2019 Reading Recommendations

Wishing you all a wonderful New Year.

For something different, we're starting the year with some reading recommendations from the CWD Admin team

From Mazzy Adams 

1. I finished reading the final instalment of Jeanette O'Hagan's Under the Mountain Series of novellas  - Caverns of the Deep -  in 2019.

What a perfect way to round off her terrific set of YA fantasy adventures. Each novella was a lovely, bite-sized chunk of readerly goodness which left me hungry for more. Although fantasy is not my automatic go-to genre, Jenny's lively and creative approach is wonderful. She makes it easy to connect with the three main protagonists, and I was totally caught up in their exciting adventures.

 At the Toowoomba Omega Writers Retreat bookstall in June, I treated myself to two new books: Catriona McKeown's YA novel, The Boy in the Hoodie, and Paula Vince's New Adult novel, Imogen's Chance. 

2. Imogen's Chance took me gently into the characters' lives when they were at their most vulnerable, wrapped me up in compassion for their problems, and frustration at their responses, added heady moments of suspense that kept me reading much later into the night than I'd planned, and left me soaking in the hope-filled practicalities of God's grace, forgiveness, and unlimited, unconditional love. 

3. The Boy in the Hoodie proved to be a fabulous read. I'd thoroughly recommend it for YA, but heck, if you're older (like me) go for it! It'll take you into the world of teens at school, fraught relationships, self-discovery, the value of true friendship, and a renewed appreciation not only for our young friends and their trials and discoveries, but thankful for the embedded wisdom that unfolds through Catriona's writing. Loved it.

From Sue Jeffrey aka Susan J Bruce

1. ‘A Better Man’ by Louise Penny. One of my favourite authors is Louise Penny. Every year she writes another in her now long series of Chief Inspector Gamache mystery books. It’s a regular, secular mystery but the main character Armand Gamache, is a good man who loves his wife, poetry, the people he works with, his community and his dog. He also is willing to do what’s right even at great personal cost. A Better Man is another beautiful and uplifting book in the series. I’m not sure how murder can be uplifting but these books are  :D. You want to know these people and have them as your friends :). Five star brilliance.

2. Out of the Cages by Penny Jaye, is an excellent YA book about Nepali girls trafficked into slavery. Jaye handles the dark issues sensitively, not shirking the reality of the terrible life trafficked children face but drawing the reader through the struggles of the main character, Meena, as she tries to escape from the world in which she is enslaved. In her author note, Jaye says the book is ‘a kind of prayer that one day we might live in a world that no longer accepts any form of slavery as common place’. I found myself joining in that prayer as this surprisingly beautiful book stirred deep emotions of both anger and hope. This book won the YA section of the 2019 Caleb prize.

From Jeanette O'Hagan

1. Becoming Mrs Lewis by Patti Callahan. A novelised retelling of the love story between Joy Davidman and C. S. (Jack) Lewis with glimpses of Jack's life and writing at the Kilns as well as a empathetic and honest presentation of Joy, a writer, poet, thinker and soul-mate, and an exploration of Joy's spiritual life.

2. A New Reality - Jewel of the Stars by Adam David Collings. The second episode of the Jewel of the Stars series. Fleeing alien-controlled Earth space, the crew and passengers of the Jewel of the Stars must adjust to an new reality while a group called the Red Guard threaten the peace and safety of the ship. A great second episode with the introduction of new characters.

3. Too Bright by Charis Joy Jackson. A collection of short stories inspired by the author's dreams. A mix of gripping, emotionally intense dystopian stories and more fairytale stories full of wonder and faith.

From Paula Vince

Check out Paula Vince's reading blog The Vince Review for a whole heap of other suggestions :)

Now over to you - what books have you read in 2019 that you'd recommend to others?

Reading Christmas

by Jeanette O'Hagan

Many things make this a special time of year - summer (or winter) holidays, Christmas carols and songs, Christmas foods, Christmas lights, decorations and Christmas trees, nativity scenes, family gatherings, parties and traditions, Christmas movies - and well, maybe a book or two, (Afterall, what better present to give a booklover for Christmas than, well, books :) )

So, I thought we could look at twelve books that focus on or highlight Christmas in their pages. (Of course, there are many more. If I've missed one of your favourites, why not share it with us in the comments below.)

1. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C S Lewis

In the first written book in the series, Narnia is held in the spell of the White Witch for over on hundred years- always winter, never Christmas. With the coming of Aslan, the lion, the son of the Emperor Beyond the Seas, the Witch's punishing grip on Narnia is broken. Before the great thaw takes hold, the three Pevensie children (Edmund has gone over to the witch) and the Beavers, hear the sound of sleigh bells. Not the Witch, as they feared, but Father Christmas with a gift perfect for each one, that enables them to fulfill the roles they need to play in the battle to come.  (On of the Doctor Who Christmas Specials gave a tribute to this Narnian story in The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe.)

2. The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickons (1843)

The well-known tale of Ebnezar Scrooge. This Victorian busnessman has closed off his heart to others and is only interested in making money. He keeps his poor clerk, Bob Cratchit, wokring late the night before Christiams and begrudges giving him any time off or gifts for the man's family.

That night Scrooge is visited by three spirits - the Ghost of Christmas past, the Ghost of Christmas present and the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come - in which he is reminded of love and friendship of the past, is shown the joyful family of his clerk despite their poverty, and then gets a preview of his bleak, cold, lonely future if he doesn't mend his ways. Scrooge has a change of heart and rushes to show the Christmas spirit to Bob Cratchit and his family. As Little Tim says, 'God bless everyone.' (Another Doctor Who Christmas special gives a A Christmas Carol retelling.)

3. Little Women by Louisa Alcott (1868/9)

This classic book starts at Christmas time. The four sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy, and their mother face the first Christmas of a long year ahead without their father and husband. Having lost his wealth, Mr March is faraway as a army chaplain in the American Civil War, and the girls and Marmae must somehow survive (and thrive) without him.  

Incidenttally, Geraldine Brook's award-winning book, March, imagines the story of the girl's father during the year of his absence. 

4. Treasures of the Snow by Patricia St John

Chrismas celebrations and themes weave their way through this classic story of faith and forgiveness. Annette loves Christmas time in the Swiss Alps. It is especially poignant as the day when her mother died giving birth to her little brother.  Following a terrible accident, Annette struggles with forgiving her next door neighbour, Lucian, while Lucian is crippled by guilt. Over the year, both children learn something of God's grace and forgivenss.

5. The Tailor of Gloucester by Beatrix Potter

The mayor of Gloucser commissions a waistcoat for his wedding on Christmas Day, but the poor tailor falls sick and is distraught that he can't complete it. When he arrives at his shop on Christmas morning he finds a small miracle from some grateful mice.

6. The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry

A young couple very much in love have little money to buy each other Christams presents. Each sacrifices something precious to them to buy each other the perfect gift.

 

7. Letters From Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien

Each December J.R.R. Tolkien wrote and illustrated letters from Father Christmas to his children. The letters tell the goings on at the North Pole (from goblin wars to an accident prone polar bear), interwoven with answers to the children's questions and current events - a loving gift of a father to his growing children.

8. How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Seuss

This is a well-known classic, another 'Scrooge' tale in which the Grinch is annoyed about the noise and bother of his neighbours' Christmas celebrations. He decides to 'steal' Christmas but in the process learns an important lesson about sharing.

9. When Santa learned the Gospel by Simon Camilleri

In this lovingly illustrated picture book, Simon ponders the different between Santa's Christmas message and that present in the gospels. The book is in verse and uses humour to get the messsage across.  You can also enjoy an audiovisual version here. 

10. A Christmas Star Disaster by David Adam Collings

Another prequel of the Jewel of the Staris series - Cruise director, Glen Price's tries to rescue Christmeas when his planned celebrations for the passengers come unstuck due to a ship-wide power failure. 

A brand new Jewel of The Stars Christmas story. Read it completely free on Wattpad - and Adam is offering it free on Wattpad.

11. The Gospel Stories

Of course, we also have the nativity stories in Matthew and Luke's gospels, each focusing on different aspects of the events surrounding the birth of Jesus, the promised Messiah. Luke focues more on Mary's perspective (and her cousin Elizabeth) the birth of John as well as of Jesus, and the shepherds. Matthew focuses more on Joseph (Jesus' step-dad)'s point of view and tells us of the Magi and the Flight to Egypt,

Either way, it's an amazing story, of the eternal God, the Logos, the second person of the Trinity coming to earth as a human being. Not just created fully formed adult with all his faculties and enjoying a position of wealth and prestige as a king. Rather, he is conceived and knit together in Mary's womb and is born (with all the mess that entails) as a baby, without a place to stay, sheltering with the animals.

Yet this, baby is the creator of the universe and will bring about peace - shalom - between God and humanity, between God and the cosmos.

Christmas stories celebrate family and friends, giving, reconcilation and hopes for a brighter future. At the centre of it all is a baby and God's love and gift, that extends to every mundane and messy corner of our lives.

Wishing you all a blessed and joyful Christmas and peace with God and your family and neighbours.

And in the spirit of Christmas (and Doctor Who Christmas specials),  I'm offering a short story Treasure in the Snow.  While it's not exactly a Christmas story, it does have mountains of snow and some parallels with the Christmas. Let me know if you can find them :) 

Find your free copy (until the 2nd Jan 2020) here.

Jeanette spun tales in the world of Nardva from the age of eight. She enjoys writing fantasy, sci-fi, poetry, and editing. Her Nardvan stories span continents, millennia and cultures. Some involve shapeshifters and magic. Others include space stations and cyborgs. She has published over forty stories and poems. Jeanette lives in Brisbane with her husband and children.






Find her on:

  

Facebook |Jeanette O'Hagan Writes | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

Meet Our Members: Ben Dixon

Each Thursday in 2018 we will be interviewing one of the members of Christian Writers Downunder – to find out a little bit more about them and their writing/editing goals.

Today interview is with Ben Dixon (aka Wolf McTavish)

Tells us three things about who you are and where you come from, Ben. 

I’ve had a lot of jobs over the years, I’ve pastored in several churches from NSW to Outback and North Queensland, but by far, my favourite job was in the Christian Bookselling industry. For over ten years I worked as a Bookshop Manager for a non-profit Christian book chain. You could say I married into it. When I moved to North Queensland to take up a position as a youth pastor I found the local Christian bookshop. There nice young lady who volunteered at this shop, and was also a member of my church, so it made visiting the shop all the more attractive.

After we married we were presented with two options, move out to a small outback mining town and continue as a pastor there or join the Christian mission as managers of a new book shop they were opening. We choose the latter. It was an interesting time. One of the things I loved about working for this small company was that there was a lot of job variety if you wanted it. I got to create several websites, train new staff and help set up shops in places like Mount Isa and Alice Springs.

By far my greatest achievement, and biggest challenge is parenting my four children and supporting my wife as she home schools them.

Tell us about your writing. What do you write and why?

Most of my writing can be described as non-fiction, I have a blog (and a YouTube channel) where I write about books, reading and why we should read. It focuses on science fiction mostly. I blog under the pen name Wolf McTavish.


I'm currently working on an adventure novel with a fantasy twist, along with a superhero novel, a non-fiction book for home schooling dads and two science fiction novels. I think I need to focus on one and get it finished.


When I was younger I tried my hand at writing a few science fiction stories. I presented them to my Grandfather to proofread and provide some feedback. He tore my stories to shreds and went to great detail describing how scientifically impossible my stories were. I know he meant well, but it did shake my confidence in writing.

Years later I discovered blogging, but as I looked around I noticed the internet was clogged with so many blogs already, some just waffly streams of conscious post that went nowhere. I decided that there was too much 'noise' on the internet already so why should I contribute to it as well. Then I read an article about how creating content (like writing a blog post) rather than consuming content passively is a far more rewarding use of your time and energy. It may be more difficult to do but this well eventually help you develop character. 

So, I decided instead of just reading books, I would review them. Rather than reading about books I would write about them. The other reason I decided to blog was for the experience. Recently my desire to write and publish some novels has been rekindled so part of my plan was to write more in order to improve my writing skill. 

We were all created in the image of God and have an innate desire to create as well. So in order to grow I believed we need to become creators, not for the recognition that might follow (even though that would be good), but for the sake of the process itself. My preferred way of creating is to write. 

Who has read your work? Who would you like to read it? 

Most of my work can be read online, it’s free to view on various platforms: Blogger, Medium, Wattpad and YouTube. I’ll add the links below so you can take a look for yourselves. 

My novels, though, haven’t been read by anyone yet. The exception would be the Adventure Story with the fantasy twist. My father has read a few chapters and told me to blow something up and I’m currently getting feedback on the first chapter from the Omega Sci-fi / Fantasy chapter. 

My target audience for the novels would be a general audience, with maybe the exception of the superhero story which I’m trying to write for my children to enjoy. 

Tell us something about your process. What challenges do you face? What helps you the most? 

For my blog posts, I normally read a book or an article which starts me thinking about a certain topic. I’ll write down some ideas that I have, then read what others have to say about that topic and grab some quotes. I’ll them mash that together into article.

Process

In regards to writing a novel this is my process so far:


· I come up with an idea and think about it for a while.


· Then start world building – basically I do a mind dump and write down everything about this universe: the characters, their backgrounds, the way the magic or tech works etc.


· Start drafting out a few chapters…


· Come up with another idea and start world building that universe.


· Get distracted by life, which gets in the way and give up for a few weeks before starting the cycle again.

Challenges

My greatest challenge is completing a writing project. But I find that becoming part of a community of like-minded writers, CWD is a good example, provides the encouragement that I need, along with the opportunity to help others by sharing my knowledge and story to encourage them.


So hopefully you feel encouraged :)


Silence would help me the most, but trying to work from home with four children who don’t know the meaning of silence, is definitely a challenge.

What is your favourite Writing Craft Book and why?

I have two for this list: 

· Writing into the Dark: How to Write a Novel without an Outline by Dean Wesley Smith 

· How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method by Randy Ingermanson 

I knew I wanted to write novels but I didn’t know where to start so I just kept reading more books on the craft of writing. In the introduction of Writing into the Dark, Dean Wesley Smith says he wanted to motivate writers to write and not be bogged down or scared by preconceived ideas of how you should write. It certainly helped me. After reading all those other books on the craft this was the one that really motivated me to start writing and stop being scared of starting. 

Randy Ingermanson’s Snowflake Method was another book that I found really helpful. He claims that his snowflake method will work for people who plot, those who write without an outline and those in between. But the line that really stood out to me what this one: “You’re going to get lots of advice on how to write a novel. But that’s all it is. Advice. If you don’t like that advice, if it doesn’t work for you, then ignore it. If it does work for you, then run with it.” 

If you were to give a shout-out to a CWD author, writer, editor or illustrator – who would they be?

That would be Adam Collings and Jeanette O'Hagan. Adam introduced me to this group and the Omega writers group and both Adam and Jenny have made me feel welcome within the group.

Also they both write the type of genre l love to read, science fiction and fantasy. I can't say how much I enjoyed reading Adam’s Jewel of the Stars novels and would recommend it to anyone who loves science fiction. I was privileged to beta read book two in this series and can say that both stories are better than a lot of the newer science fiction novels I've read over the last few years.

I've just started reading and enjoying Jenny's Heart of the Mountain fantasy series too. What I also like about both of these authors is the way they’re able to subtly weave in ideas about Christianity and their faith without breaking the reader out of the story. This is something I'm still working on with my writing. 

What are your writing goals for 2019? How will you achieve them?

I have an ambitious goal of completing and publishing two books by the end of this year. That was my goal last year but I ended up helping my wife publish a nature journal. (Still a win!) 

I believe the first and most important step to achieving this year’s goal is to finish a first draft of at least one of my projects.

(Could place image BenHeatherNatureJournal.JPG here with following link  Ben and Heather with the One Year Nature Journal. Click on link to find out more and purchase in Australia.) 

How does your faith impact and shape your writing?

I grew up in a Christian home and have been a Christian from an early age so I view everything that happens through a Gospel worldview and hopefully my writing and videos reflect that too. I’ve read some really good science fiction and fantasy novels which teach scientific principles or discuss philosophical and religious ideas as its part of the storyline in a way that seems natural. A good example of this, despite its name is Amish Vampires in Space which juxtaposes Amish, Christian and Secular beliefs, discusses each in detail and keeps the tension of the story going at the same time. It’s well worth the read. (See Adam Collings YouTube review for more detail)

This is what I want to do with in my novels, write them from a Gospel worldview and be able to have the characters discuss ideas like redemption or show these ideas through their actions without ‘taking the reader out of the story’ because it’s to cheesy or seems forced. This is something I’m struggling with but want to accomplish especially if I’m aiming at the general market.

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Ben Dixon spends his days taking photos of his beard and dog to post on his Instagram page, while his wife, Heather home school's their 3 children.

He is also on a quest for a good book. While Science Fiction is his favourite genre to escape to, he also enjoy Fantasy and Detective Fiction. In the non-fiction section he likes to read Theology, History and Leadership books.

This quest is never ending as there are always more good books to read.


You can read Ben Dixon aka Wolf McTavish's work at:

Blogger |  YouTube |  Wattpad | Meduim | Facebook | Twitter 

CWD Member Interview - Adam David Collings

Each Thursday in 2018 we will be interviewing one of the members of Christian Writers Downunder – to find out a little bit more about them and their writing/editing goals.
Today's interview: Adam David Collings

Question 1: Tells us three things about who you are and where you come from.

1. I was born and bred in Tasmania. I've lived all my life in the beautiful city of Launceston, in the north of the state. Launceston was settled by Europeans in 1806, making it one of the oldest cities in Australia. We have the oldest underground sewers in the country (1860) and the third oldest in the world. Launny was also the location of the first medical operation under anaesthesia in Australia (1847)
2. I make my living as a software developer for an engineering company. When I'm not writing code, I'm writing sci-fi and fantasy stories, or scripting videos. There's actually a lot of commonality between my day job and my writing. In both worlds I create videos, and crafting a story is surprisingly similar to crafting a piece of software.
3. I imported my wife from New South Wales, who I met online, before the days of social media. We have two kids. Our daughter is heading in to high school this year, and our son has a superhuman ability to recall dates.

Question 2: Tell us about your writing (or editing/illustrating etc). What do you write and why?

I write speculative fiction, which includes science fiction, fantasy, superhero, and anything else weird. Some of my stories are written for the Christian market, others for the general market. My primary focus at the moment is a space opera series called Jewel of The Stars. This is a long-term series of novellas structured like a TV series. I wrote book 1 very much as a "pilot episode". It follows the adventures of the passengers and crew of a cruise ship in space on the run from an alien armada after Earth is invaded.
I also have a superhero project in the works. This one will be set in Australia. After all, why do all superheroes have to be American?

Question 3: Who has read your work? Who would you like to read it?

Who has read my work? Well, not many people yet, to be honest. Although, my work has generally been received very well by those who have read it. I haven't done any hard marketing pushes yet. I just don't have enough published content in the world to make it worthwhile. Baby steps. As for who I'd like to read it? Maybe some big name celebrity in the geek world, who will subsequently sing its praises for all to hear. Seriously, I would like my work to be read by those who love fantastical stories. I hope my work entertains them as well as makes them think a little.

Question 4: Tell us something about your process. What challenges do you face? What helps you the most?

I'm a heavy plotter, so a lot of "writing" takes place before I actually begin the first draft. First, I spend time thinking about the story, and "dreaming it out". This is a great thing to do while walking. Then I produce a detailed outline, drawing on the principles of story structure and scene structure. Then I flesh each scene out into a first draft. After that, I'll read through and do the first-pass edit myself, before passing it along to my editor.
The biggest challenges I face at the moment are time and finance. It takes a lot of both to produce a book, and they're often in short supply. I've found the best time for me to fit in writing time is to do it before work. That way all my energy hasn't been sapped away by the day job. Working from home can be helpful in this, as the time usually spent traveling becomes writing time. I'm moving house next month (no wonder I'm busy) and the new house will have a dedicated "office" for me in the garage. Having a space where you can go to be free from distractions is a big plus, so I'm looking forward to seeing how that will help.
As for finance. Well, there's no easy answer to that one. It just comes down to prioritising, and putting aside something for writing expenses when you have it.

Question 5: What is your favourite Writing Craft Book and why?

I'm a huge fan of Structuring Your Novel: Essential Keys for Writing an Outstanding Story by K.M. Weiland. The concept of story structure (which I first learned about in another excellent book - Story Engineering by Larry Brooks) revolutionised my world. It really made the story-telling process come alive for me. K.M. Weiland's book delves into the nuts and bolts of how stories are structured, even down to the scene level.

Question 6: If you were to give a shout-out to a CWD author, writer, editor or illustrator – who would they be?

I'd like to give a shout-out to my editor Iola Goulton. Without her, I wouldn't have my work out there in the world. I'll also shout out Charis Joy Jackson. She recently finished a book called The Rose of Admirias, which will be released as part of the On The Horizon boxset. I read a little bit of an early version, and am looking forward to seeing how the final product turned out.

Question 7: What are your writing goals for 2018? How will you achieve them?

At this stage, I aim to publish episode two of Jewel of The Stars during 2018. I also want to publish my superhero project. There's not a lot I can achieve toward these goals until I move house in February. After that, it's dedicated slow and steady work.

Question 8: How does your faith impact and shape your writing?

My faith impacts everything I write, mostly on a thematic level, regardless of what market I am writing for. My stories deal with issues that I am thinking through at the time, or facing in my life. For example, in my superhero short story Chronostream's Father I explored some of the challenges I was facing in my parenting, and how my faith imformed how I'd approach it all. In Jewel of The Stars episode 1, I deal with the theme of risk. When is it appropriate to take risk? This lead to me thinking about the links between risk and faith.

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Adam David Collings is an author of speculative fiction. He lives in Tasmania, Australia with his wife and two children. Adam draws inspiration for his stories from his over-active imagination, his life experiences and his faith.
Adam is a great lover of stories, enjoying them in books, movies, scripted TV and computer games. Adam discusses these on his own youTube show – Stories with Adam Collings.
Find him at adamdavidcollings.com or sign up to his email list for a short story.

Exploring Genre 2017

by Jeanette O'Hagan

This year, the cross posts between Christian Writers Downunder and Australasian Christian Writers are focusing on genre. I've found it an interesting series and some more in depth look at different sub-genres in more depth. So just to recap -

Why Genre?

Iola Goulton started off the year asking the question - why genre?  She reminded us that genre's are useful for managing reader expectations and in helping to target promotion and marketing.

Then over the next several months we've looked at specific subgenres - or some broader categories - in fiction, non-fiction and poetry.

Fiction

Fiction has a number of broad categories such as romance, speculative fiction (science fiction and fantasy), crime and detective fiction, historical dramas, thrillers, military, women's fiction and literary - among others.  Fiction can also be aimed at children (picture books, chapter books, middle-grade), young adult (teens), new adults (teen-early twenties) or adults.

Romance

While romance can often be a subplot or theme in a range of other genres, in category romance the focus is on the relationship and the obstacles to a romantic relationship between the hero and heroine or romantic couple.  Category romance is hugely popular and generally has some firm expectations. It can also range from sweet to steamy (or blend into erotica, which is really another category).

There are a wide range of sub-genres with romance.

Carolyn Miller introduced us to historical romance (romance set before the present day) and in particular regency romance - romance inspired by Jane Austen and set in or around the regency period - eg. early 19th century.  You can find her delightful post here.

Nicky Edwards took us on a tour of rural romance (set in the country) and medical romance (with nurses or doctors as protagonists and which includes medical drama), usually set in contemporary times. You can read more here.

Speculative Fiction

Speculative Fiction images a different reality - whether that be a variation of earth as we know it or different world altogether. It is generally divided into Science Fiction (where science or a imagined science explains the world) or Fantasy (in which a non-scientific - often super-natural - explanation is given), though these can cross-overs such as science fantasy and mixtures. There is easily over 100 sub-genres within this field - including crazy mash-ups like gaslamp fantasy or weird west.

Adam Collings  introduced us to Space Opera - epic Science Fiction set in space with a focus more on the story than a detailed or hard science - think Star Trek or Doctor Who.  And, also the Superhero sub-genre which can used a scientific (Superman) or a supernatural (eg Thor) explanation for the special powers.  Read more here.

Jeanette O'Hagan introduced Secondary World and Portal fantasy - both of which are set on an alternative (non-earth) world. In the first the world exists without reference to earth, whereas in the second, the protagonist travels through a door or portal to the other world. Read more here.

Ian Acheson introduced us to Supernatural Fiction - which focuses on supernatural beings such angels, demons and/or ghosts (and is related to paranormal and urban fantasy). It can have a faith or Christina focus or be more 'secular' in its approach. Read more here.

Shorts

We also looked at 'short fiction' from flash to novellas (though it could also be non-fiction). Read more here.

Poetry

Poetry can be non-fiction or fiction, it can be strongly narrative (ballads, for instance) or focus on a moment or a feeling or be metaphorical.

Valerie Volk gave a wonderful introduction to Poetry (here)  while the following week we explored Free Verse (poetry without a set rhyme) and Verse Novels (telling a narrative in verse)  (read more here).

Non-Fiction

And finally, Nola Passmore introduced us to creative non-fiction (and how that differs from reportage). Read more here.


It can be tempting to see genre as a straitjacket or a way of pigeon-holing our fiction.  It can be seen as restrictive or reducing writing to formula (the HEA, the red herrings and clues, etc).  Some genres have stricter guidelines  - the category romance, the cozy mystery - while others almost by their nature tend to push the boundaries  or like cross-overs with a meld of different genres (speculative fiction, Young Adult).

Writing within a genre still allows amazing variety and ingenuity, especially when there are so many.

ACW & CWD are thinking of extending this dip into genres and subgenres next year. With that in mind,

Have  your found the series helpful? How?
What did you learn (if anything)?
And are there any particular genres you'd love to find more about?

List of posts (chronological order)

Genre  

Space Opera and Superheroes

Portal Fantasy and Secondary World Fantasy

Poetry

Free Verse and Verse Novels 

Regency and Historical Romance

Rural and Medical Romance

Supernatural Fiction

Short Fiction

Creative Non-Fiction



Spaceship image courtesy of digitalart at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Cover Image Valerie Volk In Due Season
Other images copyright Jeanette O'Hagan
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Jeanette started spinning tales in the world of Nardva at the age of eight or nine. She enjoys writing secondary world fiction, poetry, blogging and editing. Her Nardvan stories span continents, time and cultures. They involve a mixture of courtly intrigue, adventure, romance and/or shapeshifters and magic users. She has published numerous short stories, poems, two novellas and her debut novel, Akrad's Children. Find her on Facebook or at her webpages Jeanette O'Hagan Writes or Jenny's Thread.

Lessons from a Book Release

Two weeks ago, I released my science fiction novella, Jewel of the Stars into the world. This book is the first in what will be a long-running episodic series. In this post, I go over some of the strategies I used when releasing this book, and some of the things I have learned.

Platform

My primary marketing strategy for releasing this book was to let those in my platform known about it. I have been steadily building my platform for a number of years. My primary tool for this has been youTube. I have tried various different types of video programming, but the format that has brought me the most success so far has been my monthly Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy Bulletin. This was a niche with a passionate following, that wasn’t being served on youTube. A large part of this success was the discovery of the Realm Makers Consortium.

I had also become a part of a number of valuable Facebook groups. The previously mentioned Realm Makers group, along with a science fiction themed group - Sci-fi Roundtable, and, of course, Christian Writers Downunder. I posted announcements of the book with a gentle sales pitch in each of these. I had previously established, through spending time in these groups, that they were open to, and encouraging of self-promotion. I also posted about it on the Christian Geek Central forum, where I've made some good friends. I was rather blown away by the outpouring of encouragement and support. I made 15 sales in that first day, due to this promotion.

Most of my existing platform was made up of Christians, in particular, Christians who are fans of science fiction and fantasy. This is a group of people that I am very comfortable around. They are “my people”. This book was not a specifically Christian book. Rather, it was written for the general market, although there is a Christian character among the ensemble cast, who can serve as the mouthpiece for my worldview, from time to time. Writing a book with crossover appeal to both Christian and General markets is a challenge. It’s early days yet, but so far, it seems to be doing well in both camps.

I was offered an interview by Author Eric Klein, from the Sci-Fi Roundtable. This wasn’t planned, just a case of being in the right place at the right time. This is why I love author communities. Everyone is always so willing to help each other. There’s something beautiful about our industry in that regard. We don’t have competition, just fellow adventurers on the journey.

I capitalised on my youTube audience by making an announcement trailer for the book.

Pre-Order

Once I’d settled on a release date, I had to figure out when to click the publish button on KDP. Amazon advises that publication can take up to 72 hours. In practice, it never seems to take that long. I have planned to use a pre-order so that the book would go live at exactly the time I had advertised. I realised, however, that you need to give approx 1 week’s notice (I don’t remember the exact number of days). I’d left it too late so I couldn't use the pre-order feature. Instead, I pushed the button mid-day the day before advertised release. The book went live late afternoon. Did it matter that it was live a little before I had advertised? Probably not. The lesson here was, if you want to use pre-order, make sure you set it up early enough. Also, note the pros and cons of Amazon Pre-orders (which are different to pre-orders on other stores.)

Format and Price

Novellas lend themselves beautifully to the eBook format. My plan is to collect 6 episodes into a “box set” which I will release as a paperback, but for this launch, I concentrated on eBook only.

I chose the 99 cent price point to encourage initial sales. I created scarcity by being honest that I planned to raise the price to $2.99 after one week (which I did). One commenter on a Facebook group said “for 99 cents I’ll risk it”.

Review Copies

I offered free advance review copies to my mailing list a week before release. Four people took up this offer. Within a week of release, I had a couple of reviews on both GoodReads and the Amazon sales page. Had I been more organised, I would have sent these out a little earlier, to give reviewers more time.

One of these advanced reviewers was a strong influencer in the world of Christian Sci-fi and fantasy. Not only did he write a great review, but also provided me an Author / Novel Spotlight on this website.

Cover and Blurb

If you want to sell books, a great cover and blurb are essential. I commissioned a custom cover from Inspired Cover Designs and was thrilled with the result. I actually delayed publishing for a few months so I could save up for this. That said, I found the price very reasonable. If I’d had a larger budget, I might have purchased a blurb from Bryan Cohen’s Best Page Forward. Since I didn’t have the money for that, I read Bryan’s book How to Write a Sizzling Synopsis, and followed his recommendations and forumula.

Other Media

In preparation for my release, I took a big step. I contacted one of my favourite podcasts, Lasers, Dragons and Keyboards. The hosts of this show interview speculative fiction authors, usually Christians. I gently, but confidently, asked whether they would consider interviewing me on their show. They were happy to have me and an interview is in the works. The lesson here is don't let imposter syndrome hold you back. Ask (in an appropriate way). The worst they can say is "no," but they might say "yes".

I also submitted a short story, set in the same universe as the book, to the Untold Podcast. This podcast plays audio versions of speculative fiction from a Christian worldview. I was told that my story had been added to a fairly long list, so it may take some time before anything happens with this one. When it does, that’s another magnet that may draw readers into my book. The big lesson here is that I should have submitted it much earlier. Ironically, I deliberately held off submitting for a while, because I wanted to ensure that my book was published by the time the episode went to air (assuming it would be accepted), so as not to waste the marketing opportunity. Timing is everything, and it can be very difficult to work out your first time around, as you have no previous experience to draw on.

Wide vs Exclusive

I’m a big believer in publishing wide. I’ve been on the unfortunate receiving end of exclusivity many times in the past, when I wanted to buy something, but was unable. My long-term plan always has been, and always will be, to publish widely in all available places, so that readers can find my books in their preferred store, to read on their preferred device.

All of that said, I made the very difficult decision to launch the book into Kindle Unlimited (which requires exclusivity on Amazon) for a period of time.

My reasons for this were:

• Even Joanna Penn, a big proponent of publishing wide recommends staying in KU until you have at least three books, as that’s when you can start having success in the other stores.
• Space Opera is known to do well in Kindle Unlimited.
• I hoped to raise a little extra money through KU page reads to help fund editing and cover design costs for book 2.
• As I don’t yet have a fan base to disappoint, this is the best time, if ever, to try KU,

I haven’t decided exactly when I will make the transition to wide. It may be after my initial 3-month term is up, or I may wait until I have another 1 or 2 books in the series, but it may be expedited if people start asking for the book on other platforms.

Paid Advertising (or lack thereof)

I haven’t used any paid advertising while releasing this book. The real benefit of this type of promotion comes when you have multiple books available in a series. You may make a loss while advertising book 1, but you’ll make up for it down the track with sales on books 2 and 3. Once I have a few more episodes out in the world, I will begin to look into Facebook and Amazon ads. For now, though, I’m just leaving that one alone.

Mailing List

At the time of release, I had a mailing list of 28 people. I placed notices at the beginning and end of the book, inviting readers to receive a free prequel story, to get additional background to the events of Jewel of The Stars. As a result, I gained an additional 7 subscribers.

What's next?

All that I've done so far has been a 'soft launch'. I haven't yet held any kind of official launch event. The plan was to have a Facebook party, which I haven't yet organised. I may still do this, but I'm wondering if it will reach any additional people that haven't already been reached. Still, they say readers need repeated exposures to a book before they'll take the plunge and click buy. Above all else though, my focus now needs to be on getting the second book ready to ship. The longer the time between releases, the more likely I'll lose the interest of readers who would otherwise progress to subsequent books in the series.

Result

As you can see, from the KDP graph below, I had a release day spike of 15 books, selling 28 in the first 3 days. After that initial spike dropped off, I have continued to sell one or two copies every couple of days. In addition, the book has been read twice on Kindle Unlimited.

I’m thrilled with this result. Sure, we’re talking little numbers here, but for an unknown author, with only one novella in the series, it’s a confidence-building start.

It's been exciting to see some of the strategies I've heard about for so many years begin to work for me, in a small way. I didn't pick up hundreds of email subscribers, or sell thousands of copies, but writing is a long-term game, and for me, the adventure is just beginning.

What strategies have you found helpful when releasing a book?

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About Jewel of The Stars

Haylee was more confident designing starships than raising an autistic child. She just wants a relaxing holiday with her family. But when Earth falls to an alien armada, she knows life will never be the same again.

Les was just a cruise ship captain. Now, he must rise up and become something greater, if he is to keep his crew and passengers alive.

Braxton never wanted to leave the space navy, but now, taking a cruise is the only way to feel the stars around him. This crisis may be his ticket to regaining the life he thought was gone forever.

Can they overcome their differences and save everyone on the ship?

If they reach unexplored space, they might yet survive, but an unstoppable enemy stands in their way…

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Adam David Collings is an author of speculative fiction. He lives in Tasmania, Australia with his wife and two children. Adam draws inspiration for his stories from his over-active imagination, his life experiences and his faith.
Adam is a great lover of stories, enjoying them in books, movies, scripted TV and computer games. Adam discusses these on his own youTube show – Stories with Adam Collings.
Find him at adamdavidcollings.com or sign up to his email list for a short story.

Taking the Pain Out of Collaboration

Collaboration, or co-writing, is cool at the moment. Four of our own wrote the collaborative novel The Greenfield Legacy a few years back. A group of prominent indie authors recently took an overnight train ride and created a novel together.

The big issue with collaboration, when it comes to self-published authors, has always been the accounting. Somebody has receive the royalties and divide them up each month (potentially the rest of their lives). This needs to be done for each collaboration. Podcaster Joanna Penn has often lamented that there isn’t a platform that makes this process easier. Well, now there is.

A new service by the company BundleRabbit has just launched a service that will distribute a co-written book to all the major retailers, and pay each individual contributing author, for a small percentage. Payment is handled through PayPal. They take care of currency conversions.

Essentially, this makes them like Draft2Digital, but for multi-author projects. This could be a game-changer. I suspect we will see a lot more co-written books in the near future. As with any third-party distributor, you lose a portion of control. The book is uploaded to the retailers by BundleRabbit, so you won’t see the sales information on your KDP dashboard. Instead, sales information is provided by BundleRabbit. However, given the convenience of letting them take care of all the royalties, it sounds like a good compromise to me.

Collaborating on a project can bring some advantages. By accessing each other's reader base, you can expect awareness, and possibly build some new fans. It also brings it own set of challenges, as is inevitable when more than one human being is involved in something.

But BundleRabbit have been around for a while, so what else do they do? In addition to this new service, they make it easy for authors to put together bundles of books, in the same way that the popular sites like Humble Bundle and StoryBundle do. Books can be combined on a subject matter, or other grouping. These bundles will be distributed to the retailers, but customers can also buy direct from BundleRabbit. That’s where it gets interesting. Customers can choose what they want to pay for these bundles (there is usually a minimum price specified). Unlike other bundling sites, anyone can be a curator and make their own bundle (out of books that are on BundleRabbit). For that reason, it may be worthwhile for authors to submit their books. You never know when somebody might include it in a bundle, which will give you sales. (The author has to approve the inclusion of their book.) The curator receives 5% of sales, plus the author share if any of their own books are included. This provides fundraising opportunities. Imagine a bundle of books by CWD authors. Something along the lines of the Super Series Spotlight that our own Jeanette O’Hagan was recently involved in, except that all the books can be purchased in one go, for a discounted price.

My Dream

So all of that said, I have a dream. It’s not something for now, maybe in a few year’s time, after I’ve built a little more experience writing and publishing my solo works.

I imagine getting a group of Christian spec-fic writers together in a video conference, to set up a virtual writer’s room like they use for American TV shows. Together, we’d plot out a season-wide arc for a series. Then, each writer would be assigned an ‘episode’ and write it as a novella. These could be brought together and published as a box set using BundleRabbit.

Just think, a full length book could be produced in the time it takes to write just one novella. The contributing authors could all chip in for the cost of editing, or maybe even have the editor take a percentage of royalties. The possibilities are endless.

So what about you?
Have you ever though about working on a collaborative project?

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Adam David Collings is an author of speculative fiction. He lives in Tasmania, Australia with his wife and two children. Adam draws inspiration for his stories from his over-active imagination, his life experiences and his faith.
Adam is a great lover of stories, enjoying them in books, movies, scripted TV and computer games. Adam discusses these on his own youTube show – Stories with Adam Collings.
Find him at adamdavidcollings.com or sign up to his email list for a free short story.

Exploring Genres: Space Opera and Supehero

by Adam David Collings

This year, the cross posts between Christian Writers Downunder and Australasian Christian Writers are focussing on the subject of genre. Last time, Iola Goulton gave a great overview of the importance of meeting genre expectations. This time, I have been asked to explore the science fiction genre. In particular, the subgenres of space opera and superhero.

Space Opera

Merriam Webster dictionary online defines space opera as "a futuristic melodramatic fantasy involving space travelers and extraterrestrial beings". I find it best to talk about space opera in terms of what it isn't. It isn't hard science fiction. Hard science fiction (think Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, or The Martian by Andy Weir) places a great important on the science. The speculative elements in the story must be seen as scientifically plausible. Space opera, on the other hand, places a higher importance on adventure than it does on science. This is where we see "magical" technologies like the warp drive, transporters and universal translators seen on Star Trek. What matters is telling an exciting adventure in a space setting. Of course, this is a spectrum, rather than a hard boundary. The re-imagined Battlestar Galactica took great pains to be believable and realistic, while Guardians of the Galaxy just focuses on the fun of it all, completely abandoning basic science.

Some popular tropes commonly seen in space opera include faster-than-light travel, first contact with aliens, combat with aliens, and highly advanced ancient extint civilisations. Common technologies that often appear in these types of stories are teleporters, laser/energy/ray guns, artificial gravity, robots, force fields and tractor beams. Space opera often crosses over with the genre of military science fiction.

Space Opera is very much alive and kicking in the Christian market, but not so much with the major publishers. There are a lot of great books coming out from small publishers and indie authors. Most are coming from America at present.

Some Examples in the Christian Market

Superheroes

Superheroes have definitely become big in mainstream entertainment. Once considered to be "just for kids" by some people, they now dominate Hollywood. In addition, superheroes are moving beyond their traditional medium of comic books into other story-telling media, like novels and video games.
Superhero stories come in a range of different tones, from the light-hearted and campy (Spiderman 1) to the serious and gritty (Batman V Superman). Some superhero stories are more closely aligned with science fiction (Superman) while others are more closely aligned with fantasy (Doctor Strange). It all depends on the source of the character's powers. And then there are the masked vigilantes that have no powers, just gadgets, fighting skills and smarts (Batman and Daredevil - although you might argue that Daredevil's heightened senses constitute a super power).

Superhero stories can often blend with other genres. For example, Man of Steel is a first contact/alien invasion story. Ant Man is a heist story. Captain America is a period WW2 story.
Sometimes the superhero aspect of a story is overt, but sometimes is can be subtle. For example, Tosca Lee's thriller The Progeny is not marketed as a superhero story, but it features a protagonist with some unusual abilities.

Common tropes in superhero fiction include super powers, vulnerabilities, secret identities, costumes, villains, sidekicks and shared universes. Superhero stories will also often feature common science fiction tropes such as time travel, alternate dimensions and alien invaders.

Some Examples in the Christian Market

My superhero story Chronostream's Father will soon be appearing in Superheroes: The Crossover Alliance Anthology V3 from edgy Christian publisher The Crossover Alliance. The book releases at the end of this March. I also have a superhero novella in production. The first episode of my space opera series Jewel of The Stars is very close to being ready for release. If any of these projects interest you, be sure to sign up for me email list, so you can be informed when they become available.

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Adam David Collings is an author of speculative fiction. He lives in Tasmania, Australia with his wife and two children. Adam draws inspiration for his stories from his over-active imagination, his life experiences and his faith.
Adam is a great lover of stories, enjoying them in books, movies, scripted TV and computer games. Adam discusses these on his own youTube show – Stories with Adam Collings.
Find him at adamdavidcollings.com or sign up to his email list for a free short story.