The Frank Creed Interview

Frank Creed
Author of the
Underground Series

One never knows what kind of books land in our mailbox for review, but Yellow30 Sci-Fi is glad that Writer’s Café Press Press sent us an advanced review copy of FLASHPOINT. Our reviewer was intrigued by the book and the author. Frank gladly answers some of our questions, and yes, Charlotte, you have to read the hard copy because audio is not availabe yet on this website, honey! So, sit back, get a cup of java or whatever and enjoy our exclusive interview with Frank Creed.

Your new novel, FLASHPOINT, puts a different spin on THE LEFT BEHIND type of books. Would you elaborate?

Never!

Oh alright.

The biggest literary difference is sub-genre. Both are Biblical speculative fiction, but Flashpoint: Book One of the Underground Series is end-times science-fiction, while the Left Behind Series fits into the supernatural thriller category. Okay, here is the official version: while Left Behind sets the end times into our modern world, Flashpoint is a geo-political extrapolation of current events in order to better set the stage for a pre-millennial second coming. I focus not so much on the actual prophecies as much as how they will impact the lives of real people. In Flashpoint: Book One of the Underground, I merely introduce Christian eschatology’s pre-mil Unholy Trinity: Satan, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet.

The biggest difference that stands out to reviewers is voice. Flashpoint is presented from the very sarcastic first-person viewpoint of Calamity Kid, a.k.a. Calamity, a.k.a. Kid, a.k.a. CK, a.k.a. David Williams. I love slipping into CK’s character, and describing his dark world through his eyes.

Flashpoint is set in 2036 Chicago, against the backdrop of a global government called the One State. Fundamentalist terrorism is the only threat to the One State’s absolute power. To solve this problem belief in the Word of God has been pronounced illegal and treasonous.

We meet main characters David and Jen Williams as they flee peacekeepers busting their home-church. This sparks a Flashpoint in the Body of Christ (BoC), living in the abandoned parts of the Metroplex.

Through the use of brain-wave technology (something the US military was actually researching in the mid-90s), the saints living in the underground are re-formed. They undergo a process that nudges the fallen human flesh to better alignment with the soul. In this process they have a kind of software called “mindware” uploaded directly into their brains, giving them near superhuman abilities. David and Jen Williams are uploaded, and become Calamity Kid and e-girl.

Anyone can use BW tech, but a re-formed spirit-walkin saint using God’s will instead of their own is far superior. And with the aid of non-lethal weapons, Calamity Kid and e-girl’s “terrorist” cell in the BoC set out to save their captured home church.

In building the world in FLASHPOINT, where did you glean your ideas?

There is no short answer because so much of my life has gone into Flashpoint. I wanted to write fiction since age 8, but the Flashpoint concept goes all the way back to the Iran hostage crisis. I was barely a teen when I watched the reporters use the term “fundamentalist terrorists.”  This bothered me because at church I was taught the Bible was fundamentally true.

A couple of films impacted me too. Blade Runner is of course a long-time favorite. Believe it or not, Calamity Kid was born while I watched a Nightmare on Elm Street sequel. I don’t recall if it was the second or third movie where Freddy Krueger attacked a group of teens in a mental hospital. One of those teens was a cartoonist.  When Freddy attacked this young man in his dreams, the boy turned into his cartoon character, who wore a long duster and used twin automatic pistols. I loved that imagery and wanted to one-day use it in my fiction.

In my 20s I discovered a cyberpunk role-playing game called Shadowrun. I loved the high-tech aspects, but had no interest in the use of magic and fantasy races in a modern setting. Since this time I’ve read very little sci-fi outside of the Shadowrun series of novels. My father bought me a copy of Hal Lindsey’s Late Great Planet Earth. I realized that cyberpunk was the perfect setting for eschatological fiction.

I’ve been a sci-fi and fantasy fan all my life, but at this time a coworker introduced me to the works of Francis Schaeffer. I began reading theology and philosophy.  I saw that the ideas of the great theologians could be presented through Biblical speculative fiction. I’d long known that Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia and Space Trilogy were the only widely read Biblical fantasy and sci-fi. Novelists of other worldviews have been using spec-fic’s sub-genres. With the popularity of Lewis’ fiction, I could not understand how spec-fic had been neglected by Christian publishers. The problem I saw with Lewis’ classics, was their high prose.

It was then in the early 90s that I knew what I was meant to write. The notes I’d kept from my role-playing games became my writer’s notebook.

FLASHPOINT is cyberpunk science fiction. This is probably a new concept for some. What is the difference between the average science fiction story and cyberpunk sci-fi?

I’ve begun promoting my fiction with the term end-times sci-fi exactly because so few people are familiar with the definition of cyberpunk. Many people like it, they just don’t know what it’s called.

Cyberpunk is near future sci-fi, set in a dark high-tech dystopia (opposite of the utopia). There is an excellent detailed definition at Wikipedia.com

Granted your target audience for FLASHPOINT may be middle school to high school. But our reviewer found it to be a very fun, fast paced book. Do you think the adult readers will embrace this very unusual book?

An absolute yes. I originally wrote Flashpoint for a young adult audience, but in November of 06 my publisher kicked it back at me and told me to make the characters older to appeal to older readers. This allowed me to use a larger vocabulary, and the end product is so much better. The fact that you had to ask this question makes me think I failed in the task. Some of the reviews reflect that as well.  The problem is there’s a lot of me in Calamity Kid, and I’m nothin’ more than a big kid!

Only one of about 20 reviews that my publisher has received came from a teenager. All the rest were adults: Biblical fiction reviewers, blog reviewers, and one ordained minister I met on shoutlife.com

I was floored that the minister, Jonathan, took it upon himself to rate 10,000 words of fan fiction set in the underground.

FLASHPOINT is definitely a gusty-different type of book that some might consider too racy for the Christian Market. Your thoughts?

Ah yes, the violence and sex angle. Thank you so, so much for asking this question. Terri Main, a communications instructor at Reedley College in California offered to set up my book-launch party in the virtual world of secondlife.com because she was so impressed by my use of non-lethal weapons, and high paced action without violence. We are supposed to love our enemies and ours is a spiritual battle, not a physical one. The Saints in the underground incapacitate the anti-Christian Neros. Terri understood that Flashpoint’s purpose is to inspire love and faith in the lives of readers. Terri Main also runs the wayfarersjournal.com e-zine. She has interviewed me in the Journal’s chat room, and in her virtual reality show at secondlife.com Wayfarer’s Journal will feature an article about Flashpoint in September.

And that leaves sex. Christian fiction has little problem with violence unless it’s graphic, but sex is absolutely taboo. I deliberately inserted one risqué character because of what we see on TV — and not just shows — every commercial break, every day. Products are sold with sex. Delicia Lix, an anchorwoman for the Terrorist Webwire, oozes sex appeal.  She has sky blue eyes, blonde curls, and curves that make the number 8 jealous. She wears a miniskirt and struts her lies in front of the camera on stiletto heels, selling anti-Christian One State Propaganda to the masses. Delicia’s role in Flashpoint is to raise the awareness of seductive manipulation.

I really expected someone to raise this issue before now, but in 20 reviews, four interviews, and a handful of critiques, this is the first time it’s come up.

We understand a role playing game is in the works for FLASHPOINT. Care to tell us a little about that?

The Writer’s Café Press has contracted role-playing game designer Mike Roop to create Flashpoint: The Role-Playing Game. Mike has already put together a short version of the game and there are a few advance review booklets in case any gamer/ reviewers out there would be interested in a peek. There’s no final release date yet: all I know is sometime in 2008.

Mike is a great guy, doing a wonderful job. He’s created a basic system for those new to role-playing games, and more advanced rules that can be adapted by seasoned gamers. Every few weeks we speak on the phone because he wants to get the details right for the game’s setting and brainwave technology.

There is talk of supplements to update rules with the release of each Underground novel, but one step at a time.

Would you tell us a little about the Lost Genre Guild.

Christian genre fans have been starved for Biblical speculative fiction. In the last few years there have been many new sci-fi, fantasy, and spiritual thrillers released, but fans stopped looking In Christian bookstores or religion sections long ago. They’ve given up in frustration.

A year ago, I founded the Lost Genre Guild to build awareness for Biblical speculative fiction. The guild is a meeting place for fans and authors. If you Google “Lost Genre Guild”, look for our Web presence at shoutlife.com

You will find our ministry statement on our group page there.

The Lost Genre Guild’s headquarters is in a private invite-only Yahoo newsgroup. We currently have around 100 members from all aspects of the entertainment industry.  If you know anyone interested in membership, I’ll hook them up. Please ask them to drop me a line at: frankcreed@insightbb.com

What is Christian Speculative Fiction?

In my lifetime, I’ve seen a silly argument about Christian fiction. One side says Christian authors should write secular fiction, and let their God-given talent glorify the Boss. The other side says we must all write overtly Christian themes and messages. I think the answer is that He’s given us all different fiction ministries. To make a distinction between these two sides, I coined the term Biblical fiction. A Lost Genre Guild member actually wrote the definition of Biblical speculative fiction at wikipedia.com

As a linguist, Stephen L. Rice (League of Superheroes, The Writer’s Café Press, 2008), was much better suited to the task. That’s how we work in the guild: one organ in the real-world Body of Christ using our talents for the Boss.

Do you see Christian Spec-Fiction becoming more popular in the years to come?

Except for Harry Potter new releases, bookstore sales in general have been slumping for years. Now the JK Rowling has concluded the series, hard times are expected. In spite of this I read in the Writer’s Digest magazine last year that religious fiction in general is predicted to be one of the top growth areas. I have heard that echo across the web since then. I do anticipate that fans of Biblical speculative fiction are in the right place and time. If you go to Jeff Gerke’s wherethemapends.com and click on his book list, you’ll find the most comprehensive list of titles I’ve ever seen. Jeff’s real name is Jefferson Scott, and I think the only novelist to have written Biblical cyberpunk before I have.

Ever since the Lord of the Rings films, our fantasy and spiritual thrillers sub-genres are beginning to break out. Sci-fi is still slow going, but I’m optimistic and mean.

Getting down to writing stuff. How long does it usually take you to do a novel?

Well, getting Flashpoint together only took 32 years.

On June 4th, I was given a Christmas deadline for War of Attrition: Book Two of the Underground. I’m about a third of the way finished in my word count. Part of my problem is I type using the Columbus method: find the key and land on it. But I just got new weapons: voice recognition software and a really spiff headset. I’m still getting used to it, but already type about six times faster. I’m doing this interview out loud!

Editing processes?

I write new word count until I get bogged down, and I go back to the beginning and polish until I get bogged down again, etc. Flashpoint’s the advance review copy was edited professionally but had not been proofread. I believe the final manuscript has been sent to the printers.

How important is the publisher-author relationship?

Very, very, very. More on this later.

More new authors are turning to the small presses these days. How important is the small press to you as oppose to a big name publisher?

For Biblical sci-fi, it’s crucial. The web has forever changed publishing.

In the mid-90s, something like 80% of books sitting on bookstore shelves were published by traditional houses. In just five or six years, it dropped to less than 50%. Unlike the trend in any other industry I know-of, the little fish are eating the big fish here. Small independent presses that can spot unexploited market niches, quality writing, and effectively market to readers have a big advantage in an industry with inefficiencies. More on this later as well.

Most publisher these days require marketing plans from authors. What are your methods?

Marketing plans are helpful. A strategy of building a marketing infrastructure, and a plan for promotion is indeed necessary. But what looks good on paper has to be employed in reality. Cynthia at The Writer’s Café Press requires a marketing plan, but what she really looks for is a writer willing to self-promote. She has dealt with some authors who have promised to assist in marketing, then after publication, have become invisible. Promising to do interviews, appearances, and book signings is not enough.

What used to be known as word-of-mouth, then known as buzz, is now called viral marketing: using the Web to infect other forms of media. This is very important for Christian books because our subculture has its own print, radio, and television media.  Plugging into all these with the Web infrastructure is crucial.

The number one reason, by far, a person buys a book is because it was recommended by friends or family.  Because of this, when a publisher considers a stack of polished manuscripts, the ones that will be purchased have been penned by an author with the established Web presence.

Self-promotion is my least favorite aspect of the industry.  But it’s terribly necessary, and not as hard as you think. The number one rule of self-promotion is: don’t. First, help other people with whatever talents you have, then your audience becomes interested in who you are and you can talk passionately about your craft. All you have to do is live at the Golden Rule. For example, the Lost Genre Guild has become very helpful for my own networking and self-promotion purposes, but that’s not the reason I started it. People will detect a fraud, or a spammer. Just live at the intersection of your passions and talents while giving the Boss your best and all the credit. That is infectious.

Networking. How important is that to you as an author?

One of my signature links is, “If the pen is mightier than the sword, the Web is a writer’s Whetstone.” Just like the Gospel of Christ, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. I cannot believe what God has done with my fiction-ministry since I began networking on the Web about 18 months ago.

I Googled everything, and scoured Yahoo’s Christian writers groups for anything helpful.

Influences.

Big and Small Screen: Action pacing– The Matrix, Alias, Die Hard, Bourne, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and yes, daVinci Code. Characters: Jack Sparrow, Hannibal Lechter, the casts of Law & Order: SVU and Miami CSI. Novelists: Orwell, Lewis, Michael Stackpole, M. L. Tyndall, PK Dick, William Gibson, Kerry Harrison, Karen McSpadden, Tolkien, Francis Schaeffer, Gene Edward Vieth Jr, Ravi Zacharias, Charles Martin, D.J. Kennedy, Asimov, Roger Zelazny, and the Left Behind concept.

Favorite books – authors.

The first book a Christian author must mention is the Bible. The Bible is a compilation of sixty-six works, that collectively communicate inexhaustive but infinite wisdom from our Creator. That ain’t a book: that is the Word of God.

Nonfiction: anything by CS Lewis, Francis Schaeffer, or Gene Edward Vieth Jr.

My three favorite novelists: While many people believe William Gibson or PK Dick to be the founders of the cyberpunk genre, I believe it all goes back to Orwell’s 1984. Not far behind is Michael Stackpole’s Wolf and Raven, a novel from the Shadowrun series. Last year it was my pleasure to network with M.L. Tyndall, and review of the first two novels in her Legacy of the Kings Pirates series. The Redemption and The Reliance are shelved as historical romance. A Christian pirate?  I call that alternate history, and that’s speculative fiction.

MaryLu’s action pacing is all edge-of-your-seat. I am honored that she reviewed Flashpoint, and I’m beyond words that her blurb will be featured on the front cover.

Remember how you asked about networking? There ya go!

Future plans – projects.

I’ve already spoken about War of Attrition, and Flashpoint: The Role-Playing Game. Anything beyond that depends on the sales of these books. Two members of Project Underground with whom I’ve networked, are working on books 3 and 4 of the Underground, but I don’t believe the Writer’s Café Press has signed them yet.

There is a public Yahoo group called end_times_sci_fi where reviewers, artists, and fans can keep up with news.

A final word of wisdom: marry a schoolteacher. I met my wife online, on May 9, 2003, the fifth anniversary of that devastating head-on collision. Cynthia edited many things for local schools and education organizations, and offered to edit Flashpoint.

We wound-up marrying. Because it took for two years to get her Green Card, the only thing we could think of for her to make income was her editing skill. She started a business called the Writer’s Café. After years of editing and networking, she learned that the Web and trend for corporate outsourcing had changed the publishing industry forever. A small independent press could now do everything that the traditional houses had been doing for decades.

When she told me she wanted to publish Flashpoint, it was very exciting, but that excitement was tempered by an amateur feeling.  Face it, being published by your wife is a short step away from being published by your mom. I gained confidence quickly as she published a fantasy anthology (Tales for the Thrifty Barbarian), and A Child Underground, the memoirs of a Holocaust survivor. By the time the Biblical speculative fiction Anthology, Light at the Edge of Darkness, was compiled in August of 06, my confidence was complete.

I may be sleeping with my publisher, but our business relationship is completely professional. She respects me as an artist, and I get the same kind of deadlines, contracts, and expectations as everyone else she publishes. We work well as a team and I expect this to be a huge advantage as together we live the crazy-paced lifestyle. Book signings are also desperately needed weekends away.

Just as everything else in my life goes into my books, how God gave me a gift like Cynthia, is absolutely unreal.

In conclusion: marry a schoolteacher!

To God be the glory.

FRANK CREED’S BIO:

Calamity Kid, here. I’m the Main Character of Flashpoint: Book One of the Underground, written by a slave-drivin workaholic who runs under the pen name Frank Creed. It’s a good thing this ain’t film, and he ain’t a director, or he’d have run over-budget a decade ago. Frank’s a perfectionist, always rewriting. Calamity do this: no-no do it that way: Calamity, do the scene again but raise an eyebrow: Calamity, fetch me some coffee: write my bio. A real jerk this guy.

Hold on, Frank’s publisher asked me to read you something – that data chip’s around here somewhere. If Frank ordered me to do this I’d tell him the chip fell out of my pocket that time he almost got me smoked by peacekeepers. Good thing for him that Cynthia at The Writer’s Café Press is a real sweetie. Cyn’s the only reason I haven’t napped Frank’s muse with a tranq round, and dumped her on a plane to New Zealand. Kay, here we go: Frank Creed’s fantasy novella, Lest Ye be Judged, is the only Biblical contribution to Tales for the Thrifty Barbarian: An Anthology of High Fantasy. He has three short stories in the Light at the Edge of Darkness anthology entitled ChairMan, True Freedom, and Miracle Micro. All are set in the same 2036-Chicago cyberpunk world of his first novel, Flashpoint: Book One of the Underground.  Frank is currently 20k words into War of Attrition: Book 2 of the other underground.

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Editor’s Note: This was the first interview with Frank Creed shortly before the publication of Flashpoint. Since then a lot has changed in Frank’s life and he’s big on Facebook. A second interview may be forth coming.

The Second Jana G. Oliver Interview

A new novel and a new publisher. Both spell success for Jana G. Oliver as she ventures into a different realm of science fiction. Yellow30′s favorite lady of magic and time offers a glimpse into her world as a writer and how the new book and publisher became a reality.

What inspiration prompted the initial idea for Sojourn?

It’s the result of a bit too much research. I became fascinated with Late Victorian London, the primordial “stew” that was the East End. It was a time ripe for revolution. The posh folks in the West End feared the unwashed (and starving masses) in the East End would rise up and destroy the social order. Jack the Ripper, in his own way, focused the world’s attention on the abyss that was Whitechapel, one brutal murder at a time.

I thought it would be intriguing to send a Time Rover from 2057 into this mess and see what happens, especially one that LOATHES Victorian London. Lots of conflict. If, as a Time Rover, you’re not supposed to change history, how do you reconcile that mandate once you’ve become acquainted with one of the Ripper victims? Where do you draw the line between duty and moral responsibility?

How much research did you do for Sojourn?

Far more than I should have, to be honest. I had in mind a set of Victorian mysteries and actually did some preliminary writing on the first book in 2003 after about nine months worth of research. When I found that Sojourn had been picked up by Dragon Moon Press, I did another 3-4 months of research as I was writing the first draft. And yet, I’m still surprised by revelations. I recently learned that the London City police (which were separate from the Metropolitan Police) didn’t have those nifty police whistles in 1888. I had no clue.

Your first novels were self-published. Why did you make the step to traditional publishing?

Self publishing is a lot of work and I was ready to take the next step on the publishing ladder. I personally don’t care how a book comes to fruition as long as it’s worth the read, but the publishing world does. Being traditionally published gives you a bit more “legitimacy”. My ability to receive reviews went up dramatically and that helps you get the book in front of the readers.

We’d like to know the details of how you landed a contract with Dragon Moon Press?

By sheer luck. I met author Tee Morris at a convention and we got to talking about upcoming Dragon Moon projects. I pitched an idea for an article in an anthology on fantasy writing, which was accepted. Further discussion led to the opportunity to submit a “partial” (the first forty pages) and a synopsis for Sojourn. The publisher (Gwen Gades) gave me a thumbs up and I was off to the races. I made sure to give Tee a very large bottle of rum in thanks. Sometimes it’s just a matter of being at the right place at the right time.

Did you consider marketing it to a larger publishing house?

No, actually, I didn’t. I just seemed to know that Dragon Moon was where it should go. Down the line I hope that Sojourn can make the move to mass market paperback (it’s currently a trade paperback) and that would introduce the series to a wider audience.

Most publisher these days require marketing plans from authors. What’s yours for Sojourn?

I usually attend 5-7 science fiction and fantasy conventions per year. Once I finished Sojourn and knew I had a winner, I upped that to 11. I don’t recommend that for everyone. You have to have a very forgiving credit card and lots of stamina. I also made sure the book was sent to key reviewers and that helped get the word out. Sojourn is being entered into a select number of contests so that if it makes the grade, the book will receive the recognition I feel it deserves.

Has Sojourn garnered you more readership than your previous novels?

Oh, yeah. And a lot more dedicated readers, it seems. My fantasy series has some pretty serious aficionados, but the Time Rovers, of which Sojourn is the first book, has scored lots of hits. As it mixes science fiction, fantasy and historical mystery, I’ve managed to acquire readers from across the spectrum. And they all want the next book yesterday!

How important is going to science fiction conventions to you as an author?

Very important. That being said, I’m scaling down from 11 in 2006 to only 8 or so in 2007 because after a large number of cons you get complacent and that’s not good. By the time I reached Dragon*Con in September, I had to really push myself to get out, meet and greet folks. I adore doing conventions because I meet a lot of people (especially new writers) and they’re always a kick. But after so many you get really tired. I want to look forward to the next convention, not say, “Oh, lord, not again.”

Does going to conventions help your book and if so in what ways?

It’s all about exposure. Even if a fan is not interested in the type of book I write, if I come across as a decent and approachable person, they might tell their friends who might want to buy what I write. On the flip side, I get to meet so many nifty people–readers, publishers, editors and fellow authors–and that makes the long hours of travel worth it.

How important is the publisher – author relationship?

It’s everything, in my mind. If you’re not on the same page, as they say, then the magic isn’t going to work. The publisher chooses your cover artist(s), your editor, when your book will debut, etc. It’s not just a business arrangement, it’s more of a Victorian marriage. You’re birthing a new creative work and it’s really cool to know your publisher is there to help the process and smooth over the rough spots.

Do you think as a small press author you are limited in your audience reach as oppose to one of the big New York publishers?

That does happen. Since small press has to wrestle for bookshelf space in the chain stores, it’s hard to get much exposure. However, small press’ impact has grown so much in the last few years. Readers are actively supporting many of the “small” publishing houses and the independent bookstores are wonderful about telling their readers about us. In that way, some of the difficulties have been overcome. There are a lot more to go.

Going through the mainstream traditional publishing route can take years. With the advent of print on demand and the number of publishing providers out there, what is your take on the whole thing since you self-published to start with?

The publishing model is changing so rapidly. A few years ago self-publishing was supposedly the kiss of death to your career. Clearly I never bought that argument. Now it’s considered a legitimate means to place your work in front of the public. Not quite totally legit, but there’s a bit more respect out there now. This change is due to advent of POD and the heavy duty marketing work performed by self-pub/e-pub authors.

You have a second book in the works. What’s it about and how soon will it be available to readers?

I’ve just completed the first draft of Virtual Evil (Time Rovers – Book 2) and it surprised the heck out of me. The story starts only a short time after the Sojourn ends and deals with some of the loose ends. We learn a bit more about Transitive society and that for the most part, not all shifters like each other. Jacynda, the heroine, becomes a pawn in the hands of the government types in 2057 and those pesky Fenian anarchists still have lot of explosives in their possession. The book will be out in 2007, probably mid-year depending on editorial, etc. The delay is mine, not my publisher’s. She wants it out ASAP.

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Editor’s Note: This second interview with Jana was done back in 2007 shortly after the release of her first Time Rover novel, Sojourn. Jana’s Time Rover books have been a big hit. She’s won the Pluto Award two years in the running with the first two books in the series. Now, Jana has graduated to even bigger and grander things. We’ll be having another interview with our favorite author in the very near future and find out what’s she’s doing and her latest writing project.

Karen Hancock Interview

Karen Hancock
Author of The Legends of the Guardian-King Series

Yellow30 Sci-Fi is pleased to have the four time Christy Award winning author, Karen Hancock, as one of our Featured Authors. Karen’s The Legends of the Guardian-King Series has proven to be a very popular fantasy among readers.

Title of your first novel.
Arena

According to the bio on your website your first writing efforts were westerns and then science fiction. Now you’re doing fantasy. Why the switch?

When I first started writing, SF and westerns were the genres in which I had read the most. I think the only adult fantasy I’d read was Lord of the Rings. I’d started the SF by springing off of Star Wars, and a little later some Christian (it might have been the pastor I was listening to at the time) said that science fiction was evil so I switched to fantasy. It was an offhand remark, without a lot of development but it wasn’t hard to move the story from the SF setting I’d had it in, to fantasy. I don’t see a lot of difference between the genres in terms of the things I enjoy about them, I suppose because I’ve always been more of a space opera fan than a fan of rigorous extrapolations of what the future may be like or what it’s possible for man to do. Even in the rigorous extrapolations there are usually “fantasy” elements, the biggest one being faster than light travel. SF may be a genre of big ideas but they’ve always taken second place to the characters for me.

It’s kind of funny now to look back and see how such a small thing made such a big change in my life.  Anyway, at the time Terry Brooke’s Sword of Shannara had just released and that was the beginning of the great explosion in the fantasy genre.  Suddenly I had lots of fantasy to read, was very comfortable writing in that genre and just went with it. Later I switched back to Arena, which I consider to be something of a hybrid. The next two books I’ll do after Legends of the Guardian King are back in the hybrid category.

Your husband seems to have been the major impetus in getting you started writing professionally. Does he still provide encouragement or other assistance?

My husband maintains a hands off approach — it’s my thing, and generally he doesn’t concern himself with it. He does provide the major assistance of supporting me, though, and without complaint. That’s something I never want to take for granted. Without it I would have had a very difficult time writing.

Can you tell us anything about the plots of that early western and SF story you wrote?

Ugh. They were juvenile. No doubt because their writer was juvenile! The first western was about a female gunslinger, before that was an in thing. The second never got very far off the ground before I switched to SF, but it was going to be a Christian-Romance-Western. The SF never really got very far either. I don’t tend to plot first. I see characters, situations, ideas for a world system. The plot comes from those, and then in turn affects those.

From your publication track record, you publish one book a year. What’s your writing routine?

Actually, I think that rate is changing. It’s more like a year and a few months. I think Return of the Guardian King is going to come out almost 18 months after Shadow Over Kiriath. My routine has been to get up, do a small bit of pickup, dishes, etc, then start writing. It varies depending on the requirements of the day. I work pretty much all day, but my writing process is one that seems to require a lot of thinking, simmering and times when it seems that nothing whatever is going on in my head with respect to the work itself (let alone producing pages of manuscript). I fight a constant battle to stay focused and on task, but over the last year I’ve questioned more and more whether I should fight that or just go with the flow or find some way to work it into something more directed. One thing I have not been able to do is to force things to happen before they’re ready.

Back to the routine, though, In the afternoons two days a week I work out at the gym, and the other days, walk at the park. Then I do Bible Study and after that dinner. Sometimes in the evening I’ll return to the work — always when the deadline looms — or not depending on what’s going on.

Besides your editor at Bethany House, do you have someone else that reads your drafts to give feedback?

I used to have critique partners, but since my turnaround time for drafts has shrunk to about three weeks, it’s been difficult to find someone who can drop everything and read my drafts. Also, it seems useless to me, since I’ve had to turn in drafts to my editor that I wouldn’t normally show to my dog. When I know the work is way off where I want it to be, it’s not all that helpful to get feedback, because mostly people just point out what I already know.

What type of research did you do for the Legends of the Guardian-King series?

I read books on the Middle ages, the Romans, Petra, the Age of King Charles, castles and palaces, swordsmanship in the Renaissance, seafaring… since I wrote the books over such a long period of time, it’s hard to remember all of it now, and much of it is drawn from experiences, novels I’ve read… you name it.

You obviously have a love for other creatures, from distressed birds to horses. Do animals play a role in your stories (or will they)? And do you have any pets yourself?

I almost always have animals in my stories, though their roles are varied. I don’t think there were any in Arena, but there are quite a few of them in the Legends of the Guardian-King.  Personally, I’ve had a lot of contact with animals — chickens, goats, pigs, turkeys, fish, pigeons, horses in the past and we’ve always had one or two dogs. Currently we’re without a dog for the first time since we’ve been married, having just lost our 12 year old coonhound to chronic kidney failure. We’ll probably be getting a puppy once the holidays are over.

How big of a role does going to science fiction conventions play in your life as a writer?

A very small role at the moment. I’ve only been to three of them and that was years ago. That might change in the future though…

Your Legends of the Guardian-King books have done very well. How do you feel about the success?

I am very grateful for the recognition my work has received by way of awards and even more grateful for the fact there are actually a few readers out there who are waiting to read my next book. That is amazingly cool.

The Christian element in your Legends books has a fine weave similar to the Lord of the Rings. Do you think some Christian readers might be bothered by the “magic” in your books?

I don’t think so. First, those who would read my books at all, know that fantasy entails manifestations of powers beyond the natural. Those who object to fantasy because it has “magic” in it would probably not read them. I think the key lies in how those supernatural manifestations are handled within the context of the story, and how closely they mimic real world rituals of the occult. Related to this and maybe even more important is the source of the magic as it is portrayed: are practitioners calling upon demons and evil forces or just attempting to marshal forces of nature with their own exceptional power? Or is the source an equivalent of God? I think my books make it pretty clear that the power comes from one of two sources, even if the characters aren’t always sure which source is generating it.

As a Christian author do you steer clear of certain subjects to write about?

I write about what is important to me, what interests me, what I like and what I think is true. I never think in terms of certain subjects I might like to write about but can’t because I’m a Christian author. As I consider it now, I’d have to say there probably isn’t any subject that would be off-limits depending on how it was handled.

Does your writing focus on Christian readers, or readers in general?

I don’t think about it that way. I write to express what I know and love about life, what I struggle with, what answers I’ve found, what questions I still wrestle with. I write books I’d like to read, about people and a way of life that I know, but don’t see in very many other books. Not even Christian books. The Writer’s Mentor (Jackman) quotes author Ernest Gaines who picked cotton and potatoes in the South as a child. When he was older and living in California, he read all the books in the library he could find about “the peasant life”. He said he “wanted to see something about my own people and there were no such books in the library.” He’s written at least ten books to fill that hole. I think, in some ways, the same sort of impulse originally motivated me.

Influences.

Everything I’ve ever read or done!  I’ve been a voracious reader since I can remember, in nearly all genres. Given the number of his books that I read as a teenager, Zane Grey had to have some influence. Dean Koontz has also influenced me greatly, since I adore his work and pored over it when I was learning to write. His How to Write Best-selling Fiction holds a venerated spot in my library, tattered, worn and highlighed as it is.  Lois McMaster Bujold, C.S. Forester, Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Robin Robb… all have influenced me with the quality of their writing and storytelling.

Future plans – projects.

Right now I have a contract with Bethany House for two more books, one which they are thinking about marketing as suspense, though it’s another sf/fantasy hybrid, taking place in our world (more or less) that deals with technology and cults. The other contracted book is unnamed at this time, because I’d only proposed the one book, though I have developed the start of another that takes place on a non-earthlike planet completely unconnected to our world. It’s got a lot of technology in it, so I think it would be categorized as SF.

Advice to new writers.

My first suggestion is to read a lot of fiction in all genres. Second, read a lot about the craft of writing, as well. I learned a good deal of what I know from reading, and then reading about writing. Go to your Library’s creative writing shelves and start reading everything you find. Subscribe to Writer’s Digest, or other magazines on writing. I have listed some books I’ve found helpful on my website under “Writings.”

Also, check out the Mentoring without Meeting article on my website (also under “Writings”) for a method I used to study books I particularly enjoyed.

Third, write a lot. Try to be very objective and analytical about your writing when seeking to evaluate it. Get feedback from others, preferably those who know a bit about writing (other aspiring writers, critique services, writing groups, online critique groups, conferences, etc).  When you do,  try hard to listen to them and understand what they are saying, but never make changes just because any of them tell you to.  Only make changes because you understand what they’re saying and agree that it will improve your work.

Fourth, don’t give up.

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Editor’s Note: As with most of all our previous Featured Authors we haven’t kept in constant contact with Karen. She has completed another science fiction book called, The Enclave and is currently working on a new book. Her blog, Writing from the Edge 2, is informative and usually gives updates to her current projects. Perhaps in the future there will be another interview and we can see what new projects Karen has for readers.