References

1. Launceston’s Malls.

Launceston Examiner references Star Trek Into Darkness

The Australian Federal Budget for 2013-14 was released yesterday. At lunch today, I was amused to notice that the front page of our local newspaper here in Launceston, The Examiner, has directly referenced Star Trek Into Darkness in order to make comment.

The full-page comic shows Prime Minister Julia Gillard dressed in a command gold Starfleet uniform, and treasurer Wayne Swan dressed as Spock and performing a Vulcan salute. They are sitting atop a fairly authentic new-timeline Starship Enterprise. The name Enterprise has been crossed out and ‘Deficit’ written in its place.

Don’t worry I’m not going to make any political comment. Politics makes me cringe. I’d just like the say the fact that the Starship Enterprise has made the front page of the Examiner is pretty darn cool, but more than that, it demonstrates that Star Trek has regained it’s place in mainstream culture, just like in the glory days of The Next Generation.

Star Trek Into Darkness began much the way a James Bond film would, with the crew of the Enterprise neck-deep in an existing mission. This sequence was great because it showed us the characters in their normal environment doing what they do best. It was an action-packed sequence with lots of both emotion and visual spectacle. Not only was this a fun opening chapter to the story, it actually set in place a lot of the character arc that will play out for Kirk and Spock.

The early part of the movie deals with the fallout from Kirk’s extremely rapid promotion from cadet to captain in the previous film (something a lot of fans found hard to swallow). This was done very well, and gave us some great scenes between Admiral Pike and Kirk.

The scenes on Earth were very grounded, giving us a good sense of normal 23rd century life (a blanced mixture of the familiar and the fantastic). It isn’t long before we’re plunged into the middle of a terrorist story. Kirk is charged with an important mission, bring a fugitive to justice, and try to prevent rising tensions between the Federation and the Klingon Empire from errupting into war.

There were plenty of surprises along the way that I’m dying the talk about, but that will have to wait for another time. There was one scene that I’m really not sure about, but it does show that the writers are continuing to pay respect to the fact that we are now in an alternate timeline, and that there is still a prime time-line out there. This played a greater part in the story than I expected. I’m glad that the writers are seeing their time-line meddling as more than just an excuse to “reboot” the franchise, and then forget about it.

The characters in this film were still not quite the Enterprise crewmembers that we remember from the original series, but by the end of the film we get a feeling that these people have now ‘arrived’. Now it’s really Star Trek.

The guest actors gave very good performances, introducing us to some interesting characters. Peter Weller’s character turned out to be more important than I had anticipated. He was great. Alice Eve played somebody who will be familiar to any Star Trek fan. Her character could have been given more to do in the film, but I suspect she will continue to grow in importance in the next movie. As for Benedict Cumberbatch, I was expecting great things from him, having seen a little of his work as Holmes on Stephen Moffat‘s brilliant BBC series Sherlock. Cumberbatch didn’t disapoint. He protrayed a chilling and powerful vilain, more than worthy to oppose our heros.

Kirk (Chris Pine) confronts John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch)

As with Star Trek (2009), Star Trek Into Darkness was actually two different movies. If you’re a general movie goer, you’ll see an exciting sci-fi action film with plenty of heart. If you’re a Star Trek fan, you’ll see so much more.

There are a few things that I could nitpick (as a fanboy) which I’ll mention in a later post, but all in all, Star Trek Into Darkness was an awesome movie, even better than the 2009 film. Watching it the first time was a magical experience and I can’t wait to see it again.

I am very grateful for the culture that exists amongst the writers of Australian Christian fiction. Successful authors are very welcoming of “wannabes” and offer great support and encouragement to those who are at an earlier stage of their journey.

It’s hard to imagine living the life of a soldier. It’s so much more than a job. It is an act of service. Imagine living with the danger, being willing to take the kinds of risks that soldiers face.

Now it saddens me that we live in a world where armed forces are necessary, fighting is never a good thing, but I am very grateful that there are those who are willing to put their lives on the line to keep Australia safe. What would motivate such a thing? National pride? The desire to make a difference? I think it must be love – the kind of love that puts others (even strangers) before yourself. Jesus taught that laying down your life for another is a greatest expression of love. He’d know because he did it for us. To me, that makes Anzac day a love story – a tragic heart-breaking love story, but often those are the most powerful kind.

So I say thank you, to all those who gave their lives, and those who are serving their country right now.

Lest we forget.

The Assigned is a quick read and well paced. There are three protagonists, each of which is well-developed with interesting back-story and unique personalities. I really liked these characters and enjoyed the interactions between them.

The plot puts an interesting new twist on the super-hero genre. The mythology of the story, build upon Christian theology, does not feel contrived.

There are some very emotional scenes in this book which moved me. There is a lot of heart behind the action.

This book was told in first-person multiple point-of-view. This was quite a bold move on the part of the author. I’ll be honest, I much prefer third-person for multiple POV, but I was usually able to figure out the viewpoint character in each scene without too much effort.

I am certainly looking forward to more of The Assigned.

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Suzannah’s Gold is an Australian historical fiction novel set in the mid 1800s. The story follows the life of a young girl transported unfairly from Ireland to Australia when she was only thirteen years old. She experiences new hopes and tragedy, horror and joy.

The book is based on some real historical situations. Some of the characters are real people. Carol Preston has obviously done a lot of research and it shows.

The story highlights the struggles that the early settlers in our country faced, making a life for themselves in an environment that was often hostile and unforgiving. I gained a new-found respect for our pioneers from reading it.

Suzannah’s spiritual journey throughout her life was interesting to read. It was fascinating to see the denominational conflicts that arise in those early days of colonisation. There might have been more grace demonstrated if other people had been as level-headed as Suzannah’s character.

Anyone who is interested in Australian history will find a great tale with a ‘a little of everything’, from romance to rampaging bush-rangers.

Connect with the author: Carol Preston
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Bid the Gods Arise is unlike anything else that I have read before. The story reads like an epic fantasy but incorporates clear science fiction elements. The story is viewed predominantly from the point of view of characters from a non-technological world, so even when advanced sci-fi technologies appear in the story they are seen through the eyes of people who are not sure how to describe them. This creates an intriguing mixing of genres that I for one would like to see more of.

The book deals with important issues, the main one being slavery. This is what good speculative fiction does best – addressing relevant real world issues in a fantastical setting.

The characters are well developed, and despite a growing cast, the people never blend into each other – each one remains unique and you find yourself caring for all of them.

The sexual aspects of the characters are explored honestly, and characters don’t always make decisions that I would consider wise, but it is always written very tastefully. Readers of Christian fiction will find nothing to be offended by, but readers of mainstream fiction will find plenty of “spice”.

The author has created a vast mythic world with this book, and it feels like he has just scratched the surface. There is a great deal of scope for future books in this series to dig deeper into this world. This is not to suggest that Bid The Gods Arise doesn’t dig deep. The setting is rich and developed, but the book gave hints of a much larger universe.

There is a lot of allegory in this book which connected with me spiritually. The characters were use to explore spiritual and religious ideas but never once did it feel preachy.

This is an epic tale that will appeal equally to both readers of science fiction and fantasy. I look forward to more from this author.

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In God on the Streets of Gotham, Paul Asay delves deep into the psyche of Batman, examining his motivations, strengths and weaknesses and draws spiritual lessons from everyone’s favourite vigilante. The author has a good understanding of both topics.

So why would you write a book pulling Christian messages out of Batman? I say ‘why not’. This book is fun as well as thought-provoking. As the subtitle suggests, this book will teach you a little something about God and yourself, and it may just inspire you to be the hero you were created to be.

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Four of Australia’s Christian authors come together to tell the story of a family – spanning three generations. A legacy has been passed down through the Greenfield family – and not a very good one. It is a legacy of judgementalism and refusal to understand the feelings of others. When a long-lost member of this family re-appears she brings a new hope to the four protagonists of the story. Slowly, a new legacy is built – one of hope.

Each author in this collaboration wrote the point of a view of one of the four characters. Each of them had their own supporting cast. This meant that there were a lot of people to keep track of, but as long as you stay alert it’s not too bad. This was definitely a character-driven story, and the characters were very compelling, as were the various relationships between them.

The whole thing was written as a cohesive whole in a way that can only be considered impressive. In this book, we get not one but four character arcs – each of which comes to a satisfying conclusion.

A great Aussie drama.

Greenfield Legacy Trailer & Author Interview
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It occurs to me that a lot of stories would have been shorter and a lot less complicated if they’d been set in Australia. Consider these examples from popular culture.

Star Wars Episode 1

Qui-Gon: The boy is the chosen one. He must be trained.
Yoda: Hmm. The chosen one he may be, but great danger I fear in his training.
Qui-Gon: Nah, she’ll be right.
Back on Naboo
Obi-Wan: Oh look – a Sith Lord.
Qui-Gon: Here Annakin, have a lightsabre. Just wave it around at the bad guy.
Fight Ensues
Qui-Gon: Three against one. That was easy.
Obi-Wan: Didn’t we have some droids and ships to deal with now?
Qui-Gon: Don’t worry about it Mate. I think Padme left a cold one in the fridge and I could use a breather.

Twilight

Bella: I love you. We should get together.
Edward: Yeah, but I’m a vampire. What if I loose control and want to eat you? And won’t that Jacob bloke get jealous?
Bella: (shrugs) She’ll be right.
Edward Yeah you’re right Darl. Let’s go get hitched right now.

Smallville (which would be renamed Tamworth)

Jonathan:Clark, you came to us from another world.
Clark: I guess I should reveal myself to this world. Y’know, help people out a bit with my powers.
Jonathan: But aren’t you worried the government will want to experiment on you. Maybe villians will want to hurt the people you love. Aren’t you too busy pining endlessly over Lana?
Clark: Nah she’ll be right Dad.
Moments later Clark swoops low over Sydney Harbour
Clark: G’day Australia. You can call me Superman. I’m here to help, but I don’t work on weekends, so don’t even think about calling for help on a Staturday arvo.

While the “she’ll be right” attitude can sometimes make us lazy in the face of responsibilities, it can also lend itself to a life of faith. Rather than wasting endless energy worrying about stuff, we can place it in God’s hands and say “she’ll be right mate”. Why? Not “just because”, but because we know that God is good and that he works all things for good for those who love him.

I leave you now with some image of our great south land, and a song that always gets the national pride going. It’s Steve Grace singing ‘The Great Southland of the Holy Spirit’.

HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY

I can just hear the objections of some people to applying gamification to Bible reading. Reading the Bible is not a game, it’s serious. The word of God is a vital living word. You shouldn’t need cheap gimicks to motivate you to read it, it’s life-changing power is enough on its own.

Now I agree with all of those statements, but I have no problem with this gamification. Here’s why. As Christians we know we should develop a strong healthy Bible-reading habbit. We know it is good for us. We know that it will impact our lives. We know we’ll feel inspired when we dig deep into the word. The thing about people is though, we’re busy and lazy. We may know what’s good for us, we may even know that we’ll be really glad we did it, but it’s all too easy to say “not today, I’m too tired. I have too much else on.” The thing a challenge like this does is give us a litle gimmick just to trick our mind long enough to overcome those little hurdles that hold us back. Workout enthusiasts understand this. That’s why fitocracy is so popular.

A friend of mine one told me of a plan she used to build her devotional habbit. She’d write incremental numbers in the corner of her journal each day. If she missed reading her bible one day she’d have to reset back to 1. Whn she was tempted to say “not today” she’d think of that number and realise she really didn’t want to go all the way back to 1. By the time she sat down with her Bible it was no longer about the number, but that’s what got her going.

So why not take the challenge and re-vitalise your Bible-reading habbit.

Transcript

Hi. How ya going? I’m Adam Collings – writer of speculative fiction. Summer is well and truly here, and that means sun, trips to the beach and a nice long Christmas holiday.

This is a great time of the year to enjoy my wonderful home state of Tasmania. I’m really appreciating the time off work. It’s allowed me to make some progress on my epic space fantasy.

I’ve been pretty busy outlining since my last update, and I’ve been working on the first daft of act 1. I’ve also been doing a lot of research for the historical aspect of my book.

It really has been a blast working on this story. I look forward to the day when I can share it with readers. I hope someone out there will enjoy reading it as much as I’m enjoying writing it.

This monument is dedicated to the memory of William Henry Burrows who was a 23 year old guy who lost his life trying to save a girl who got washed off the shore on these rocks. She was eventually saved the by Devonport surf life-saving club. As writers it’s our business to invent heros, but this is the story of a real-life hero.

During 2012 I read 40 books. I’ve challenged myself to read 42 in 2013. The kindle has been wonderful, opening up a whole world of new books and authors that I otherwise would never have read.

On a side note, I’ve taken up the challenge, following the fotsteps of a friend of mine, to post something I’m thankful for on Facebook and Twitter every single day during 2013. I’ve been enjoying it so far. I believe it will have a major impact on my outlook on life. I also kno it isn’t going to be easy. Let’s face it, there are some days we just want to be negative. My wife’s doing it too so we will keep each other accountable.

So anyway, I’m Adam Collings, and you can find me online at collingszone.wordpress.com.

Wow! This book sucked me in and wouldn’t let me go. Identity started with a killer hook. The protagonist is trapped underground with no way out. Death is inevitable. Things go downhill from there.

This novella is the pilot episode in a series of four that will make up a ‘season’. Ted Dekker has drawn on his favourite TV dramas to create a thrilling episodic story.

The set of circumstances that lead the the two main characters ending up in a world of trouble are unlikely yet completely believable. In lesser hands the implementation might not have worked by Dekker shows clearly with this book why he is one of the best.

This is a short snappy read that gets the adrenaline pumping. The characters are developed deeply and quickly so that you really feel or them when the unthinkable happens.

Identity is must-read fiction.

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As the son of legendary author Stephen R Lawhead, Ross Lawhead had a lot to live up to. Writing in the same genre as his father, comparisons would seem almost inevitable. Well, as this book shows, Ross has certainly inherited talent from his father. It is tempting to approach this book expecting it to be exactly like his father’s work, and there is a lot that Lawhead fans will find pleasingly familiar here, and yet Ross has his own voice, and brings a more youthful perspective.

The Realms Thereunder introduces a fascinating world. The book brings us two connected stories – both about the same two characters. It is interesting to red of their exploits as teens, while at the same time seeing the consequences in their adult life at the same time. The adult story brings with it a sense of mystery, while the teen story brings a sense of adventure.

We get to see character arcs developed in a non-linear fashion, which is quite fascinating.

This is an original fantasy which tells an exciting story, and sets us up well to anticipate the next two books.

Find the author at his blog.
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The big thing about this year was that it was my first year with a Kindle – having bought one early in January. This opened up a whole new world to me. I had access to books I would otherwise never have been able to read. I also become familiar with some great new authors – in particular Robin Parrish.

So here they are, the books that I read in 2012.

Two days ago his shared the story of his journey in a message which you can download here: (Thankfulness Journey). In this message he makes several important points about thankfulness:

• Being thankful requires faith.
• Being thankful requires action. For me, it was writing it down and engaging with it.
• Being thankful is a spiritual discipline in itself.
• Being thankful changes your perspective.

Dani has challenged us all to follow in his footsteps and take up the challenge. I’ve been thinking long and hard about this.To be honest I was hesitant. I knew that it would be difficult. I knew that there will be days this year when I really, really, really don’t want to be thankful. I can be a bit of a negative bloke. But that only proves to me how much I should be doing this. So this year I’ll be sharing something I’m thankful for each day. My wife will be doing it too. I’m not seeing this as a ‘new year’s resolution’. It’s more of a life-style change.

I will also be reading the book 21 Days of Gratitude Challenge by Shelley Hitz to further inspire and motivate me. I got this as a kindle freebie last year but haven’t read it yet.

Now here’s the thing – you don’t have to share my Christian beliefs to be a part of it. We can all choose to be thankful regardless of our beliefs. So why not consider joining the thankfulness revolution and see how we can all be changed by it in 2013.

Happy new year!

Photo Credit: ‘Thanks’ image by Wikipedia contributor Infrogmation.

In a small village near the English/Welsh border in 1838, Somebody is after Lord Mellington’s fortune, and they’re willing to kill him for it. When their first attempt fails, he is found left for dead, and nursed back to health by a young woman – Sarah Montgomery. This book isn’t so much a murder mystery, as it is an attempted-murder mystery (although murders do occur as the story goes on). In a sense I found that this raised the tension. We knew that the killer was still out there somewhere, and would be trying again. This also allowed Sarah and Mellington to develop a romantic relationship that grows over time. The threat of murder added underlying suspense to their relationship.

As compelling as the mystery and the romantic plot are, they are almost both sub-plots to the greater story, which is the journey Sarah must take. Having helped save Mellington’s life at the beginning of the book, she finds her reputation ripped to shreds as her neighbours get completely the wrong idea and spread insidious gossip that gets her thrown out of the church and shunned by the entire village. The book carries an eye-opening warning against jumping to conclusions, and acting in self-righteousness rather then grace.

This book was written in an omniscient point of view. Personally I am not a fan of this point of view, but it was used consistently through-out the book and did actually give the story a certain charm – making it feel like a classic mystery. Clearly his was a decision made very deliberately for stylistic reasons.

The mystery aspect was handled well, keeping the reader guessing, and ending with a logical and satisfying conclusion.

A great mixture of mystery and romance with a powerful theme.

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What I said
What YouTube thinks I said

How’s it going? I’m Adam Collings, aspiring author and writer of speculative fiction.
mascara i’m adam hollings aspiring author and writers nicotine addiction

Well spring’s arrived here in Australia, which is good.
possibly structure is sound.

I like spring because it’s not too hot. I find summer a bit hard to cope with sometimes.
hot springs is not too hot. Crimes on the ground sometimes.

It’s been a pretty hectic time for my family lately, but we’re coming up for air now
delivery gtalk my family but we’re coming up a nap.

I’m also looking forward to spending some time on my novel.
philosophy folate to spend some time with you at all.

still got a bit of work to do on the climax at the end, but the more I think about, the more I think this could be the story that helps me cross the line from being a writer to being an author.
stupid concealer literally means president and them wanting to know i mean this administering country must live himasa.

so I’m Adam Collings and you can find me online at collingszone.wordpress.com
it’s finally singing on the line also so flintstone.

To try it out for yourself, click the transcripts button on a video, and then watch the captions scroll by.

I am on a journey at the moment – the destination in mind is that of ‘professional writer’. As I see it, the final step in that journey would be publication, but there are lots of changes to make along the way. One big change I’ve learned to make, is outlining. More on that another time. Another thing that I believe sets the professional apart from the amateur is research. If you really want to take novel writing seriously then you have to invest the time and effort to do your research.

This has been a fascinatingly peculiar project in terms of research. The story in question (my epic space fantasy) incorporates plenty of world-building, but also some elements that might be considered historical. I have been researching everything from astronomy to Tasmanian history. Soon I’ll want to start reading about modern-day slavery. Could all of these diverse subjects possibly fit together in any meaningful way? Possibly only in an Adam Collings novel.

I’ve been doing a lot of reading on the subject of early Tasmanian history lately. I’ve joined the local library, and drawn on an even bigger resource – my Mum. Yep, she and I share an interest in the history of this state so she’s got a lot of books. Another fascinating resource I’ve found (which you can access online) is the Tasmanian Archives and Heritage Office.

Well, enought talk. I have research to do!

Research Books – Tasmanian History