I’m proud to be part of the Blog Hop promoting A Time to Speak. Not only is this book amazing, but Nadine Brandes is a great friend who I was blessed to meet in person a few weeks ago. This hop is to spread the word about her new dystopian novel, A Time to Speak, releasing October 16th. It is also to encourage myself and others to speak out for things we are passionate about.
I will speak out about Christian Young Adult speculative fiction.
I was that girl who read The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings and then…couldn’t find any other Christian fantasy to read. Because there wasn’t much available when I was growing up.
I read a lot of secular fantasy and science fiction. Some of it was really good. Some of it was junk. I stumbled into stuff that, looking back, I wish I hadn’t read. Because it wasn’t edifying. And it’s only gotten worse. Two of what were my favorite Young Adult fantasy authors went downhill with some of their recent books. I was so disappointed with one I didn’t even finish it and promptly returned it.
It took me years to pick up mainstream Christian fiction. The little I had picked up was boring to me. I’m the person who looks for action and adventure in a book. I’m the girl who didn’t read Pride and Prejudice until I forced myself to listen to a book on tape version a few years ago. I cheered when Lydia ran away with Mr. Wickham because FINALLY something happened.
The books by Dee Henderson and Marylu Tyndall finally showed me that not all Christian fiction was boring.
Then I got a free book by Jill Williamson and learned that Christian fantasy did exist. And it was a growing.
I’d found a new passion. I began writing my own Christian fantasy series. I began tracking down Christian fantasy authors to read. And when I started this blog, I added a fiction finder to tell other readers about all the Christian YA books I was discovering.
I’m not going to argue why fantasy. Many other people have argued that point much better than I can. And I understand that fantasy, science fiction, and other speculative genres are everybody’s thing. Then again, neither is romance. There’s a place for both.
I’m speaking about Christian fantasy, science fiction, dystopian, etc. While secular books in those genres can be very well written and a Christian can sometimes see things like good vs evil, no book can touch a Christian’s heart like a Christian book.
A secular dystopian like The Hunger Games ends without hope. A Christian dystopian like A Time to Die breathes hope. That’s the difference.
Yes, I can read secular works. I’m not saying Christians must only read Christian books. I believe in being widely read.
But, the older I get and the less time I have, the pickier I become with the books I read. Since I have limited time, I look for books that edify as well as entertain. I look for books that help me grow in my faith, not detract from it.
For me, the speculative genres, especially fantasy, are the ones that touch my heart the most.
I’m calling for my fellow readers to wake up and support the growing Christian speculative market. Not just because I’m one of those authors. But because I know a lot of teenagers, young adults, and adults who are reading secular speculative works, but not Christian speculative fiction. Perhaps they don’t know there are Christian speculative fiction books out there.
I’m going to do all I can to change that. If you want a book recommendation, I have it. I have a whole list.
And here’s one recommendation to start: the Out of Time series.
How would you live if you knew the day you’d die?
Parvin Blackwater believes she has wasted her life. At only seventeen, she has one year left according to the Clock by her bedside. In a last-ditch effort to make a difference, she tries to rescue Radicals from the government’s crooked justice system.
But when the authorities find out about her illegal activity, they cast her through the Wall — her people’s death sentence. What she finds on the other side about the world, about eternity, and about herself changes Parvin forever and might just save her people. But her clock is running out.
What happens when you live longer than you wanted to?
Parvin Blackwater wanted to die, but now she’s being called to be a leader. The only problem is, no one wants to follow.
The Council uses Jude’s Clock-matching invention to force “new-and-improved” Clocks on the public. Those who can’t afford one are packed into boxcars like cattle and used for the Council’s purposes.
Parvin and Hawke find themselves on a cargo ship of Radicals headed out to sea. What will the Council do to them? And why are people suddenly dying before their Clocks have zeroed-out?
To celebrate the release of A Time to Speak, Nadine is hosting a Facebook party!
If you want to see what other bloggers are speaking out about, here is the list of the rest of the bloggers:
Tricia Mingerink 
Great post! Thanks for sharing!
LikeLike
Glad you enjoyed it!
LikeLike
Man, this is a great post! Why not speak directly and say, “Hey, we’re trying to put this stuff out here. Help us out!”
LikeLike
Ha, ha, that’s pretty much it.
Christian speculative fiction is at an odd place. I run into three kinds of people when I try to get the word out: those who read mainstream Christian fiction and don’t like secular speculative works and thus won’t give Christian spec fic works a try, those who enjoy secular spec fic and mainstream Christian fic and don’t know Christian spec fic is out there, and those who only read secular spec fic and won’t touch Christian spec fic because they’ve gotten this idea in their heads that all Christian books are sappy love stories. I’ll admit, I didn’t touch any Christian fiction for years for that same reason and my brothers are hesitant to even pick up Christian fantasy because of that stereotype.
LikeLike
Hi Tricia, Awesome post! I am also Very passionate about Christian fiction, and I agree with your post, we SOooo need to get the word out!!!! Thanks again for such a great post, you hit very close to home.
LikeLike
It has been great this past year to see the community for Christian spec fic readers and writers growing here on line. 🙂
LikeLike
Tricia,
Thank you so much for sharing this post! This encourages me in the journey of looking for and publishing these genres for our readers. I am the founder of Little Lamb Books, an indie publisher for faith-based fiction for young readers, including middle grades and young adult. I love how you said we want books that ” edify as well as entertain…” and books that “grow my faith, not detract from it”. At Little Lamb Books we want to encourage, enrich and inspire our young readers, and to do that we not only have to have a terrific story, but we need to also have a faith foundation. We are actively searching for Christian Fiction manuscripts in all genres, and hope that we can make an impact on the options for readers. Thank you again for sharing! Best Wishes, Rachel
LikeLike
it’s good to see more small presses cropping up for Christian spec fic. While I choose to go fully indie, I know several people who are writing Christian spec fic, but don’t have the time or desire to make a go of it fully alone. Options for publication are always welcome! Best wishes!
LikeLike
Your blog looks great.
I agree that Christian spec fic is hard to find. In fact, I couldn’t find very much until I started writing it, and now I have more than I can possibly read. I’m glad you’re doing what you can to get the word out there!
LikeLike
Thanks! I enjoy following your blog as well. You do such a great job at promoting and supporting Christian spec fic writers!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Aww. Thanks. Blushing
LikeLike
Great post. I am so very happy to find other people who really want to find GOOD Christian fiction because yes, it is hard to find GOOD christian fiction that is not boring and bland. I am super excited to have found this blog. Consider me a new fan. 🙂 I’m currently working on a 3 book Christian Romance series. I am also REALLY interested in starting up a Christian Fiction Friday blog hop because I had been apart of one that was really tiny and fell by the wayside. I need to ask the previous host if I can pick it up. Anyhow would you be interested?
LikeLike
What type of Friday blog hop would this be?
LikeLike
So it was a blog hop with a link where people posted works in progress excerpts and it was for christian authors. I really enjoyed it, as it is a great way to build community and an audience for each other. The host/mod stopped doing it, not sure why. I will email her and so we’ll see. I can keep in touch with you about it but it may not be right away. Thanks for getting back to me 🙂
LikeLike
Also one more question. I actually loved the Hunger Games. Though the third book was my least favorite. Why do you feel like it ended without hope? that’s not the impression I got but I despised the ending nonetheless lol.
Oh I have so much I want to talk to you about! I have a very rough Christian Dystopian series in mind, but because i have so many other projects going on, It’s on the back burner. 🙂
LikeLike
At least to me, it didn’t feel like they were trying to heal at the end. They were still simply surviving, just existing. To me, it felt like Katniss was still trying to love Peeta, but didn’t think she did. But that could be how the book hit me.
I know what you mean about having so many projects! I’m still not sure what I’m going to write next once I finish The Blades of Acktar because I have so many ideas.
LikeLike
You make some great points. I personally loved the 2nd book. But Yes, I did not believe at all the ending of the book, and I felt it was awfully rushed and poorly orchestrated. It appeared to me like a movie montage but it didn’t really work well. Anyhow, I like the series because it generates so much discussion and everyone has such interesting opinions about it 🙂
LikeLike