Day 2: Dragons, Knights & Angels

Bib-spec-fic Announcement

Fans of fantasy, sci-fi, and supernatural: there's no longer a need to scour secular speculative fiction shelves. Now there's a Christian alternative.

These aren't merely spec-fic stories written by Christians. This is not Bible-banging fiction. Dragons, Knights, & Angels publishes Biblical spec-fic in short story and poetry forms.

If you're looking for fiction written in the "Christianese" dialect, about aliens who abduct and force-baptize unbelievers, keep looking. If entertaining stories that work meaning into plot is more your style, then bookmark this free monthly e-zine.

This is a great source for fiction of Christianity's lost genre. Be sure to stop in at the DKA forums and discuss your favorites with fellow readers. This site has it all--enjoy.

After you comment here, and after you check out DKA, be sure to see what the other participants in this CSFF blog tour are saying:

Jim Black Jackie Castle Valerie Comer Kameron M. Franklin Beth Goddard Todd Michael Greene Leathel Grody Karen Hancock Elliot Hanowski Katie Hart Sherrie Hibbs Joleen Howell Karen and at Karen’s myspace Oliver King Tina Kulesa Kevin Lucia Rachel Marks Shannon McNear Rebecca LuElla Miller Caleb Newell Cheryl Russel Mirtika Schultz Stuart Stockton Steve Trower Speculative Faith Christina Deanne Lost Genre Guild John Otte

On-Line Magazine Review

This week I am doing something a bit different: reviewing an on-line magazine of Biblical Spec-fic.

Dragons, Knights, and Angels (DKA) offers short stories and poetry that meld speculative with the spiritual; stories with a moral code without being "preachy."

Why the title Dragons, Knights, and Angels? an excerpt from the site's vision statement

To my way of thinking, dragons represent the mystical, the unknown world, dangerous and magical and huge beyond reckoning. Knights represent thehorizontal, selfless but moral humans fighting the good fight with feeble flesh and faith. Angels represent the vertical, messengers of an almighty God, purveyors of Providence, proof of the unprovable, denizens of a supernatural spiritual reality. With that said, these elements are merely representative.

DKA offers rolling content so that you can check several times per month and find something new to enjoy. Besides reading some really good fiction, DKA features forums to discuss individual articles; the content of the forums I checked was pretty generic "nice work," etc. but they have the potential of coming alive with discussion about the issues raised in each piece of fiction.

This particular edition (37) contains an announcement about the winners of the 2006 Poetry Contest, some student work and several short stories and poems; it also announces the fundraising campaign for 2007.

I randomly chose one story to read and found myself lured into reading more selections!
Recommended for a quick and fun read: Useless Meetings by Ivy Reisner.

Tease line:
A group of corporate demons implement a policy of inflicting
useless meetings on humans.

The DKA Magazine is a great read; check it out at:
dkamagazine.com

Review: Like Dandelion Dust

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is posting about Karen Kingsbury's latest book, Like Dandelion Dust.

About the Author:
USA Today and New York Times bestselling author Karen Kingsbury is America's #1 inspirational novelist. There are nearly 5 million copies of her award-winning books in print, including more than two million copies sold in the past year. Karen has written more than 30 novels, nine of which have hit #1 on national lists, including award-winning Oceans Apart, One Tuesday Morning, Beyond Tuesday Morning, the Redemption Series and Firstborn Series, and several other bestsellers, one of which was the basis for a CBS Movie-of-the-Week and Gideon's Gift, which is currently in production as a major theatrical release for Christmas 2007. Karen lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, Don, and their six children, three of whom are adopted from Haiti.

About the Book:

A PEACEFUL TOWN...
AN IDYLLIC FAMILY...
A PHONE CALL THAT THREATENS THEM ALL.

Jack and Molly Campbell enjoyed an idyllic life (great house in a fancy neighborhood, high-paying job, and a beautiful little boy) in their small hometown outside Atlanta with their adopted 4-year-old, Joey. Then they receive the phone call that shatters their world: a social worker delivers the news that Joey's biological father has been released from prison and is ready to start lifeover with his son. (It's discovered that Joey's birth mother forged the signature of Joey's birth father, making it a fraudulent adoption.) When a judge rules that Joey must be returned to his father (a man who cannot separatee love and violence), the Campbells, in a silent haze of grief and utter disbelief, watch their son pick a dandelion and blow the feathery seeds into the wind.
Struggling with the dilemma of following the law, their hearts, and what they know to be morally right, the Campbells find that desperation leads to dangerous thoughts. What if they can devise a plan? Take Joey and simply disappear....LIKE DANDELION DUST.

Review by Mimi Pearson

Introducing: Like Dandelion Dust

As part of the CBFA Blog tour, later this week I will post more information about Karen Kingsbury's newest novel: Like Dandelion Dust. For now, a teaser . . .

Introduction in the author's own words:

It's the emotional story of an adoptive couple that tragically learns that the birth mother who gave up her son four years earlier has changed her mind. A forged signature on the paperwork makes it seem possible that they will lose their son, Joey, maybe forever. Like Dandelion Dust is the story of a mother's passion, and the lengths a couple is willing to go to, all for the love of a child. This is the book that spurred my songwriting efforts with the lead singer of the country hit group, Lonestar. I'm not sure when the song will release, but the book is a very emotional journey! I can't wait to hear your thoughts!


For more information, visit the author's website www.karenkingsbury.com
Also, check out purchasing information at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1931722854

Windwalker--A Review of Donna Sundblad's Latest

by Frank Creed

Windwalker
by Donna Sundblad
A Novel of Biblical Fantasy

Let's begin with what Windwalker is not. It's not a heavy handed bludgeoning of the gospel. Like Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, Donna's symbolism of faith and monotheism whispers in its subtlety. In her own words: "You never know what you may see in this story. It is the story of the One that unites."

Windwalker begins with a people waiting for a savior who's arrival will be clouded by dark times. Times that have dropped anchor in the harbor. Then things get epic.
Prophecy's fulfilled by certain births. Hidden away from a wicked queen, this new generation comes of age. Manelin, the prophecized Arich, is the One who will unite the natives of the land with their newly arrived oppressors. Together with his Augur, thy must erase the legacy of hatred that's cursed the land.

The beauty of this story is its very human humility. Manelin, a peasant goatherd, has been raised by a man he thinks is his grandfather. The old man is the only one left who knows the boy to be the Arich. Dark times thrust greatness upon both a reluctant goatherd messiah, and his crippled Augur. Can the faith of commoners save the land, and their people?

You'll enjoy this read, and the prophetic "Tellings" of the Windwalkers.

* * *

Windwalker Print $12.98

ebook $5.00

Pumping Your Muse Print $9.98

ebook $5.00

Donna's Official Website

Blog: Donna's Daily Writing Prompts

Blog: The Lost Genre Guild (Biblical Speculative Fiction)

Blog: Weight loss from a writer's point of view