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Home » Books and Short Stories » I told you, writing fantasy is dangerous! Messages in this topic - RSS
11/19/2008 3:13:20 PM
Fabrice D.
Fabrice D.
Posts 858
A surreal bit of news from the november Locus: "J.F. LEWIS was excommunicated from his church in response to his debut vampire novel STAKED".

Don't know him, maybe he's living in Salem!
11/19/2008 3:22:29 PM
gdozois
Posts 3110
Excommunicated from his church, there's now nothing to protect him from the vampires...
11/19/2008 3:29:17 PM
Alex
Alex
Posts 942
"Staked" as in "burned at the...?" or would that be "Steaked"? (Cannibalism for Dummies?)

--
Because, anything worth doing is worth overdoing
11/19/2008 5:00:37 PM
JFLewis
JFLewis
Posts 25
Nah, not Salem. I live in Birmingham, Alabama.

--
J.F. Lewis

Author At Large

Check out STAKED from Pocket Books and in March 2009, be on the lookout for ReVAMPED also from Pocket Books.
11/19/2008 5:28:27 PM
Fabrice D.
Fabrice D.
Posts 858
That's the Magic of this forum, you invoke a Name, and It materializes!

Welcome J.F.!
11/19/2008 5:38:19 PM
Clint Harris
Clint Harris
Posts 657
There's a number of churches I wouldn't mind being excommunicated from. That means they don't come knocking on your door or leaving flyers all over the place, doesn't it?

--
Is that you John Wayne? Is this me?
11/19/2008 5:39:09 PM
JFLewis
JFLewis
Posts 25
Yes, very "...talk of the Devil, and he's presently at your elbow."

Thanks for having me.

--
J.F. Lewis

Author At Large

Check out STAKED from Pocket Books and in March 2009, be on the lookout for ReVAMPED also from Pocket Books.
11/19/2008 8:02:55 PM
Thomas R
Posts 2725
What church were you excommunicated from?

--
To God be humble, to thy friend be kind, and with thy neighbors gladly lend and borrow His chance is tonight it might be thine tomorrow - William Dunbar

I don't lend money to eight-year-olds, at least not anymore. And if you see Billy tell him I'm looking for him - Coach McGuirk
11/19/2008 8:51:45 PM
gdozois
Posts 3110
Fabrice, that's why it worries me that Byron keeps talking about Cthulhu all the time...

I always found it amusing that Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, said a few times that she didn't believe in God--and yet she depended on holy water and crosses to defend herself, and the show established that there was such a thing as "consecrated ground," which burned vampires like acid. If there wasn't a God, just Who was providing the power to make those things work? You'd think that she, of all people, would have concrete reasons to Believe. (For that matter, she ought to know that there's an Afterlife, since she's met ghosts.)

Sounds like J.F. is holding up okay in the face of his excommunication...
11/19/2008 8:59:48 PM
JFLewis
JFLewis
Posts 25
A local non-denominational church, though, as I mentioned to Tim when he emailed to verify the "event" and ask if it was okay to print it, the Elders at the church in question would likely say that they "withdrew fellowship from" rather than "excommunicated" me. But I suppose it amounts to the same thing. I was a member. And because I refused to renounce the book, stop promoting the book, and publicly apologize... as well as a few other things that would have amounted to breach of contract on my part or been financially ruinous... I am no longer allowed to be a member.

--
J.F. Lewis

Author At Large

Check out STAKED from Pocket Books and in March 2009, be on the lookout for ReVAMPED also from Pocket Books.
11/19/2008 9:04:37 PM
JFLewis
JFLewis
Posts 25
gdozois wrote:
Sounds like J.F. is holding up okay in the face of his excommunication...


Thanks in no small part to friends, family, some fellow writers, and members of one of the online writer's group of which I am a member putting up with lots of whining and ranting on my part... Yeah, I'm pretty much back in a good creative place again. It's still a bit surreal, but what can ya do?

--
J.F. Lewis

Author At Large

Check out STAKED from Pocket Books and in March 2009, be on the lookout for ReVAMPED also from Pocket Books.
11/19/2008 9:48:38 PM
Byron Bailey
Byron Bailey
Posts 2413
Fabrice, that's why it worries me that Byron keeps talking about Cthulhu all the time...

I'm personally getting rather tired of invoking Cthulhu's name and nothing ever happens. Maybe it's because I'm not pronouncing it right. Cthulhu? Thuthu? Tulu? Tutu? I'm thinking it's one of those words that follow a non-Eucledean phonetics, but I can't help dreaming that if I keep stretching and straining my vocal cords in unimaginable ways, my words will at last slip into the proper dimension and be heard.

Until such time that my voice training has its intendeded effect, though, I'm considering changing my religious allegiance to the bonobo All-Mother known as Oo-oo-aa-aa. In order to say the name right, you merely have to pretend that you're a lost chimpanzee tired of patriarchy, weary of warfare, pissed at politics. You raise your voice to the sky and ask that plaintive question that says why, but comes out as, "Oo-oo-aa-aa." You're a chimpanzee begging for free love, matriarchy, and bananas for everyone.

You wait. Saying her name makes you feel better. The bonobo All-Mother isn't a distant god like Cthulhu. She hears, and she descends. An enormous foot crashes into the ground. Another foot follows. You look up. Queen Kong? She clutches you like a banana and raises you towards her mouth. At last, the time has come even if you never imagined it would be with her.

"What great big teeth you have?" you say as you go into her mouth.

Is that the squeal of jet fighters? Is that the roar of Godzilla? The mouth closes and the last glimpse of day you'll ever see shows enormous tentacles trying to strangle the Bonobo All-Mother. Can it be Cthulhu at last? You feel shame. You've betrayed the Tentacled One. Yet still you hope that Cthulhu defeats Oo-oo-aa-aa even if the ensuing fight will undoubtedly destroy New York City, Tokyo, Paris and hopefully Des Moines. The darkness is total yet you feel pleased because you know you have to be special for two deities to fight over your devoring rights.

I bet J. F. is special, too. I know just the church for him.

--
Yes, I do weigh 800 pounds, but I'm not a gorilla. I'm just a grossly obese bonobo. Really.
11/20/2008 6:34:00 AM
Annie
Posts 459
gdozois wrote:
(For that matter, she ought to know that there's an Afterlife, since she's met ghosts.)

Not to mention that she actually died 3 times and she remembered what it was at least one of the times.

J.F.,

Welcome - if a church cannot accept a book, you are better without it anyway, aren't you
11/20/2008 6:48:11 AM
bluetyson
bluetyson
Posts 982
Clint Harris wrote:
There's a number of churches I wouldn't mind being excommunicated from. That means they don't come knocking on your door or leaving flyers all over the place, doesn't it?



Nice work J.F. Have to get a copy of this book for the next mormon or jehovah's witness 'tard that ventures by.

That actually did work once. Some JW freakazoids woke me up early one morning when I was a teenager, to try the usual. Said, sure, we're satanists, like to come in for a ritual? They didn't quite run away. ;-)

--
Free SF Reader
Not Free SF Reader
Super Reader
Australian SF Reader
Space Opera Reader
11/20/2008 6:51:21 AM
bluetyson
bluetyson
Posts 982
JFLewis wrote:
Nah, not Salem. I live in Birmingham, Alabama.



Ah. Knew some people from there. 'Our missionaries never have much luck in Australia.' Lol.

Is that a Chris McGrath cover, by the way? Pole dancer and all? It looks a bit like it.

--
Free SF Reader
Not Free SF Reader
Super Reader
Australian SF Reader
Space Opera Reader
11/20/2008 7:06:12 AM
bluetyson
bluetyson
Posts 982
JFLewis wrote:
Yes, very "...talk of the Devil, and he's presently at your elbow."

Thanks for having me.


In fact, if you want it now, also at fictionwise :-

http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook64962.htm

--
Free SF Reader
Not Free SF Reader
Super Reader
Australian SF Reader
Space Opera Reader
11/20/2008 7:07:19 AM
Thomas R
Posts 2725
Annie wrote:
Welcome - if a church cannot accept a book, you are better without it anyway, aren't you


Generally, but it depends on the book. If you wrote "Christianity is a monstrous lie!" or "Why Mein Kampf is Right!" it might make sense for a Christian denomination to say "Yeah you don't really fit with us."

--
To God be humble, to thy friend be kind, and with thy neighbors gladly lend and borrow His chance is tonight it might be thine tomorrow - William Dunbar

I don't lend money to eight-year-olds, at least not anymore. And if you see Billy tell him I'm looking for him - Coach McGuirk
11/20/2008 7:25:33 AM
bluetyson
bluetyson
Posts 982
Birmingham, Alabama thinks 'True Blood' is a doco?

Fork Off

--
Free SF Reader
Not Free SF Reader
Super Reader
Australian SF Reader
Space Opera Reader
11/20/2008 8:40:31 AM
JFLewis
JFLewis
Posts 25
bluetyson wrote:
Is that a Chris McGrath cover, by the way? Pole dancer and all? It looks a bit like it.


Yup. I'm a big fan of his work. Given the cover concept, I think he went a very cool "noir movie poster" kind of direction with it.

gdozois wrote:
J.F., Welcome - if a church cannot accept a book, you are better without it anyway, aren't you


Thanks. And yes, I suppose so, but it would have been nice if we could have gone about it (me getting the boot) in a way that was less vexing. I also felt, perhaps unreasonably, that they should have had to read the entire book rather than just the first five pages before making their decision, but that's all said and done now, so at least it's over.

--
J.F. Lewis

Author At Large

Check out STAKED from Pocket Books and in March 2009, be on the lookout for ReVAMPED also from Pocket Books.
11/20/2008 8:46:45 AM
Marian
Posts 2176
Hmmm. Did your church want to ban Harry Potter on the grounds it was promoting witchcraft?

--
"Know the truth and the truth shall make you odd."
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