Today we welcome back my good friend Terry W. Ervin II back to the writing chair in celebration of his newest release Soul Forge! (I am so excited to read this book!) Soul Forge is the third book in his First Civilization's Legacy series.
Terry is here to discuss a subject quite near to my heart. Writing characters of faith.
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Characters of Faith in Fiction
While several of my short stories could be identified as ‘inspirational’ with faith-based overtones, the majority of my writing, especially my novels, are fantasy and science fiction aimed at a more mainstream audience.
That doesn’t mean aspects of religious faith are absent from my novels. A great variety of characters populate my stories and some of them have faith, in varying measures. I find this to be appropriate, being just one possible aspect of a character’s make up.
That being said, there are conventions and potential pitfalls to consider when including aspects of faith in a work of fiction.
The most obvious convention when writing fiction is that an author shouldn’t ‘preach’ to the readers. This can be said of concerns other than religion. Consider political topics such as gun control, socialism, capitalism, drug laws, and more. All of these areas are ripe for espousing one point of view to the detriment of the story being told, including plot and character development. Heavy-handedly ‘telling’ readers how they should think or behave, even if they tend to agree, is certain to turn them off.
Another convention with respect to including faith in a work of fiction is that it should be organic, in that it’s a natural part of the character and story, and not simply inserted. Yes, there are stock characters, such as a strict, ruler-wielding nun in the classroom, or a humble, caring priest working as a hospital chaplain, and they have a place inserted in a story, but they should be used to play their part, after which the story moves on.
As indicated, faith being a part of a character’s make up is both reasonable and realistic. Prayer, moral beliefs, conversation, and actions within that context are all fine. How much depends not only on the character, but also on the plot and theme, and how integral the character(s) of faith are to the storyline. Most readers are comfortable with that. Most agnostics and atheists have friends, acquaintances, coworkers, and even family that believe in God, so having such characters in a work of fiction makes sense. The more important or central a character’s religious faith becomes to the storyline, the more the audience would shift away from ‘mainstream.’
It was probably noted that I said in the paragraph above: Most readers are fine with that.
Most does not equate to all, which leads to a potential pitfall.
If faith plays a significant part in the motivations and resulting actions of one or more major characters in a novel, there will be readers that are turned off. Those readers may be near the extreme end when it comes to intolerance toward religion, or even a particular religion. It should be pointed out that similar reactions occur among some readers with strong faith being turned off by characters that are expressively ambivalent toward God, or vocal in their atheism.
Potentially losing or dissatisfying some readers simply by including characters with faith as a part of their make-up doesn’t sound like much of a pitfall. Usually that’s true.
My experience in this arena is mainly through my novels Flank Hawk and Relic Tech. The main area where
faith plays a role in Flank Hawk centers is the Crusader, Paul Jedidiah Roos. While a character important to the plot, Roos isn’t the POV character, and first appears in the 2nd half of the novel.
Even so, I’ve received emails from readers, indicating they returned the novel because of Roos. One reader thought it was wrong for Christianity to exist in my fantasy novel, and was tempted to throw his Kindle across the room because he was really enjoying the novel up until that point, when ‘Crusaders’ first appeared.
The First Civilization’s Legacy Series is a post-apocalyptic fantasy series. Why wouldn’t there be an outpost of Christianity? While those were my thoughts, it’s my ‘policy’ to not debate or attempt to alter the views of readers expressing an opinion, unless they specifically ask about some particular point. I prefer to thank them for giving my story a try and express my disappointment that they didn’t find the read satisfying.
With Relic Tech, the main character, Security Specialist Krakista Keesay is one with a measure of religious faith. It’s not overly strong and isn’t prevalent in the storyline. For example, he says prayers, based on
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Scripture memorized as a youth, for dead or dying characters. Also, there is a priest that plays a very minor role while the POV character is serving as a security specialist aboard the Civil Transport Kalavar.
Still, some of the most critical reviews, and emails sent to me, have focused on the religious aspects to the novel. The main character was called a TSA Thug and Religious Fanatic. I’ve had readers email me that they quit reading when a Bible was mentioned, saying they don’t like religion in their science fiction. The TSA/Religious Fanatic review was challenged by other readers, and eventually the reviewer agreed that he was off target. A week or two later, the review disappeared. Still, while the review was up, it appeared to negatively affect sales.
There are some pitfalls to having characters of religious faith in a story. But those pitfalls are okay with me. A writer cannot please everybody, and it’s part of the business of being an author—accepting, or at least acknowledging reader opinions and reviews that express disappointment, sometimes based on the content of a character’s make up. Because, on the other hand, there are readers out there that really enjoy reading about Roos and Keesay, and are glad I wrote them as I did, believing they add to the storylines and worlds created.
I guess I’ll see what happens with Soul Forge where, just as in Blood Sword, echoes of Roos’ faith can be found in some of the characters, especially Lilly.
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Thank you so much, Terry! I personally love your characters who display their faith. :)
Be sure to take a look at Terry's books. You can buy Soul Forge here:
Terry W. Ervin II is an English teacher who enjoys writing fantasy and science fiction.
His First Civilization’s Legacy Series includes FLANK HAWK, BLOOD SWORD and SOUL FORGE, his newest release from Gryphonwood Press. Terry’s debut science fiction novel RELIC TECH is the first in the Crax War Chronicles and his short stories have appeared in over a dozen anthologies and magazines. The genres range from SF and mystery to horror and inspirational. GENRE SHOTGUN is a collection containing all of his previously published short stories.
To contact Terry or learn more about his writing endeavors, visit his website at
www.ervin-author.com or his blog, Up Around the Corner at
http://uparoundthecorner.blogspot.com
Hi all! To celebrate the release of Spirits Bright and the most wonderful time of the year, I'm holding a giveaway on my website. Grand prize is a signed copy of all my books, a $10 Amazon gift card, and homemade Christmas candy. Mmmmm. 
Michael is a graduate of Brigham Young University and Western Governor’s University with degrees in German Teaching, Music, and Instructional Design. He puts his German to good use teaching online German courses for High School students. Though he grew up traveling the world with his military father, he now lives in Utah with his wife, Jen, and his two sons. Michael enjoys acting in community theater, playing and writing music and spending time with his family. He played for several years with the handbell choir Bells on Temple Square and is now a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
I have two calendars. One in my bedroom and one in my writing room. They both have pretty artwork and inspirational sayings each month.
But this weekend my heart told me something else. Remember the second bit of calendar wisdom? Yes. It has become clear that I must stop dwelling on the past. It's time to let go of the dream that didn't come to pass. It's time to move on. It's time to start over.
Katie held her arms out, twirling inside the ring of mushrooms like a small child. She laughed, lifting her face to the sun. Lavender mist crept around her feet, rising in the center. Flowers dropped to the grass under her bare feet. The mist swirled and spun with each step of her dance. A round window formed in the center, hanging in the air. Katie danced closer.
Jaleta Clegg loves to tell stories ranging from deep space to magical worlds and everywhere in between. You can find a complete listing of her work at www.jaletac.com
My old beanbag writing chair was nice, but it wasn't comfortable for long periods of writing. (Watching TV, maybe, but not writing.) So I got myself this lovely little recliner. It's so comfy and nice! I just love it. I like the brown, but I felt it needed a little splash of color too. I also picked up this picture.
I was tagged in this fun blog hop by two talented authors, Danyelle Leafty, who writes delightful fairy tales that you must read. Find and follow her on Twitter @DanyelleLeafty. She's awesome! And S.A. Butler, author of the Sonia Fletcher books. Vampire hunter novels with a twist. She tweets @S_A_Butler. Look her up. She's awesome too.
I will offer my creations to the world in the best way I can find.
My favorite apocalyptic book is one Randy mentioned in his original post. Folk of the Fringe by Orson Scott Card. It's not a novel, really, but a collection of short stories. Stories that moved me in a profound way. Here were my own people dealing with a world-ending situation. I had never seen anything like that before, and obviously, it had a huge influence on my own writing. If you've never read Folk of the Fringe, I highly recommend it!
As far as movies go, I'm kind of embarrassed to admit it, but I really liked 2012. Despite it's cheesiness and obvious flaws, I really cared about those characters and what happened to them. Somebody did something right in the writing there. Still, I'm glad I didn't fork over money to see it in the theater. 
I first came up with the idea for Defenders of the Covenant while pondering the question of how far I would go to keep the covenants I have made. I take those covenants very seriously. What might I be asked to sacrifice? My life? Something harder? My mind churned up a worst case scenario of an alien invasion and a mother asked to give up her child to save the human race. That led to the short story which eventually became the novella, Consecrated.
Thank you! 
Today, we welcome Lisa Swinton, author of Fallen Angel to the writing chair. Let's get to it! 
Today we welcome Crystal Collier, author of Moonless, to the writing chair. Thanks for coming today, Crystal!
Crystal Collier is a former composer/writer for Black Diamond Productions. She can be found practicing her brother-induced ninja skills while teaching children or madly typing about fantastic and impossible creatures. She has lived from coast to coast and now calls Florida home with her creative husband, three littles, and “friend” (a.k.a. the zombie locked in her closet). Secretly, she dreams of world domination and a bottomless supply of cheese. You can find her on her blog and Facebook, or follow her on Twitter.
Alexia’s nightmares become reality: a dead baron, red-eyed wraiths, and forbidden love with a man hunted by these creatures. After an attack close to home, Alexia realizes she cannot keep one foot in her old life and one in this new world. To protect her family she must either be sold into a loveless marriage, or escape with her beloved and risk becoming one of the Soulless. 
