This month our interview guest is Christian speculative fiction novelist Mike Duran!

Mike is a freelance writer whose short stories, essays, and commentary have appeared in Relief Journal, Relevant Online, Novel Journey, Rue Morgue magazine, and other print and digital outlets.

His debut novel, a supernatural thriller entitled The Resurrection (February 2011 from Realms), is about a miraculous event that polarizes a small coastal town, and unlocks a centuries-old curse.

I (Jeff) actually tried to nab this novel for Marcher Lord Press. I even sent Mike a contract. But he wanted to first see if he could get a traditional Christian publisher interested, and so he did! Congratulations to Mike.

Mike is an ordained minister who actively pastored for 11 years. He now works construction and lives in Southern California with his wife of 30 years and four grown children.

He also blogs regularly at his website and writes a monthly column for Novel Journey.

WhereTheMapEnds: Catch us up with you. What have you been doing lately?

Mike Duran: Well, last spring I signed a two-book contract with Strang Communications, and suddenly my life became more florid and bustling than a troll market.

The Resurrection releases February 1st, and my second book (not a sequel) is due to the publisher March 1st.

So, between promotion and marketing, blogging, working full-time in construction, networking with writer friends, maintaining my family life (wife, four kids, three grandkids), finishing my next book, and trying to stay sane, things are buzzing.

WhereTheMapEnds: I’ll bet. What is your favorite speculative novel of all time (Christian or secular) and why is that your favorite?

Mike Duran: When I was a kid, I cut my teeth on Ray Bradbury: Something Wicked This Way Comes, The Illustrated Man, the entire Bradbury canon.

From there it was on to Marvel Comics and Weird Tales. In my teens, I graduated to Dune, Stranger in a Strange Land, Watership Down, and I Am Legend.

After I became a believer (in my early 20’s), I really enjoyed the Lord of the Rings trilogy, C.S. Lewis’s Space Trilogy, and G.K. Chesterton’s The Man Who Was Thursday.

All that to say, I’m not sure I have an all-time favorite, but speculative fiction has always been my genre of choice.

WhereTheMapEnds: What made you want to write Christian speculative fiction?

Mike Duran: I didn’t set out to write Christian speculative fiction, and frankly, I kind of hedge at the term. It’s not because I’m embarrassed about my faith or don’t think there’s great stories on the Christian market.

For one, I think the “Christian fiction” label has become polarizing. Sure, we may pique the interest of believers, but is that the only audience we need to be aiming at? I think the term scares away potential readers.

Secondly, the label is too squishy. By “Christian fiction,” are we talking about fiction with an overt gospel message and redemptive themes, or fiction that is “clean” (no drinking, cussing, sex, etc.)? Everyone seems to have a different concept of what Christian fiction is or should be, which is why I try to avoid the term.

This is not to suggest my stories don’t contain faith-driven elements, because they do! All writers bring a worldview with them into their stories, even non-religious authors.

I like speculative fiction of all kinds. So when I started writing, that’s what I naturally wanted to write. Does my worldview come out in my stories? Absolutely. Am I just preaching to the choir? Absolutely not.

WhereTheMapEnds: How would you characterize the current state of Christian speculative fiction writing and/or publishing?

Mike Duran: On the one hand are those who say that the Christian market is vibrant, healthy, and gaining more and more mainstream acceptance. On the other hand, are those who say it’s a narrow niche that is out of touch and has plateaued. (Last year I attended a Christian conference where the keynote speaker flatly said, “Christian bookstores are dying”).

So who do you believe?

All I know is that when I walk into a Christian bookstore and see 80% of the fiction titles are women’s fiction, it makes me a little sick.

Now, before I get pied at the next ACFW conference, let me say I have nothing against women’s fiction. But I don’t know many men who read women’s fiction. So either A) Men aren’t reading, or B) Christian publishers aren’t offering enough “male” titles.

The same could be said for the absence of speculative titles. Frankly, if you’re a hardcore reader of speculative fiction, the Christian fiction aisle is not where you want to be.

WhereTheMapEnds: Which is why I created Marcher Lord Press. The next step beyond writing the book you want to read that no one else has written is publishing the book you want to read that no one else has published.

As for whether Christian publishers are not offering enough male titles, I think that may be the wrong question. Christian publishers have in the past produced lots of “male” novels and lots of speculative titles. (Our Booklist boasts more than 500 Christian speculative titles.) But for the most part, those books did not sell well.

Now, if you ran a business and you produced 500 products that virtually no one purchased, wouldn’t you eventually get the message?

I actually think mainstream Christian publishers would be foolish to publish more Christian speculative novels. Those books wouldn’t “earn out,” and publishers know it. So they (rightly) concentrate on making more of the books that do turn a profit.

It hasn’t been until now, the age of the micro-publisher, that it’s been possible to produce an array of titles that don’t need to hit a home run in order to keep the company profitable. With publishers like Marcher Lord Press around, many more “niche” books can and will be made available.

Mike Duran: Indeed, the fact that “male” titles don’t sell well in the CBA is an issue. No doubt, women are the primary readership in both markets (ABA and CBA). Nevertheless, one need only to cruise the aisles of your local Barnes and Nobles to see plenty of books aimed at men: Espionage, Crime, Horror, Sci-fi, Graphic Novels, etc. (and, of course, this is not to insinuate that women don’t read any of those genres). So the issue of gender seems even more at play among Christian titles than the general market. Why? Is this a question we should even ask? Or is it simply a matter of business savvy to shut up and go with the flow?

Secondly, I would contend that there are Christian speculative novels that have been hugely successful. Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings and Lewis’ Space Trilogy are eminently “Christian” and still on the shelves. Why? (In fact, Tolkien himself called his Trilogy “a fundamentally religious and Catholic work.”) Peretti’s This Present Darkness remains one of the top selling Christian fiction books of all time. And then you have Ted Dekker nudging his way into NY Times best-sellerdom. (I would personally even throw Dean Koontz in there as a Christian writing speculative fiction that sells.)

While the problem may be the configuration of the Christian market, as you suggest, my contention is that our problem is more inherent to how we define Christian fiction, what spec fans have come to anticipate, and the nature of speculation as it relates to Christian theology. As much as I really appreciate Marcher Lord Press, it’s hard for me to concede that the only recourse for the Christian spec fan is to look to micro-publishers and expect minimal sales.

WhereTheMapEnds: Yes, I’m not sure why Peretti, Dekker, and Jenkins get a pass by this audience and others who write like them don’t.

And summoning the names of Tolkien and Lewis and Chesterton doesn’t carry any sway in modern publishing meetings. Believe me, I’ve tried! The response is always, ‘Well, those are classics, so they’re exceptions.”

Maybe there are other options besides small houses like Marcher Lord Press, but until the industry changes, I’m just grateful there finally are outlets for these stories.

So, Mike, what have you seen that encourages you about Christian speculative fiction writing and/or publishing?

Mike Duran: Strang’s interest in my story has really changed some of my thinking. After shopping The Resurrection to Christian publishers for almost five years, I was told by several people that the story may be too edgy and not end tidily enough for the Christian market.

In fact, during that time, I received an email from an acquisitions editor who specifically told me he loved the story, but it was just “darker” than what they normally publish and a bit unconventional for Christian audiences.

Needless to say, I was somewhat shocked when Strang accepted the story. I was even more shocked when they let me tell it the way it was written. It has really made me rethink some of my earlier impressions about the industry and wonder whether or not there are some positive changes in the works.

WhereTheMapEnds: What have you seen that discourages or frustrates you about Christian speculative fiction writing and/or publishing?

Mike Duran: Mixed messages about the need for speculative-fiction among Christian readers. I privately queried one industry insider regarding the dearth of spec-fic in Christian bookstores and they wrote back with this answer:

…it’s not just a CBA thing. Across all of publishing, sales of Spec fiction lag behind many other kinds of fiction. The spec/fantasy crowd (both writers and readers) are an extremely vocal minority. They are always out there screaming that there’s not enough spec fiction to suit them, but publishers have not seen profit in it. Believe me, if they did, everyone would be publishing a lot more spec.

I’ll be honest: I have a hard time believing this. I mean, when Borders and Barnes and Noble contain aisles—not just a couple shelves—but aisles of horror, science fiction, graphic novels, and fantasy, it is really difficult to believe that “publishers have not seen profit in it.”

On top of that is the prominence of spec-fic in popular culture. For instance, of the 50 highest-grossing movies of all-time, more than half contain speculative themes (The Dark Knight, The Sixth Sense, The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Spider Man, etc.). In literature, there’s Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight epic and Rowling’s Harry Potter series, which have sold gazillions of copies.

Nevertheless, spec titles comprise a relatively minuscule portion of the religious fiction market.

So what gives? Is this industry insider (and their professional peers) deluded? Are they part of some grand CBA conspiracy to suppress the growth of speculative fiction? Is the spec/fantasy crowd simply “an extremely vocal minority”? Or are Christian readers really not that interested in speculative fiction? Color me confused.

WhereTheMapEnds: Yeah, I would question what that person said, as well. In secular fiction, fantasy has long been second in popularity only to romance.

If you want to know why Christians don’t gobble up more Christian speculative fiction, read my Tips 16-18

What would you like to see changed regarding Christian speculative fiction writing and/or publishing?

Mike Duran: The change I am pining after has to do with the Christian publishing industry as a whole. In fact, I’d suggest that the issues Christian spec-fic face are simply a by-product of a larger issue faced by the industry as a whole.

In my opinion, we need some Christian crossover imprints, titles that are aimed at seekers rather than believers. Titles that push the envelope more, contain some [foul] language, are more speculative, more unconventional, and free to not wear an agenda on their sleeve.

In my opinion, this seeker v. believer aim is a fundamental philosophical flaw in Christian publishing. If Christians are about spreading the Good News then we are shooting ourselves in the foot by just aiming at existing believers. The Church needs two wings: a discipling wing and an evangelism wing. I think the same is true of the Christian publishing industry. Where are our literary missionaries?

WhereTheMapEnds: Christian publishing in the modern era grew out of the bookstore-publisher dyad. Christian bookstores needed Christian books, so there arose a need for Christian publishers.

This explains why the books and products you see in a Christian bookstore are exactly what would appeal to…well…the ladies who frequent Christian bookstores. The bookstore has a need to give its regular customers what they want, and so the publishers provide it.

Could Christian publishers research and develop new markets besides those ladies? Absolutely. But why would they, if things are working as they are now? For a generation, this is how things have been.

Now, though, the Christian bookstore is dying. Consequently, they’re ordering fewer books from publishers. Consequently, Christian publishers are dying.

So that explains why things are as they are in Christian bookstores and publishing right now.

It also explains why Christian publishers aren’t being “missionaries.” I’ve talked to many aspiring Christian authors who say, “I want my Christian book to reach the lost.” But they’re trying to get published by Christian publishers.

The sad truth is that Christian publishers reach Christian readers. End of story. Yes, Christian books are purchased in Wal-Mart and Sam’s, but usually by Christians looking for a good deal. Oh, with the Left Behind books and Purpose-Driven Life, some non-Christians picked them up. But for the most part (like probably 96%), those books were purchased by Christians.

If that’s the case, then you’ll see why Christian novels don’t contain the content you’re talking about. For one thing, the books won’t reach the intended (secular) audience. And for another, the audience they will reach will be offended and complain to the bookstore. So those books won’t be done, at least not in publishers working under that publishing model.

In our culture at large there appears to be a double standard regarding the acceptance of Christianity. You might see a TV show mocking Christians, but you’ll never see them mocking Muslims or Buddhists or Jews. You might see a Buddhist novel on the “regular” shelves of a bookstore, but you’re unlikely to see a Christian novel on those same shelves.

I personally believe that people react most strongly to Christianity because it is true, but that’s a matter for another day.

So, Mike, what writing project(s) are you working on now?

Mike Duran: My next novel is about a disfigured modern-day prophet who must overcome his own despair in time to seal one of nine mythical gates of hell. It will explore concepts of destiny and identity, the power of words and choices, as well as the tethers between science and superstition.

That’s All for This Time

Another great interview! Thanks again to Mike Duran for spending time with us. Be sure to visit him online.

www.christyawards.com

www.marcherlordpress.com/bookstore/fantasy/daughter-of-light-by-morgan-busse/

(*Originally posted January 2011)

This month our interview guest is Christian speculative fiction novelist James L. Rubart!

Jim dreamed of writing fiction from 7th grade on, but was too scared to pursue the dream until 2006 when he attended his first writer’s conference. It revolutionized his life.

He burst onto the Christian speculative fiction scene in April 2010 with his debut novel, ROOMS, which hit the ECPA fiction best-seller list in September of 2010. ROOMS has since been nominated as an INSPY finalist in the speculative category, and is a Book of the Year nominee for the RT Book Reviews reviewers choice awards.

He lives in the Pacific Northwest spending time with his amazing wife, jumping off cliffs, and riding dirt bikes with his two outstanding teenage sons.

Now the interview…

WhereTheMapEnds: Catch us up with you. What have you been doing lately?

James L. Rubart: My second novel, Book of Days, releases this month [January 2011] from B&H Fiction. A young video producer is losing his memories of his late wife—as well as his mind—and his only hope is to find a legendary book—written by God—that has recorded the past, present, and future of every soul on earth. But he’s not the only who will do anything to find it.

I’ve been gearing up for its release as well as continuing to promote ROOMS, which is still selling strong.

WhereTheMapEnds: What writing project(s) are you working on now?

James L. Rubart: I’m finishing the final draft of my third novel, The Chair, which is about an antiques dealer who is forced to confront his greatest fears and greatest failure when he’s given an artifact that might have supernatural powers, and might be a legendary chair made by Jesus Christ.

I’ve started initial brainstorming on my fourth novel, Backspace which will release summer 2012.

My day job is running an ad agency/marketing firm, and for the past few years I’ve been speaking at writers conferences about how to powerfully market fiction. Now I’m taking it to the next level and am developing a series of online marketing courses for novelists who need to be more proficient and effective at marketing their books.

And I’m working on an ancillary product tied into ROOMS. Probably shouldn’t say more than that since the deal isn’t sealed yet.

As you can probably guess, I’m not sleeping much these days. But I’m loving all the projects.

WhereTheMapEnds: What’s the best speculative story (Christian or secular, book or otherwise) you’ve encountered lately?

James L. Rubart: A story I recently re-discovered; the movie Frequency, staring Dennis Quaid and Jim Caviezel. I was looking for a movie to watch with my sons and Frequency popped into my mind. It’s a great mix of science fiction, strong characters, engaging plot, the relationship between a father and son, and alternate realities. How can you not resonate with a movie like that? And my boys loved it, which was cool.

WhereTheMapEnds: What is your favorite speculative novel of all time (Christian or secular) and why is that your favorite?

James L. Rubart: The Chronicles of Narnia. Those books blew up my little eleven-year-old mind and were a large part of slinging me into the writing journey. From the moment I finished I knew I wanted to attempt to do for others what Lewis had done for me. And I have to mention Arena by Karen Hancock which never got the sales numbers it deserved. To me that book is Pilgrim’s Progress for the 21st century.

WhereTheMapEnds: What made you want to write Christian speculative fiction?

James L. Rubart: Is that what I write? I never thought of genre when I started writing. I just wrote the types of stories that have enthralled me since I was a kid.

Toni Morrison has a famous quote where she says if there’s a story you’d like to read and it hasn’t been written, you need to write it. I’m writing stories I’d like to read that I haven’t found anywhere else.

WhereTheMapEnds: That’s pretty much how most novelists got started. I remember walking the aisles of a large bookstore several years ago thinking, “What could I possibly add to this massive assemblage of novels?” Then the thought came, “Yes, but none of these is the book I want to read.” How was your first idea for a Christian speculative novel received (by anyone: spouse, friends, parents, agent, publisher, readers, reviewers, etc.)?

James L. Rubart: When I gave people my elevator pitch for ROOMS—A young Seattle software tycoon inherits a home on the Oregon coast that turns out to be a physical manifestation of his soul—they would say, “Oooo…sounds cool.”

But getting it published? Almost didn’t happen. When my agent shopped it in the fall of ’06, every major publisher turned ROOMS down. (Even B&H, who eventually bought it.) No one knew what to do with it.

The majority of the rejections said something along the lines of, “Well, the guy can write, but we don’t know where to put it. Is it science fiction? No. Is it fantasy? No. Is it alternative reality? Uh, kind of, not really. Alton Gansky has given me the best definition of my genre so far: supernatural suspense. But even that isn’t a completely accurate description.

So I’m extremely grateful to B&H for taking a chance on this weird book which is a mix of The Screwtape Letters, It’s a Wonderful Life, The Twilight Zone, The Shack, The Kid, The Matrix, The Family Man, and a thousand other influences.

WhereTheMapEnds: What is your favorite speculative genre to read? To write? If they’re different, talk about that.

James L. Rubart: Time travel. Favorite to read, favorite to watch, favorite to daydream about. Unfortunately, you often have to slog through mediocre renditions to find the jewels within that sub-genre but when I find those diamonds I’m enraptured.

As far as my favorite to write, as I mentioned above, I’m not sure my fiction falls into a specific speculative genre. But everything I’ve written or want to write involves elements that wouldn’t ever really happen and creating a story around it.

WhereTheMapEnds: That’s the beauty of the term “speculative fiction”—it’s a great catch-all for strange stories that don’t fit anywhere else. Stories that are beyond the place where the map ends, if you will [ahem]. My short definition of speculative fiction is “anything weird.” So, Jim, how would you characterize the current state of Christian speculative fiction writing and/or publishing?

James L. Rubart: Horrible. Wonderful. Yes, those two can co-exist. Wonderful because people like you, Jeff, are producing excellent product and promoting the genre as a whole. An incoming tide raises all boats. Horrible because of ignorance and misperception. So many don’t realize these type of books exist within Christian fiction, so they buy general market speculative books instead. Misconception, because so many readers would discover they love spec fiction if they’d try it.

WhereTheMapEnds: LOL, that may be the best answer yet to this question. What have you seen that encourages you about Christian speculative fiction writing and/or publishing?

James L. Rubart: Three things. First, seeing Stephen Lawhead roar back onto the publishing stage with The Skin Map. I think he’ll draw readers within CBA back to the genre who will be hungry for more.

Second, people such as yourself who refuse to accept the standard, “Spec fiction doesn’t sell,” and are proving it will sell if done with excellent craft and story.

Third, Allen Arnold. Here’s a guy at a major publishing house that could easily cruise along by publishing only the guaranteed winners. But he doesn’t. He’s pushing the edge, taking risks, trying to find the next Dekker or Peretti or Lawhead.

WhereTheMapEnds: What have you seen that discourages or frustrates you about Christian speculative fiction writing and/or publishing?

James L. Rubart: ROOMS wasn’t an easy sell at B&H. They said, “Well, we’re not sure about this one—there are no babes in bonnets on the cover.” In other words, when something outside the norm comes along, there is significant resistance.

WhereTheMapEnds: Story of my career, baby. It’s not just that it’s different; it’s that it’s so different that it may not sell in Christian bookstores. Mainstream Christian publishers have neither the time nor the willingness to explore and develop new audiences. They’re concentrating on serving the already established market for Christian novels. And so they should.

That’s great news for small, new, and nimble niche publishers who can successfully reach markets the rest of CBA is ignoring.

What do you think Christian speculative fiction writing and/or publishing will look like in three years? Five years? Ten years?

James L. Rubart: Three years, growth. Five years, accelerated growth. Ten years, explosion. The stories will continue getting better. The craft will continue to improve. The audience will continue growing because the young lions in the field (I’m talking the late teens and early twenties writers) are focused on spec fiction. In other words, the readers in that generation will search hard for good spec fiction.

WhereTheMapEnds: Not only will they search for it, they’ll publish it. They’ll write it, sell it, and turn into publishers themselves. It’s the homeschoolers and other teens who love Christ and speculative fiction. I’ve long said that it’s this next generation who will save us (in terms of Christian speculative fiction). What advice would you give to someone who aspires to write and publish Christian speculative fiction?

James L. Rubart: Learn the craft. Learn the craft. Learn the craft. From what I’ve seen, there are wonderfully creative stories being written, but weakness in craft. I helped coordinate the ACFW Genesis contest for a number of years in the Spec category. I read a large number of entries that had a fascinating premise, but the craft was too weak to carry it.

Treat learning to write fiction like you would becoming a brain surgeon. It takes time and hard work. But the good news is that most people give up or aren’t teachable. If you are, you’ll be one of the few who have a good shot at being published. Spec stories stand out from all the Amish, romance, suspense fiction and historicals that are currently flooding the market because they are different by definition. I believe great writing will always eventually get published.

WhereTheMapEnds: What’s the best book or seminar on fiction writing you know?

James L. Rubart: Book singular? Jeff, you’re killing me. You save the tough questions for the end? If you’re starting out I would say must reads are James Scott Bell’s Plot and Structure, and Randy Ingermanson‘s Writing Fiction for Dummies. After that, Writing the Breakout Novel. Was that one or four? I’m a creative—never was strong at math.

Conferences? No question. The American Christian Fiction Writers’ conference. Nowhere else will aspiring writers find more top agents, editors, authors, and classes to help vault them forward in their career.

WhereTheMapEnds: I agree that the ACFW conference is the best for Christian novelists. Best simply in terms of the conference grounds (and also being a great conference): Mount Hermon. What’s the best part about writing and publishing Christian speculative fiction?

James L. Rubart: First, that I’m still swimming in that lake called surreal, still not believing the biggest dream of my life has come true.

At the ACFW conference this past fall a friend told me, “I was sitting by these two ladies who pointed at you and said, ‘Hey, look, that’s Jim Rubart!’” I found it hilarious. I’m nothing special. I’m not trying to be falsely humble. Truly, I’m just me and a few people like my story.

But I do love Jesus, and wonder of wonders He not only loves me, He likes me. In that I will celebrate.

Second, my favorite thing is to be swept away and immersed into a world of the fantastic. To think I’ve done that for others is a thrill.

Third, when a reader writes and says my novel changed his life, set him free, healed him, I’m blown away. I think, “We did it, Lord. We did it.”

WhereTheMapEnds: Awesome, and amen. What else would you like to say to the readers of WhereTheMapEnds.com?

James L. Rubart: Eighty percent of a novel’s sales come from word of mouth. Eighty! So if you want to see Christian speculative fiction grow, tell others about the titles you love. Facebook them, Twitter, talk on blogs, and talk to your local bookstores.

Finally, remember what Annie Dillard says, “You have to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down.”

That’s All for This Time

Another great interview! Thanks again to James L. Rubart for spending time with us. Be sure to visit him online.