⋆.ೃ࿔࿐ྂfaith & fantasy⋆.ೃ࿔࿐ྂ discussion

Elijah and the 7000 wrote: "I just listened to Blank Space and read its lyrics, and I realized that my dislike of Taylor Swift's songs originates from my general dislike of the modern concept of romance. Taylor Swift is not t..."

Whoa whoa whoa. You have really good personal awareness. Like, REALLY GOOD.

Like Sharon said, you should be a poet. That sounded completely like poetry to me! I love the line, "To those songwriters and novelists, I advise them to stop their loud bleatings and focus on the tranquility and "commonness" of romance, or better still, leave the topic of romance alone."

"Loud bleatings"🤣

Wonderfully said. I definitely agree.

Y'all, I'm so culturally uneducated. Who's NF and 21 Pilots? Anyone have a song rec for me by one of those artists?

Totally! For NF, try Let You Down, The Search, Paid My Dues, If You Want Love, Leave Me Alone.
For 21 Pilots, try Stressed Out, Heavydirtysoul, Ride, Heathens and Nico and the Niners. Hope this helps!

NF IS THE BEST!! THANK YOU JESSE! XD

Stephen, get outa here! 😜 NF is amazing, so just shush! XD

(And I'm reminded that this is the guy chat XD

Thanks for those suggestions, Jesse, I appreciate it- I'll have to listen to them sometime!)

Catherine wrote: "(And I'm reminded that this is the guy chat XD

Thanks for those suggestions, Jesse, I appreciate it- I'll have to listen to them sometime!)"

Awesome! Hope you like them 😊

i love car radio

layla wrote: "i love car radio"

Yeah, that one is a classic!

Interesting.

I have a question for the guys: Why do so many Christian Fantasy writers seem to be female?

Secondly, can you list books by male Christian Fantasy writers?

Thirdly, have you ever considered writing a Christian Fantasy book?

As a D&D DM since the 1970s (White Box for those who remember it) I sometimes struggle with assumed acceptance of worldly values some players (Well, most actually,) bring to the table.

Introducing Christian themes into D&D games has brought complaints in the past but I guess my players just accept that is my style (or they are desperate to play the game.)

Well, I did not expect the distaff presence to be so prevalent. *Shrug* I guess we need to be discreet on some subjects…. Like my first question.

Hiya, I'm not very active here and haven't really read the history of this thread, but I gotta jump on the anti-Taylor-Swift train. She may call herself Christian, but she definitely doesn't have orthodox views on several matters of practical doctrine (e.g. homosexuality, etc.). I have not done a lot of research either, but based off her life (string of romances, somewhat questionable wardrobe choices, etc.) I suspect she doesn't have a very Biblical view of the role of romance etc. either. So even if a Christian, she is probably not a very wise Christian :p

Glenn wrote: "Interesting.

I have a question for the guys: Why do so many Christian Fantasy writers seem to be female?

Secondly, can you list books by male Christian Fantasy writers?

Thirdly, have you ever c..."

That's an interesting question. I haven't really read much Christian fantasy outside of the classics (e.g. Narnia or whatnot), but I did notice while looking into more modern Christian fantasy that most of it is written by women. I think there's an overall trend of feminization of a lot of Christianity in general, really since the late 1800s maybe, but either way it does seem particularly pronounced in this area.

David wrote: "Hiya, I'm not very active here and haven't really read the history of this thread, but I gotta jump on the anti-Taylor-Swift train. She may call herself Christian, but she definitely doesn't have o..."

Wait, people actually say she's a Christian? I didn't know that.
But yeah, I highly doubt she is. While I am not one to judge others religious proclamations, there is literally nothing about her that seems even moderately Christian. But I guess you never know?

hello

Hello!

Glenn wrote: "Interesting.

I have a question for the guys: Why do so many Christian Fantasy writers seem to be female?

Secondly, can you list books by male Christian Fantasy writers?

Thirdly, have you ever c..."

(I know I'm a girl, but some male Christian fantasy writers are Chuck Black and Ted Dekker!)

(And don’t forget C. S. Lewis)

(And Wayne T. Batson, Andrew Peterson)

@Glenn Probably most of the contemporary young writers who write Christian fantasy as a hobby are female. Most of the Christian fantasy writers I've met on GR are indeed female. But when it comes to more classic works, there are also several well-known male Christian fantasy authors as well as female authors.

Sebastian wrote: "Hello!"

hi!

i know chuck black!
i've previewed some of his books!
I've never got time to read it
but i think this month i'm gonna read it!

How are the fellows of Faith & Fantasy doing? So this is my first time really reading this thread and I'm quite surprised by the number of girls that have commented here! :⁠-⁠) I hope this thread hasn't become inactive.

BooksNCrannies wrote: "How are the fellows of Faith & Fantasy doing? So this is my first time really reading this thread and I'm quite surprised by the number of girls that have commented here! :⁠-⁠) I hope this thread h..."

This right here lol ^^^

Ik. I’m going to start crashing the girls thread if they don’t stop 😅

-starts a bonfire-

-passes out the cigars-

Alright, lads, what do you all wanna talk about?

*kindly refuses a cigar but asks if any marshmallows are available*

*then proceeds to warm hands by the fire and asks, "Where the rest of the gang?"*

In a group of over 1500+ members it seems that Stephen and I are the only guys who post here... sad. :⁠-⁠(
You better not leave, Stephen, or I'll be the only guy here! Yikes! :⁠-⁠)

*Hey, Stephen, shouldn't we throw more logs on the fire? There's a chance more will join us but I'm not to sure.... Did you find the marshmallows yet?*

*Throws water on the fire and methodically watches the steam and smoke rise into the air.... Picks up the remaining supplies. Looks around one last time... no one's there. 😢 Straps on backpack and heads off into the woods.... Behind him the last remnants of smoke rise into the air and extinguish themselves.... The campsite is now just a deserted spot in the forest.... Raindrops begin to fall wiping away the ash and blackened residue from the fire pit. Thunder echoes in the distance. A storm is coming. The lone traveler has many miles to go before he sleeps.... Yes. Many miles to go before he sleeps.*

I was honestly feeling a bit sad typing this (it's almost like one of those heartbreaker novels)! 😭 Oh well... maybe there will be people on here some other time.... 👋🏼

*sees smoke in the distance, and makes my way in that direction*

Joined the group about twenty seconds ago xD, but here's a potential discussion topic:

Statistically, there are far more female than male readers in the world for entertainment, and most boys often lag behind in reading skills when compared to girls in school. Why do you guys think this is?

*Starts to walk away from the camping grounds.... Hears twigs snapping in the distance; looks around and sees someone heading towards the camping grounds. Yells a salutation and makes way back towards the still-smoking fire pit.*

Welcome to Faith & Fantasy, Caleb! 🤗 Thx for commenting in this thread!

That's a very interesting statistic. I've been on GR for a while now and I've definitely noticed a larger ratio of women to men on here. I can't think of any specific reasons at the moment but that would make for some interesting research I'm sure. Do you or anyone else on here have any opinions as to why guys don't read as much? I'm so glad I'm a reader! ☺️

May I pretend I'm a guy and join in on this? XD

BooksNCrannies wrote: "*Starts to walk away from the camping grounds.... Hears twigs snapping in the distance; looks around and sees someone heading towards the camping grounds. Yells a salutation and makes way back towa..."

Thank you Thank you BooksNCrannies! I've been on GR for about a year (i think), and I too have noticed there are in general far more women than men. It is my opinion that in modern society, reading as a hobby is considered to be more of a "girl thing" to do (even though in previous history it was primarily a male-dominated hobby and vocation), and that guys generally turn towards videogames, movies, and sports as primary forms of entertainment.

Part of me also thinks there are marketing tactics and other deeper forces that are contributing factors too. From what I understand, the romance genre is the most popular genre of literature, and it is dominated by a female audience. So naturally, most publishing companies would cater to that audience, which has spilt into other sub-genres, and as a result has more or less scared off the male audience. What do you think?

Mind you, all of this is just my opinion, and I'm more than willing to abandon it xD

Lily wrote: "May I pretend I'm a guy and join in on this? XD"

Hey Lily, but of course!

Caleb wrote: "BooksNCrannies wrote: "*Starts to walk away from the camping grounds.... Hears twigs snapping in the distance; looks around and sees someone heading towards the camping grounds. Yells a salutation ..."

I think the reasons you listed were well founded; especially the one about the romance genre. I can't think of any other reason to add at the moment. Maybe I'll think of some later.

Evangelise wrote: "Ooh that means I can stop silently stalking and comment! XD (I was only stalking after I saw Lily's notification, don't worry)"

Ahh... my suspicions have just been verified. 🤭

Salutations! what is up my dude?

Hello!!! What’s everyone reading at the moment?

Do you mind if I roast some marshmallows instead?

Glad to see this thread active again!

@Other Caleb, wonderful name btw...

I'm reading through Dune, a biography on Martin Luther, and Crime & Punishment.

I really need to find some shorter reads bc these are some thick chonky books T-T

BTW, my first name is Caleb, too! :⁠-⁠)

Look at us 3 lol.

What're your thoughts about Dune so far?

I am a male christian, fantasy writer. You can add my book/s to the list. The Eye of Ebon is up on goodreads :D

As a male, I dont really want to be in a thread that is males only. I prefer the whole community, so...I wont be ushering the women out ;)

I've been looking at the world from the author POV. Most of the sties and groups I am in, which is fantasy writer groups, are mostly male, or about a 50/50 split. I cant say I would call most, or even many of them, christian. But, I think that is cutting everywhere right now.

I suppose I would say, artistic types tend to be left, and the left tends to be not in favor of God or religion. So, it is not surprising to me to see a lot of them do not personally have, or have a favorable view towards, religion.

In the publishing world, Christians are kind of not welcome. Many places I might publish openly say, if you dont have gay characters, dont bother submitting.

And of the male fantasy writers who are christian, some are not making being christian important to their stories....so the pool shrinks even more.

But, in answer to the question, why are their more women than male, I guess I would first say, I hadn't noticed. If it is true, I think the women may have a larger portion for various gender role issues. They may have more freedom to write than males. Or they may be more likely to get picked up by a publisher because they are female.

I dont know. All I know is, I am putting my books out, and I intend to get readers.

I went four books in on Dune.

I will not be the only to say, Dune fizzles a little more with each book.

Dune 1 - Great
Dune 2 - Still good
Dune 3 - I can get through this
Dune 4 - Please someone stab my eyes out so I can stop reading this.

I hear it gets good again after God Emperor dune, but I am out and not going back.

There is a six or eight hour made for TV rendition of Dune that came out I think in the 2010's. So far, that is my fav on screen adaptation.

Dune is not good on screen I think. It more heady, and less actiony, but the action brings in the viewers. In the most recent ones, the one think I like most is that they got the desert right. That place looks like it would be impossible to survive in.