New Compendium Entry - Evelyn Sun

This week I gave you a look into the character of Evelyn Sun from my Black Earth series, and we took a look at chameleons in Christian fiction. Today I'm happy to say that a new entry to the website Compendium has been added: Evelyn Sun's character profile.

For those who are curious what the Compendium is, it is a (ultimately) massive database that I am building from the ground up that will house information on any and all things from both my Black Earth and my Expired Reality series. Each week, new entries will be added to the Compendium. Right now, I'm in a blog series exploring the different characters (and themes) of my Black Earth series, and the majority of released Compendium entries during this series will be character based.

Next week, I will be taking a break from this blog series to focus some time on edits and cover design to the final book in my Black Earth series, Bridge to Anaisha. I will also be tweaking some of the design of this blog and my main website. The week after next, we'll take a good look at another character from the Black Earth series.

Chameleons in Christian Fiction

On Monday, we took a look at the character of Evelyn Sun from my Black Earth series. Evelyn is a young girl who changes her appearance and personality to match the desires of one girl - Kari Preen. Evelyn refuses to acknowledge her own personality, her own hopes and dreams, and instead caters to Kari's selfish demands for false friendship and egotistical wants.

Personally, I've seen this behavior one too many times in my life - especially when I was in high school. Kids and adults alike - although kids especially - can sometimes fall victim to so much insecurity that they adopt the persona of someone else, especially someone they look up to. Even I have been guilty of this in my past. Sometimes it's because we want to impress others so badly that we're willing to bend and break just to fit in. Other times, it's simply because we don't have an identity of our own - or we don't know how to tap into our own identity, fearful of what others might think - and so we adopt someone elses.

Characters like this can be used in Christian fiction to showcase the theme of identity theft. Rather, identity surrender. Kari wouldn't be able to take and manipulate Evelyn's identity if Evelyn wasn't so willing to give it up. It doesn't make what Kari does right, but it doesn't excuse Evelyn for her part in the whole thing either.

In my Black Earth series, Evelyn becomes a drone, dependent on Kari's approval and direction - even if the direction Kari is heading in leads only to destruction.

This Friday, Evelyn's character profile will be added to the Compendium, and next week we'll dig into the character of Heather Rhodes and the part super powers and magic can play in Christian fiction.

Black Earth Character Spotlight - Evelyn Sun

Last week we took a look at Kari Preen, a somewhat minor character in my Black Earth series who exemplifies fake Christians - those who claim to be Christ-followers but instead act completely different in their day to day lives.

Today we'll take a peek at Evelyn Sun - another somewhat minor character in my series. Evelyn was mentioned in last week's blog postings as the young girl who follows Kari around, striving to fit in with the girl, insecure in her own skin.

Evelyn was born and raised in Apache Junction, Arizona in a home where her father physically abuses her. Evelyn only came to the church by invitation from Kari. Kari and Evelyn became friends through the private school that they attended, and for all intents and purposes, Evelyn is pretty much Kari’s chameleon, changing her emotions, personality, and desires to match Kari's. At times, Evelyn dresses like Kari and allows Kari to dictate who Evelyn is going to talk to. At other times, Evelyn simply keeps quiet while Kari verbally berates her.

Near the beginning of the Black Earth series, Evelyn has taken a liking to Heather Rhodes, even trying to talk to her on occasion. But Kari won't tolerate Evelyn showing loyalty to anyone other than her, and so Kari convinces Evelyn that friendship with Heather is hatred toward Kari.

Throughout her time in the Black Earth series, Evelyn represents a chameleon of sorts - one who has no identity of their own, who changes themselves on a whim to become or please a specific person they look up to. Evelyn is a drone, her own emotions, dreams, desires masked in order to allow someone elses behavior to override hers.

On Wednesday, we'll take a look at the theme of identity theft and how it can be used in Christian fiction. And on Friday, Evelyn's character profile will be added to the Compendium.

New Compendium Entry - Kari Preen

This week I gave you a look into the character of Kari Preen from my Black Earth series, and we took a look at fake Christians in Christian fiction. Today I'm happy to say that a new entry to the website Compendium has been added: Kari Preen's character profile.

For those who are curious what the Compendium is, it is a (ultimately) massive database that I am building from the ground up that will house information on any and all things from both my Black Earth and my Expired Reality series. Each week, new entries will be added to the Compendium. Right now, I'm in a blog series exploring the different characters (and themes) of my Black Earth series, and the majority of released Compendium entries during this series will be character based.

Fake Christians in Christian Fiction

On Monday, we took a deeper look at the character of Kari Preen from my Black Earth series - a spoiled brat of a Christian who wants nothing more than to manipulate the world and live for her own selfish desires. Today we'll take a look at what makes Kari Preen a fake Christian, and how characters like her can be used in Christian fiction.

Kari is a fake Christian. There's no other term to describe her, really. She claims to be Christian. She was born and raised in a Christian family. She goes to church, puts on a smile, and deceives those who don't know any better. She gossips about and slanders others. She takes a little too much pride in material wealth, and takes nobody's feelings into consideration but her own.

Strangely enough, her personality is a common sight today. There are many people going around calling themselves Christians but not living out the calling. If there are two complaints that I hear the most from non-Christians about Christians they are: a.) Christians are too hypocritical and fake or b.) Christians are too holier-than-thou and self-righteous.

Kari, I guess, would be a combination of the two. She is definitely a hypocrite. In the beginning of my Black Earth series, Kari comes on the scene as a materialistic gossip who carts around Evelyn Sun, a girl who is so naive that she hangs on every word, action, and gesture that Kari makes. Evelyn even takes to dressing just like Kari, just to be accepted. Her story is for another time though. This post is about Kari, and Kari only gets worse as End of the Innocence progresses. She is the epitome of the misbehaving, fake Christian.

Revelation 3:15,16 (NASB) - "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth."

God doesn't want fakes in His congregation of believers. They are like wolves in sheep clothing, going around causing trouble, giving Christianity a bad name. They are completely useless to the Kingdom of God, and yet they are the perfect villains for a Christian novel. Using the title of Christian but enacting none of the godly characteristics of a Christian, they run along the fence and cause trouble for both sides. They are a double agent of sorts, tricking both Christians and non-Christians.

I can't really say that Kari ever finds redemption, but I will say that she lives out her purpose in my story. Fake Christians can be good for something, I guess.

On Friday, Kari Preen's character profile will be added to the Compendium. Next week we'll take a look at another character from my Black Earth series and the theme encompassing them.

Black Earth Character Spotlight - Kari Preen

After a hiatus from my blog series regarding the characters and themes of my Black Earth series, I'm back to it today with a glimpse at Kari Preen - a minor character in my Black Earth series (although she does have a significant impact on a certain unnamed character).

Kari Preen's character is one that many of us have seen before - the misbehaving Christian. Stuck up, insulting, misbehaving, ignorant. Kari is all of these things, and her character serves to prove to the world that not all Christians even try to walk out a holy life.

Kari was born into a very wealthy Christian family in Scottsdale, Arizona. Her father, author of the best-selling fiction series, The Treasures of Absinthe, and Kari's mother, a well known advice columnist, both raised Kari to expect nothing but the best from life.

Because of this expectation, Kari became a brat. She tore through junior high, creating a large clique that terrorized the poverty stricken students in the school, humiliating them and sometimes even stealing from them. Eventually, she and her friends were expelled and her parents were forced to pay to have her put in private school for the rest of her high school life.

Kari detests going to church, but does it to please her parents, though her motives are not without an ulterior to them. Her plans to inherit the family fortune when her parents pass keep her tied to them with false kindness and faux obedience. To her parents, Kari is a sweet girl who wants nothing but the best from everyone. She has her parents convinced that the incidents back in high school were mere gossip and that the teachers were jealous of the family fortune, wanting Kari out of the school because of it.

Kari started attending the same church Nathan Pierce and Heather Rhodes populated long ago when it originated in the gym of a local high school. Since then, Kari has always despised, among other girls in the church and youth group, Heather. To Kari, Heather represents the poverty side of the school that Kari grew up in, and so she wants nothing more than to pick on the girl. But Heather has held her own ground, especially with Nathan by her side.

Kari has made a couple friends in the church youth group, trying her best to create another clique like the one she had back in junior high. Her secret short term desire is to take over the youth group and run it with a group that she has personally selected.

At the beginning of the Black Earth series, Kari is attending summer church camp in the forests of California. Little does she know what is in store for her and the rest of the world...

This Wednesday we'll take a look at the theme of fake Christians and this Friday, Kari's character profile will be added to the Compendium.

New Compendium Entry - Rhodenine (Element)

For the past few weeks I've been adding character profiles to the Compendium, but today I'm happy to say I've updated the website with a new entry into the Science & Technology category - Rhodenine. The element of Rhodenine, not the planet, although the planet will be featured at some point in the future seeing how it is the home world of the Wedges.

For those who are curious what the Compendium is, it is a (ultimately) massive database that I am building from the ground up that will house information on any and all things from both my Black Earth and my Expired Reality series. Each week, new entries will be added to the Compendium.

The Crossover Alliance

When I first started down the road of labeling my Black Earth series as edgy Christian speculative fiction, I wasn't sure what to expect. The label came out of a discussion I had with a good friend of mine when we were on the topic of ways to market my unique blend of Christian themes and edgy, gritty writing. Themes like violence, sexual content, cursing and the like haven't been widely accepted in Christian fiction, so it almost felt like my writing actually sealed its own fate just by being in existence.

I came up with the term edgy Christian speculative fiction because it seems to sum up EXACTLY what it is my writing encompasses. Michelle Sutton spearheaded the term edgy Christian fiction a while back when she created her Ning community, Edgy Christian Fiction Lovers. And as great as that community is, it seems to be steeped in a female demographic and seems to lean more toward edgy Christian romance - which is what a good amount of Christian fiction in general seems to lean toward. There's nothing wrong with any of that, of course. It's just left me to pursue a slightly different path through the marketing forest.

So for the past few months I've been trying to get this label of edgy Christian speculative fiction out there. Some have argued that labels don't matter. I disagree with this, especially since self-publishing has taken off so rapidly and people want to know exactly what they're investing their time and money into. Some have argued that the term 'edgy' has already been beaten to death by the edgy romance writing community. And some have tried to come up with their own labels, like alternative or inspirational. Inspirational was taken a long time ago, and alternative makes it sound almost New Age in comparison.

On the other side of the coin, though, I've had certain individuals crawling up out of the woodwork to tell me they have either been looking for fiction in this type of genre to read, or that they write this same type of fiction and haven't had much luck marketing it. This has in turn created a need. A need for a community of readers/writers of this type of fiction, where both camps can come together and help support each other and bring more exposure to this genre.

So I've taken it upon myself to see what I can do. Using a community builder called Social Go, I've created The Crossover Alliance. Anyone can join the Alliance and post their edgy Christian speculative work, start topics in the forum in regards to this type of fiction, and invite other members to come support their work. I've also started an ever-growing resources tab in the site which will contain lists of online reviewers willing to read/review this type of work, and links to great self-publishing tools to get newbies just jumping into the fray some tips on starting into the world of self-publishing.

As additions to the social community, I have also created a Twitter account - crossoverally - and a Facebook page - The Crossover Alliance.

I invite you to check it out. And if you like it, please invite your friends/family/pets to join in!

How One Video Changed Our Lives

In January, my family (my wife, my son, my cat, and I) are moving to San Francisco, California. Specifically, the Haight district.

Our plan to move was originally initiated by a stroke that my grandfather had back in March of this year. Once we learned he had the stroke, we decided to pick up and move to Sonora, California to be closer to him. He has nobody out there to support him - he just lives with my aunt, who isn't equipped to assist him. My wife and I have been wanting to move to California since we got married back in 2005. She's an Arizona native, but I was born and raised the first ten years of my life in San Jose and Cupertino, so California is home to me. (And I'm tired of this Arizona heat. Blech!)

Around the same time we learned of my grandfather's stroke, Travis Clark - young adult pastor at our church - played a video for the congregation. A video detailing God's plan to bring a new church plant to San Francisco.

Canvas.

The video inspired my wife and me, but San Francisco was pretty low on my list of places to move to in California. For starters, it's 2 1/2 hours from my grandfather. Second - the price of living there is beyond ridiculous - at least in comparison to where we're living in Arizona.

Good thing my God is a God who isn't phased by the label of ridiculous.

We visited my grandfather last week and found out he's in better shape than we thought him to be in. After being called to Canvas, we originally thought we'd live in Sonora for a bit until Canvas was established and then move over to San Francisco. But with my grandfather in good health, our call is to head straight to San Francisco.

So, while we were out in California visiting my grandfather, we decided to cut over to San Francisco. We met up with Travis and his wife Jena, and we toured the Haight district. And it felt like home. It was a strange, peaceful feeling. At first, I was somewhat hesitant about moving to that specific district because of our son, who's one. But I feel God's presence there, in the city, among the most diverse community of people I have ever witnessed in my life. And it's this diverse group of people who God is calling to come together into a community of believers.

(The Haight District)

Being how the Haight district can be difficult to get into - the real estate game can be cutthroat in the city - and because I wanted a bit more of a suburban area to raise my son in, we also went and looked at some neighborhoods in Daly City. I really liked it there, and I could totally imagine raising my son (and future children) there. Daly City is only about 15 minutes from the Haight District, so it would be easy to commute to Canvas throughout the week as the church is established.

But when we started the long trip home, the further we got from the Haight district, the more homesick we felt. Daly City would be a great city to live in - probably more affordable than Haight - and maybe more schooling options for my son. But Daly City would be settling. See, moving to San Francisco is our act of throwing all of our chips on the table. This is a make it or break it calling. With $0 in our checking account (besides the $ for bills), and with absolutely no savings account to speak of, how are we going to move to California in the first place?

Over the last 3+ years, my wife and I have seen God do the miraculous. When I was fired back in July of 2009, and we felt God calling me to write for a living, we weren't sure where this journey was going to lead us. And we're still waiting on the promise God made us of my writing supporting us financially. It's something I know many writers hope for, but it's something that God specifically promised us. And I know that that one promise is tied in with Canvas. With San Francisco. We need a financial miracle to move to California, even more so to move to the city of San Francisco, and even more than that to move to the Haight district.

Haight or bust.

What will my place in Canvas and Haight be? Well, I'm not one for outreach, really. Not wired for it. At least not the type of outreach where one goes around preaching to people on the street. No, I see myself connecting with the community, with the people of Haight, the people of San Francisco, in a more natural, more organic way. There are a slew of mom-and-pop bookstores in Haight, and that is where I see myself hanging out. I think my writing - edgy Christian speculative fiction - has an audience in Haight. Christian fiction that isn't preachy, judgmental, or agenda-driven. God has been showing me some awesome tactics lately to try and reach more people with this type of fiction and to rally those who write it and read it together under one banner. And Haight is in there somewhere.

Where does my wife fit in? She loves - and is absolutely wired - to help those in need. She loves connecting with people and filling provisional needs as they are revealed to her. That show Secret Millionaire? That would be her to a T. She just loves coming across needs and fulfilling them to the best of her ability. Haight is the perfect place for this.

In less than four months, we'll be heading to San Francisco to make it our permanent home. We aren't sure HOW God is going to pull this off, but we know He WILL. This is what we're called to, and I'm a firm believer that when God calls, He equips.

Watch as things unfold through my other blog - Of Dreams and Faith - because God is about to move, and you don't want to miss it!

God Showed Us A Video And Turned Our Life Upside Down

I haven't posted on this blog in a while, and what better way to come back from the ashes than to announce some really big life changing plans that God has led our family into.

In January, my family (my wife, my son, my cat, and I) are moving to San Francisco, California. Specifically, the Haight district.

Our plan to move was originally initiated by a stroke that my grandfather had back in March of this year. Once we learned he had the stroke, we decided to pick up and move to Sonora, California to be closer to him. He has nobody out there to support him - he just lives with my aunt, who isn't equipped to assist him. My wife and I have been wanting to move to California since we got married back in 2005. She's an Arizona native, but I was born and raised the first ten years of my life in San Jose and Cupertino, so California is home to me. (And I'm tired of this Arizona heat. Blech!)

Around the same time we learned of my grandfather's stroke, Travis Clark - young adult pastor at our church - played a video for the congregation. A video detailing God's plan to bring a new church plant to San Francisco.

Canvas.

The video inspired my wife and me, but San Francisco was pretty low on my list of places to move to in California. For starters, it's 2 1/2 hours from my grandfather. Second - the price of living there is beyond ridiculous - at least in comparison to where we're living in Arizona.

Good thing my God is a God who isn't phased by the label of ridiculous.

We visited my grandfather last week and found out he's in better shape than we thought him to be in. After being called to Canvas, we originally thought we'd live in Sonora for a bit until Canvas was established and then move over to San Francisco. But with my grandfather in good health, our call is to head straight to San Francisco.

So, while we were out in California visiting my grandfather, we decided to cut over to San Francisco. We met up with Travis and his wife Jena, and we toured the Haight district. And it felt like home. It was a strange, peaceful feeling. At first, I was somewhat hesitant about moving to that specific district because of our son, who's one. But I feel God's presence there, in the city, among the most diverse community of people I have ever witnessed in my life. And it's this diverse group of people who God is calling to come together into a community of believers.

(The Haight District)

Being how the Haight district can be difficult to get into - the real estate game can be cutthroat in the city - and because I wanted a bit more of a suburban area to raise my son in, we also went and looked at some neighborhoods in Daly City. I really liked it there, and I could totally imagine raising my son (and future children) there. Daly City is only about 15 minutes from the Haight District, so it would be easy to commute to Canvas throughout the week as the church is established.

But when we started the long trip home, the further we got from the Haight district, the more homesick we felt. Daly City would be a great city to live in - probably more affordable than Haight - and maybe more schooling options for my son. But Daly City would be settling. See, moving to San Francisco is our act of throwing all of our chips on the table. This is a make it or break it calling. With $0 in our checking account (besides the $ for bills), and with absolutely no savings account to speak of, how are we going to move to California in the first place?

Over the last 3+ years, my wife and I have seen God do the miraculous. When I was fired back in July of 2009, and we felt God calling me to write for a living, we weren't sure where this journey was going to lead us. And we're still waiting on the promise God made us of my writing supporting us financially. It's something I know many writers hope for, but it's something that God specifically promised us. And I know that that one promise is tied in with Canvas. With San Francisco. We need a financial miracle to move to California, even more so to move to the city of San Francisco, and even more than that to move to the Haight district.

Haight or bust.

What will my place in Canvas and Haight be? Well, I'm not one for outreach, really. Not wired for it. At least not the type of outreach where one goes around preaching to people on the street. No, I see myself connecting with the community, with the people of Haight, the people of San Francisco, in a more natural, more organic way. There are a slew of mom-and-pop bookstores in Haight, and that is where I see myself hanging out. I think my writing - edgy Christian speculative fiction - has an audience in Haight. Christian fiction that isn't preachy, judgmental, or agenda-driven. God has been showing me some awesome tactics lately to try and reach more people with this type of fiction and to rally those who write it and read it together under one banner. And Haight is in there somewhere.

Where does my wife fit in? She loves - and is absolutely wired - to help those in need. She loves connecting with people and filling provisional needs as they are revealed to her. That show Secret Millionaire? That would be her to a T. She just loves coming across needs and fulfilling them to the best of her ability. Haight is the perfect place for this.

In less than four months, we'll be heading to San Francisco to make it our permanent home. We aren't sure HOW God is going to pull this off, but we know He WILL. This is what we're called to, and I'm a firm believer that when God calls, He equips.

Watch as things unfold through this blog, because God is about to move, and you don't want to miss it!