In his essay, “Sometimes Fairy Stories May Say Best What’s to be Said,” C.S. Lewis famously explained why he wrote fairy tales: I wrote fairy tales because the Fairy Tale seemed the ideal Form for the stuff I had to say. Then, of course, the Man in me began to have his turn. I thought [...]
Phyllis Wheeler, co-founder of Castle Gate Press, recently cited me in her article Could You Write for the General Market? at the New Authors Fellowship. Phyllis attended my workshop at Realm Makers 2015 on The Crossover Christian Novelist. She writes, Christian horror author Mike Duran wants to reach Christian readers… who read primarily in the [...]
After returning from the Realm Makers (RM) 2015 conference last weekend, I posted several random observations. One was about the refreshingly even ratio of men to women (which I’m guessing was about 50/50). I say this was “refreshing” because one of my complaints about the ACFW conferences has always been the large disparity of women to men [...]
I arrived home from Saint Louis and the Realm Makers (RM) 2015 conference yesterday and promptly took a two-hour nap. Writers conferences are not the best place to catch up on rest, nor should they be! Better to burn the candle at both ends, meet people, grill industry insiders, hob-nob with “celebrities,” and take advantage [...]
This week I’m flying to Saint Louis for the Realm Makers Writer’s Conference. This is my sixth writers conference, but only the second in which I’m part of the faculty. Nine years ago I attended my first conference ever. And man, was I nervous. Exhibit A: My editor appointment. At conferences, much of the interaction with editors [...]
For novelists, one of the more interesting opportunities/dilemmas created by social media is the ability to voice their opinion, not just on writing, to more people. Now, not only can you follow an author to learn more about their writing habits and upcoming projects. Stick around and you’re liable to find out their feeling on politics, [...]
In my recent book Christian Horror: On the Compatibility of a Biblical Worldview and the Horror Genre, I note that the epic poem Beowulf is often considered one of the earliest horror stories ever written. Coincidentally, the story is also filled with religious content, making Beowulf, perhaps, one of the earliest examples of the fusion [...]
The lead character for The Ghost Box, Reagan Moon, experiences a bizarre phenomenon throughout the story which he struggles to comprehend, much less control — he bleeds protons from his fingertips. It’s not real magic, nor is it straight science. In fact, the source is rather vague. Is this a gifting from a higher source? Or [...]
When I first joined the writing group that Rachel Marks is a part of, she was just finishing chemotherapy. That was 5-6 years ago. Rachel has since survived cancer, grown her hair back (and turned it florescent pink), and went on to have her YA urban fantasy series contracted by Amazon Skyscape. The first novel [...]
Last week, literary agent Chip MacGregor caused a bit of commotion in Christian fictionland by frankly commiserating the state of the industry. MacGregor wrote: “CBA [Christian Booksellers Association] fiction is in a world of hurt. When I started my literary agency nine years ago, Christian fiction was the fastest-growing segment in all of publishing, and continued to [...]
