I’m still reeling from Joyce Carol Oates’ short story “Landfill” in The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 2007. No wonder she’s considered one of America’s greatest novelists. Even more interesting, Ms. Oates’ has been called The Grand Dame of the New Gothic. Her penchant toward literary horror surely confounds critics of a genre that’s often [...]
As the Lakers gear up for Playoffs ’09, and what many people are predicting will end in a championship, I can’t help but worry about their weak link. No, it’s not the struggling Bench Mob, Bynum’s knee, or Lamar’s schizophrenia. It’s the world’s best basketball player. Good arguments could be made for Kobe Bryant being [...]
Strange Horizons is one of the premiere Speculative Fiction sites on the web, so it was great to see novelist and film critic Jeffrey Overstreet being interviewed there. Overstreet reviews for Christianity Today and his fantasy series, Auralia’s Colors, is published by WaterBrook Press. Throughout The Revelatory Power of Story: An Interview With Jeffrey Overstreet, [...]
Reaction to the 2009 American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) have been equal parts glee and gloom. Results show a significant decline in the number of professing Christians, a marked increase in atheism, and a quest for faith unrestricted by traditional boundaries. The Newsweek article, The End of Christian America, though written by an “an observant [...]
I’m not exactly sure what a patron saint does, but I need one for the book I’m working on. Not that I really believe in patron saints. Nevertheless, I was thrilled to discover that a plethora of patron saints inhabit the Catholic pantheon. Here’s a samplin’ from the American Catholic: Patron Saint of Anesthetists — [...]
While putting forth teleological arguments for the existence of God in Saturday night’s debate, William Craig mentioned the emergence of multiverse theories as a possible refutation of theism. In short, the theory hypothesizes a multiple set of possible universes, or parallel universes, that comprise reality. So rather than living in a uni(one)-verse, we live in [...]
Still processing the Hitchens / Craig debate this weekend at Biola University. This was a big deal, much bigger than I’d previously realized. The debate was moderated by Hugh Hewitt and seen live by several thousand in attendance and many more at remote locations on campus, in the community, in 30 states and several countries. [...]
By most admissions, the recent Christian Book Expo was a bust. Apparently, the organizers expected a much, much, larger crowd than they got. There were quality presentations with lots of authors and panels. Frankly, it’s something I would have attended if it were closer. So why the public disinterest? There’s been a lot of detailed [...]
Paul Young, author of The Shack, spoke at our church Sunday. So many questions… But first, the obvious — his message was pretty good. Of course, it was more like a testimony than a message, which is in keeping with the spirit of the book. Let’s say I can see why The Shack is so [...]
Part Two of the Christian Speculative Fiction Panel is up at Novel Journey today. Frank Creed, Jeff Gerke, and Becky Miller continue to field questions regarding the elusive genre, and boy do they do a great job! In addition to the interview, we’ll be giving away three free eBooks (downloadable PDFs) of the upcoming Coach’s [...]
