New Genre Delights

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Contest season is very much upon us and the majority of my fiction reading for the next six months will be consumed by judging entries in various competitions both local and abroad.

One of the reasons I especially love judging is I get “forced” to read stories that I wouldn’t normally read. I typically judge speculative fiction but this is such a catch-all for all sorts of different flavours, two of which: space opera and superhero, Adam Collings covered in Monday’s post. Accordingly, I’m presented with a variety of stories that I wouldn’t typically read.

Read in your genre

This is the old chestnut we’re all familiar with. And for obvious reasons it makes a lot of sense to do so and for many years I found myself only reading in the genres of speculative and thriller/suspense because that’s what I write. However, my flavour of speculative was narrow (supernatural angels and demons) and so I limited myself to such novels.

Certainly there are some flavours of speculative I struggle with, for example, horror and will choose not to read it. But I’ve had the privilege of reading some real beauties. For example, Patrick Carr’s writing is excellent and Billy Coffey has such a unique Southern voice plus a tremendous insight into small town spiritual good and evil.

Sample other delights

Over the past few years both through judging and developing friendships in the industry I’ve spent much of my non-judging half-year reading outside the speculative genre.

History has now become a keen interest. Having not studied a lot of it through my schooling years I’ve always felt a gap in my knowledge with all things historical. Strangely though, like many of us, I grew up devouring 18^th and 19^th century classical literature.

Novels with an historical bent have grabbed my interest. Biblical fiction in particular has become a favourite because of what I learn. Similarly, stories set in WWI and/or WWII have appealed because of what I can learn about the period. I so enjoyed Irma Joubert’s “Girl From the Train” (not to be confused with Paula Hawkins similarly titled recent blockbuster).

Rachel McMillan’s Sherlock Holmes-inspired "Herringford and Watts Mysteries" series has taken me back to the early 1900s in Toronto, Canada. Rachel has such a sophisticated witty voice creating two marvellous lady dectectives while giving the reader a spin around some of the sights of Toronto.

Naturally, I can’t not read some of the various flavours of romance recommended by many on this blog. From contemporary beauties supplied by the likes of our own Kara Isaac and Andrea Grigg to romantic suspense by Lisa Harris and Ronie Kendig to Melissa Tagg’s rom-com there’s a feast of great reading to be had.

What’s a genre or new flavour (sub-genre?) that you’ve recently enjoyed and an example of an author that you never expected to read?

Happy reading, dear friends.

Ian Acheson is an author and strategy consultant based in Northern Sydney. Ian's first novel of speculative fiction, Angelguard, is available in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. Angelguard was recognised with the 2014 Selah Award for Speculative Fiction.You can find more about Angelguard at Ian's website, on his author Facebook page and Twitter

The Original writer is God!

God is the artist extra-ordinary and unrivalled.  When it is stated He created humankind in His image, the Lord imparted aspects of Himself. As writers, I believe our Lord planted this ability within us as a seed which would need to grow, blossom and bring glory to Him with blessings to others. That is for another day to consider. This piece aims to highlight what God Himself wrote.

The Scriptures specifically state the Almighty wrote a number of items. I would like to quote the second article, as I see it, and finish with what, again to me, is His first. When the Lord called Moses up into the Mount He gave him two stone tablets. ‘The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved upon the Tablets’ (Exodus 32:16). This was done by His finger.

Jeremiah is often called the prophet with tears. True. However, even in the book of Lamentations is that most wonderful promise of chapter 3:22-23 ‘The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.’ How could Jeremiah say that? Israel was shattered with many of the people taken to captivity. Because of a promise Yahweh, who sees the restoration of the Nation. At some period known only to Him the Lord promised to write His law on the hearts of Israel (Jeremiah 31:33). God keeps His word! That is where hope is born, nurtured and grows.

The next time the Lord God of Hosts writes on a wall. Is He the classic graffiti artist? However, what He wrote was ‘mene, mene,tekel, parsin’ (Daniel 5:5,24). Babylon was judged and would be thrown down that very night. God again keeps His word. He had said the captivity would last 70 years and it was fulfilled. God is not only redeemer He is Sovereign and He is the Judge.

Time passes and the Lord of Glory enters our realm as the Babe of Bethlehem, Emmanuel. Jesus is recorded, only once that I can see as writing. John 8 says He wrote twice in the dirt. What was written is unknown (but that hasn’t stopped speculation). Whatever it was, those would be stone throwers took fright and left the woman to the mercy of the Lord.

Our digital age helps me understand the storage of God’s book He has compiled. My computer holds so much which appears at a touch. How the Lord keeps His ‘files’ isn’t mentioned, but if it was on paper, wow! Imagine what sized storage facility would be needed. This final insight into Yahweh’s writing is three fold, but is actually the first He wrote. In many ways it is controversial and for some fatalistic. For me, it is awesome for it stresses the omniscience of our Redeemer.

In Psalm 139:16 the Psalmist claimed God wrote a book about his life even before the man was born. Does that mean God determines our life? Or that He sees and records for some future accounting with Yahweh as the rewarder of faithfulness? Another group of people have a special inscription from the hand of God. Revelation 14:1 calls the ‘one hundred and forty-four thousand’ brigade. They wear His mark on their forehead. As such they have a special ministry and at the end of their service have a new and special song to sing. Did Christ Jesus write the song? I wonder!

In conclusion, we are confronted with the spine-tingling, but also frightening grace of God’s foreknowledge. He has this other book called ‘The book of Life.’ Everyone ever born (and may I respectfully include those still-born) have been recorded. It was from this book that Moses was willing to be scrubbed off to save the Nation (Exodus 32:32). Unfortunately, there will be those, who, because of unbelief and rejection of Christ have been blotted out (Revelation 20:11-15).

Why can you and I have a sense of confidence that this doesn’t apply to us? Simply and only because we belong to Christ Jesus by faith in who He is, what He has done and that He keeps us in His hand. Jesus is the Lamb of God who has inscribed our name in His book Revelation 13:8. (Romans 8:1-39 expresses what He has done, is doing for us because of Calvary and our surrender to His authority).

How humbled we should be to know God has written our names with His own ‘finger’ in His book of life. As followers of Christ to whom He has given the gift of writing we have much to say about His grace. Whatever genre is ours and however we weave the story, it is our honour to declare His story and grace through the words we write.

©Ray Hawkins September 2015.

Author of 6 Biblical themed 31 day devotionals. View on http://rayhawkinsauthor.blogspot.com.au

What's in a genre?

Much is said about the value of writers deciding on a genre and sticking to it so that readers know what to expect and get what they expect when they choose an author or a book. It never seemed to be an issue for me as I’ve always loved historical fiction and also loved to write it. My family ancestry and love of Australian history seemed to be the perfect inspiration for my novels.

However, lately I’ve had some questions about the genre of my writing. Two things have sparked this rumination for me. Firstly, I’ve joined a couple of on line Historical Fiction groups, and been intrigued and a bit disappointed to find that so many of the readers are drawn to pre Australian colony history, such as the royals of England or battles from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It seems almost that Australian colonial history is too young to rate.

Secondly, I recently attended a writer’s conference and heard speakers talking about the growing trend in ‘rural’ fiction; the apparent attraction of Australian rural settings, small town conflicts and romances, girls on horseback swinging stock whips etc. I came home and downloaded quite a few on my Kindle and have been working my way through them. I find them quite enjoyable; mostly standard romances but the girls wear riding breeches and can round up cattle or hold their own in the local horse races, rather than being dressed in gorgeous gowns or holding their own in the board room.

The popularity of TV series such as McCloud’s Daughters seems to back up this fascination for country life. Is it that it appeals to readers and viewers because it represents the ‘sea change, back to nature’ dreams that many city dwellers have? Or is it that writers and film makers are acknowledging that many more country people read because they are not so distracted by city recreations?

I’m not sure about any of that, but I have been wondering whether I ought to ‘rebrand’. As I listened to what speakers listed as elements of rural novels -  small town interrelationships and intrigues, coming home themes, animals, fighting the elements, local history of towns, strong female protagonists – I wondered if my novels would fit better into this genre than into historical fiction. Australian colonial development, the issues faced by those on the land, the kind of work required, the struggle to survive against the elements, the relationships, intrigues and conflicts of people in small communities, seem hardly to have changed in 200 years in this country. As I write my stories I’m very aware that some current news broadcasts about agricultural life and the issues rural people face could be included my stories.

I'm not sure how much ‘rural’ fiction any of you read, or how much you've seen with any Christian content, but would be interested to read your thoughts about it. Is it more attractive than historical fiction? Does an escape into a rural setting appeal more than an escape into history?  Can the two be combined effectively?

Carol’s novels are based on her family ancestry in Australia from the First Fleet and include the Turning the Tide series; Mary’s Guardian, Charlotte’s Angel, Tangled Secrets and Truly Free. Her earlier novel Suzannah’s Gold has been re-released by EBP and will soon be followed by the re-release of its sequel, Rebecca’s Dream. You can see more about Carol and her novels on her website www.carolpreston.com.au

Or on  FB www.facebook.com/writingtoreach

Her novels can be found at EBP  www.evenbeforepublishing.com

Or Amazon  www.amazon.com/author/carolpreston