This isn’t a topic I wanted to discuss too openly, but since my publisher put my book under the “religious science fiction and fantasy” category, with reason, I figured I’d like to address it.

I do love the idea of evangelizing the imagination, as I’ve heard the term used in reference to good Christian art. But what does that mean?

Let’s start with what it doesn’t mean:

• explicit or heavy-handed preaching
• simplistic, cloying plots where good and evil are black and white and ,say, all atheists are cartoonishly evil (or something ridiculous like that)
• art that only one class of people can enjoy or benefit from

I wrote and published the first edition of my trilogy long before what I call my conversion experience, and I can promise you, to whatever extent you might consider my new release to be “religious fiction” or “religious fantasy,” it’s not out to convert anyone.

Rather, when I say I hope my book might evangelize the imagination, it means I hope that:

• it portrays what it authentically looks like to try to live virtuously in a fallen world, with a broken human nature
• being about a magical civil war, the story has something to show about what courage is, and where it comes from
• it explores what dignity in the face of death looks like
• it shows the necessity of sacrifice and putting another first in real love
• it might show that there can be beauty in humbly accepting our natural limitations
• it might make someone question whether our lives have meaning and purpose, and what makes life valuable or worth fighting for
• it might make someone question whether there is some plan to each our lives, and if so, what that means and looks like
• it might raise the question of human dignity, and what that means exactly
• it might show the world as a magical place where, if there happened to be some God somewhat analogous to “the Giver,” maybe that might be interesting to ponder
• it explores in a high-stakes, action-packed way the possibility of human will interacting with divine providence, even and especially when things feel hopeless

These aren’t questions for people of any particular religious or philosophy. There are the big questions of life.

This first advance review Amazon shows exactly what I mean, and I really loved it. it says:

“I read to relax at the end of a busy work day, shut off my brain and get transported to another dimension. I find it relaxing to read stories like this one. Inspiring beyond the story line, brings in a new perspective if you choose to see it. LOL But that is just the way my brain works.

I am looking forward to the second one already.”

I’ve always happened to be a deep thinker and deeply interested in the big questions, so I guess that influenced the story that came out of me.

I believe that spiritual truths can be shown through story, on the natural level, in an engaging way, without explicit allegory, a forced Deus ex machina ending, or desperate intentions to convert people.

Good fiction is first and foremost a story–engaging, interesting, exploring what it means to be human and what life is about, and what we can make of it.

That’s all I really intended “The Crimson League: The Fight for Hope” to be: a good story.

If you’re interested in more, check out the book’s website at www.crimsonleaguebooks.com