There's Still Time to Win!

Just a reminder that entries for the Summer Saurian Safari are still open until Monday, July 31st!

So go HERE to learn how you can win one of these two book packs:

Pack #1:
The Personifid Project by R. E. Bartlett
Flight to Eden by Doug Hirt
Dragonspell by Donita K. Paul
Light of Eidon by Karen Hancock

Pack #2:
The Shadow at Evening by Chris Walley
Daughter of Prophecy by Miles Owens
Outriders by Kathryn Mackel
Raising Dragons by Bryan Davis

These packs are great introductions to some of the best Science Fiction and Fantasy the CBA has to offer! So even if you already own the books, think about winning them for that friend of yours who will enjoy them!

Blog Tour: Christian Fandom

This month's Christian SFF blog tour is focusing on the Christian Fandom site. This site has over 400 pages discussing Christianity and speculative fiction. From articles discussing how the two relate, to book and movie reviews, and author interviews.

The design can be a bit intimidating to work through, but there is a wealth of resources if you dig for it.

Find out more at these other Blog Tour Participants.

Valerie Comer
Kameron Franklin
Beth Goddard
Rebecca Grabill
Leathel Grody
Karen Hancock
Elliot Hanowski
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Sharon Hinck
Pamela James
Tina Kulesa
Shannon McNear
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Mirtika Schultz
Stuart Stockton
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith

My Future Definition...

This is kinda fun:

Stuart Stockton -- [noun]: A hermit living in the big city 'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

What's YOUR definition?

Speculative Faith - A New Blog on Speculative Fiction

Speculative Faith, a new team blog of Christian authors exploring speculative fiction has launched. A group of seven authors, including myself, will be posting regularly on all things fantasy and science fiction, and exploring these genres and how they relate to the Christian faith.

To learn more about the purpose of Speculative Faith, read this excellent introductory post by Mirtika.

Look forward to seeing you there! I'll be posting on Tuesdays, with my first post going up tomorrow (July, 18th).

Take Part in the Summer Saurian Safari!

In honor of the launch of the Galactic Lore: Sauria section on my website www.ritersbloc.com I am holding a grand contest, the Summer Saurian Safari! How does this work? It is very simple.

Simply head over to www.ritersbloc.com and find the answers to the following eight questions, then e-mail them to contest@ritersbloc.com with "Summer Saurian Safari" in the subject line.

Entries will be accepted until July 31, 2006, at which point two winners will be drawn from eligible entries, where upon the winners will be contacted for shipping information. This contest is limited to the continental United States and Canada. Only one entry per household.

What are the prizes?

Two CBA Sci-fi & Fantasy book packs! One for each of the winning entries.

Each pack sports a selection of some of the best current science fiction and fantasy titles available from CBA publishers.




Pack #1:
The Personifid Project by R. E. Bartlett
Flight to Eden by Doug Hirt
Dragonspell by Donita K. Paul
Light of Eidon by Karen Hancock




Pack #2:
Shadow at Evening by Chris Walley
Daughter of Prophecy by Miles Owens
Outriders by Kathryn Mackel
Raising Dragons by Bryan Davis

Now on to the Questions:

1) What was Pike riding the very first time Stuart drew him?

2) Is Rathe a soldier for the Karn Empire or the Herian Dynasty?

3) What two English alphabet characters are mentioned as being left out of the Saurian alphabet?

4) List the three badly named mountain ranges found on the early map of Dino Island.

5) What are the three terms used to refer to a Saurian race?

6) What is the great barrier that splits Sauria into two halves called?

7) What Saurian animal has a prehensile tongue?

8) What two objects did Stuart use to blow up an electrical outlet?

Remember all the answers to these questions can be found somewhere at www.ritersbloc.com

Good luck in finding the answers! Remember, e-mail them to contest@ritersbloc.com with "Summer Saurian Safari" in the subject line.

Also, for more Saurian goodness, be watching the Scenes & Beans blog, as local Kanner Lake resident, Ted “S-man” Dawson, will be sharing his own version of how Sauria came to be and talking more about the mysterious book Starfire.

Garr! Pirates Ahoy, Matey!

Greetings to those of you on The Redemption Treasure Hunt! (If you don't know what I'm talking about go to http://www.ambermiller.com)

Remember the clue for this blog is: What two pirate movies are referenced on the post at Jerkrenak's Den?

When Lady Charlisse sets out to find her long-lost father, she never imagines she'll be shipwrecked on a desert island---let alone that she'll be rescued by a ship full of pirates! She finds it hard to resist their handsome God-fearing leader, Edmund. But will startling news about her heritage rock the boat?

Pirates rock and I love the movies, from The Pirates of Penzance to Pirates of the Carribean. And The Redemption looks like it will have all the action and romance of any great pirate story. Definetly something to look into!

And now! The final clue in this treasure hunt is:

How many times did the author of The Redemption go see Pirates of the Caribbean in the theatre?

GO HERE to get the answer to this final clue!

Feeling Stupid

Ever have those days where it seems everybody else is 1,000x smarter and deeper and more authentic than you? I get that feeling all the time, especially when it comes to writing.

I read and hear all sorts of profound and detailed posts talking about theme, meaning, humanity, symbolism, realism, and dozens of other things in writing, and I get the feeling that all I write is schock and nobody in their right mind would ever read the stuff.

You see I never got into this writing thing as a way to impart incredible truths or new life insights to people. Those are just a side effect of the process.

What I got into writing for was the chance to discover and explore new worlds with people. To develop my own concepts on what life would be like if we lived in a world with dragons or space travel, or both.

I've never been able to fully see any of my stories as stand-alone pieces, but always more of just a little window into a portion of a span of time in a grand history and future, that gives us a little insight into a world and its inhabitants.

The act of discovery and creation is what gives me the biggest thrill in writing, as well as getting to share what I find with others. My focus has rarely been on bringing out one big truth, but more on just exploring what truths come out in the stories I write as a part of world discovery.

Anyway that's enough rambling for now, and I'm sure I'll contradict myself at some point in the future as a nother random thought spurts from my fingers.

Jack Into Some Java

An interesting new blog has surfaced today. Scenes & Beans is a new blog, to be jointly written by the eccentric characters who frequent the Kanner Lake coffee shop, Java Joint.

Just from looking at the first post it has definite promise to be wildly entertaining. So check out Scenes & Beans here, and learn more about Kanner Lake here.

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On a more personal note, I've been doing some a lot of behind the scenes work on my own website ritersbloc.com. Once this update is done the incredible world of Sauria and just how I created it will be unveiled like never before. Plus a closer look at my manuscript Starfire as well as some glimpses at other things I'm working on.

Hope everyone has had a great 4th of July!

The Story Sensei Summer Sale - A writers' summer event!

From now until July 15th, Camy will be holding a fabulous contest for her Story Sensei critique service.

She will draw the names of TWO lucky winners! They will each receive:

A free synopsis critique – up to 10 pages single-spaced, a $40 value!

AND

A coupon for 25% OFF any manuscript critique – whether full or partial manuscript, any number of words. For a 100,000 word manuscript, that's a savings of $250!

In addition, EVERYONE WHO ENTERS will receive a 10% OFF coupon for any service, whether synopsis, query letter, or manuscript critique (full or partial). For a 100,000 word manuscript, that's a savings of $100, just for entering.

Go to the Story Sensei blog and post a comment to enter the contest!
http://storysensei.blogspot.com/


Sounds like a great deal, so get on over there and enter!