July CSFF Blog Tour: The Enclave: Day One

Today is the first day of the July CSFF blog tour on a book called "The Enclave," by Karen Hancock. Today I would like to share with you a little about this very talented author and very interesting lady, her bio is amazing...

She was born in Pasadena, California

Grew up in Tucson, Arizona and Danville, California

Presently resides in Tucson.

Graduated from University of Arizona with bachelor's degrees in Biology and Wildlife Biology

Married to an engineer and has one son whom she homeschooled for 8 years. He has recently graduated from public high school and is embarking on his own college career.

Activities/Experiences: Besides being a wife and mother, she is a keeper of hounds and a watercolor artist (yes, the paintings on her site are hers). She has raised chickens, turkeys and goats, made apple cider, hiked the Grand Canyon in a day, snowshoed three times into the Sierra Nevada's Desolation Wilderness (encountering blizzards two times), managed a stable of sixty horses, worked at Steward Observatory as an artist and in the Biology Department at the University of Arizona as a keeper of rats, mice and frogs for experiments. She has cleaned oil spill off scores of seabirds so they could be re-released, nursed a sparrow and a red-tailed hawk back to health, and lost a snake in the couch. She plays tennis, walks, journals, sketches and is teaching herself how to make books. She loves to read, and watches a lot of movies and drives her friends and family crazy with her analysis and discussion of both categories. She is completely captivated by stories and words, especially in their function of communicating the truths of life. Most of all, she loves Bible Class.

The Meat -- Or How I (Karen Hancock) Came to Write Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy

More than 25 years ago I left my college area apartment to go to a meeting with a man who would supposedly answer all my questions about the Bible and Creation versus the theory of Evolution, which I passionately supported. As I locked the front door, I remember saying to myself, "Those people think they're going to convert me, but they're wrong. No one can know for sure which explanation is right because no one was actually there back when whatever happened happened."

The man did answer all my questions -- every one of them. I just didn't understand any of his answers. What I did understand -- suddenly, stunningly -- was the reality of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and the fact that I deeply desired to know Him. Without understanding much of anything about what sin was, I acknowledged I was a sinner and believed that He died for me on the cross some 2000 years ago.

I came home utterly changed. Family members couldn't figure out what was the matter with me. "What happened?" one asked. "Did they give you some sort of injection over there at that church?"

I was one of those wildly enthusiastic, intensely emotional converts. Evolution flew out the window and I've never looked back.

A year later I was married and living in Northern Arizona where the Lord introduced me to the taped sermons of Col. R.B. Thieme, Jr out of Houston, Tx. Col Thieme taught six times a week in those days, using an intensive isagogical, categorical and exegetical approach to teaching the Bible. I couldn't get enough of it, sometimes listening to three tapes a day, which, since I was careless and jobless and still new to the community, I had plenty of time to do.

A year after that while house-sitting for some Christian friends I was complaining about a best-selling novel I had picked up, and my husband suggested that instead of complaining I might want to write my own. The light went on, the fire blazed and off I went. The very next day while dusting I discovered a copy of The Writer's Market on the bottom shelf of a bedside table and in it was an article that was supposed to help you decide if you were a writer or not. I was.

Reading since before I even started school, I'd routinely carried home armloads of books from the library and read them all. I'd made up stories since I could remember, and when I was in junior high school I began to actually write them down. I wrote an entire novel in high school (a western) and started another (SF) before I left for college. I even had the audacity to send the western off to Doubleday for consideration for publication. When it was returned to me six months later I was mortified that I had actually shown it to anyone and threw it away lest I ever be tempted again.

Now, with my husband's encouragement I started a Christian western. Four months later I saw Star Wars at the same time as I was in the midst of a Bible study about putting on the armor of God, and something clicked. Suddenly I could see all the parallels and metaphors. I scrapped the western and launched into SF allegory . . . It changed into fantasy, a novel that got me two agents and an almost-sale, that has just been entirely rewritten for the third time and only awaits an opening in the Christian market. I believe eventually its time will come.*

Meantime, the Lord has given me Arena, and after many, many years of writing on trust alone, He's seen fit to have it published.

"Arena," was published May 1, 2002. Since then Karen Hancock has published five other christian fantasy novels "Legends of The Guardian King," a four book series and "The Enclave." Out of her five books she has won four Christy Awards :) one for "Arena," and the other three for the first three books of her "Legends of The Guardian King."

Tomorrow I will share my review on what I thought about The Enclave," so please come back :) Until then see what the other bloggers for this months tour are saying about, 'The Enclave" by Karen Hancock.

http://www.christiansciencefiction.blogspot.com"> Brandon Barr

http://quiverfullfamily.com/"> Jennifer Bogart
http://www.AdventuresInFiction.blogspot.com/"> Keanan Brand
http://gracebridges.blogspot.com"> Grace Bridges
http://canadianladybugreviews.blogspot.com"> Canadianladybug
http://www.aweakrose.blogspot.com"> Melissa Carswell
http://valeriecomer.com/"> Valerie Comer
http://www.the160acrewoods.com/"> Amy Cruson
http://csffblogtour.com/"> CSFF Blog Tour
http://word-up-studies.blogspot.com"> Stacey Dale
http://www.scificatholic.com/"> D. G. D. Davidson
http://janey-demeo.blogspot.com/"> Janey DeMeo
http://scriptoriusrex.blogspot.com/"> Jeff Draper
http://home.earthlink.net/~wyverns/"> Emmalyn Edwards
http://projectinga.blogspot.com/"> April Erwin
http://virtualbooktourdenet.blogspot.com/"> Karina Fabian
http://bethgoddard.blogspot.com/"> Beth Goddard
http://anewnovelistsjourney.blogspot.com"> Todd Michael Greene
http://www.viewfromstonewater.blogspot.com/"> Heather R. Hunt
http://jessebecky.wordpress.com/"> Becky Jesse
http://crisjesse.wordpress.com"> Cris Jesse
http://www.molcotw.blogspot.com/"> Julie
http://carolkeen.blogspot.com/"> Carol Keen
http://krystisbooks.blogspot.com/"> Krystine Kercher
http://momofkings.wordpress.com/"> Dawn King
http://www.mikelynchbooks.blogspot.com"> Mike Lynch
http://bibliophilesretreat.com/"> Melissa Meeks
http://rebeccaluellamiller.wordpress.com/"> Rebecca LuElla Miller
http://mirathon.blogspot.com/"> Mirtika
http://www.questwriter.blogspot.com/"> Eve Nielsen
http://linalamont.blogspot.com/"> Nissa
http://www.leastread.blogspot.com/"> John W. Otte
http://ansric.blogspot.com/"> Steve Rice
http://prochristroetlibertate.blogspot.com/"> Crista Richey
http://www.jamessomers.blogspot.com/"> James Somers
http://specfaith.ritersbloc.com/"> Speculative Faith
http://www.captivated00.blogspot.com/"> Stephanie
http://www.rachelstarrthomson.com/inklings/"> Rachel Starr Thomson
http://christiansf.blogspot.com/"> Steve Trower
http://frederation.wordpress.com"> Fred Warren
http://kerani-in-the-world.blogspot.com/"> Elizabeth Williams


You can purchase "The Enclave," here http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764203282