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FAQs |
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Frequently Asked Questions 1.
Where did you get
the inspiration for Arena? The most direct impetus for the writing of Arena came when a prominent ABA agent read a portion of my allegorical fantasy and pronounced it very good, but most likely unsalable due to the current glut of fantasy on the market. He suggested I write something entirely different. Since alternate world stories were hot at the time, and SF was allegedly "easy to sell," I decided to try that. |
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At the time my son had developed an obsession with the Super Mario Brothers video game, and naturally it was a big topic of conversation and play around our house. In my current Bible studies, I was learning about how as Christians we grow through levels of spiritual strength and understanding, from Unbeliever to Salvation to Spiritual Babyhood to Spiritual Adulthood. I also saw how, just as in the video games, there are obstacles and antagonists that come in to stop us on this journey. Somehow the two melded in my mind and I knew I wanted my alternate world story to be based upon this framework. As for the opening chapter -- well, about two weeks before I was saved, I encountered a strange man on the front steps of the Student Union at the University of Arizona where I was still a student. He asked me if I wanted to take a personality test, and for some reason I said yes. He turned out to be a scientologist and his personality test a ploy to draw people in. I wanted nothing to do with it, but he was so odd he stuck in my mind and many years later provided the germ for how I was to begin my story in Arena. 2.
What do you hope
to accomplish through your writing? From the beginning my intent has always been to show something of what I believe the plan and grace and word of God is all about – to reveal the nature of the angelic conflict, and demonstrate how the Christian life is to be lived in an entertaining and non-threatening form. Emotional involvement always makes things stick better, and for this reason I believe literature can be a powerful vehicle for illuminating truth. You can communicate things in ways you cannot do through simply stating truths. The person has to see the connections to the spiritual life for himself -- plus it's a very effective way of getting into someone else's shoes and seeing things from a different perspective. This is another aid in making it real and important and ultimately in making it more a part of his life. 3.
There is some
controversy about the appropriateness of SF/F as a genre for glorifying
God. What are your thoughts on this? Frankly I'm puzzled anyone would even ask this, because the genres that make up speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy and horror) have always seemed like some of the best for dealing with spiritual truths. For one thing you can at least partially eliminate some of the baggage readers so often bring to the consideration of spiritual matters, and cause them to be a little more objective. Fantasy in particular has a long history of having been used by Christian authors to illumine and explore the tenets of the faith. If those antagonistic to the truth have also used the genre to advance their own agendas, well, that is true of every genre. Even the Bible has been distorted by its adversaries and used to advance their own false ideas. To me, what matters is not the genre itself, but what it's being used to communicate. 4.
Do you have any
favorite authors? I find that my "favorite authors" tend to change with the decades, and with new books read. Right now, I'd have to say I'm most interested in reading works by Robin Hobb, Lois MacMaster Bujold, Connie Willis, Kathy Tyers, Dean Koontz, C.S. Forester, and Elisabeth Elliot. (see writings for commentary and recommended reading) 5.
When will the
next Legends of the Guardian King book be out? Book Three, SHADOW OVER KIRIATH, will be releasing in November 2005. 6.
Who are your
spiritual influences? My primary spiritual influence would have to be the Word of God as taught and illuminated by the power of the Holy Spirit combined with the ministry of the gift of pastor-teacher. I have sat under two different pastor-teachers over the years I've been saved, both of them dedicated not only to the rigorous study of the Word of God from the original languages, but to the consistent feeding of their congregations, teaching five and sometimes six times a week. The benefits I have derived from their devotion are incalculable; without them, I could never have written anything. 7. Where did you come up with your names and words? Aggillon is a transliteration of the Greek word for messenger, often rendered “angel” in the Bible. I pronounce it “a-GEE-lon” with a hard g. Elhanu comes from playing around with the Hebrew phrase (which I have no idea how to spell) “Adonai elahanu, Adonai echad.” Splagnos is the Greek word for anger or passion. As for Tohvani and Cephalus, and most of the other made up words—I just liked the way they sounded. <g> 8.
Do you believe
aliens might really exist? The only extra-terrestrials I believe exist are those of the angelic creation, both fallen and elect. I do believe, however, that they are free to roam the universe, that they have bodies of made of light, that they are far more intelligent and powerful than we are, that many inhabit the atmosphere of the earth, and that they are capable of supernatural activity and manifestation. (If you want to know more of what I believe the Bible teaches on this subject, see my essay, What is the Angelic Conflict?) 9.
I am surprised by
the amount of violence your books.
Being as they are marketed as Christian books, how do you justify
that? I do not believe the Bible teaches that God is against all violence, abhors it, is shocked by it, etc. (On the latter point, I do not believe it is possible for our omniscient God to be shocked by anything in this life) The Book of Numbers is a treatise on how to go to war, and there are numerous references to God teaching His people how to fight, to men filled by the Holy Spirit killing thousands in battle, and even to the Lord Jesus Himself slaying thousands both in ages past and in the age to come. I believe it is important to acknowledge the principle of righteous violence, a force that must be brought to bear against evil violence in order to preserve the freedom we must have to serve God and even to be able to receive and believe in the Gospel. (Obviously this violence must be exercised in accordance with divine mandates -- most generally in the context of law enforcement and the military) I do not believe it is a subject we as Christians should never contemplate nor applaud. In fact, I believe it is important that we be ready mentally to use violence if necessary to defend life and liberty against the inevitable assaults of our Adversary who seeks to destroy both. Experiencing such things by means of literature is a way of making ourselves mentally and morally ready to do what may need doing. 10.
How long did it
take you to get published? About 26 years. 11.
Do you have any
advice for writers who aren't yet published but want to be? Read a lot of fiction in all genres. Read a lot about writing. Write a lot. Try to be very objective and analytical about your writing when seeking to evaluate it (see my essay Mentoring Without Meeting). Get someone you respect to critique your work. Try hard to listen to them and understand what they are saying. Get some more someone's, 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. Keep on growing in Grace and Knowledge of the Word. Make sure writing is what the Lord wants you to do with your life, because otherwise it's not going to be worth it. The questions that follow specifically
address plot and world-building elements in Arena as they relate to the
allegory, and as such may spoil the surprise of unraveling the plot for those who have not yet read the
book.
12.
Why did you
choose to have 14 gates? Seems like
it would be better to have only one since there's only one way to salvation. If you look at ARENA from the standpoint of wanting exact equivalencies between objects in the story and spiritual concepts, then you would say that since there's only one way into the spiritual life -- faith alone in Christ alone -- there can only be one physical way into the spiritual life equivalent, ie, only one true gate into the Inner Realm. And you'll be troubled by the multiple gates. But if you look at it from a more operational standpoint, and take into consideration the full context of the story, how all the gates are identical and the procedure is the same in every case, where the participants are helpless and must all rely upon the same single, omnipresent savior in exactly the same manner every time and at every gate, and you see that contrasted with all the other ways presented, which involve different Benefactors, or no Benefactor at all, which involve work, effort, dedication, cleverness, etc on the part of participants. . . well, it seems to me you'll "get it." The contrast as I see it is not one object versus many, or one location versus many, but one *method* -- grace -- versus the many methods of works. I also see the very multiplicity of the gates as
representative of God's grace in demonstrating His abundant and readily
available provision of the opportunity for Change, which is deliverance from
the imprisonment of the world.
Wherever you go in the Arena, you can always find a safe road and a
gate should you desire it. So it is
with the Gospel, which is never limited to a specific location or set of
circumstances, but is available to whoever truly desires a relationship with
God. 13.
How do you
justify having Elhanu and the Aggillon--portrayed as benevolent beings--
taking humans from the middle of their lives and, in some cases, never
returning them to Earth? Because ultimately the humans’ return is solely dependent upon their own choice. In fact in many cases, it was choice that brought them into the Arena in the first place. Those who weren’t pulled from the brink of death – and so given a second chance at life -- came to the project freely, in search of something better. John was trying to stop smoking, Callie wanted self-esteem and even Pierce had gone out into the woods looking for answers to what he was going to do with his life, though I never specifically state that. Granted, none of them knew what they were getting into when they embarked on their searches, but still, they were searching. Once they entered the Arena, their deliverance is again a matter of choice not effort, smarts or luck. Elhanu ensures that participants are offered everything they need to get to the point of Change -- which guarantees them safe passage home. The way is clearly delineated and easy, easy, easy. If participants acknowledge that they are not in charge and follow the instructions, they will suffer no loss whatsoever, and only reap reward. But he leaves them free will -- crucial to the resolution of the trial -- and so they can get off the road and refuse to go through the gate if they choose. Perhaps some readers still feel discomfort over the notion that ultimately most of the participants never do return to Earth. “How can this be acceptable?” they ask. I would ask in return, without in any way meaning to be flippant, "Is it acceptable that most people to whom God breathes the spark of life at birth never make it to heaven, but spend eternity in the Lake of Fire?" It happens for the same reason: because they chose to reject the instruction of the One who put them here. That was one of the main points I wanted to make with this story, that our decisions have consequences -- sometimes deadly and permanent consequences -- and that the responsibility for them lies not with the one who gave us the choice, but with us for the choice we made. I would say this is precisely what Elhanu's answer is to Cephalus in his appeal, as well. 14.
It has been said
that Arena is flawed because Elhanu is not God in the story’s own stated
context, thus participants cannot be expected to treat Him as if he is God.
Why didn’t you create an entirely allegorical world in which Elhanu literally
was the God of that world who would then have the right to control
characters' lives, because He created them? Because that wouldn’t have brought into relief the concept I wanted to illuminate—ie that of a world created to play out a drama of cosmic proportions and importance from which alien observers would learn. And actually Elhanu was the god of the Arena, having created it for his own purposes, having set up the rules by which it would operate (and then seeing that they are enforced) and having selected the people who would participate and the conditions under which they would do so. He placed the participants in his world for their own benefit and blessing, and provided everything they needed to get through it to reward. In all ways of behavior and position, except for the issue of the creation of the participants themselves—which is never mentioned one way or the other—he is their god. Because this is not the familiar picture of God, I hoped it would stimulate readers to think about aspects of who He is and what makes Him God that they might not normally think about. In my view, setting it up the way I did goes beyond the creation issue, to emphasize the purpose issue. Also, one must remember that all metaphors break down somewhere. Their purpose is never to communicate the full realm of truth. I like Peter Wood’s take on the use of metaphor when he says in Diversity that “we ought not to make too much of a metaphor, which serves its purpose if it lights up one good idea.” That’s really all I was trying to do. Shine a light on the idea that if God has made this world and set it up for His purposes and put us in it to serve those purposes, doesn’t it make sense to find out what they are, and even better to find out who He is and what He’s like and why He’s done it? 15. Who is Pierce supposed to represent? Christ, the Holy Spirit, or what? I intended the training complexes at the edge of the Inner Realm (eg, Rimlight) to represent local bodies of Believers, and for Pierce to represent the pastor-teacher assigned to one such body, a guide given for the training and equipping of the saints through the study and teaching of the word of God. Granted his role is perhaps stronger that what many see as the norm for a pastor, but it is my belief that this role has been disastrously minimized and under-valued in the church’s function today, (see my essay The Importance of the Pastor-Teacher) a belief echoed in my story. |
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