by Jason Joyner | Apr 24, 2007 | Blog, writing craft
In some ways I don’t like coming off of cool blog tours like last week’s CSFF tour featuring Karen Hancock. It means I have to come up with new ideas to keep the ol’ blog going! This week seems to be a smorgesboard so far.
This morning I’ve found a couple of links that give some encouragement to those working on their writing. I’ve been getting back into comics recently, and have been checking out Newsarama for updates. They have a guy named Dirk Manning who’s been writing a series called Write or Wrong. Today’s post “Lose Yourself” spoke some encouragement to me – maybe stuff I’ve heard before, but it’s the type of thing we keep needing to hear regularly. I haven’t checked out his other posts, but there’s a list of them at the bottom. Let me know if you find other worthwhile links there.
Also Mike Duran gives an insightful account of his recent writing conference experiences. He has some pitfalls to watch for, as well as highlights of “Trends in CBA Publishing”, as given by Dave Long. Interesting stuff – thanks Mike!!
by Jason Joyner | Apr 24, 2007 | Blog, writing craft
In some ways I don’t like coming off of cool blog tours like last week’s CSFF tour featuring Karen Hancock. It means I have to come up with new ideas to keep the ol’ blog going! This week seems to be a smorgesboard so far.
This morning I’ve found a couple of links that give some encouragement to those working on their writing. I’ve been getting back into comics recently, and have been checking out Newsarama for updates. They have a guy named Dirk Manning who’s been writing a series called Write or Wrong. Today’s post “Lose Yourself” spoke some encouragement to me – maybe stuff I’ve heard before, but it’s the type of thing we keep needing to hear regularly. I haven’t checked out his other posts, but there’s a list of them at the bottom. Let me know if you find other worthwhile links there.
Also Mike Duran gives an insightful account of his recent writing conference experiences. He has some pitfalls to watch for, as well as highlights of “Trends in CBA Publishing”, as given by Dave Long. Interesting stuff – thanks Mike!!
by Jason Joyner | Apr 18, 2007 | Blog, CSFF, fiction, writing craft
I’m continuing the CSFF tour regarding Karen Hancock’s latest book, Return of the Guardian King. It is the 4th and final book in her series Legends of the Guardian King. Since I am new to Hancock’s work, I decided that I would dive into the first book, The Light of Eidon in order to point people to the start of the series (there wasn’t any way I would burn through 4 books in time either). Hopefully my introduction to the series will encourage you to pick up a great storyline!
The Light of Eidon centers on Abramm Kalladorne, prince of Kiriath. He is weaker physically and not in direct line to be an heir to the throne, so he pursues the religious society of Mataio in order to serve his country by protecting the Flames of Eidon.
As he approaches the time for his initiation, he is swept up in political intrigue that sees his whole life turned upside down. Questioning his whole life and what he was taught to believe, he must learn to survive in a savage world, finding the truth amidst all the struggle.
Hancock delivers a wonderfully engaging story that is full of the themes and props that make an enjoyable fantasy – epic battles, struggle for life, heroes and heroines, magic, fierce creatures. Her characterization and worlds are well-developed and rightly praised for their engrossing detail. The action draws you in quickly and rarely lets up the pace, without sacrificing quality development of the plot and peoples of this world. She is also very adept at keeping the reader guessing. The truth is not always what it seems, and old foes spring up at unexpected times.
Eidon is a spiritual tale that stands tall as the premier of Christian fantasy, but also deserves recognition outside of the Christian market as well. She shows true struggle, whether physical combat or emotional battles.
One aspect that I truly appreciated was how she handles difficult situations (writing-wise). As an industry, the CBA (Christian Booksellers Association) has some standards that can be controversial in how sin and the “gory” details should be shown. The unofficial standards can cause problems in describing sexual situations, bodily functions, and violence. My opinion is that Hancock delivers a tale based on reality that sets up the situation that is authentic for the story without being sensationalism . For instance, when two characters are attracted to one another, she writes the sexual tension in a way that doesn’t offend sensibilities, but it is clear what is happening. Often in Christian fiction the stigma forces an author to write something that is less than authentic. This is an observation that is more related to the writing craft than the enjoyment of the story, but it doesn’t pull one out of the fictive world like when these type of situations are poorly handled.
Overall, I see why Karen Hancock has won multiple Christy awards for her fiction, and why she is so highly regarded among my fellow speculative fiction fans. I strongly recommend The Light of Eidon. I also encourage you to check out the links I put in yesterday’s post to find out more about Return of the Guardian King and the rest of her books (though watch for spoilers if you’re new to the series).
by Jason Joyner | Apr 18, 2007 | Blog, CSFF, fiction, writing craft
I’m continuing the CSFF tour regarding Karen Hancock’s latest book, Return of the Guardian King. It is the 4th and final book in her series Legends of the Guardian King. Since I am new to Hancock’s work, I decided that I would dive into the first book, The Light of Eidon in order to point people to the start of the series (there wasn’t any way I would burn through 4 books in time either). Hopefully my introduction to the series will encourage you to pick up a great storyline!
The Light of Eidon centers on Abramm Kalladorne, prince of Kiriath. He is weaker physically and not in direct line to be an heir to the throne, so he pursues the religious society of Mataio in order to serve his country by protecting the Flames of Eidon.
As he approaches the time for his initiation, he is swept up in political intrigue that sees his whole life turned upside down. Questioning his whole life and what he was taught to believe, he must learn to survive in a savage world, finding the truth amidst all the struggle.
Hancock delivers a wonderfully engaging story that is full of the themes and props that make an enjoyable fantasy – epic battles, struggle for life, heroes and heroines, magic, fierce creatures. Her characterization and worlds are well-developed and rightly praised for their engrossing detail. The action draws you in quickly and rarely lets up the pace, without sacrificing quality development of the plot and peoples of this world. She is also very adept at keeping the reader guessing. The truth is not always what it seems, and old foes spring up at unexpected times.
Eidon is a spiritual tale that stands tall as the premier of Christian fantasy, but also deserves recognition outside of the Christian market as well. She shows true struggle, whether physical combat or emotional battles.
One aspect that I truly appreciated was how she handles difficult situations (writing-wise). As an industry, the CBA (Christian Booksellers Association) has some standards that can be controversial in how sin and the “gory” details should be shown. The unofficial standards can cause problems in describing sexual situations, bodily functions, and violence. My opinion is that Hancock delivers a tale based on reality that sets up the situation that is authentic for the story without being sensationalism . For instance, when two characters are attracted to one another, she writes the sexual tension in a way that doesn’t offend sensibilities, but it is clear what is happening. Often in Christian fiction the stigma forces an author to write something that is less than authentic. This is an observation that is more related to the writing craft than the enjoyment of the story, but it doesn’t pull one out of the fictive world like when these type of situations are poorly handled.
Overall, I see why Karen Hancock has won multiple Christy awards for her fiction, and why she is so highly regarded among my fellow speculative fiction fans. I strongly recommend The Light of Eidon. I also encourage you to check out the links I put in yesterday’s post to find out more about Return of the Guardian King and the rest of her books (though watch for spoilers if you’re new to the series).
by Jason Joyner | Apr 3, 2007 | Blog, fiction, writing craft
I’m currently reading Coral Moon by Brandilyn Collins. I have hit the point of the book that I decided to call “the threshold”. I am at the place where I want to finish the book. I am looking for time to squeeze some reading into my day. I could plop into a chair (with the lights on, BC ain’t for chickens, lemme tell ya) and push through to the end.
There seems to be a tipping point in a novel where a reader is sufficiently invested that they really want to get to the end. I know there are different types of readers. When my wife picks up a book on Saturday, I may as well head off to do something else, because she’s the type that sits down and reads until she’s done. Maybe this type of reader doesn’t have a threshold. However, I definitely am the other type.
I find I can put down a book if I get busy or distracted and lose track of it if I haven’t hit the tipping point. It’s not a burning priority, but if I cross the threshold, then it is something I won’t let go of until I finish.
A lot of this has to do with book structure. The classic “3 act” framework draws you in for the 1st act, builds tension in the 2nd, and races to the climax in the 3rd, ideally. It probably is natural to have the momentum to finish in the 3rd act, and I bet a lot of times that is when I hit that threshold.
It seems to me that drawing people to that threshold point is a key to writing compelling fiction. There certainly is a different “threshold” at the beginning of a novel, where you either engage the reader or they give up reading it. To me, the point I am talking about is the spot when I realize the biggest enjoyment out of the novel. I can think of novels like Relentless, Germ, Orphans of Chaos, In High Places (on the docket for tomorrow’s blog tour!) that I could really tell I hit that point, and I wasn’t ready to put them down. Then there’s a book like Qi that I really wanted to like, but lost me. I read less than 100 pages and recently packed it away, disappointed in wasted money.
Of course, the best books will draw you past the threshold from the get-go, and is the most desirable for an author to aspire to. I can think of two in the last year that did that for me: Scoop and Abiding Darkness. No coincidence that Scoop was my top book for ’06, and Abiding is leading the pack for ’07. I wish I knew the magic formula for creating such a threshold. It boils down to great writing at the end of the day. I will be watching for this “threshold” in other books from now on, seeing if I can get a handle on this aspect.
by Jason Joyner | Apr 3, 2007 | Blog, fiction, writing craft
I’m currently reading Coral Moon by Brandilyn Collins. I have hit the point of the book that I decided to call “the threshold”. I am at the place where I want to finish the book. I am looking for time to squeeze some reading into my day. I could plop into a chair (with the lights on, BC ain’t for chickens, lemme tell ya) and push through to the end.
There seems to be a tipping point in a novel where a reader is sufficiently invested that they really want to get to the end. I know there are different types of readers. When my wife picks up a book on Saturday, I may as well head off to do something else, because she’s the type that sits down and reads until she’s done. Maybe this type of reader doesn’t have a threshold. However, I definitely am the other type.
I find I can put down a book if I get busy or distracted and lose track of it if I haven’t hit the tipping point. It’s not a burning priority, but if I cross the threshold, then it is something I won’t let go of until I finish.
A lot of this has to do with book structure. The classic “3 act” framework draws you in for the 1st act, builds tension in the 2nd, and races to the climax in the 3rd, ideally. It probably is natural to have the momentum to finish in the 3rd act, and I bet a lot of times that is when I hit that threshold.
It seems to me that drawing people to that threshold point is a key to writing compelling fiction. There certainly is a different “threshold” at the beginning of a novel, where you either engage the reader or they give up reading it. To me, the point I am talking about is the spot when I realize the biggest enjoyment out of the novel. I can think of novels like Relentless, Germ, Orphans of Chaos, In High Places (on the docket for tomorrow’s blog tour!) that I could really tell I hit that point, and I wasn’t ready to put them down. Then there’s a book like Qi that I really wanted to like, but lost me. I read less than 100 pages and recently packed it away, disappointed in wasted money.
Of course, the best books will draw you past the threshold from the get-go, and is the most desirable for an author to aspire to. I can think of two in the last year that did that for me: Scoop and Abiding Darkness. No coincidence that Scoop was my top book for ’06, and Abiding is leading the pack for ’07. I wish I knew the magic formula for creating such a threshold. It boils down to great writing at the end of the day. I will be watching for this “threshold” in other books from now on, seeing if I can get a handle on this aspect.