WELCOME!

This is the professional and public journal of author Craig Alan Loewen who writes under the names C. Alan Loewen or Alan Loewen or Stephen King.

No. Wait. Sorry. Scratch that last name.

My purpose in writing is to entertain and I trust my journal will do the same. My intentions are not only to promote my work, but share with you the adventures and misadventures of a man who sincerely desires writing to be an important and major part of his life. I would encourage you to "friend" the journal and come along. The road will sometimes be bumpy and a little lunatic, but I trust it will be ... interesting.

Also, I'm what is known as a parlor magician so I post a lot about that as well.

So settle back with a nice icy mug of ginger beer and read on. You may want to visit here first and read my bibliography.

1) Tell us a little about yourself.
I grew up in south Mississippi, a country boy with the heart of a nerd. I devoured books until I decided to write for myself. Now I only seem to have time to munch on them. I’m currently a graduate student at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. I’ll graduate next year with a MA in Theology, and I plan to go directly into the PhD program and to pick up a second MA in Biblical Studies. I’ve been married to my best friend for thirteen years and I have two children ages eight and five. I’m also a classically trained trombonist, ranked twelfth in the state right out of high school, though I’m way out of practice now. My first degree was in Music Education and I spent a couple of years as a band director. I can play with reasonable proficiency about fifteen instruments. But when it comes to music, I would much rather compose.

2) Your debut novel is called Winter. Tell us more about the title character.

Winter is a Goth girl with the gift of prophecy. At least she is in the college timeline. The story is told in two tandem timelines, one about her college experience the other about her high school experience. In the high school experience, we see her decline in the Goth subculture, experimentation with the occult, and her dealing with the slow death of her mother. In college, she’s a new Christian with an unusual gift.

Winter doesn’t care what others think of her. She strong-headed, blunt, and often rude. But she knows where her faults are and she’s trying to do better. She recognizes that she’s a work in progress, but at the same time she never apologizes for being herself.

3) What can fans of Winter look forward to in the near future?

Where to start! Winter fans can look forward to a great deal of things. Coming this summer, we’ll be releasing the audio book, performed by the very talented Lindsay Zana. This is more than just a reading, but it’s an actual performance! Lindsay does a great job changing voices for each character, bringing the personalities to life. We’re also including subtle sound effects, like a telephone effect when people are on the other end of a phone conversation and some great echo effects for the supernatural moments Winter experiences. In addition, we’ve included some soundtrack music in the background at a few key places. It’s nothing distracting or overpowering…just enough to help set the emotional mood.

Coming November 2012 is Winter 2! No, that’s not the title. I haven’t released the title yet. If you thought Winter was explosive at the end, just wait. The second book STARTS that way.

Winter is the first of a four book series. Unfortunately, fans will have to wait for me to write it all. But they’re coming, I promise. And all your questions will be answered.

In the meantime, check out the deleted scene from Winter called “Summer Snaps.” You can find it in the Splashdown anthology Aquasynthesis.

4) Tell us about Among Dragons. What is this project about?</b>

Among Dragons is an unpublished novel of mine that is seeing new life through Diminished Media Group. It’s been contracted to run as a serial in Digital Dragon Magazine for a season, and then it will have a print run through DMG.

Among Dragons is a fantasy novel where three friends are given the task to spread a message of repentance to the people. Destruction is promised if things don’t change. In this world, spiritual things take on a physical presence. Fleshly desire takes the form of magical power. Spiritual beings walk among the people in the form of dragons. It’s an epic story that has a truly world-changing end.

5) Is Among Dragons your second novel?

Among Dragons was actually the first novel I ever completed. It was my practice novel, though I thought it was really hot-snot at the time. Now, I know it was awful. I learned a lot about writing and about the writing industry through working on this novel. Thanks to DMG I now have that excuse to rewrite it into what it should have been to begin with. Many people see me as a Christian horror/thriller writer because of Winter. But fantasy was and still is my first love. Finally releasing Among Dragons gives me the opportunity to share that with my fans. It still has a horror/thriller edge to it, though.



6) Is Among Dragons a stand alone or will there be more?

Among Dragons has a history to it. In high school I started writing a fantasy trilogy. I think I completed a good seventy-five pages of hand written teen fantasy drama. And this initial writing had absolutely no faith element to it. In college, I agonized over wanting to write fantasy but also wanting to write it to glorify God. I have Frank Peretti to thank for lighting that path. After college I thought about going back to that trilogy, but decided some sort of prequel was in order. That prequel became Among Dragons. Will there be more? Well…there’s still that trilogy to write. I even started it again once…just before a Goth girl named Winter took over.

7) Where else can someone find your writing?

You can find me blogging regularly at my website and at The Cheesecake Thickens..

My only complete novel is Winter, can be purchased anywhere books are sold…well, it can be ordered anywhere books are sold. You can find three of my short stories, one of which is a deleted scene from Winter, in Aquasynthesis, a short story anthology by Splashdown Books. Among Dragons will appear in monthly installments in Digital Dragon Magazine. After each issue, episodes are chronicled on my website. And for the super curious, I have a critical essay published at TheOneRing under the pen name Oliver King. I also have numerous projects in the oven, so I hope to have some more out soon!

Links!

• Main Website
  
• Keven Newsome on Facebook
  
• Keven Newsome on Twitter
  
• Keven Newsome on YouTube
  
• To purchase Winter
  
• To purchase Aquasynthesis
  
• To read Among Dragons

Grace Bridges owns Splashdown Books, and is an incurably voracious reader. She is also a science fiction author and has two published books: Faith Awakened (2007) and Legendary Space Pilgrims (2010). Grace is a New Zealander of Irish descent and a multilingual do-it-yourself force to be reckoned with.

A graduate of the University of Auckland and a translator by trade, she spent eight years globetrotting chiefly in Europe while working for the police and also completing her first novels. She has lived in Germany and Ireland, but now resides in her original homeland with a cat and approximately six boarders within sight of several volcanos. Often found staring into trees in search of a tui, she is a mystic wordnerd, urbanite hermit, and a writer of futuristic dreams that mess with your mind.

Catch up with her at Adventures of the Space Kiwi.

A history of all her publications, including short stories available online, can be found here.


1) What's it like to work in publishing from New Zealand?

Not as hard as you might think. Sure, there are all sorts of challenges that include technicalities such as coordinating with team members in different time zones, but also the inability to attend in-person events in places where they are most likely to succeed. Fiction doesn't have a good grip in NZ, though I am slowly infecting my friends!

It's all made possible by the miracle of global distribution and printing in America when that's where books are wanted. In that sense, I could be anywhere to publish, and in fact have done so from Germany and New Caledonia. Later this year I plan to be in the USA to connect with my team and supporters, continuing to publish as I travel.

In terms of my own writing I suppose it's hard for me to gain personal notoriety so far from my main target market, even if this is more a cultural barrier than an actual practical one. These days, distance makes no difference, but norms and trends and ways of thinking do form a kind of basic disconnect when it seems that society prefers to look inwards. Even in little things - some people are irritated by my British spelling and vocabulary, but others adore it, and I intend to persist because it's definitely part of my style.

2) You have two novels out. What sort of readers would most enjoy them?

People who enjoy experiencing other cultures and having their horizons broadened, for a start. Not just because I'm an international writer with settings beyond the familiar, but also because science fiction in and of itself is an exercise in expansion of the mind. That said, my stories are always rooted in reality in one way or another. We don't have to go very far from our own lives and current technological potential to find a mind-blowing new idea. I'm all about bringing the two together: ordinary familiar humanness, and some fresh aspect that gives a new slant on what we thought we knew. In short, readers who like to reflect and savour are those who have reacted most positively. I've been told that my tales stay in people's memories long after they finish reading.



3) What else have you had published, and what is coming up?

I have short stories in a number of anthologies (print and ebook), and have also published some of these as Kindle singles. There's also Aquasynthesis, a collection of Splashdown authors, which I edited and which includes three of my stories (and it won a silver medal in the Anthologies category of the 2012 Next Generation Indie Awards). My Amazon author page lists all these books. This year you can expect three more anthology appearances: "Second Site" in Year of the Dragon (Diminished Media; eds. Randy Streu/T. & J. Ambrose), "An Ear for Danger" in The Book of Sylvari (Port Yonder Press, ed. Chila Woychik) and "Fungus Among Us" and "Tell-Tale Signs of a Wonderful Life" in The Cross and Cosmos (Marcher Lord Press, eds. Glyn Shull/Frank Luke). And I'm working on about three novels at various stages, too - all related to my first book, Faith Awakened. Two of those are finished and I hope to get at least one published by next year or so. I'm also thinking hard about the sequel to Legendary Space Pilgrims but it'll probably be a while in coming.

4) What are you writing right now?

Foray number four into the world of Faith Awakened is well underway, and I'm loving the ride more than ever before. This time I am making even more of an all-out effort to put more of myself into the words. That's been challenging at times, to pull experiences out from my very darkest places and capture the full impact on the page, but it may just be my best work yet. I'm also keeping a hand in the shared world of Avenir Eclectia where I try to write a flash fiction piece every so often. That's very interesting, because although I came up with the storyworld concept and basic situation before inviting others to write for it, we now have over 180 stories and less than 10 of those are my own work. So I have to keep a close eye on what the others are writing, in case something changes or maybe there's a character I can bring into my storylines.

5) Why are you a publisher as well as an author?

I was a writer first, of course, and got my start playing around with self-publishing. I really got to like the process of making books - design, typesetting, etc. - and wished I could do more of it, but I didn't have another novel anywhere near ready. At the same time I knew many authors in my genre were struggling to find a publisher, and not because of lack of quality! It was their weirdness that made them a hard sell. So I brought my skills to a gap in the market and started pumping out the stories. As to whether I'll publish any more of my own work in future, well, that remains to be seen. It's nice to have that as an option, but I am actively pursuing other possibilities.

6) What is it like to sit on both sides of the table - as author and publisher?

I adore helping people's dreams come true, by getting their books in print. It is a big thing for anyone to experience, even if a small press can't offer much in the way of fame and fortune. That is my favourite part of publishing - helping authors along the learning curve and watching them develop through it. As an author I still have those pangs of nerves when I send off a submission. Publishing has not changed that one bit. And although time is often short, I try my hardest to keep in close contact with my writer-self, the part of me that gets inspiration and wrestles with edits and plot holes just the same as anyone on my team.

7) What is writing to you?

Writing is heart-communication. It's my contact to my spiritual side, a form of prayer if you will (yes, even when penning cyborg shootouts - especially so, in fact). An exercise in mind-expansion. It's jolly hard work. It's blood from a stone, but I feel at my most alive when I'm doing it. It's me on paper, my soul in words and letters, my essence recorded for anyone to see, and yes, that does make me feel vulnerable. It's a ton of fun, it connects me to kindred spirits the world over, it's provided me the best friends I ever had. It's an addiction, though a good one, and all it costs is time and courage - a high price to pay, but worth every bit of it.

1) Have you always wanted to be a writer?

I’ve always loved books, but I don’t recall having any childhood aspirations to write them. Like most kids who love words, I used to write stories; and of course in high school, I had to experiment with poetry. But I can’t say I had any passionate dreams of being a novelist.

2) So what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you step aside and make room for someone who has been passionately pursuing this his whole life?

None of this was my idea, believe me. I wrote a couple of novels when my kids were growing up, just to see if I could, I guess. I wasn’t sure at the time of my motivation; it was just a hobby. Once I’d gotten it out of my system, I put it behind me.

Or so I thought, until early in 2002. I was working only 12 hours a week at my part-time job. The older kids were grown and out on their own, the younger two were in high school, and we’d just gotten a computer for the first time ever. Cleaning up after breakfast one morning, a thought came to me: I should write a book, but be serious about it this time.

What a thought! I tried to brush off the idea, but it burrowed in. Eventually I figured it must be the Holy Spirit, not a tick, so I prayed about it. I didn’t want to waste that amount of time and effort until I was certain it was what the Lord wanted me to do. More accurately, I tried to get out of it. He kept urging me forward, though, so I took a deep breath, said another prayer, and dove in.

Two hundred thousand words and nine months later, I typed The End and said to God, “Okay, now what?” True to form, He’s led me step by step through the entire process and continues to do so day by day.

That’s the novella version of what maybe should have been a two-sentence answer: I’m here because this is where the Lord has brought me. It’s Him I pursue passionately, and His will for my life, not the act of writing itself.

3) How long did it take you to get that 200,000-word monstrosity published?

I never did. That was a practice run, a learning experience. It underwent a number of revisions and incarnations during which I tried making it a series, then a trilogy, and finally cut it down to one 120,000-word novel. (In case you’re wondering, I liked the trilogy form best.) But eventually, it was time to move on.

While I still struggled with that project, I read a little nonfiction book called The Gospel in the Stars by Joseph A. Seiss based on the premise that when God created the heavens and the earth, He portrayed the gospel message through pictures formed by the constellations. The book was difficult to understand, but the theory intrigued me, so I decided to write a piece of fiction in which the characters discovered this story in the stars. A couple chapters into it, I realized I’d finally found my calling. Though I’d never been a fan of science fiction, writing sci-fi was the most satisfying fun I’d ever had.

4) So if you didn’t read much science fiction until you found yourself writing it, what did you read? Other types of Christian fiction?

Early on, Christian fiction was mostly romance, and so never interested me. Beside that, I found the quality of the writing to be pretty poor. When my oldest was in high school, I bought her a historical series that came highly recommended. It sounded like something I’d enjoy, and she loved to read, so it seemed like the perfect gift, something we could both make use of. I read the first book with a feeling of a happy anticipation, fully prepared to enjoy the whole series. But it was so poorly written I wanted to cry with disappointment. I’ve been following Christ since I was sixteen years old, but for many years, I shunned anything called Christian fiction.

That’s why, when I sat down to write my first novel, I had no intention of writing Christian fiction. Before I’d gotten very far, though, I realized that the “old, old story of Jesus and His love” is the only thing worth writing about. But I was determined to do it well. To write with depth, to create a thing of beauty, to give the reader an enjoyable experience that directs her thoughts toward the truth of God.

I can’t say I’ve yet arrived, but I’m working toward that goal. And, I’m happy to say, I’m not alone. In recent years we’ve been seeing greater variety in the realm of Christian fiction, and the overall quality within all the genres is improving. We all still have a long way to go, but I’m no longer embarrassed to admit I write Christian fiction.

5) Tell us about this sci-fi venture of yours. What’s the story about?

The Story in the Stars is the first in the Gateway to Gannah series. The protagonist is a young woman whose planet, Gannah, is under siege by a massive plague. A medical research vessel comes to their aid, and the doctor assigned to the case, from the planet Karkar, hates Gannah with a deep-seated racial hatred. The story takes them through a series of adventures, through which they learn to understand one another despite their differences—one of their biggest of which is spiritual. She believes in God but he doesn’t, and it’s something they have to hash out.

The second in the series, I, will be released this summer. It picks up about ten years after I ends and tells of more adventures by the same characters. It has a lot of tension held together by a spiritual thread, but at least by now they’re on the same page in that regard.

The third book, I, is complete but we don’t have a release date yet, and I’m currently drafting the fourth. The publisher is also talking about some other possibilities, but there’s nothing certain on that so I don’t want to be more specific.

6. Is there a way for readers to learn more about you?

I blog at YsWords.com, though not as regularly as I probably should. I don’t have a pattern or a schedule, so it keeps everyone guessing as to when I might post next and what I’ll write about. I do try to make each post worthwhile, though, instead of just rehashing the same things other writers blog about.

I’m also the contest administrator for the blog Novel Rocket. It’s a lot of fun and I’ve met some good people through that.

I’ve never been able to figure out what to do with Facebook, though you can find me there. I’m also on Twitter @yanderson101.

7) Where can readers find your books?

My publisher, Risen Books, is a small press and uses the POD model, so the books are not available in stores. You can purchase I online in print and ebook at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or the publisher’s website. If you live near me, you can also find it at Dayspring Christian Bookstore in New Philadelphia, Ohio, or the Gospel Bookstore in Berlin, Ohio. I expect the rest of the books will be available through the same sources once they’re released.

Links!

• Personal Blog
  
• Risen Books
  
• The Story in the Stars at Amazon (print or Kindle ebook)
  
• Barnes & Noble (print or Nook)
  

Anyway, I wrote a short story for Morphicon 2012 and here it is AS A FREE EBOOK for my multiple thousands and thousands of fans (1):



You can download it here and in a month or two I'm making it $.99 so get it NOW (2).

(or I shall stamp my little feet and pout and stick out my lower lip so far, you can use it as a bookshelf)


(1) No, my anti-delusion of grandeur medicine has not yet kicked in this morning.
(2) And for the love of mercy, if you like, write a review.

1) Who are you?

I'm Batman. Just kidding; he has more money than I do. Seriously though, this is a good question as I doubt many people would know the answer. If someone were to bump into me at a local grocery store, I’d likely get a few grumbled remarks or a waved off apology. Stephen King or JK Rowling, on the other hand, would instantly draw a crowd. That’s me, the guy in the crowd, shouting and waving my book, hoping for a few heads to turn my way.

Recently, I was described as having a whimsically sarcastic personality. Add dork to the mix and that just about fits. Picture Garfield the cat mixed with a little Jon Arbuckle. Humm . . . I guess that would make my wife Liz and three-year-old daughter Nermal.

2) What do you do?

In college, I studied Graphics, Web, and Multimedia design. Been following this career path for the past ten or so years. It’s very helpful when designing book covers and promotional websites. In my free time, I like to read, play video games, watch anime, mess with my daughter, and rollerblade with my wife.

3) What is your mission in life?

To be creative while touching the lives of others along the way. Besides design, I’ve dabbled in electronic music, poetry, and various forms of visual art. I believe there are many tools for creative expression, but for some reason or another, writing storybooks has stuck with me the most. As a former troubled youth, I find it very important to reach out to them, and storybooks are an effective way to do that. The great power of fiction is that it gives us a reach into the lives of individuals that would otherwise be but a closed door.

4) Do you have an unusual talent?

After watching an episode of Kung Fu starring David Carradine, I wanted to be able to put out candles with a forward thrust of the hand. Oddly enough, I developed a technique that worked. I can put out the candles on a birthday cake from over a foot away . . . assuming they aren’t those annoying relighting kind. But what does that have to do with my books? Nothing other than the fact that my fantasy novel is about a fifteen-year-old boy who wants to be a wizard. His name is Traphis, and he has the ability to control fire.

5) Speaking of your fantasy novel, can you tell us a little more about it?

What, you mean listening to my life story isn’t all that interesting? Fair enough. After all, that’s not what I’m here for. People want to know why they should read my stories. So here goes: because they are good. OK, done. Wait, don’t go away. I’m kidding, I’m kidding. The book’s name is Traphis: A Wizard’s Tale. Written for teens and young adults, basically, the Harry Potter and Eragon crowd. It tells of a young man who has been forbidden from learning magic, even though his father was a great wizard. A year after the death of his father, Traphis comes across books containing secrets to the mysterious and magical world of wizards. Yet the road ahead proves to be a greater challenge than he ever imagined. Messages of hope, faith, redemption, and truth are weaved throughout the dynamic storyline. I’ve been told that the characters are wonderfully engaging, and the story itself is a page turner. For a sample, visit here.

6) What are your other writings?

My first published work is a fairytale written to children, ages 7-12. The Cat That Made Nothing Something Again is a story about a cat with no name. He becomes bored with the dullness of everyday life and goes in search of a way to restore the life-giving moisture to the land. I released the sequel, The Cat That Tamed a Flame, a few months ago. It too follows the adventures of the same cat, only this time it’s a forest fire that threatens the land. He travels with an unlikely companion, a wolf, in hopes of stopping the fire before it’s too late. The idea for this one came from my nine-year-old niece, who absolutely loved the first book.

I have a few projects in the works, including a Science Fiction about a cynic who casts off his humanity to become a digital entity. Yet goodness presents itself to him in the form of a twelve-year-old orphan boy. To stay updated with my current projects, visit me at my Facebook account.



7) Any parting thoughts you’d like to leave us with?

Artists help us view the world in a new light. To see the common as uncommon and to take a fresh breath of renewed passion. Those who are writers, continue to share your gift. Those who are reads, never stop. Those who don’t consider themselves either, give it a try sometime and you just might discover a magnificent world you never knew existed. Don’t know what to read? Give Books For Youth a look—there are many detailed reviews of speculative fiction and you just might find something you like.

Keep writing, keep reading, and keep the faith.

Lotsa Links!

• James' Facebook Page!
  
• The Cat That Children's Books Series
  
• James' Amazon Author Page
  
• Audio Sample Reading of Traphis: A Wizard's Tale (Note: Link starts auto player) or watch it here on YouTube.
  
• Follow James on Twitter!

Opal Wine is my latest collction of short stories and it can be viewed and purchased here or here. A collection of my anthropomorphic-themed works, their creation is a story in itself:

THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPED FOR was my first published story. After 20+ years of collecting rejection slips, I one day bumped into the unicorn art of Jordan "Greywolf" Peacock and that was all the muse it needed. That Greywolf illustrated the story for me when it was published in PawPrints Fanzine (now, sadly, defunct) was the ultimate icing for the cake.

THE CLOCKWORK CAT was part of a series of children's stories I wrote for a small fanzine that published such things. It turned out to be the most popular children's work I've ever written.

SAWYER is a series of actual emails I sent to a friend who was feeling a little blue. To cheer her up, I sent an email every day telling the story of my attempts to genetically engineer a feline secretary. The story is available for free on Smashwords.

FOX HUNT is another story about a genetically engineered creature, this one a fox who breaks into a futuristic version of San Francisco.

FESTIVAL OF MASKS takes place in the Unicorn & Gryphon Pub where on the night of the full moon, the pub patrons experience a sort of reverse lycanthropy.

WILD CARROT is another story of shapeshifting, but with tongue firmly planted in cheek.

A FAIRY TALE is the story of a time in the near future when the worlds of fairy and human combine in time and space once again. The stry has been reprinted once as The Pookah and the Redcap.

MY PRETTY PONY was a dare that I write a story about My Little Pony ending the world (and this was well before MLP became famous on HUB TV). Ethereal Tales snapped it up and started a wonderful relationship with the magazine's editor.

STORYTELLER is dedicated to the editor of Ethereal Tales and appeared in their final issue.

LAIR OF THE WHITE RABBIT is an experimental story of vignettes. Using the model of Alice in Wonderland, I get to create some scenes from my very own version.

PICK’S MODEL is a satire on furry conventions where in an alternate universe, anthropomorphic animals pretend to be humans.

COVENTRY HOUSE is my seminal work. Available for $.99 on Smashwords, it is the novella I am best known for.

Enjoy.

What follows are my rough notes for tonight's lecture. I'm still in the process of revision:


Writing Fiction for Publication
Harbaugh-Thomas Library Community Education Room
Tuesday, April 17, 2012

The key word for all effective writers is “tenacity.”

te•nac•i•ty. n. doggedness: persistent determination.

Steps in writing for publication:

1. Write
   
2. Revise
   
3. Submit
   
4. Market
   
5. Write more.

Intuitive vs. concrete writing. How you work this out is up to you. There are no hard rules.

• Set up a schedule for writing.
  
• Writers are readers. Read!
  
• Deal with the Inner Critic.
  
• Fall in love with words, grammar, books, and storytelling.
  
• Your opening must introduce a character, a conflict, a setting and a hook
  
• Do not show unfinished work to anybody.
  
• Put the finished work aside for a week or more so you have a better perspective when you dig it back out for revision.
  
• Read your work out loud.
  
• Let your work be reviewed by an unrelated third-party.
  
• Find a list of suitable markets and send it out. And again, and again, and again, and again.
  
• Once you make your sale, market, market, and market some more.
  
• Work on your next piece while marketing.
  
• The Law of 10,000 Hours (AKA The Goal of One Million Words)

Books that have helped me:

• First Things First by Stephen R. Covey, A. Roger Merrill and Rebecca R. Merrill (time management)
  
• Zen in the Art of Writing: Essays on Creativity by Ray Bradbury (On writing)
  
• On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King (Strong language warning!)
  
• The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide To Staying Out of the Rejection Pile by Noah Lukeman
  
• Guerrilla Marketing for Writers: 100 No-Cost, Low-Cost Weapons for Selling Your Work, by Jay Conrad Levinson, Rick Frishman, Michael Larsen and David L. Hancock

Self-publishing vs. agents vs. self-submission.

Look for markets at http://www.duotrope.com or http://www.ralan.com (Sites may temporarily not be work- or family-safe depending on the sites they may be promoting. Caveat emptor. Surf responsibly.)

NEVER PAY MONEY TO GET PUBLISHED!

Your tools: The local library, the Internet, your schedule, your mind.

Craig “Alan” Loewen has over 20 publishing credits and is an avid collector of rejection slips. You can laugh at his writing misadventures by visiting him at literary-equine.livejournal.com

1) What keeps you writing in the world you’ve created, the Underground?

My laptop. Bad joke.

So many things go into that. First, I’m driven to write in this cyberpunk (a link between the human brain and the computer) world because I have a strong preference for high-tech action. I've loved writing since childhood. It’s a passion, and maybe even a talent/ gift that I can’t waste. I’m not a prolific writer, but I must keep churning out Underground fiction at my own slow pace.

So I love the cyberpunk sub-genre, but all the speculative fictions genres (science fiction, fantasy and horror), are powerful vehicles with which to show a worldview. In my mid-twenties I discovered The Complete Works of Francis Schaeffer and learned why the Christian worldview was truth. I knew that I wanted to share the tremendous philosophical answers offered to humankind by the Christian worldview through my passion for writing. A fiction writer’s first goal must be to entertain—it’s why readers buy fiction. With that in mind, if your characters just happen to be believers living out their faith, nothing has to be preachy. The characters’ worldviews are just part of the story. I write especially for anyone raised with religion.

A lot of years have gone into creating the world of the Underground, so it’s a good thing I have a passion for the genre. Perhaps one day I’ll aspire to something beyond Christian cyberpunk--maybe even something that pays the bills. But not today. J

2) What is the Underground all about?

A one world government runs the planet in the 2030s and has declared that all religious fundamentalism is terrorism—there has historically been too much violence in the world because of fundamentalism. Open belief in the Bible, or any other word-of-god, is illegal, and qualifies a citizen for rehabilitation. Believers run secret home churches and risk being rehabbed. Those who wish to live their faith openly join an underground church called the Body of Christ. Saints in the BoC undergo a high-tech process called re-formation that nudges a believer’s body a little closer to their soul. Re-formed believers in the underground specialize according to their talents, and receive mindware, a kind of software loaded directly into the brain. Saints in the BoC resist the one world government, and the power of Mega-corporations. Anyone who likes fast paced high-tech action would enjoy the Underground.

3) What Underground books are out there?

Flashpoint: Book One of the Underground is the logical place for readers to start. My main character, Calamity Kid, is forced into the Chicago underground in 2036 and his experiences are a good introduction into the world. Flashpoint won awards and ranked as a number-one best-seller on Amazon.

War of Attrition: Book Two of the Underground features high-tech action in 2037 Chicago against gangers, corporators, and, of course, the One State Neros.
Underground Rising: Tales from the underground is an anthology featuring some of my own original Underground short stories mixed with those of talented authors. I edited the work and am very pleased with the literary quality.

Join the Underground: The Role-Playing Game, by Mike Roop, puts players in the deepest cracks of the BoC. It was actually my high school class prophecy that I, one day, would have my own role playing game, and it came to fruition!

4) What lies in the future for Frank Creed?

Good times. *wave at Diane M. Graham*

I just signed with a new publisher, Splashdown Books, who wants to publish my stuff. Devil’s Hit List: Book Three of the Underground is slated for an October first release. Yea!

I’m co-authoring another novel, Lost Zone, with author Grace Bridges. Greg Mitchell, another Splashdown novelist, has contacted me about writing an Underground novel of his own, and Dark Shepherd will be based on a strong character from Greg’s short story contribution to Underground Rising.

I’m thrilled that a number of other Christian spec-fic writers are creating in the world that I’ve so carefully constructed. I’m just glad it means there will be more fiction for fans of the Underground. Where this may lead in the future, I leave to the Boss.

5) Can you tell us more about Splashdown Books?

Based in New Zealand, Splashdown is a newish publisher that specializes in Christian speculative fiction. Lately they have been putting out one new book per month, and have released something like eighteen titles. Small independent presses are helping to fill the void of Christian spec-fic. So if you know any believers who are genre fans, please send them here. There are a lot of new titles over there.

I’ve been friends with Grace Bridges, owner of Splashdown, for years. She’s working hard to connect her authors to readers who don’t yet know that their favorite books are out there, and available on the Web.

6) Can you tell us a little about the Lost Genre Guild?

I wanted to write fiction books since I was a kid, and as a reader I cut my teeth on classic spec-fic. I was raised in church, and Mom dragged my little sister and I through many a Christian bookstore, none of which sold any spec-fic beyond C.S. Lewis. I’d already read and re-read the Chronicles of Narnia.
Even though the top grossing films were spec-fic, Christian bookstores offered nothing in the genre. I wanted to do something about that, and thought a guild of artists working together would be a good thing.

So about six years ago I started a Yahoo Group called the Lost Genre Guild. It’s now over two-hundred members strong and we welcome all artists and advocates of Christian fantasy, sci-fi, and horror. Anyone interested just go to http://frankcreed.com contact me by e-mail, and I’ll hook you up. The newsgroup is still the heart of the LGG.

7) As an advocate of Christian speculative-fiction, are you happy with the publishing industry?

The situation has much improved since my childhood. All the big Christian publishing houses have a couple of spec-fic authors, and bigger Christian bookstores even stock their titles. But there’s an even bigger selection on the Web, through small publishers like Splashdown Books, and Marcher Lord Press.

Also, here’s a list of Christian and Christian friendly spec-fic e-zines one can find on the Web . . .

Any Speculative fiction:
Digital Dragon Magazine
The Cross and the Cosmos

Horror:
Fear and Trembling
A Flame in the Dark

Fantasy and science fiction:
Mindflights
Einstein's Pocket Watch

Hard science fiction:
Residential Aliens
Ray Gun Revival

So there’s a lot more out there for genre fans to enjoy now-a-days than in recent history, and even since I founded The Lost Genre Guild. Given the power of the genre to portray worldviews, and seeing how we’re to spread the gospel, that’s a very good thing!