'Up Next' - Writer-style Blogger Tag!

I originally came across this list of tag-style questions on the blog of Grace Bridges, and after answering the questions herself she invited others to pick up the baton and do the same. So I am, since it sounded fun and, amazingly, this was one list of questions that I haven't been sent yet.
Here goes:

What is the title of your next book or work?

I'm currently working on two new books, one on my own and one co-authored with my fellow Lost Scribes, but I'll go with my personal work: Empathia's Hope. Bear in mind, this is a working title, subject to change later on.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

A blend of desperate desire to become involved with what was then the just-launched fiction project Avenir Eclectia, a fascination with archaeology, and a weakness for reruns of Secrets of the Dead. I had been trying to think of something to write for AE for a few days when a Secrets of the Dead rerun about the Roman cities Pompeii and Herculaneum (buried by the 79AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius) came on, and it made me realize that on a volcanic planet like Eclectia, there could be lots of buried cities with lots of buried secrets to go with them.

What genre does the book fall under?

'Science Fiction' pretty well covers it, though there may be a slight tincture of Science Fantasy. We'll stick with Science Fiction, though.

What actors/actresses would you choose to play the parts of your characters in a movie rendition?

I have not the first nor faintest idea. I can't really think of any actors or actresses who resemble my characters as I imagine them. I have friends who I've already picked out to play the characters in the book trailer... does that count?

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

(Advance warning, I really stink at writing these.)
A young woman made cynical by years of hardship and heartache doesn't appreciate being told by a wealthy celebrity archaeologist that she should look at the bright side of things, and likes it even less when he begins digging up the hopes and dreams she buried long ago.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I take issue with the narrow and restrictive parameters of that question.

How long did it take you to finish the first draft of the manuscript?

Still in progress.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

How about Avenir Eclectia Volume 1? That's a perfect fit! : )

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

Michael L. Rogers and his ideas about Empathia, Grace Bridges with her suggestion that I expand what started as a short story series into a full book and her support of me as a writer, my own beliefs about the importance of hope and optimism in bad circumstances, various ideas about relationships familial and otherwise, and the general awesomeness of the Avenir Eclectia world. I love writing there!

What else about the book might pique the readers' interest?

Well, it includes art, history, archaeology, a bit of Indiana-Jones-style mystery (only with fewer chase scenes), a generous sprinkling of Atlantis-esque flavor, some hard truths about love and life and doing the right thing, brushes with telepathic sea life, and touches of humor. So unless you're just a dyed-in-the-wool hater of science fiction/fantasy in general (in which case I would have to ask how you came to be reading this blog), there is something in Empathia's Hope for you!

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I think originally this list of questions was supposed to be passed on in the fashion of Blogger tag, but I think that instead of tagging anyone I'm going to follow Grace's example and just extend an open invitation to any writer who wants to participate.
Leave a comment letting me know if you do. I'd love to read your answers!

Author Interview - H.A. Titus

Back once again, with one last interview with an author from the Avenir Eclectia anthology. Today we're talking with H.A. (Heather) Titus, whom I've been blessed to have as a personal friend, cohort, and co-author on multiple projects, for several years now.

HA: Hey Mary! Thanks for inviting me over to your cyberspace home. :)

MRP: You know you’re always welcome. ; ) Let’s get started: What first brought you to the world of Avenir Eclectia and got you interested in the project?

HA: I ran across it while browsing the Splashdown Books sites. I thought it sounded like a cool Christian version of the Star Wars universe set-up, where authors all worked together to create a really cool world. Plus, I have a tendency to be wordy, and when I saw that the preferred wordcount was below 400 words, I thought it would be cool to challenge myself.

MRP: What do you consider your unique 'trademark' as a writer, and how does that come through in your Avenir Eclectia stories?

HA: I'd say my unique trademark is bringing characters out of a dark past and into an at least semi-hopeful future. Even if I don't always showcase my beliefs, I always try to bring characters to a place of hope at the end of the story arc. A lot of that comes through Pieter's past as a smuggler/his future as a flight teacher, and the orphans' future in being able to have good jobs. With Reeder, it's in his fear of the supernatural forces that his brother is a part of, and how eventually overcomes that fear.

MRP: I've had so much fun watching you explore the unique way a smuggler and a group of orphans relate to each other. Can you tell us a bit about that (your inspiration, goals, etc.)?

HA: My inspiration for Pieter was, basically, I've always wanted to write a character that is a former smuggler. Cara was inspired by the other orphans I saw in the stories. I didn't intend for them to last for longer than two or three stories, but as I figured out more about them, their story kept expanding.

I really didn't have specific goals in mind as I started writing them. I have noticed, though, that Pieter especially has expanded as a character. He goes from bored, spoiled rich kid to infamous smuggler to flight school teacher. Teaching was the last thing he ever thought he would be doing, yet he finds the most satisfaction from it. (Of course, his story doesn't end with becoming a teacher...but if I said anything more, it would be a spoiler. Can't have that!) ;) So I think my goal with him is illustrating how satisfying a simple life can be.

MRP: What do you see as the biggest advantage of a multi-author project like Avenir Eclectia?

HA: The inspiration. I always joke that I should've worked for Pixar, because the team that works on a story together always meets every morning to bat ideas around. I work the best when I get a chance to brainstorm with other creative types, and I always come away from an AE story or discussion inspired to write, whether it be for Avenir Eclectia or on one of my own projects.

MRP: The biggest disadvantage or challenge?

HA: The continuity. It's like the old saying, "Too many cooks spoil the stew." Not that I'm saying that there could be too many people involved in Avenir Eclectia. But sometimes, with multiple people writing about the same locations, it can get a little off-kilter since everyone kind of has their own perspective on things. But so far I think everyone has done a really good job at working together to keep stuff consistent.

MRP: Do you have a favorite memory or experience from the Avenir Eclectia project so far?

HA: I really, really loved reading everything that Walt Staples wrote. He had a great wit and a talent that I envied. He was one of my favorite Avenir Eclectia authors and I really miss him.

Besides that, my next favorite memory would be seeing my first fiction piece published, and seeing the first book in print with my name on the cover.

MRP: Seeing my name on the cover was a big thrill for me too, and getting to share that exciting first with a close friend just made it that much cooler! 

Can you give us any kind of hint at where your story/character arc is going from here?

HA: Pieter, Cara, Cog, and Clock will be involved with some of the creepy-crawly happenings on Avenir. Reeder, my messenger in Zirconia, actually has a lot of his story plot to go, and his story will be tied into some of the demonic-plot storylines.

MRP: Thanks again for joining us, Heather! It's always fun talking to another author, especially one who shares interest in a project I've been blessed to be a part of. ; )

HA: Thanks for having me Mary! 

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Well, that about wraps up the Avenir Eclectia interviews for me. It makes me kind of sad. But, work on the shared project continues with some exciting plans for the future, and of course, the first volume is available in print on Amazon at an amazing price. So if you haven't read it by now, you've got no excuse. : P

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Author Interview - Pauline Creeden

Hello, all! I'm back again, with another interview with one of the Avenir Eclectia authors. Today we're talking with author Pauline Creeden. Thanks so much for joining us today, Pauline!

PC: Thank you for having me here Mary!

MRP: What first brought you to the world of Avenir Eclectia and got you interested in the project?

PC: My first introduction to AE was through a link posted on Facebook by fellow writer friend, H. A. Titus. She posted a story and I followed the link. After reading the short piece about a wizard making deliveries, I was intrigued by the site as a whole. I spent hours perusing the stories and history of the shared world. As can happen sometimes, a character popped in my head. She wouldn’t let me go until I’d written her first scene.

MRP: What do you consider your unique 'trademark' as a writer, and how does that come through in your Avenir Eclectia stories?

PC: Hmmm. My trademark? I like for my stories to have the feeling of both the familiar and the strange with a twist that I hope makes it original and lasts in the reader’s mind. That’s my goal anyway.

MRP: I've loved following your story arc and your character, Zana Black. Can you share a little bit about that for those who haven't read it yet?

PC: Zana Black is, of course, the character who grabbed me after reading the history of Avenir. After being grotesquely injured in a bug hunting accident, teenage Zana lost her brother as well as her left arm and leg. A scientist (Dr. Lee) found her and engineered parts to allow her to have some semblance of a normal life. The make-up of Avenir’s judicial system is that most bug hunters are criminals or low-lifes. Zana’s father was both. She grew up hating the father who left her and her brother for dead, and became a bounty hunter specifically to find and kill her father.

MRP: You've got me intrigued, and I've already read it! That must be a good sign. ; )  I'm looking forward to reading more!

What do you see as the biggest advantage of a multi-author project like Avenir Eclectia?

PC: I can take my time with the story arc and not worry about whether readers have something to read in the mean time. It’s also fun to read the way other authors are building on to the world. My favorite stories to follow so far have been Ernsto and Dressler’s arcs.

MRP: The biggest disadvantage or challenge?

PC: Because the world has so many authors working in it, an author has to keep track of the other stories in order to keep from clashing with someone else’s story line. It can be time consuming, even if it is fun.

MRP: Do you have a favorite memory or experience from the Avenir Eclectia project so far?

PC: Travis Perry has offered to collaborate with me on a story arc for Zana that includes a meet up with his character Ernsto. I’m looking forward to it, and am sure it will be an interesting learning experience.

MRP: (You can read up on Travis Perry and Ernsto in my interview with Travis, Here.)

Can you give us any kind of little hint at where your story arc is going from here?

PC: Of course, Zana will have to deal with her daddy issues. I’m hoping that there might be some sort of forgiveness in her future, and maybe she’ll learn that it’s okay to let herself be loved. She’s got a hard crust right now. I’m hoping she’ll soften up.

MRP: Thanks again so much for being with us. It's been fun!

PC: Thanks again for having me here, I hope to meet up again!

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Author Interview - Jeff Chapman

As I mentioned yesterday, I'm back with some more great interviews with authors of Avenir Eclectia Volume 1, the newly-released science fiction anthology from Splashdown Books.

This time around we're chatting with author Jeff Chapman. Thanks so much for joining us today, Jeff!

JC: Thanks for inviting me, Mary.

MRP: What first brought you to the world of Avenir Eclectia and got you interested in the project?

JC: I'm friends with some of the Splashdown authors. I learned about the project when I followed links to their stories. I don't usually read much science fiction but the stories were fascinating and the world so varied and full of potential.

MRP: What do you consider your unique 'trademark' as a writer, and how does that show itself in your Avenir Eclectia stories?

JC: I like to write about characters who aren't certain about their beliefs or the decisions they make. The consequences of those decisions likely won't play out as they hope or expect. I also love tragedy, so while a few of my stories will end happily, most will have a more ambiguous ending. 

MRP: The stories you've written for Avenir Eclectia often deal with complicated issues of right versus wrong. Can you tell us a bit about that?

JC: When Elihu discovers the hermit's cache of coins, he has to decide between honoring the dying man's property or the good that Elihu could do for his impoverished community with the money. He's not happy with his decision, but the right choice doesn't always bring us immediate joy.

"A Creature of Words" comes down to a moral decision on the part of the fish. She decides to abort her attack on the human diver not because she's having trouble sawing through his dive suit armor but because she realizes he has language like the angels. Her morality forbids eating a creature with words.

MRP: What do you see as the biggest advantage of a multi-author project like Avenir Eclectia?

JC: I particularly like the sharing of characters between multiple authors that allow various story arcs to interact. We see familiar characters from a new perspective and the stories no longer appear as single threads going off in their own directions but as different colored threads woven together. I've consciously tried to tie my story arcs into those of other writers. My stories "A Fortuitous Stumble," "Shelter from the Storm," and "The Hermit's Cache," for instance, borrow the character Elihu Simmons--a bug-hunter and pastor--from stories that Travis Perry wrote. Of course it's polite to ask permission to borrow characters and let the other writer see what you're doing with them. This is great for building friendships and relations with other writers.

The stories from others are expanding and filling in the Avenir Eclectia world and each addition can spark your imagination in a new direction.

MRP: The biggest disadvantage or challenge?

JC: The flip side is that it can be hard to keep up with what's happening in the story world. You don't want to be caught writing about something that can no longer happen. I think Grace is doing an admirable job keeping a watchful eye on all the story threads.

MRP: Do you have a favorite memory or experience from the Avenir Eclectia project so far?

JC: My first story "A Creature of Words" is from the point of view of a fish, albeit an intelligent fish. I wasn't sure if this would fly, so I was elated when Grace accepted it.

MRP: Can you give us any kind of hint at where your story/character arc is going from here?

JC: The stories about the hermit that Elihu discovered in a cave will follow the hermit to the The Abbey of Francis and Lazarus House located on the asteroid Assisi. We'll find out who the hermit is and what's in his cryptic book. The contents of that book will create a profound personal crisis for one of the monks

MRP: Is there anything else you'd like to add or share?

JC: I'm looking forward to writing more Avenir Eclectia stories. I have the hermit thread which I see going on for quite some time and a new thread about a couple bug hunters. I hope to get back to the fish as well.

Thanks so much for hanging out with us here at the Writer's Lair, Jeff!

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Remember, the AE anthology is available on Amazon for $5.98, plus it's eligible for Amazon's 4-for-3 promotion. So don't just order one for yourself; it would make a perfect gift for the sci-fi reader on your Christmas list, too. ; ) Click Here to order it from Amazon.

A Call for Christian Writers to be Bold with Their Message

I have a love/hate relationship with the TRON movie series.
I saw the original (1982) TRON and loved it. The thing about it that most impressed me was the scene where a bunch of characters (characters in this case being computer programs) are debating whether the Users (the humans who wrote them) exist or not. Users are viewed as gods of a sort, since they are the ones who created the programs and established the rules programs are supposed to follow. Some programs, however, have decided the Users don't really exist, or that they're just tyrants out to enslave everyone. So it's almost like an allegorical theist versus atheist debate.
At one point one of the programs is asked whether he believes in the Users or not.
"Of course I do," he replies. "If I don't have a User, then who wrote me?"
And at that point I'm ready to jump out of my seat and cheer. Yes! There! It's right there in front of you, people! You've got it!
And, over the course of the movie, it is established that the programs who believe in and obey the Users were right all along. What a message - and in a secular movie, no less!

Then I saw the 2010 sequel, TRON: Legacy. And while I give it very high marks for amazing graphics, great action scenes, wonderful characters, and a killer good soundtrack, I must admit I was disappointed in the moral of the story.
In Legacy, the rebellion against the Users is still going strong and gaining strength and momentum as the programs strive for a perfect computer system. Unfortunately their perception and understanding of perfection is skewed, and their pursuit of it results in violence, chaos, and oppression.
Into this mess walk the Isos, a type or 'race' of programs who are, essentially, perfect. But because the other programs' idea of perfection is inaccurate, they see the Isos as an imperfection and proceed to wipe them out in a digital version of the Holocaust.
When the main character learns about the existence of the Iso programs, he asks his father about them, wanting to know who wrote them.
His father's response is "No one wrote them. The conditions were right, and they just came into being."
Splat! A bucket of cold water, dumped on all my high hopes for more of the same great message as the prequel. We go from the 'creation must have a creator' message to 'things can just pop into existence all on their own, and look! they turn out better than the things that did have a creator!'
As my friend LoriAnn occasionally puts it: *head-desk, head-desk, head-desk*

I know, my hopes were probably a bit too high, but I was still disappointed... or perhaps infuriated would be a better word.
But in a way, that's good. Answers in Genesis founder Ken Ham talks about visiting secular museums that promote the theory of evolution as being bad for him because it makes him furious, but good for him because it makes him even more bold in proclaiming the message of creation and the Gospel.
That's how I feel when I see things like this in movies and fiction. I'm furious at the kind of morals and messages being promoted, but I'm inspired to be that much more bold in delivering a Christian message through my own writing.
And that's what I would love to see more Christian writers doing: standing up and being bold with the message God has given them. Secular Humanist morals, messages, and agendas are woven into every secular piece of fiction or other entertainment out there. Christians, let's be bold, deliberate, and determined in declaring our own message through our writing.

What inspires you to be bold?