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Seconding (thirding? Fourthing? Eh, who knows) the exposure argument, about how a lot of traditional Christian fiction (or, really, just fiction written by Christians) leans more towards fantasy than sci-fi. If Tolkien had created an inticrate alien society with a galaxy far away from ours and Lucy Pevensie had stumbled into a world populated by AI, maybe the landscape would look different today. But a lot of staples in Christian literature (C.S. Lewis (though Out of a Silent Planet is an exception), J.R.R. Tolkien, G.K. Chesterton, etc.) are fantasy, and I think a lot of us stick with what we’re familiar with.
That said, I believe the sci-fi market might be even more in need of Christian-written books than fantasy, and that the fact that few Christian writers (in comparison to fantasy) have chosen to go that route shouldn’t keep us from doing it but maybe even push us to doing it – because no one else is.
The tale is a lie; what it tells is the truth. - Traditional folk tale ending
Tasha! Welcome! <3 I have kind of forgotten about StoryEmbers for the last nine months, so I suppose we can re-enter together. xD
The tale is a lie; what it tells is the truth. - Traditional folk tale ending
Ooh, that sounds awesome. Love that thematic question and how you worked in those three virtues.
Now for a slightly different question – why do you write?
The tale is a lie; what it tells is the truth. - Traditional folk tale ending
Thank you very much! I’ve definitely been enjoying it so far, and I can’t wait to get to know the community here even more! <3
What genres do you write in?
Especially when half the plot runs off on it’s own sidequest and all the minor characters want to be MCs and then your MC keeps a ton of secrets from you and I WAS NOT EMOTIONALLY READY FOR HIS TRAUMATIC BACKSTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OR HOW HE “HANDLES” IT (“it” being a ton of plot twists and heart-crushing thematic plot points AND AND AND—*buries face in drawer of chaotic notes sobbing ink*
*pats*
But how many re-writes have you been through? Have you ever been published?
Novel-length? Not many. XP Short stories. . . a ridiculous amount. And, no, I haven’t yet been published – you?
Ok, lemmie see…maybeee this’ll finally work?? linkydoo *I’ve constantly been having trouble with sharing Word*
OH HEY IT WORKED
Hallelujah.
Now when can I beta read?
*giggles* I’ll let you know when I reach that stage. XP
@karissa-chmil, it’s about a small-time, snarky thief, Hugon, roped into double heist in the palace as he struggles with betrayal and abandonment issues.
Ooh, that sounds awesome.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!
…
*using my very very bad comprehension of Latin I never actually studied because I was busy doodling in the worksheets and the Spanish I only started a couple months ago…using this as my base for decoding I shall attempt :D*
Yes! And [no clue] [idk I think “you” in some conjugation] [“no clue” in a he-she-it conjugation?] my studies of six years and of [something or what] in Savoie
Due to my great deductive skills I say it means “I ate a cookie which I studied for six years in Savoie.”
*chokes* Ah. Not quite.
You told him not to ask, not me. I’m asking, what the heck?
*salutes* Officially telling you not to ask either. XP
Well Mr Brian does fantastic voice acting, you should hear his audios!!! And he’s really funny and encouraging and wise.
Ooh, voice acting.
The tale is a lie; what it tells is the truth. - Traditional folk tale ending
Okay, okay, I’m actually extremely new to French, so go easy on me. I just started learning it over the past month. How long have you spoken it?
XD Whoops. Noted. I’ve spoken it for. . . three years? Four? Something along those lines.
The beginning is set in France. I love medieval history and have studied France and England quite extensively, but France worked better for my purposes. They do travel to Constantinople in the Eastern Roman Empire (often called the Byzantine empire).
Aw, that sounds lovely. <3 I spent a few years in France at one point, so I always have a special spot in my heart for the country.
I love that one so much. Like, that’s the kind of quote that’s actually an awesome quote. Excellent.
Thank you!
What in the…
xD
Definitely not my normal writing style. 😜
Heheh, wonderful duo.
Ooh, fun! I technically haven’t read those yet, but I’d like to at some point. <3 And as for me. . . I don’t know. Robin McKinley’s Outlaws of Sherwood and Beauty are really good.
Aha, he sounds awesome.
The tale is a lie; what it tells is the truth. - Traditional folk tale ending
Pleased to meet you! <3 Ooh, lemon tea is delicious.
Yay for retellings! I can’t say exactly. . . I love all my characters. 😁 What about you?
Oui! Tu parles francais!
Oui! En faite, j’ai fait mes études de sixième et de cinqième en Savoie. 😀
It sounds like we are quite similar in this area. I love thinking about new ideas, but putting them into is tedious and drags out so much sometimes that my brain wants to go on strike. Do you use a chapter by chapter outline?
Aha, yes. Honestly, I’m more tempted to give up in the outlining process than in any other stage (with the possible exception of editing).
A first draft in two months is pretty good. I finished the first draft of my current WIP in a little less than three months, so I’m right there with ya.
Ooh, nice.
I love music as well. Singing and wind instruments are more down my alley, but I’m sorta attempting to learn the guitar. What programs do you use for graphic design?
Mmmmmm, I love wind instruments. <3 And as for graphic design programs, it depends. . . sometimes I’ll play around on Canva, but most of the time I just use Pages and Keynote and play around with their different tools.
I can ramble about nothing in particular with the best of them.
*tips hat*
I did my best. Alright, here is a slightly better description: The series is called The Purging, and it follows a motley group of people attempting unravel and stop a conspiracy of sorts in medieval Europe.
I plan on there being five books in the series, with each being around 200k each. The first one clocked in at a little over 190k. What about you?
Ooh, that’s awesome. What countries are they based in most of the time?
Aha, that’s awesome. Definitely beyond my capacity, but I applaud your courage. 😜 Trust the Traitor is actually the first of a duology, but beyond that, I don’t have too many plans for series at this point.
That’s an interesting question. My first (practice) work is more of a thing of the past (i.e, I’ve forgotten like every line in the entire thing xD), but let me think…
Nope. I got nothin’. I mean, there are plenty of lines I like, for instance: “And Jothwyn of Hardain, I sense an anger in you much more dangerous than any flaw of mine.” (dialogue quote)
I mean, that’s an awesome quote. XD
But nothing quote like. There are a couple quote like things in my book, but I can’t remember where I put them, and there’s no way I’m looking. xD What about you?
Heheh, fair. Mm, depends. . . mostly ones that have more significance with context, but I am a bit partial to the “Maybe it takes being dragged to your knees to really get a good look at the stars” one (Flame’s Dust).
Or “Doom is impatient. And, in this story, doom came in the form of a gooey ghost.” (Don’t ask.)
The tale is a lie; what it tells is the truth. - Traditional folk tale ending
XD No worries!
Weeeeell, it depends on your perspective XDDD. Some might say I’m on draft one billion, others might say I’m on chapter 20 something or other but I’d say…chapter 1. Again.
XD Re-writes just drag on forever sometimes. . .
Lol, I write really really nonlinear so it’s hard to say. Buuut I was planning to start releasing it chapter by chapter on December. I don’t really think it’ll happen that soon anymore because collage is actually super duper busy and I am so insulted by that I just recently finished revising my first chapter if ya wanna read it: This? (idk if the link works right I’ve never made a WordDoc link on SE before but I have sometimes had trouble to Word links sooo XDD, if it doesn’t work tell me)
How dare college be busy. XP And the link doesn’t seem to be working for me. . .
My style tends to be cluttered and so into “showing” it doesn’t actually tell what’s happening. This is the…third or ten-thousandths rewrite, and I got some really awesome editing advice from @taylorclogston which helped me a lot in revising my style and working out a lot of plot problems and inconsistencies.
But if you could point out any places were my style gets cluttered or things get confusing or anything at all that I should fix, please do tell me if you have the time and want to.
*salutes*
I have one question; WHEN CAN I BETA READ PLEEEEEEEEEEEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*ahem* That sounds so so cool!!!!!
Heheh, thanks! Glad my feeble attempts at an on-the-fly blurb worked. XD
Even your introductions are written in excellent prose. I love it.
Merci!
Oh, come now Karissa, surely you can name at least a couple to appease our insatiable curiosity.
Heheh, that depends on how much time you have.
So tell me some about your writer self. What’s your other WIP? (other than the spies/assassins one–which caught my attention by the way, I mean, how could assassins not catch a writer’s attention)
My other WIP (unnamed at this point) is a cross between Robin Hood and Little Red Riding Hood set as a sci-fi. It features questions about trust, a crazy lot of parallel between those two stories, and maybe an exploding ship or two. 😜
What’s your writing process? Do you do much outlining? What are your desired word counts for your novels? Do you have any other hobbies or passions other than writing?
Writing process. . . as far as novels go, it’s definitely an outlining way. I’m a plotter who hates plotting (and, to be frank, I’m not great at it – my writing skills are much stronger than my storytelling skills at this point), so I’ll get input from friends at each step of the Three Act Structure, and then I’ll sketch out the chapters for myself before plunging into the first draft (I can generally finish a first draft in two months if I work steadily; last WIP I had to pause for a while so it was more like four or five months).
Desired word count is usually around 80,000, 90,000 words, depending on the project.
Other passions. . . most certainly! I enjoy music (I play the piano), walks with friends, graphic design, drawing (when I’m bored XD), rambling about little in particular. . .
I’m a total newbie to writing (seeing that the first prose I wrote were in July of 2021). I wrote a practice novel over autumn and learned a ton. I am currently revising my first real novel that I wrote over winter, and am outlining the next book in the series. I won’t go into depth about its plot (I’m am quite terrible at book blurbs), but at its bare bones it’s a medieval action adventure novel with a healthy dose of mystery. That may or may not be the vaguest description you have ever heard.
Ooh, awesome! And you might just have won the award for vaguest book description. 😜 How many books do you expect to have in the series?
Do you have any quotes from any of your former works that you especially like?
The tale is a lie; what it tells is the truth. - Traditional folk tale ending
@emily-waldorf Hello! And precisely – they fit together perfectly, too. 😉 Favorite tea. . . chai, spice, peppermint, apple cinnamon. . . really depends on my mood and the weather. As far as favorite books go, that’s an impossible question to answer – far too many good books.
Ooh, that sounds interesting. . . and nice! I haven’t technically read that book yet, though it might be the book I tackle this summer (I generally try to work through one longer/classical book over the summer like Oliver Twist or Uncle Tom’s Cabin).
SHE’S ALIVE!!!!!!
(I mean, that sounds like a fantastic tradition. XD)
*hugs back* Me too! (Yessss, she really is. <3)
Ooh. Those sound awesome. How far are you into the second one?
Let’s see. . . I’m plotting out two at the moment, and one of them’s called Trust the Traitor and is about twenty children handpicked by the Traitorous Ten to be trained as the highest level of spies and assassins under the king – but only ten of them will be chosen, and the other ten will be killed. Towards the end of their three years, they have one hundred days of testing to prove that they’re strong enough to fill the role. The themes focus on whether the end-justifies-the-means and how to live in a corrupt society when doing right means losing your life. . . aaaand I’m rambling. XP
Mmmmmmm, yes. Beautiful. <3
The tale is a lie; what it tells is the truth. - Traditional folk tale ending
Aw, I didn’t know you were here, Kimberly! <3
I do indeed like stars, very much.
Hm. . . chai tea is certainly towards the top. What about you?
Hey, Cathy! Pleased to meet you! Do you have a current WIP?
The tale is a lie; what it tells is the truth. - Traditional folk tale ending
