| INTERVIEW WITH FRANK CREED --originally published at the Lost Genre Guild blog |
Q: What's your motivation for writing?
A: I'd like to pay the bills by glorifying Him with full time
meaningful fiction. I'd like to use what He's given me to inspire
direction and change in the lives of my readers. I used to be a
Sunday-only Christian who honestly didn't understand what the Bible had
to do with the modern world. I write to make readers uncomfortable with
Sunday-only Christendom.
Q: Who do you think would most likely enjoy your fiction?
A: Generally? People who think, or in other words, readers.
Specifically? Fans of supernatural thrillers, cyberpunk, dystopia
(opposite of utopia), and high fantasy.
Literarily? It's my belief that strong characters are fiction's most
important aspect. For many, that means slow and boring. I object. My
action-beat flows fast. Fans of John LeCarre and James Mitchner would
be better entertained by drying paint and growing grass than by my
fiction.
Regarding audience: I'd intended Flashpoint for middle-school kids on
up. Alas, my editor threatened to go public with my Pokemon-name if I
didn't re-write for adults. I missed my deadline.
Now everyone calls me Mewman.
I know, right?
Q: Why do you write Biblical Speculative Fiction?
A: This is huge. The meaning of life in a nutshell.
The answer has to do with question of evil: why do bad things happen
to good people?
To outlaw evil, God would have to program all creatures with good. No
free will. But the greatest good is freely given love.
So we're free to choose. After we choose to love the Creator, we must
eventually realize that we glorify Him by being what He made us to be.
We wonder at the human body's physical limits when we witness the feats
of a Michael Jordan, a Wayne Gretzky, or a Bret Favre. What if they'd
opted for an accounting degree?
I write Biblical sci-fi and fantasy because every one of us glorifies
Him at the intersection of our talents and passions. Those are mine.
it's simply who He made me to be.
Be who he made you to be. The meaning for your life lies in glorifying
Him with your faith and gift. Go for it.
Q: Is spec-fic compatible with Christianity?
A: Loaded question.
For those challenged at separating fiction from reality, fantasy and
horror can promote witchcraft. In my lifetime, science fiction has been
dominated by atheism.
But what if Sci-fi and sci-fi had been promoting creationism and
miracles? Your question would be a non-issue. Spec-fic would be the
best-selling Biblical fiction rather than the best-selling secular
fiction.
Speculative fiction, by definition, has wide-open settings and
characters. Because authors are left to speculate, it's the perfect
tool with which to present any world-view, Christian or otherwise. As
ambassadors from Heaven, the Great Commission orders us to provide
Biblical answers in love. We're to be in the world, but not of it. So
unless we live in an Amish isolationist box, we MUST understand popular
culture around us, and use our knowledge to discuss themes and issues.
There are Biblical sci-fi and fantasy authors out there. Look for an
endorsed-author list at the site for Christianity's lost genre:
lostgenreguild.com
Q: Do you have any mentors or role models?
A: I've had inspirators.
One summer vacation when I was seven or eight years-old, my working
mother sent me to a literary program at the public library. That
building of books awed me. As we dissected the Secret Garden, I knew
then that I would write fiction.
My eleventh grade Creative Writing teacher encouraged me to enter a
Literary Contest at the University of Wisconsin in Whitewater. Against
hundreds of high school students from several states, my short story
won first place. That gave me confidence in my gift.
Role models: Francis Schaeffer's non-fiction change my life. And what
Christian author hasn't been touched by Lewis. George Orwell, Tolkien,
and Michael Stackpole.
There are many others, but for inspiration, I tend to think in terms
of film archetypes rather than role models, works instead of artists.
My fiction archetypes for proper action pacing include: Raiders of the
Lost Ark, Die Hard, and The Matrix. Powerful Characters: Hannibal
Lechter, Jack Sparrow, Doc Holiday, Rice's Vampires, Jack Bristow, and
Oscar Schindler.
Q: What length of fiction do you prefer to write?
A: A year ago, I'd have said novel-length because it allows more elbow
room. But I wrote three sci-fi short stories for the Light at the Edge of Darkness
anthology, and length never bothered me. It's just a matter
of the story you have to tell. Squeezing a novel-sized idea into a
short story format, or fleshing-out a short to be a novel is real issue
of length. Todd Michael Greene actually dropped out of the Light at The
Edge of Darkness anthology because the idea behind his short story was
too big. Keep your ear to the ground for a novel called The Novelist's Child.
That was his working title anyway.
Q: What creative techniques do you employ?
A: I organize like Felix Unger, and I'm old-school about reference; I
want to flip pages. I keep sci-fi and fantasy three-ring binders with
labeled tabs: theme, setting, sequel notes, names etc. If fact I've
referenced my Flashpoint binder twice already for this interview.
Q: Has any particular life experience influenced your writing?
A: Every minute. Two dead parents, divorce, fallen angel haunting the
house, finding salvation, blue-collar jobs, Church of Satan relative,
head-on-collision with a documented healing, and marrying my editor. I
really am stunned when I consider how well my experiences fit with
writing fiction. Especially in the last few years, so many things have
come together, I keep finding myself shaking my head in disbelief and
thanking Him. I don't have the space here, but I could write a memoir
called Connect the Dots.
Q: Does your Light at the Edge of Darkness stories have a common
thread?
A: Chairman, True Freedom, and Miracle Micro all share the same
setting as my novel, Flashpoint: Book One of the Underground Series.
There are no common characters, but fans of meaningful cyberpunk would
enjoy the Biblical themes of both books.
Check frankcreed.com for sequels, and lostgenreguild.com for a
Biblical spec-fic reading list.
His will,
Frank Creed
Email Frank
Read Frank's Bio
Visit FrankCreed.com
A: I'd like to pay the bills by glorifying Him with full time
meaningful fiction. I'd like to use what He's given me to inspire
direction and change in the lives of my readers. I used to be a
Sunday-only Christian who honestly didn't understand what the Bible had
to do with the modern world. I write to make readers uncomfortable with
Sunday-only Christendom.
Q: Who do you think would most likely enjoy your fiction?
A: Generally? People who think, or in other words, readers.
Specifically? Fans of supernatural thrillers, cyberpunk, dystopia
(opposite of utopia), and high fantasy.
Literarily? It's my belief that strong characters are fiction's most
important aspect. For many, that means slow and boring. I object. My
action-beat flows fast. Fans of John LeCarre and James Mitchner would
be better entertained by drying paint and growing grass than by my
fiction.
Regarding audience: I'd intended Flashpoint for middle-school kids on
up. Alas, my editor threatened to go public with my Pokemon-name if I
didn't re-write for adults. I missed my deadline.
Now everyone calls me Mewman.
I know, right?
Q: Why do you write Biblical Speculative Fiction?
A: This is huge. The meaning of life in a nutshell.
The answer has to do with question of evil: why do bad things happen
to good people?
To outlaw evil, God would have to program all creatures with good. No
free will. But the greatest good is freely given love.
So we're free to choose. After we choose to love the Creator, we must
eventually realize that we glorify Him by being what He made us to be.
We wonder at the human body's physical limits when we witness the feats
of a Michael Jordan, a Wayne Gretzky, or a Bret Favre. What if they'd
opted for an accounting degree?
I write Biblical sci-fi and fantasy because every one of us glorifies
Him at the intersection of our talents and passions. Those are mine.
it's simply who He made me to be.
Be who he made you to be. The meaning for your life lies in glorifying
Him with your faith and gift. Go for it.
Q: Is spec-fic compatible with Christianity?
A: Loaded question.
For those challenged at separating fiction from reality, fantasy and
horror can promote witchcraft. In my lifetime, science fiction has been
dominated by atheism.
But what if Sci-fi and sci-fi had been promoting creationism and
miracles? Your question would be a non-issue. Spec-fic would be the
best-selling Biblical fiction rather than the best-selling secular
fiction.
Speculative fiction, by definition, has wide-open settings and
characters. Because authors are left to speculate, it's the perfect
tool with which to present any world-view, Christian or otherwise. As
ambassadors from Heaven, the Great Commission orders us to provide
Biblical answers in love. We're to be in the world, but not of it. So
unless we live in an Amish isolationist box, we MUST understand popular
culture around us, and use our knowledge to discuss themes and issues.
There are Biblical sci-fi and fantasy authors out there. Look for an
endorsed-author list at the site for Christianity's lost genre:
lostgenreguild.com
Q: Do you have any mentors or role models?
A: I've had inspirators.
One summer vacation when I was seven or eight years-old, my working
mother sent me to a literary program at the public library. That
building of books awed me. As we dissected the Secret Garden, I knew
then that I would write fiction.
My eleventh grade Creative Writing teacher encouraged me to enter a
Literary Contest at the University of Wisconsin in Whitewater. Against
hundreds of high school students from several states, my short story
won first place. That gave me confidence in my gift.
Role models: Francis Schaeffer's non-fiction change my life. And what
Christian author hasn't been touched by Lewis. George Orwell, Tolkien,
and Michael Stackpole.
There are many others, but for inspiration, I tend to think in terms
of film archetypes rather than role models, works instead of artists.
My fiction archetypes for proper action pacing include: Raiders of the
Lost Ark, Die Hard, and The Matrix. Powerful Characters: Hannibal
Lechter, Jack Sparrow, Doc Holiday, Rice's Vampires, Jack Bristow, and
Oscar Schindler.
Q: What length of fiction do you prefer to write?
A: A year ago, I'd have said novel-length because it allows more elbow
room. But I wrote three sci-fi short stories for the Light at the Edge of Darkness
anthology, and length never bothered me. It's just a matter
of the story you have to tell. Squeezing a novel-sized idea into a
short story format, or fleshing-out a short to be a novel is real issue
of length. Todd Michael Greene actually dropped out of the Light at The
Edge of Darkness anthology because the idea behind his short story was
too big. Keep your ear to the ground for a novel called The Novelist's Child.
That was his working title anyway.
Q: What creative techniques do you employ?
A: I organize like Felix Unger, and I'm old-school about reference; I
want to flip pages. I keep sci-fi and fantasy three-ring binders with
labeled tabs: theme, setting, sequel notes, names etc. If fact I've
referenced my Flashpoint binder twice already for this interview.
Q: Has any particular life experience influenced your writing?
A: Every minute. Two dead parents, divorce, fallen angel haunting the
house, finding salvation, blue-collar jobs, Church of Satan relative,
head-on-collision with a documented healing, and marrying my editor. I
really am stunned when I consider how well my experiences fit with
writing fiction. Especially in the last few years, so many things have
come together, I keep finding myself shaking my head in disbelief and
thanking Him. I don't have the space here, but I could write a memoir
called Connect the Dots.
Q: Does your Light at the Edge of Darkness stories have a common
thread?
A: Chairman, True Freedom, and Miracle Micro all share the same
setting as my novel, Flashpoint: Book One of the Underground Series.
There are no common characters, but fans of meaningful cyberpunk would
enjoy the Biblical themes of both books.
Check frankcreed.com for sequels, and lostgenreguild.com for a
Biblical spec-fic reading list.
His will,
Frank Creed
Email Frank
Read Frank's Bio
Visit FrankCreed.com