Novel Journey: Christian Speculative Fiction Panel -- Part Two

Novel Journey's Christian speculative fiction (sci-fi, fantasy, and horror), panel Part Two IS UP, featuring Rebecca Miller, Jeff Gerke, and myself:
Christian Speculative Fiction Panel -- Part Two

Part one generated 400 new Novel Journey hits, and thirty-three comments. I take that as a sign that genre fans don't hang in literary circles.

Revisiting my interview with Lena Nelson Dooley!

Lena offered me another opportunity to interview with her when Forever Richard came out and I must say it was, as usual, a most enjoyable experience. More than that, it allowed me another opportunity to hear from fans. I just went back and found this posted:


Danielle (Dani)

I have both Never Ceese and Forever Richard and am totally in LOVE with them!!! I have always loved the use of Werewolves/Vampires/Pirates/etc. in the Christian market. My opinion is that it was about time a Christian had the guts to try and the talent to pull it off. I would love to see these become movies, and being a Christian and an aspiring actress I would definitely encourage it.

Great job Mrs. Dent! God bless!


Thank you so much Dana. I would like to say, however, that I don't consider myself neither brave nor having guts. I simply wrote a story I thought sounded really cool and tried to get it published. I'd no plans of offending anyone with it and am glad I didn't. Also, just so Danielle will know, there won't be any stories like mine coming through the bigger Christian publishers so if you enjoy my work, you'll need to really, really support all Christian publishers. It's the only way you'll see anything like what I write. :)

Anne Rice has a question.

Anne Rice is known for talking and responding to fans. She had an interesting question on facebook today which I blogged about here.

Local Kick-off book signing at B&N!

You may click on the image of the store below to get all the information.



If you are local then come visit with Mayor Gene McGee as well. He will also be in attendance to show his support for local talent and because he lives in my neighborhood and I twisted his arm. He didn't stand a chance. :) Yet thanks to our fine mayor, I can actually have a kick-off book signing at a LOCAL B&N as this very B&N used to be in Jackson.

Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee

See ya'll there. (That would be the "correct" southern spelling of ya'll. Deal with it.)

Published For St. Patty's Day

Natalia (short story, March 2009, Wayfarer’s Journal e-zine)
My seventh published work of fiction--and this one's free!

http://www.wayfarersjournal.com/
http://www.wayfarersjournal.com/creednat.htm

Biblical cyberpunk: near-future high-tech dystopian sci-fi featuring a direct interface between the computer and human mind.

See if you can tell which character in this story was inspired by my daughter. 8D

Anne Rice to publish thriller/fantasy in fall! Oh yeah!

OH MY GOSH!

Look what I saw on facebook!


Yes! That's correct. Mrs. Anne Rice herself is coming out with a suspense/fantasy/Anne Rice type thriller written from a very different Anne Rice perspective. And what a wonderful time for her to come out with it too since Christian bookstores can now put books other than those produced by CBA and ECPA affiliated publishers on their shelf so long as they're distributed through Ingram/Spring Arbor.

Don't know if Mrs. Rice will submit her book to Ingram/Spring Arbor though (every book has to be deemed "socially acceptable" unless it comes through a CBA or ECPA affiliated publisher)since she'll clearly have a huge readership without ever getting into a Christian bookstore (she'll have to be distributed through Ingram/Spring Arbor to gain access.)

I suppose I should tell her, as if she's even worried about it, that Ingram/Spring Arbor only looks for Christian content and affiliation to a particular market doesn't matter. I for one know I'd like to see her in ALL bookstores and can not wait for this next book.

So check out her facebook post and say hi and tell her Sue Dent sent you. :D

Christian Radio Interview & the Rise of Christian Horror

There's a very good Christian radio interview of Christian sci-fi novelists Mike Lynch and Brandon Barr about their Christian sci-fi novel, When the Sky Fell (Silverleaf books, 2009), re-airing tonight at 10:00 PM. Here's a note from Mike himself:

"For those who didn't have a chance to listen to Brandon and mine's radio interview for our upcoming book, you have two more opportunities to hear it. Not only do we talk about the book, but also the importance of promoting Christian Science Fiction. You can listen to the interview on http://www.returnoftheking/ radio.com -- Sunday, March 15 at 7:00 p.m. (Pacific Coast Time)."--Michael Lynch

I got to ask them some questions in Web chat while they are on the air. 8D

* * *

Here is a tid-bit that may appeal to the Sue Dent crowd. From writer Greg Mitchell:

“Hey, all, thought this was a little noteworthy. The latest issue of "Rue Morgue" a magazine dedicated to horror film, books, music, etc. contains an article called "The Rise of Christian Horror". I don't have a copy, unfortunately, but my atheist friend flipped through it (looking for my name, natch---no it's not in there...sigh. ..) and said it looked like a pretty positive slant on the sub-genre. If any of you snag a copy, be a pal and share with the rest of us. I'm dying to know what it says. "Rue Morgue" is pretty well-respected in the horror community because it takes an intelligent approach to the subject matter as opposed to something like Fangoria that is pretty much gore-porn.If you're looking for the issue, it's the one that features "Martyrs" on the cover. Their site is http://www.rue-morgue.com/. ”-- Underground Anthology contributor, Greg Mitchell

Have a restful Sunday, and great week. 8 )

Faith,
f

Ingram/Spring Arbor

Oops. I said I was in a Christian bookstore. Sorry. Not quite yet. Neither me nor my publisher knew that Christian books being distributed by Ingram didn't automatically go into Ingram/Spring Arbor for distribution. No. You have to actually submit books to them to make sure they're "socially acceptable."

I have to tell you, my stomach did a little flip when I heard this until I went to Ingram/Spring Arbors website and read this:

Spring Arbor Distributors is more than the leading distributor of Christian books and other products to the industry represented by the Christian Booksellers Association (CBA) and other Christian outlets.

Okay so at least the biggest distributor of Christian product recognizes that there is CBA and then there are other Christian outlets. What a relief! I was beginning to worry that CBA's restrictive guidelines followed Spring Arbor over when they combined with Ingram in 1997. I also worried that the money CBA could bring in had convinced Ingram to leave all non-affiliated Christian publishers (other Christian outlets) and authors out in the cold?

But according to this article, I'd have to say that is not the case at all! If Ingram/Spring Arbor were in fact catering to CBA retailers only you probably wouldn't see comments like the one made in the article I linked to above. An article where comments like this were made:

Some CBA presses have recently opted to leave Spring Arbor for the competition - Appalachian, Riverside and Anchor, a situation that mirrors the exodus after Ingram first bought Spring Arbor.

Or this comment:

One CBA source said, "Ingram has never accepted the fact that CBA publishers have their own way of operating."

Yet it seems like they do recognize this fact and they recognize this isn't how they want to operate. I called Ingram/Spring Arbor today (because I'm paranoid LOL) to verify that one didn't have to be CBA affiliated to be deemed "socially acceptable." There answer was a clear and distinct, "no!" The book simply needed to have Christian content. How cool is that!

"There should be no problem," they said, "with my book being deemed "socially acceptable." I've stopped short of being very happy. I've been duped by this statement before. Needless to say, I'll believe it when I see it.

It does sound encouraging though. If this is how Ingram/Spring Arbor operates, all I can say is thank-you for not cowering to the powers that be.

Lost Genre Guild Discussion Board Wins Award!

The Preditor & Editor Readers Choice Awards are held every January. In the 2009 category of writer’s forums, the Lost Genre Guild discussion board and critique group won a Top-Ten!!!

I founded the Guild in September of 2006 as a gathering place on the Web for artists and fans of Christian speculative fiction: sci-fi, horror, and fantasy. Genre fans have had a long wait before CBA publishers released such novels, and there are many other good titles from Independent houses. Do a little Googling to find plenty of titles written for Christian audience, and if you know anyone drawn to the stuff, usually gamers and rock music fans for some reason, hook us up, yo?

Faith,
f

Looking for non-affiliated Christian Bookstores.

If you own a Christian Bookstore that isn't affiliated with either CBA or ECPA please let me know. I've got quite a few readers who want to support their Christian bookstores but can't do so because they're having trouble locating one that isn't affiliated and therefore carries the the kind of fiction/sci-fi/fantasy/horror and even non-fiction they enjoy reading and so it's up to you. You order a few copies of Forever Richard for your shelves and I'll tell them where to go get it.

And specifically, if you know of a non-affiliated Christian Bookstore in the Minneapolis area who'd like to have me come by and sign while I'm up there (tentatively around the first of April) let me know NOW! As it is, I'll be hitting only general market bookstores. I don't have time to call each Christian bookstore to find out which ones aren't affiliated and will therefore carry work produced by non-affiliated authors.

I'll also start listing bookstores on my website who I know have ordered a copy or two of Forever Richard so readers will know where to find it.

God Bless,
Sue Dent

Forever Richard is available at Manny's!

Forever Richard is available at this fine INDEPENDENT Christian Bookstore.



No. Nothing has changed. Any Christian Bookstore that isn't indpendently owned is affiliated and will only stock affiliated books (books produced by CBA and/or ECPA affiliated publishers or at least this has been my experience.) Independent Christian bookstores can order whatever their readers want! :)

How cool is that!

Thanks Steve at Manny's and thanks Dub for letting me know about Manny's.

When you visit Steve, ask him how the name Manny's came into being. It's a neat story.

And tell Steve I said hey. :)

Addendum: My bad. Some independent Christian bookstores are actually affiliated so you actually have to ask each Christian bookstore if you want to know whether they'll have the kind of fiction you're looking for. :)