Author: Lynne Collier/Author

Hello. My blogs are primarily about my work as a writer, faith as a Christ follower, gardening and my childhood in mid-century England. I hope that something I say will make you smile today and encourage you in your journey.​

Writing Fantasy || Premise

What is a Premise?

A premise is the foundation of your story. It’s a single sentence that reflects the core of what happens to the characters because of the events. Your story supports this premise. If you know your premise before you start writing you’ll find it easier to write because your underlying thought drives your work. It will also help you remain focused on what you’re writing and the idea you want to convey to your readers.

Why is a premise so important?

Once your premise is solid, you can then begin to create a storyline that proves it. Let’s say for example you want to write about truth. Your premise could be as simple as “Honesty is the best policy”, then write a story supporting that. What do you want your reader to know about being honest, and why is it so important?

If you don’t yet have a story in mind and you’re still looking for a place to start, try Proverbs for a short, simple sentence that conveys an idea that inspires you, or a quote from a favourite movie.

 

Examples of a compelling premise

 

“When your beliefs are at war, does love stand a chance?”

The End Begins by Sara Davison, The Seven Trilogy, Book 1. Click on the book for more information.

Writing a compelling premise. The End Begins by Sara Davison

 

“Groundhog Day in space.”

Singularity – by Benjamin T. Collier. Click on the book for more information.

Once you have your premise, you can go on to writing your logline. Stay tuned…

Til next time, remember you are loved by the One who created you in His image.

Lynne

 

(note: I’m an Amazon affiliate and receive a small fee for using their images when I promote someone’s work.)

Do You Ever Dream Of Being An Elf?

Do You Ever Dream of Being An Elf?

“Do you ever dream of being more than you are? Being a super-hero who can do marvellous feats for others and for God? Someone who can vanquish evil by a spoken word? Well- You Are! …We are all part of something bigger than ourselves; a supernatural world which exists parallel to ours and which few of us see but which interacts with ours in a constant battle for Mankind.”

This is the introduction to my new book —

 

‘The Fellowship of The King – A Christian Geek’s Guide to Kingdom Purpose‘

Click the book to find out more.

Find Your Christian Life Purpose

What on earth does that mean? That’s a leading question because not all of the book is about this earthly realm. Half of it is about you in a different realm! The first part of the book is discovering how God uniquely designed you before you were born, to be an ambassador (a representative) for His Kingdom. How He gave you specific natural abilities, a specific personality, and ultimately Spiritual Gifts chosen for you to carry out the assignments He has for you on earth—should you chose to accept them.

Find Your Fantasy Alter-Ego

The second part of the book is a fun spin about who you might be in a fantasy realm, your uniqueness translating into a world of fiction and what your missions would be there for the king. It takes you through discovering your race, your choice of weapons, your class (occupation), creating a shield, and your code for the kingdom. Who do think you would be and what mission would you accept for the king?

Lynne Collier --my fantasy alter-ego from THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE KING
Lynne Collier –my fantasy alter-ego

The book’s a prelude to my upcoming Speculative Fiction novels set in a fantasy realm but written from a Christian perspective. More about those in the coming weeks.

I wrote this book with my son, Benjamin T. Collier, also a published author, who writes amazing novels of fantasy and science fiction (mum’s bragging rights). We had a lot of fun writing this together and putting the different aspects of humankind and fantasy characteristics together to explore the seen universe and the unseen realms of fantasy. He’s the one who wrote most of the second part of the book, and a good friend of ours, Kirstie Shanks, designed the cover and the artwork. It’s a blessing to be able to work with such talented people who are dear to me and follow after God.

If you’re not inclined to geekdom yourself hopefully you’ll still enjoy the reality half of the book and discover what God has for you in His divine wisdom. It also makes a great gift for a geeky friend. The ensuing conversations could be quite hilarious! You may find you have more in common than you think.

Til next time, know you are loved by the One who created you in His image—and remember:

“Think outside the box. Unless it’s a Tardis –

Always choose the Tardis!”

– Lynne Collier, ‘The Fellowship Of The King’  #christiangeek #christianlifepurpose

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Lynne

Resources

Benjamin T. Collier

Kirstie Shanks

How to Boost Your Writing Career with Short Stories

Break into the writing realm, or boost your writing career by submitting a short piece of work to an anthology. They usually consist of short stories, poems and nonfiction ideas. It gives you the chance to work with an editor and get valuable feedback on your writing skills. Plus, you’ll meet other authors, personally or virtually, and maybe make new friends.

Find 2-3 writing groups who publish collections of work and join the groups. They’ll likely have an annual or bi-annual call for submissions for a new book.

Earlier this year I sent away five submissions altogether and was excited to have two of my pieces chosen. I write Christian Speculative Fiction and Christian Fantasy stories, so both anthologies are from Christian groups.

Anthologies make great gifts for all ages. I’m delighted to share with you the ones I”m in this year —

Christmas – Stories and More by Inscribe Christian Writers Fellowship

Christmas with Hot Apple Cider compiled by N. J. Lindquist

Til next time, know you are loved by the One who created you in His image.

~ Lynne

What Is Christian Speculative Fiction?

What Is Christian Speculative Fiction?

Robot in outer space staring at the sun and planets.
Art by DrSJS

“Biblical [Christian] Speculative Fiction is speculative fiction which uses Christian themes and incorporates the Christian worldview…”  — Wikipedia.

In many of the modern Christian fiction novels, the characters are mainly Christian and act on guidance from God with no overt or miraculous divine intervention. There is almost always a non-Christian character who eventually becomes ‘born again’ and the emphasis is biblical and doctrinal, as in Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins’ Left Behind series. It differs greatly from speculations on the Bible and Christianity found in fictional work such as Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code.

An example of a story which portrays a biblical and doctrinal emphasis but also features miraculous intervention would be Frank Peretti’s This Present Darkness which features demons, angels, and spiritual warfare.

Examples of stories which reflect a Christian worldview without explicitly Christian references would be The Lord of the Rings by RR Tolkien, C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia, and G. K. Chesterton’s The Ball and the Cross, which are overtly miraculous in content.

So, in a nutshell, Christian Speculative Fiction is any fiction genre which gives a Christian worldview and can incorporate fantasy, science-fiction, dystopia, and other genres which invite us to connect with our Christian beliefs ‘outside the box’.

In the last few years, new venues have opened for the Christian Speculative Fiction genre. More recently, Enclave Publishing (formerly Marcher Lord Press) and LoreHaven have created a platform for writers of Christian Speculative Fiction.

Til next time, know you are loved by the One who created you in His image, which includes that magnificent imagination of yours.

Lynne

Just for fun–Check out LoreHaven’s post about Star Trek Discovery

Raising an Autistic Child

I’m currently updating my first published book, an autobiography as a mother with an autistic child. My son, Benjamin, was non-verbal as a small child and was later identified as having High-Functioning Autism. He is now a published author and speaks at churches and schools about his experience growing up with autism. You can still get a copy of the first edition but some of the links in the resources are outdated. Here’s an excerpt from the introduction of the book.

Where do you go to, My Sunshine? 

“You have the most beautiful blue eyes, my handsome baby boy. Why can’t I see you behind them? Where do you go when your eyes wander away from me?

I hold you in my arms and stroke your tiny face, run my fingers through the yellow strands falling across your brow and I search for a glimpse of soul connection, but you are nowhere to be found.

If I let go of your small hand you’ll run away or you’ll walk in an endless straight line and not care where you’re going. You won’t see the people on the path in front of you or the tree that blocks your way. You won’t run excited to play with the other children on the swings because they’re not there in your world.

We walk by the lake. I point at the birds, gracefully gliding, skimming over the lapping waves. A young puppy barks and, for an instant, I see a puzzled frown on your tiny forehead, then it’s gone.

I show you the delicate, colourful blue petals of the Forget-Me-Not and we stop for a while to listen to the rustling of the birch. But you walk where I walk and stop when I stop only because I hold on tightly to your little fingers so you don’t slide down the bank and disappear. You have no response to these wonders around you.

I tell you how God made all these things. How He loves you and created you as part of His masterpiece too. How you have a purpose in this life and how I’ll do my best as your Mummy to help you find that purpose He has planned for you. But you don’t seem to hear a word. You just stare into the distance.

We walk back on the path and I sing to you “Forever Young.” You don’t sing along or dance in circles around me giggling. But oh how I love you my Sunshine.

Where do you go to, my sweet baby boy, when your eyes wander away from me and you’re lost in your autistic world.”

 

The first edition is available from Amazon at a super discounted price:

Raising Benjamin Frog – A Mother’s Journey with her Autistic Son

Get updates on the second edition and other work 

 

For a closer look at autism from Benjamin’s perspective and to see what he’s up to now, visit his blog   benjaminfrog.wordpress.com

https://benjaminfrog.wordpress.com/about/
Benjamin T. Collier/Author & Speaker

Til next time, know you are loved by the One who made you in His image.

Lynne