as possible, IMHO.
I’ll point out some other great features presently, but check out these fine blogging folk below for more insight into WheretheMapEnds. Oh, and don’t miss my review of Abiding Darkness here.
Nissa Annakindt
Jim Black
Grace Bridges
Jackie Castle
Valerie Comer
Karri Compton
CSFF Blog Tour
Gene Curtis
Chris Deanne
Janey DeMeo
Tessa Edwards
April Erwin
Kameron M. Franklin
Linda Gilmore
Beth Goddard
Marcus Goodyear
Andrea Graham
Todd Michael Greene
Leathel Grody
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Sharon Hinck
Christopher Hopper
Kait
Karen
K. D. Kragen
Tina Kulesa
Kevin Lucia and The Bookshelf Reviews 2.0 – The Compendium
Rachel Marks
Shannon McNear
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Eve Nielsen
John Ottinger
Robin Parrish
Cheryl Russel
Hanna Sandvig
Mirtika Schultz
James Somers
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Daniel I. Weaver
Timothy Wise
Rachelle
D.G.D. Davidson
John W. Otte
