It's a Birthday for Sue Dent!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUE!

The Void

The Void
Mark Mynheir
ISBN-13: 978-1590524008
Multnomah Books (August 21, 2007)
352 pgs। $12.99

Watch for interview to come soon!

Bio:
Mark Mynheir was born and raised on the east coast of Central Forida। Like most boys growing up, Mark enjoyed sports, mainly football and martial arts. In 1983, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and went through basic training at Parris Island, South Carolina. After serving four years in the Marines, Mark changed gears and pursued a career in law enforcement. During his career as a police officer, Mark has worked as a narcotics agent, a S.W.A.T. team member, and a homicide detective.

Over thirteen years ago, during a health crisis involving his oldest son, Mark gave his life to Jesus Christ। Shortly after his conversion, he felt God leading him in a new direction: writing. Now he balances dual careers as a police officer and novelist.

Mark is married to the love of his life and has three fantastic children, and they all currently reside in Central Florida.

Sue Dent here to say, do check out this book. The word on the street is that it's definitely worth the read even for those who don't typically go to CBA affiliated publishers for their Christian fiction. ;)

Frank's new desk & steampunk mouse!

Have you read Flashpoint: Book One of the Underground? It is very strange to see gadgets that I imagined for the near future actually come into being!

Check out the brain-wave tech headset. I'm a visionary!

Emotiv brain-scanning headset
The headset is able to translate a variety of human responses into data a computer can use, from facial expressions to thought, and sends the information wirelessly to a USB dongle.


My new desk

Han Solo desk makes a statement about your skills as a boss.
If you want that message to say "I'm a gigantic nerd!" then you really can't do much better than a desk made to look like Han Solo frozen in carbonite.



My new steampunk mouse

Steampunk mouse adds a twist to traditional steampunk
What makes this steampunk mouse different is that it was designed with more in mind than just copper and pipes. This mouse's steampunk theme is around a furnace.

from the website: DVice

CBA Banned Words: a funny

Found this posted at a blog called Seven angels, three kids, one family.

{CENSORED} on the {CENSORED} {CENSORED}

I’ve managed to acquire some secret documentation!

Minutes For the Second Meeting Of the Forbidden Words List of the Christian Booksellers Association (the CBA)

OVERVIEW:

Project Name: Forbidden Words List
Meeting Date: January 19th, 2008
Subject: validation of intent plus call for additions to prior list

FIRST POINT: Reviewing our mission statement. Statement amended to:

We God’s chosen publishers, in order to portray a more accurate vision of the world to the people who pay us fifteen bucks apiece for books, have gathered together in a spirit of shepherding our weaker brothers. Our customers consider our authors trusted friends whom they have invited into their homes. In order to prevent boycotts or the return of unsold product due to questionable language, it is necessary to codify a list of words which are so shameful that there is no way they can ever be acceptable in any CBA title.

SECOND POINT: Determining additional words for our forbidden list.

Publishing CEO: We need to avoid that word.
CEO’s Attorney: Which word?
CEO: You know…
Attorney: No, I don’t.
An Actual Editor: What does it mean?
CEO: {turns bright pink up to his ears}
Editorial Assistant: Oh! That word.
CEO’s Attorney: That word should definitely go on the list.
CEO: I can’t even stand to type it.
Actual Editor: I still don’t know what word we’re talking about.
CEO: It begins with an E.
Editorial Assistant: The one I was thinking of begins with an I.
Attorney: I’ve taken the liberty of jotting down the two most egregious words.
Actual Editor: Do you really think you should have written them on a pad
that has ‘Things To Do Today’ imprinted across the top?
Attorney: {gasp!} Dear me!
CEO: Hey, watch your mouth!
Legal Secretary: Before we get too far afield, let me read back the list we’ve compiled so far.
General Outcry: NO!!!!!!

[There was a fifteen minute break while the CEO was revived with smelling salts and two editorial assistants treated for trauma-induced deafness.]

THIRD POINT: The current list of forbidden words:
{censored}
{censored}
{censored}
{censored}
{censored}
{censored} even if used in prayer
{censored}
{censored}
{censored}
{censored} because it rhymes with {censored}
{censored}
{censored}
{censored}
{censored}
{censored}
{censored}
{censored}

ACTION ITEMS:
• Read widely to find as many objectionable things as possible (by next meeting)
• Ban said things (by next meeting)
• Provide example of sterilized fiction that thrills and excites non-Christians (pending)

Todd Michael Greene and I

Todd Michael Greene and I first met mid-summer of '06 because of Daniel I. Weaver's anthology project. I joined Weaver's Christian and Biblical spec-fic critique group bearing the improbable name of: Christian_Fic_WRE_Crit_Group. I believe the unwieldy title makes this genre specific critique group the Web's best kept secret for Christian & Biblical spec-fic authors.

Eleven months later Weaver's anthology project became Light at the Edge of Darkness, edited by Cynthia Mackinnon, (June, 2007: The Writer's Café Press). That brings back great memories, literally sweating the late summer's heat, while mentally sweating through the other contributors' critique rounds. Whose fiction would make the grade?
Sidebar: Light at the Edge of Darkness made the Top Ten for Antholgies in this year's Preditors and Editors Readers Poll.

Todd's submission was a short story--I can't recall if the Work-in-Progress was yet titled "The Novelist's Child." In the second of three critique rounds, Greene announced he was pulling his submission from consideration because the story he had to tell had grown to novel-length proportions. I've respected Greene's writing instincts ever since.

Out of the blue, Todd contacted me this week, informing me he'd feature Flashpoint and yours truly *wave* on his blog: A Place Called Fiction. Please do me a favor and smack Mr. Greene's hit counter for me--he's a great guy. Leave a comment and you may win an autographed first edition of Flashpoint.

8D

Meet Mike Roop

Mike grew up around Cleveland, Ohio, the youngest of 5 kids. In 1996 he met his wife-to-be, Dee online; they married and relocated to southern Missouri. Mike and Dee have 3 children (Samantha and twins—Pat and Perry) from her previous marriage, and now have 4 grandchildren. They have 2 children together, Aaron and Gavin. Mike and his family are active members of their local church.

Growing up, his parents encouraged and fostered creativity; he took to drawing and painting, singing and acting, reading and writing. Mike's imagination drew him into not only writing and creating characters in print by prose and visually by illustration, but expanded when he discovered Role-Playing Games. RPGs, a widely misunderstood hobby, managed to combine numerous elements of creativity and boundless imagination.

From 1993 to 1996, Mike was heavily involved in the Gaming Industry by way of involvement with his FLGS - Friendly Local Gaming Shop. He worked with a Veteran Gamer named Frank Koch who Mike still reveres as a mentor. They worked at, and organized, conventions, as well as ran Frank's store, Renegade Gaming Supply, which briefly co-opted space with a new Comic Book store, one of Mike's other loves. But, as all good things must come to an end, Mike's partnership with Frank sadly dissolved when Mike relocated over 800 miles away to southern Missouri.

In 2004 Mike met an online kindred spirit in the way of Brent Wisdom, a young pastor in California who also shared a love of RPGs. Brent had already created an RPG called Spiritual Warfare, a medieval fantasy game, which also had a Wild-West supplement for bringing the concept into the six-shooter era. Mike aided Brent with some editing and proofreading and then created a Modern Era supplement called Last Days. During 2005, Mike fell on some hard times - he lost his job and his internet connection - so Brent had to finish up and release the supplement on his own in 2006.

One of Mike's sisters back in Ohio introduced him to Shoutlife.com, a Christian social networking site. Almost immediately, Mike met Frank Creed and the two hit it off. Mike signed up to develop a Role Playing Game based on Frank's mythos cultivated in Flashpoint: Book One of The Underground.

Mike recently finished creating the Flashpoint RPG, based on Frank Creed's novel of the same name. He aspires to continue creating content for the game in the way of supplements based on the expected sequels, as well as create games for other Lost-Genre books as they become available. He also desires to complete a series of children's adventure books that he has been developing for his kids and grandkids.

Preditors & Editors Poll

Preditors and Editors 2007 Readers’ Poll

The polls have closed and here are a few early results. See if you think there’s a demand for Christian sci-fi, fantasy and horror. Remember, Preditors and Edditors is not a Christian site, and the following people competed by straight-genre.

ANTHOLOGIES (out of about 140 entries):
Infinite Space, Infinite God: 3rd
Light at the Edge of Darkness 8th

ARTIST: (~75)
E.J. Mickels II: 8th
Rachel Marks: 12th

ARTWORK: (~40)
Jade, Rachel Marks: 15th

AUTHOR (~345)
Frank Creed: 19th
Jane Lebak: 35th

FICTION ZINES (~100):
Ray-Gun Revival: 16th
Sword Review: 20th
Dragons, Knights, and Angels: 21st
Fear & Trembling: 23rd
Resident Aliens: 24th

NOVEL SCI-FI (~150):
Flashpoint: Book One of the Underground, Frank Creed: 13th
Windfollower, Carole Macdonnell: 25th

REVIEW SITES (~100):
A Frank Review: 25th

SHORT STORIES (scads):
I won’t break down these Double-Edged Publishing authors by spec-fic sub-genre, but congrats to Jane Lebak, Mike Lynch, T.M. Hunter, Scott M. Sandridge, S.T. Forstner, A.M. Stickel, Michael Merriam, Casey Chan, Steve Poling, David Misialowski, and Richard S. Levine.

ZINE ART (~30)
E.J. Mickels II: 2nd
Ehsan S. Azzuz: 9th
Alex Ruiz: 11th
Mohd Haris Amran: 11th
Daniel Chua Kok Jun: 12th

ZINE EDITOR (~100)
Cook, King and, Glenn Ray-Gun Revival Overlords: 16th
Bill Snodgrass: 17th


His will be done,
Frankcreed.com

The UNDERGROUND Fiction Contest

NEW YEAR’S EVE TERRORIST ATTACK ANNOUNCED

Seattle-Portland Metroplex Terrorist Webwire DEC.31,2036—Panic has taken hold of Seattle residents as they flee the city in response to the FBT’s terrorist alert early this morning. The Security Advisory System isused a RED ALERT at 4:20am (EST) after a Peacekeeper sting operation uncovered what appeared to be plans to detonate an undisclosed type of weapon in the vicinity of the Seattle Space Needle.

An as yet unconfirmed report from a source within the FBT states that the BoC (Body of Christ) terrorist organization is believed to be behind this latest terrorist threat . . .

The above "news headline" is fictional of course! It is the premise for the December issue of The UNDERGROUND newsletter's writing contest. And, there are just 2 weeks left before the fiction contest submissions close.

For more details, check the most recent edition of The UNDERGROUND newsletter.

On another note, you can help us out here at The Writers Cafe Press Authors blog by clicking on the Technorati Profile link below:
Technorati Profile

Thank you!

Can't wait to read the fiction contest entries!

Who Do They Think They Are?

Our friend Sue Dent has been ambushed by one of the big boys: Tommy Nelson.

She's done all the work . . . and they've taken the credit.

The Tennessean ran an article Friday about Eric Wilson. A nice article about a great guy who also happens to be a great author. Eric has a new book coming out that has vampires in it. Except, the publisher I assume, won't let him use the word vampire.

HOWEVER, read this statement from his publicist Katie Shroder: "This is the type of thing that's not out there yet, but we think it's something the market is asking for," she said of Wilson's Jerusalem Undead trilogy.

WHAT?
If Ms Shroder means the first book with vampires in it where the vampires aren't called vampires to accommodate the sensibilities of the CBA demographic, maybe she is right.

If Ms Shroder means the first book with an undead story set in Jerusalem, maybe she is right.

If Ms Shroder means the first book with vampires who can't be called vampires published by a large Evangelical Christian Publishers Association house, she is probably right.

BUT, if she means the first Christian vampire novel marketed to Christians, her statement is blatantly untrue and misleading.

Sue Dent's vampire/ werewolf novel was first published in 2005 and then republished early 2006. She has worked extremely hard to market this book and has received a lot of attention from secular and Christian audiences, including being shortlisted for a Bram Stoker award and being named Book of the Month at the ACFW.

For a large publisher, or spokesperson of that large publisher to suggest that Mr. Wilson's upcoming novel is the first and make it a promotional point is disingenuous at worst and very poor research at best.

Ms Dent has always said that this day would come . . . when Thomas Nelson would take credit for all that she has worked so hard for . . . Ms Dent has opened the doors for TN and not the other way around.

You can't tell me that Tommy Nelson doesn't know about Never Ceese and Sue Dent. In fact, I know they are very much aware of the novel. So why would they make such a patently false statement? Oh yes, I know . . . their big marketing machine. To sell books. To get big press coverage.

Quite quite unchristianly if you ask me.


(Katie Shroder is the publicist for the fiction division of Thomas Nelson.)

Controversy: Author self-promotion

Part I

I've broken this down into a couple of parts so that the post isn't overly long . . .

Promotion is a reality of the Christian publishing industry.

Most authors detest this part of the job.

Most publishers wish they didn't have to spend so much money on marketing.

But we don't always get what we want!

Publishers take risks when putting out a new title. All the background work before a book appears in print on the shelves of your local store or on amazon.com takes months -- and that doesn't even include the author's time writing the book.

Putting books on shelves, whether virtual or pine, costs a lot of money. A lot. 1000s and 1000s. Do publishers and authors not have the right to recover some of that expenditure? Not to discount divine intervention, there is only one way to recoup the cost -- marketing.


Book Awards/ Polls

(The quality and reliability of book awards and polls is a subject of much debate . . . and for discussion in Part II)

There have been many solicitations for votes on SL, on author blogs, in email, on mail groups over the past 7 days. It's that time of year again!

It is good to see authors being brave enough to come out of their writing dens and promote. People do not realize how difficult a task that is for most novelists. It is a necessary part of the job that I, for one, detest. But, it is also my responsibility to self-promote. I created the Media Room for Literary Art on Shoutlife and founded the Lost Genre Guild to help authors with this aspect of their job.

Is there a problem with authors informing their "fans" that their novel or article or blog or . . . has been nominated for an award or in a poll? and, that it is something that they can vote on to show support for a favorite book or author or indicate that they enjoyed a well-written article or well-designed book cover?

I don't think so. I've never once assumed that authors' posts are saying "vote for me even if you haven't a clue about my book or website or article or writing in general; vote for me 'cuz I am lots of fun or because I have a cute cat in my author pic or because I am very attractive or because I recite Scripture in my SL posts."

On my website there is a meter installed that tells my publisher daily hits, pages viewed, referring sites, etc. Interestingly, over the past 7 days my hits have spiked, big time. The majority of these hits come from one referring site: the Preditors and Editors poll. No one can read my entire book on the site, but they can read the article and view the book cover and read the short stories and my review blog. This indicates to me that voters are more honest than some have given credit.

The P&E poll is well-established. It is meaningful despite what a few critics contend. Unlike some other polls/ awards, it is a two-step process with email address verification. Unlike some others, the winners votes are carefully scrutinized. It is no more open to corruption than awards in the Christian publishing industry are open to subjectivity and bias.

In the end, it is up to you. Vote. Don't vote.

As for those who say marketing is "unChristian" -- I'd like to see the chapter and verse. Remember, marketing takes on all sorts of faces. The interview with the author of your favorite book is as much marketing as is a blog announcing to you that the same author is up for an award or in a poll that you can support.

Shoutlife Featured Author

Well, lookie here, did you see who is a Shoutlife Featured Author . . . for the third time!

Congratulations Sue Dent.

Now, when is Forever Richard coming out? I mean, for real?

An "Atta-Boy"

Excerpt from a new review of Light at the Edge of Darkness at Dancing Word Review.


"I like to pick up the occasional collection from time to time, to see if there are any exceptional writers coming up over the literary horizon.

* * *

I mentioned that I was looking for new talent. Three particular authors: Frank Creed, Andrea Graham, and Stephen L. Rice (whose Pratchett-like At the Mountains of Lunacy makes it worthwhile to purchase the entire collection) shine like beacons in this anthology. If you decide to borrow this book from a friend, make sure you read the last six short stories, because it looks like the editor really did save the best for last."

Who Can Judge the Judge?

Romans 8:28


But, why does God allow bad things to happen? is a question that I have had to field ever since May ninth of 1998. There I was, traveling down a quiet Indiana county road, running errands while at the same time a little sports car in oncoming traffic attempted to pass a tractor-trailer and two cars. My first instinct was to veer onto the shoulder and cede my lane. Unfortunately, the other driver panicked and swerved in an attempt to leave the roadway also. According to the traffic analyst, the resulting head-on collision impacted at a minimum of 110/mph.

“The last time I saw a human body in that condition,” my father observed, “was during my two tours of duty in Vietnam.” My pelvis and left hip were shattered, my right hip dislocated, my right foot crushed, and my sacrum (the bone shared by the spine and the pelvis), broken. One laceration allowed me look through a closed eyelid, and another split my lower lip down to the chin. I, of course, was taken to the local hospital, but the magnitude of the injuries was so severe that I was Life-Lined to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis. My limbs protruded at such grotesque angles that the paramedics had difficulty loading my body through the door of the helicopter.

The protective fail-safes that He designed into the human body amaze me. Mercifully, I have no recollection of the above events. As if my broken body wasn’t enough, I also sustained a closed-head injury.

In plain language, this means my head really is that thick—the alternative would have been a fractured skull! My concussed and swelling brain had nowhere to go and the pressure intensified within the brain pan.

After two weeks of living in a delusional dream-state, of which I have but a few bizarre memories, the doctors reached a prognosis: after eighteen months of intensive therapy I'd be able to, believe it or not, walk and feed myself again! The best-case scenario was a 60% recovery of my mental capacity. At the very moment this diagnosis was being communicated to my family, my pastor walked by, and entered my room. Amazingly for the first time in weeks, I was able to have a completely lucid conversation. I recall his visit and our closing in prayer, but no details. I fell asleep after he left and when I awoke next, I looked around and asked, "Why am I in the hospital?"

I do suffer from some short-term memory loss and other common closed-head injury symptoms, but despite the medical prognosis, my abilities to reason, communicate and conduct my affairs are seemingly as functional as they ever were! The feet of implanted surgical-steel chain links and screws that knit my hip and pelvis together are, I'm told, irreplaceable and have an expected useful life-span of twenty years. Without serious advances in medical technology, I’m likely doomed to a wheelchair in another dozen years. But I've come to learn that doctors don't know everything and they definitely do not excel at playing God.

I returned to my job at Subaru of Indiana Automotive in less than six-months, but I write this on a day when I am home from work because of the weather’s painful affect on my osteo-arthritis and bursitis. I'm severely challenged in my capacity as an autoworker.

Several times a year I’m asked the rhetorical question about why He allows events like these to occur. What good could come from so tragic a tale? Well, it seems that God had a bigger plan for me and He expedited many new and positive things in my life. Ever since youth I have enjoyed writing and I aspired to be a novelist. Four years prior to this accident, I began my fantasy novella, White Iron, but the story always seemed to meander and jam. For some reason, post-accident, everything flows! Furthermore, had the accident not occurred I'd have never met my wife and editor, Cynthia. And certainly, I’d not be launching my career as a novelist in 2006.

With the life span of my artificial body parts, He has forced my hand in finding gainful employment that does not rely on my physical abilities—beyond a twelfth grade education I am only self-educated and qualify for little white collar work. I really feel that He has moved my life along in this direction to urge me to invest the talents He has provided, to His glory.

In addition, I‘m not presumptuous enough to guess at how He has and will use my experience to affect those who have witnessed my healing. Eight years later, people still recall and refer to the event. I can only wonder at the number of people who have heard of my miracle, and how it has affected their own lives. I am merely called in faith to trust that His wisdom will glean the greater good from tragedy.

Whenever I hear skeptics scoff at Biblical answers to Why does He allow suffering? my soul smiles in sadness at their shortsightedness. In our terrestrial larval forms, who can judge the Judge?

Latest in Spec Christmas Issue

Our friends at Latest in Spec have a monthly newsletter devoted to the Christian speculative fiction (sci-fi, fantasy, horror written from a Christian worldview) scene. Regular issues contain links to reviews, interviews, book signings and author events, book releases, blogs and websites, contests, etc.

However, this month they've outdone themselves! The Christmas issue is a beautiful listing of 2007 releases. Talk about a nice helper for Christmas present buying! Each featured novel is accompanied by a short summary, book cover and links for purchasing. Easy Peasy (yes, Flashpoint: Book One of the Underground is included, so I am biased :).

Check it out today!

December Issue of the UNDERGROUND now available

Subscriber Polly Harris described the UNDERGROUND newsletter: "This is probably the best newsletter I've ever read."

The December 2007 issue of Frank Creed's free UNDERGROUND newsletter is now available.

Fiction contest every issue with publication of the top entries from September 07-September 08 in the year's Flashpoint fan fiction anthology.

Top three entries for the December o7 contest receive free manuscript evaluation services from The Finishers (critique/ substantive edit/ proofreading) for the short story entry.

What's in this issue?

Fiction Contest: New Year's Terror Alert!
Underground Member Spotlight: Karen McSpadden
Critique Corner: To ! or Not to !
News in Spec Fiction: Biz news from publisher TWCP -- "Speculative Fiction E-zines Feature"
Last Issue's Fiction Contest Winning Entry: "Bear Feat" by Stephen Rice
Casting Lots: Mike Roop talks about Role Playing Games
Frankly Speaking: Frank Creed discusses 21st Century BioEthics and Fiction

More information about the UNDERGROUND newsletter can be found at BOOKSOFTHEUNDERGROUND. COM including newsletter sign up -- it is easy (name and e-mail) and fast, oh yes, and free!