By the Book

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Category: Clean Fantasy Fiction

Main Character Monday: Viktor – The Kalila Chronicles

February 3, 2020 / / 0 Comments

If a person could fan-girl over a fictional character interview, today would be the day. From book one of the Kalila Chronicles by Erin Howard, I’ve loved Viktor. Yes, he’s the demon brother to Matthias. I know he’s not your typical good guy. In fact, he’s acting out of selfishness even when he does the right thing most of the time. But there’s something about the character that makes him one of my favorites in the series. And today, I get to interview him!

Viktor, I’ve really enjoyed getting to know you through Erin’s Kalila Chronicles series. But for those who might not have had that same opportunity, can you tell us a little about yourself and your family?

Families are complicated. Or perhaps that’s just my family? My big brother, Matthias, is finally softening towards me. But I can’t blame him for the years of turmoil that I’ve put him through. See, he blames me for convincing our whole family to follow Lucifer. I mean, I can’t help that I’m a charismatic guy. I didn’t want them following me, but by the time Lucifer was kicked out of heaven, it was too late. Of course, Matthias didn’t see it that way and made it his vendetta to stop me. It made doing my job a lot harder when I not only had to watch my back from angels but also from my brother.  

You’ve spent a lot of time with humans, both trying to destroy them and more recently keeping them safe. Is there anything you admire about the humans you’ve come in contact with through the years?

If I have to tell something that I admire, I would say their ability to bounce back and keep going. No matter what is thrown their way, they have the capabilities to keep going.

Keeping in mind this is a purely hypothetical question, if given the opportunity would you want to become human? Why or why not?

No way. I wouldn’t want to give up being able to sneak around humans without them noticing and alter the atmosphere around them. It’s fun being me.

Given your background, I’ll refrain from asking you for your favorite or most inspirational scripture verse. However, I’d like to get your thoughts on one that makes me think of you when I hear it. Romans 7:15 says, “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.” While the verse pertains to the Christian struggle to live a godly life while the flesh keeps pulling us toward sin, my question is can you see yourself in this verse?

It does sum me up, doesn’t it? Matthias started all of this when he interrupted my plan of destroying Thea. Sometimes, I think it would have been easier if I would have gone ahead and murdered her. But that’s the problem, right? This back and forth war that is always waging inside of me.

Who is the person/being you most admire and why?

There are not many people that I admire. I don’t usually waste my time with humans or supernatural beings. When I have orders, I fulfill those orders, and then I move on. Do you know who never complains about having to do his job? Philip. I like that. 

Is there one thing you have experienced or learned that has impacted you more than everything else?

You like to dig deep with these questions, don’t you? I’ll do just about anything to get to Bethesda. That’s what is driving me. Everything else is just a distraction. This war going on inside? I hope it resolves itself soon.  

Is there one message you would like to share with the people reading this interview?

I feel like I’m the last one that can give advice or a message to whoever is reading this. There’s plenty of people rooting for me to fail. And I constantly feel like I’m one step away from slipping from one side to the other. But I’m trying. It goes against everything I’ve come to know, but I’m not giving up on getting to Bethesda. What will happen on the way, who knows? But I’m not looking back. You shouldn’t either. If you have goal, reach for it. Don’t give up.

Thanks for your time Viktor. And thanks to Erin Howard for sharing you with us today.

This is just a little snippet of life with Viktor. As you can probably tell, he’s a little bit complicated and a lot conflicted. Kind of reminds me of the rest of us at times. I hope you’ll check out The Silencer, but if you haven’t done so already be sure to read The Seer and The Soul Searcher first. It is a series, and it should be read in order.

Before we end things, why don’t we find out more about Erin Howard and her books.

New Release: The Silencer (The Kalila Chronicles, #3)

Release Date: 2/04/20

Publisher: Mantle Rock Publishing

Back cover blurb:

Sam’s parents asked him to do the unthinkable:
And it cost him everything.

When Sam Hart was forced to walk away from everything and everyone he knew, The Kalila became his new home. He thought he could keep the past buried but after an unexpected visit from his brother, a family secret is revealed.

Already reeling from a murder of one of their own, an unimaginable chain of events leaves everyone questioning each other’s loyalty. Will Sam, Viktor, and Matthias be able to stop this newest threat before they lose another?

Bio:

Erin R. Howard is a Developmental Editor, YA Urban Fantasy Author of The Kalila Chronicles, and has earned a Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing/English from Southern New Hampshire University. When she’s not writing, Erin enjoys spending time with her family, fueling her craft addictions, and teaching writing workshops. Erin is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and the KenTen Writers Group. She resides in Western Kentucky with her husband and three children.

Social Media:

Website: https://erinrhoward.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/E.R.H.Fiction/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ErinRHoward

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erinrhoward/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/erinrhoward/

Newsletter: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z6w4q4

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEiu-jq-KE-VMIjbtmGLbJA Purchase link: https://www.amazon.com/Silencer-Kalila-Chronicles-Book-ebook/dp/B08361WNND

Eustace Clarence Scrubb

June 4, 2019 / / 0 Comments

dawn treader“There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.”

Wow. Could there be a better opening line and character description? Immediately readers, even the children for whom the story is meant, will be able to identify the Eustace’s in their lives. With one sentence the “nails on the chalkboard” existence of Eustace is firmly planted in our minds.

C.S. Lewis draws us in with the first pages of Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and he continues to lead us through the misadventures of Eustace. We can understand the sentiments of Lucy and Edmond as they deal with his attitude of superiority, and we find it too easy to give in to the idea that he gets what he deserves as things fail to go in his favor. He tries our patience just as he does the same to every creature on the Dawn Treader.

When an author so completely gives us an image of his or her characters, it’s easy for them to become real to us. Suspending our disbelief to accept Narnia and Aslan and dragons as real is only natural. But a great description is only the beginning.

In a well-told story, readers get to know the characters. They get to see beyond the actions and outward appearances to who the characters are at their core. C.S. Lewis describes this occurrence in another quote from Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

“‘In our world,’ said Eustace, ‘a star is a huge ball of flaming gas.’

‘Even in your world, my son, that is not what a star is, but only what it is made of.'”

There is more to a star than what is is made of. There is more to a character than their looks and behaviors. It is an author’s job to give their characters souls. In doing so, readers are able to enjoy a fully formed person as complex as the ones sitting beside them while they read.

But in a well-told story the characters evolve through their failures and triumphs. This is not to say they become perfect versions of themselves. Readers don’t want perfection. They want a better understanding of reality. Even in fantasy, there has to be something for the reader to connect to. If readers see themselves in the characters then they also need to see attainable hope. We won’t reach perfection, and I find it frustrating to read about someone who always does the right thing. I want to see the one who tries and fails and gets up to try again. It makes a character work. It made Eustace Clarence Scrubb work.

“It would be nice and fairly nearly true, to say that ‘from that time forth, Eustace was a different boy.’ To be strictly accurate, he began to be a different boy. He had relapses. There were still many days when he could be very tiresome. But most of those I shall not notice. The cure had begun.”

It had begun. It was not finished. And we can appreciate this in the characters we read about. Sometimes it is more difficult to appreciate in the real world with the people affecting our day to day lives. We sit in church and judge the one who tried and failed or the one who is traveling at a snail’s pace in their journey of faith. We place people on a pedestal of perfection that no man since Jesus has been able to attain. We hold them to this impossible standard and crucify them when they fall. Just like we did with Eustace at the beginning of Voyage of the Dawn Treader, we fight pleasure at their circumstances when they seem to get what they deserve.

But often we fail to let ourselves relate to them. We color over our own failures. In Jesus’ words, we “look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye”. (Matthew 7:3) When we realize we are all Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and we almost deserve it, we find patience we didn’t know we possessed. We find empathy that desires to see those we previously rooted against become the people God created them to be. We learn how to come along beside our brothers and sisters to encourage each other to continue to grow in faith. We stop taking note of every failure and choose to look at God’s cure in them that has already begun.

Main Character Monday: Levi Prince

April 29, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Welcome to Main Character Monday. Today’s interview is a special one because today’s guest is from a YA fantasy book. Let’s welcome Levi Prince from The Fay’s Apprentice by Amy C. Blake. Thank you for joining me.

If you could choose only one thing to buy without money being an issue, what would you buy?

An airplane or a helicopter to transport me between my home in Ohio and Castle Island on Lake Superior. That way I can more easily spend time with my family and with Sara and her parents.

The New Testament tells the story of two sisters who react to Jesus visiting in very different ways. Mary chooses to spend her time with him, while Martha chooses to see to the physical details of his visit. Are you more a Mary or Martha?

As a teenage boy, I can’t say I’ve ever really thought about identifying with either woman, but I suppose I’m more of a Martha trying to become a Mary. I spent the previous two years of my life trying to physically force things to work out as I thought best. This year, I’m trying to live in obedience to God and simply trust Him to work everything out for His glory.

I find that’s always the best choice. And maybe I should re-work some of my questions to better fit the men I interview! Thanks for rolling with it.

“Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” James 1:27 – Do you think this verse, lived out would have made a difference in your life? If so, how?

It certainly would’ve made a difference in the lives of two of my friends. My best friend Trevor lost his mom when he was a little kid, and his family has never been the same. His relationship with his dad is wretched, and his older brother is just plain mean. My dad has tried to be somewhat of a father to Trevor, but it’s hard since we live more than two hours apart.

My other friend Morgan is a mess because of her mom’s drug addictions and her step-dad’s nastiness. Sara, Lizzie, and Monica try to help her, but she’s so mixed up from all the hard times she’s been through. If somebody in her family, like maybe her aunt and uncle—Hunter’s parents—were Christians who lived out this verse to her, I think she’d be a lot better off.

It sounds like your friends are lucky to have a friend like you in their corner. 

What scripture verse would you claim as a life verse?

Psalm 20:7: “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” In a place like Terracaelum where mormos, monsters, and demon sorcerers are a very real threat, trusting God is crucial.

I think I may have to ask you back for another interview. I’d like to find out more about Terracaelum and your time there. Of course, my readers and I can enjoy your story too, even if we’re a tiny bit over the YA cut-off.

If there was one message you could give those reading this interview, what would that be?

No matter your situation, trust in the Lord for strength. Don’t rely on yourself. He is the only omnipotent one.

That’s a great truth to remember whether you’re in another world or trying to live a God-honoring Christian life wherever you are. 

Just for Fun:

Indoors or outdoors: Outdoors because Terracaelum is awesome!

Reading or writing: Reading

Apples or pears: Pears

Early bird or night owl: Night owl

Describe Amy in three words:

Motherly: because she loves and cares for her children.

Imaginative: because have you read the situations she puts me into?

Growing: because she learns more about God every day, just as she has me doing.

Thank you for joining me Levi. And thank you Amy C. Blake for allowing me to interview him.

Keep reading for more information on The Fay’s Apprentice and Amy C. Blake.

FaysApprentice_FlatThe Fay’s Apprentice (book 3)

On Levi’s third summer at Camp Classic, he’s torn between two responsibilities. On the one hand, his parents expect him to watch over his little sister Abby, who has no clue their summer camp is a haven for mythical creatures. On the other hand, Mr. Dominic wants him to train at Fort Terra, a full day’s hike away from his sister, because of Levi’s previous encounters with the demon sorcerer Deceptor. Although he enjoys training with his friends, Levi finds life at Fort Terra difficult thanks to the ongoing tension between him and Hunter and the stress of having his former kidnapper Regin as his chaperone. When the woman Regin claims to be the evil sorceress Anna appears, Levi faces a whole new challenge.

 

SONY DSCAward-winning author Amy C. Blake is a pastor’s wife and homeschooling mother of four. She has an M.A. in English from Mississippi College and has written articles, devotionals, and short stories for a number of publications. She’s also writing two series for the Christian market, her Levi Prince YA fantasy series and her On the Brink Christian suspense trilogy.

Whitewashed, Colorblind, and Tie-Dyed, featuring three homeschooled girls on the brink of adulthood…and danger, are available in paperback and Kindle. The Trojan Horse Traitor, The Fall of Thor’s Hammer, and The Fay’s Apprentice, about homeschooled pastor’s kid Levi Prince and his adventures in Terracaelum, are also available in paperback and Kindle. She’d love for you to visit her website at amycblake.com.

Social Media:
Author of the On the Brink Christian suspense trilogy:
Author of the Levi Prince YA Christian fantasy series:

Write Stuff Wednesday – Erin Howard

March 21, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Author PictureToday’s guest on Write Stuff Wednesday is Erin Howard. Her favorite quote is a great reminder for those on the journey of writing. But it’s wisdom can be applied to a lot of endeavors. Whatever you seek to do, keep these words in mind for those times you want to give up or think about quitting before you ever start.

I love Jodi Picoult’s quote, “You can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.” It’s a great reminder that my writing doesn’t have to be perfect at first. It just has to exist. There’s something very freeing about that statement. For me, a blank page can be intimidating. It can stop me from writing at times if I let it. I had to make myself stop editing as I write the first draft of my novel and wait until I’m completely finished. If I don’t, I will keep editing and perfecting and never get anywhere.

I love being creative, I’m always doing something crafty, but even with crafts, I want it to be as perfect as I can make it. I think creative people already have the tendency to never think what they create is perfect. They aren’t fully satisfied, so they keep learning. They keep practicing and creating new things. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, it’s good to continually learn and grow, but we shouldn’t let those perfectionist tenancies keep us from writing.

Don’t let excuses stop you from writing. Just write!

Let’s meet Erin and find out a bit more about her writing.

New Release: The Soul Searcher (The Kalila Chronicles, #2)

Release Date: 2/19/19

Publisher: Mantle Rock Publishing

Back cover blurb:

Elnora’s parents gave her one rule:soul searcher

Stay hidden away at all costs.

Elnora Scott is used to her survival depending on the decisions of others. Locked away in her safe house, it is easy to follow her parents’ dying wishes until an angel, demon, and seer show up on her doorstep. Now, waking up in a dirty cell, she wishes she would have gone with them when she had the chance, because the very ones who unknowingly ushered the kidnapper to her location may be the only ones who can save her.

When Thea learns that Elnora may be in danger, she doesn’t hesitate to go find her. Thea thought stepping through the portal would be her greatest obstacle, but it only reveals a more sinister threat.

Bio:

Erin R. Howard is a developmental editor, fantasy author of The Kalila Chronicles, and has earned a Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing/English from Southern New Hampshire University. When she’s not writing, Erin enjoys spending time with her family, fueling her craft addictions, and teaching writing workshops. Erin is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and the KenTen Writers Group. She resides in Western Kentucky with her husband and three children.

 

Social Media:

 

Website: https://erinrhoward.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/E.R.H.Fiction/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ErinRHoward

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erinrhoward/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/erinrhoward/

 

Blog/Wordpress:  https://erinrhoward.wordpress.com/

 

Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/c386-H

 

Purchase link: https://www.amazon.com/Soul-Searcher-Kalila-Chronicles-Book-ebook/dp/B07MLXTYJT

 

When Truth Hides

June 30, 2018 / / 0 Comments

background-2013633_960_720Truth is important, but sometimes it’s hard to find. We see polarizing stories on the news every day that threaten to tear our nations apart. Sometimes they even threaten to tear God’s people apart. But if we take a step back, we realize each side of these debates have often latched onto one small idea or event and run with it. Even our news sources have lost objectivity. It used to be “just the facts” and let the people decide. There is nothing objective about any news source today.

Each side twists and highlights the things that make them look better and the other side look like the devil himself. Each side has an agenda. The stories they cover, the issues they bring to light, may be important. People may need to know these things, but the way the stories are presented breeds hatred, discontent, and divisiveness. Each side claims truth. Each side has proof. Honestly, each side has people paid to make the “facts” work in their favor to push their agenda. That’s why each side can come up with data, polls, events, and numbers to back up their idea. If you know the right way to frame it, you can find information to back up anything you want. And that’s exactly what each side does.

But simple, honest truth being hard to find sometimes doesn’t mean that it’s not important. In fact, I think it makes it more important. No one understands this better than Sergeant Caleb Dockery in Her Place in Time by Stephenia H. McGee. When Lena shows up out of nowhere in the plantation house turned civil war hospital where he’s recuperating, Caleb doesn’t know what to think. She claims to be from the future. She claims to go back and forth between the two times by putting on a yellow dress. It makes no sense. She speaks in strange ways. Her manner and customs aren’t at all like ladies of his day. A lot of what she says and does is controversial and even scandalous, but is she really from the future? Her methods of nursing wounded soldiers lend credence to her claims. But she slips away unseen at times, and she’s admitted she doesn’t believe in the south’s cause in the war. Could she be a spy?

Even as Caleb wrestles with his doubts, he can’t deny he’s attracted to her, and she seems to be attracted to him as well. His doubts about her trustworthiness, her honesty, keep them at arm’s length. He can’t quite reconcile what she’s saying to be truth, and she won’t give her heart to someone who won’t trust her. What she’s saying seems impossible, too impossible to accept as truth. Besides, she’s still trying to figure out what is really going on and why it’s happening. The only question that remains for us is if either of them will find out the truth before they lose what God’s trying to give them forever. It all comes down to truth.

In an age where people try to dress lies and nuggets of truth as the complete truth, Christians are sheep in the midst of wolves. We need to take Jesus’ directive to “be as shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves” to heart. We can be part of the problem or the solution. It’s easy in today’s social media crazed days to spout off about everything that irks us. Even in those of us who find loving people easier than others can find our patience and acceptance stretched to their limits. We preach the necessity of loving everyone but then demonize those on the opposite side of the situational fence. We read a simplified post that agrees with our view point and forward it to all our friends, expressing disgust at anyone who dares see things from a different perspective.  In essence we’ve been neither wise nor innocent, instead becoming one of the wolves.

If we are to be wise, we need to start being responsible with the truth. When we see issues dividing those around us, we need to take a step back. Believers can’t hide their heads in the sand. We can’t ignore the things going on around us, but we can make sure all we say, do, and post falls under the umbrella of love and truth. We need to go beyond sound bites of media and seek out all the information we can get before choosing to speak. We need to seek God’s will before we choose to make a move.

In seeking truth and God’s will on how to respond to that truth, we allow ourselves to become wise while staying innocent. We refuse to be part of the problem. We allow room for healing in places where divisiveness once reigned.

By the Book: Do you seek truth instead of giving in to a knee-jerk emotional reaction to what you see or read? Do you seek God’s wisdom and way before you decide what steps to take?

Seeing the Unseen

March 21, 2018 / / 1 Comment

At some point, you’ve probably experienced the feeling that someone or something is behind you. I feel that way after watching creepy movies or television shows, which is why I don’t knowingly watch them. But that’s not really what I’m talking about. That’s rooted in fear of something that isn’t really there. It’s transferred fear from what I just watched.

The feeling doesn’t have to be born of something sinister. Today at work, I was having a conversation with a co-worker when that feeling struck. I work in a doctor’s office. Danger doesn’t lurk around every corner waiting to pounce. So, as this feeling of being watched came over me, it did so without inspiring fear. However, as I turned and realized another co-worker was standing directly behind me, just inches away, staring intently at me, I have to admit I jumped a little. How in the world did she invade my space without me realizing it? I have a pretty impenetrable personal bubble. How did she weasel her way inside to surprise me?

I wasn’t in tune with my surroundings. I was so focused on the conversation I was having with my other co-worker that I had blocked out everything else. Being caught unaware didn’t hurt anything in this situation, but that isn’t always the case. Dark parking lots, empty nature trails, and secluded alleys are all areas where being aware of your surroundings can be the difference between life and death.

For Thea, the main character in the fantasy novel The Seer by Erin Howard, being in tune with what’s going on around you takes a different twist. Thea doesn’t know it, but she’s a seer, a person with the unique ability to see what’s going on in the spiritual realm alongside our physical realm. Seers are protected by angels and hunted by demons because of their gifts. As Thea first awakens to her gift and realizes the battle raging around her, her gift doesn’t seem like such a gift. When learning to master her ability requires partnerships with not only her protecting angel but also the demon sent to kill her, Thea wants nothing more than to return to normal life. But once a seer has awakened to happenings in the spiritual realm, normal is over.

Particulars of faith aren’t spelled out in The Seer, but the idea of spiritual battles raging around us is scriptural. The Bible doesn’t spell out exactly how angel and demon interaction weaves into our physical lives, but the reality of spiritual and physical lives working in tandem is undeniable. Ephesians 6:12 says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” That’s not to say I think every bad thing that happens, every illness or failure is the result of demons at work. We live in a world marred by sin. Bad happens naturally as a result.

But with scripture stating it so clearly, we as believers need to be aware there are things happening beyond our line of sight. There are battles going on every day that we don’t see, but we can see the results of them. And like Thea, we have been given a gift. We may not physically be able to see angels and demons, but we’ve been given the Holy Spirit. Part of His job is to give us discernment. When we’re in tune with God and scripture, the Holy Spirit can help us sense when something is not right spiritually. We can feel God’s Spirit moving in a service. We can also feel it when we’re listening to a wolf in sheep’s clothing. That unsettled, sometimes sickening, feeling can be God giving us insight into what’s going on in the spiritual realm. It warns us to proceed with caution or flat out run from a situation. This gift of discernment can lead us to the people God wants us to help or away from those who seek to destroy.

And like Thea found, the gift comes with a responsibility. We don’t get to choose when to use the gift. We need to be ready to move in the direction the Holy Spirit leads us. If God moves in us to help someone, we need to be ready to answer that call no matter the outcome. If God tells us a situation or person is not right, we need to get away from it. Sometimes, we need to do it while warning others of the dangers. We find that out through discernment as well.

And once we’re awakened to this gift of discernment, life will never be normal again.

By the Book: Have you experienced discernment from the Holy Spirit in your life before? Have you felt the Spirit giving approval to a service or action before? What about Him warning you? What are you doing to stay close in your relationship with God so that you are better able to use the gift of discernment?

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