“Opposites” by Karen Hancock
Contents:
Christian Speculative Fiction:
Kathy Tyers – author of the well-loved Firebird series (and best-selling Star
Wars novels, Truce at Bakura and Balance Point.) I met Kathy years ago through a snail
mail SF & Fantasy critique group called Science Fiction and Fantasy
Workshop. She had just finished the
original version of Firebird and
was starting to shop it around. I
fell in love with it then and it’s only gotten better over the years. Kathy has been a source of great
encouragement, commiseration, critiquing and advice. She also introduced me to Steve Laube,
former editor at Bethany House Publishers who took a chance on Arena. Kathy’s
just turned in the first draft of her latest sf novel, Shivering World, to
Bethany House.
Donita K. Paul
– author of the young adult fantasy
Dragonspell.
Edenstar Books
and Games– the online store for
Christian-themed science fiction and fantasy games and books.
Dragons,
Knights & Angels: The Magazine of Christian Fantasy and
Science Fiction –quarterly online
publication. A family friendly magazine of
Christian fantasy and science fiction short stories and poems.
Deep Magic – The ezine of High Fantasy and Science Fiction. A forum for published and unpublished authors and illustrators to
showcase their work, share their visions, and explore the horizons of
imagination. They aren’t specifically or explicitly Christian, but make a
point of offering “clean fiction.” They also have an archive of reviews of
Fantasy and SF, both Christian and non.
Science Fiction Mad – extensive
resource directory for all things science fiction. Though it includes a
listing for Christian science fiction, it is a general site.
Christian
Publishing Links
Christian
Fiction Reviews-- dedicated
to reviewing some of the best titles in Christian fiction currently
available. Look for the review of The Light of Eidon.
The Teknofischzone
ministry was created to promote new, lesser known, and independent Christian
artists. ”We wanted to take our passion for music and our love of reading,
and share our discoveries with others.
We hope to do this by providing resources and relevant information on
musicians, authors, and artists that don't always fit into the
mainstream media. (Has reviews of both Arena and The Light of
Eidon)
Dancing Word
Writer’s Network – a joining of Ellie’s World of
Christian Fiction with Dancing Word Writer’s Ink and two other
subsites. Ellie’s World offers all the scoop on current Christian fiction: what's new, what's
coming soon; books listed by author, publisher, title; links to excerpts,
reviews, relevant articles. Dancing word provides author spotlights, chats
and workshops as well as columns about writing.
Steve Laube
– agent and editor extraordinaire. Also founder of ACW press.
Bethany House
Publishers – a great house to
work with!
The Christy
Awards – information about the Christy awards, past winners
and nominees, history, judging critierion, etc.
Christian
Bookseller’s Association
Bible Study Links
Grace Bible Church – their website is a
huge part of their outreach, offering hundreds of Pastor Robert R.
McLaughlin’s taped sermons via real audio, printed doctrine to download,
cassette tapes and publications to order, and more, including the option of
attending services live through the Internet link called Pal Talk. In
accordance with the church’s grace policy, no price is placed upon any
materials, which are freely given to those who are interested. Based in
Somerset, Massachusetts, Pastor McLaughlin’s academically oriented ministry
of teaching from the original languages has expanded throughout the country
and even the world, with people who consider themselves to be a part of his
congregation residing from coast to coast and beyond, including Europe,
Africa and Australia. Pastor
McLauglin was ordained by Colonel R. B. Thieme, Jr.
Grace
Fellowship Church, Plainville, MA and Prairie View Christian Church,
Norway, IA, are both pastored by men
ordained by Pastor McLaughlin. They have active websites providing a range of
doctrinal information and formats similar to what Grace Bible Church offers.
Back
to the Bible -- I have
especially enjoyed the transcriptions of Elisabeth Elliot’s radio broadcasts
on her Gateway to Joy program. Though
she has retired from producing more programs, the archives of 13 years worth
of them are still available on the Gateway to Joy site at Back to the
Bible.
Berachah Church
– website of the Houston-based church pastored by Colonel R.B. Thieme,
Jr. Via cassette tapes, I studied
under Col. Thieme’s ministry of six-times a week teaching for nearly twenty
years, before the Lord moved me on to Pastor McLaughlin. Col. Thieme has been singular in his
approach to the ministry, almost a pioneer in the field, with all the courage
and dedication to the Lord it takes to be one. Though not one of America’s famous mainstream pastors, his
influence has nevertheless spread worldwide through his tape and publication
ministry, and through the many men with the gift of pastor teacher who have
studied under him and gone on to find their own congregations. He has been studying and teaching the Word
of God for nearly sixty years and
attended Dallas Theological Seminary where he studied under Dr. Lewis Sperry
Chafer and others.
Bible
Doctrine Home Page – men trained under Col Thieme or otherwise
influenced by him who have gone on to establish their own independent
ministries. This site lists the various
ministries with an Internet presence (as well as a few without it), and
provides commentary on the nature of the site, various doctrinal stands,
etc.
E-sword
– amazing site allows you to download a bible study program on a grace basis.
The program is customizable, with many different translations, Strong’s
concordance, commentaries, dictionaries, maps, etc. A phenomenal resource.
Bible Study Downloads – a bulletin board of
Bible study links to the teachings of Pastors Robert R. McLaughlin, Joe
Griffin, J. Vernon McGee, Lewis Sperry Chafer, Charles Spurgeon, R.B. Thieme,
Jr and more, as well as doctrinal evangelistic organizations, children’s study
materials, and Bible study research sites.
Writing and Critique Sites
Science
Fiction and Fantasy Workshop – Founded by Kathleen Woodbury in
1980 to provide workshop experience through the mail and to put writers in
contact with others in the same situation, SFFW offers a free monthly email
newsletter with articles on how to write Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror,
plus snail mail critique groups for both short fiction and novels. This is
the workshop through which I met Kathy Tyers.
Critters Online Critique Group—Critters is
an online workshop/critique group for serious writers of SF, Fantasy and
Horror. I found it to be tremendously
helpful in that you not only have an opportunity to get your own work
critiqued, but to critique others’ works and to read other critters’
critiques of those works. That way you can compare what you thought
with what others thought and it shows you the range of reactions and opinions
any particular piece can elicit. The
critiques I got on my stories were very helpful as well. This is primarily for short pieces, though
they do allow novels a chapter at a time to go through the “queue” for
critiquing, and suggest you arrange to have some regulars who will agree to
critique those chapters.
Dancing Word
Writer’s Network – chats, author spotlights, workshops,
information on writers and the craft of writing.
Forward Motion for Writers -- tons of stuff about writing and the
writing life, with a special emphasis on sf/f from general market fantasy
writer Holly Lisle and her friends. A
great resource.
Will Write
4 Food – articles about writing, book reviews, interviews (I
was one of the first); seeks submissions of same from aspiring writers. Named
by Writer’s Digest as one of the 101 Best Sites for Writers.
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