“Christian fantasy? Oh, that’s full of nasty stuff!” She dropped my book like it was Turkish Delight from the White Witch and backed away from the table. Selling young adult Christian fantasy books at live events always brings a few characters, but this lady left me speechless. She marched off to the table next to me and glanced at the titles there. She grabbed one book and turned back to me, holding it up, “Christian romance. Now here are good books!” She proceeded to buy five (count them, five!) books from the other table. They probably were good books, but I wasn’t able to concede … [Read more...]

Queen Susan the Gentle from the Chronicles of Narnia is a round peg for a square hole. I say that as nicely as I can, for I have never been one to follow the crowd. But Susan Pevensie continues to surprise me, kind of like that onion that you peel and keeps getting bigger. As a child, I didn’t pay Susan Pevensie from the Chronicles of Narnia much thought. I was too caught up with the battles, the quests, and the adventure. (Spoiler alert: If you haven’t read The Last Battle, here's a twist you won't see coming!) Honestly, when I read that she was no longer a friend of Narnia, I wrote … [Read more...]

We know we are not to judge by appearance, but I must admit that I did when I first met Molly the Mustang. (Trust me. I get to Susan Pevensie in a moment. Stay with me for a bit...) In my defense, I’ve only seen a wild horse a couple of times, and I’ve read lots of books filled about the beauty of mustangs. And to be terribly honest, I was disappointed. Molly didn’t have any great beauty. She cautiously lipped the grain from my hand but leapt back five feet when I reached to pet her nose. I decided that there was nothing special about her. Then my two year old daughter joined me at the … [Read more...]

What does a fierce dragon, pink tennis shoes, and a pebble have in common? As we know, a dragon is a familiar part of a fantasy story. The dragon may be evil as in The Hobbit, or it may be a kindred spirit as in the recent Eragon, but in both stories, when a dragon is present, you don't have to look too far for adventure. My two young daughters put on their pink tennis shoes to leave the house while singing a song about going on an adventure. They never have to look too far to find one. For months now, I joined in with the singing, thinking, “Yep. They are on an adventure. How lucky … [Read more...]

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Father Christmas doesn't always wear red suits and have a white beard. Sometimes Father Christmas is a Sunday school teacher. I don't really remember her face, although I'll bet good money she didn't have a beard. But I'll never forget her. Mrs. Graf. She struck a deal with me that I couldn’t resist. "Memorize the books of the Bible, and I’ll give you one of the Chronicles of Narnia books." Little did she know that I would have memorized the whole Bible to get my hands on those books! It wasn’t too long before I got two … [Read more...]