Handling Crisis

I believe even fictional stories have the power to teach us and alter how we see life.

The “Darkness before Dawn” collection has long been among my favourite story archs of Adventures in Odyssey, a long-running audio drama.

Near the beginning of this pandemic, I relistened to them with my husband. And the story spoke to me on a level it hadn’t before. (Spoiler alert going forward!)

In “Darkness before Dawn,” crazy things start happening around the town of Odyssey. Crime spikes suddenly. Scandal surrounds the mayor. The townspeople are left fearful and confused, and for the lead characters, things only seem to worsen as time goes on.

One character, Jack Allen, begins by counteracting the crimes with anonymous acts of kindness. But when this unexpectedly causes the criminals to become more violent, he takes a step back.

For the rest of the story, Jack is mostly in the background, praying.

When another character criticizes his inaction, he argues that he isn’t doing nothing. He believes there is a spiritual side to what’s going on: a battle that can’t be fought any other way, but through prayer.

Jack’s role had previously seemed to me rather uninteresting and a little odd. How does he connect a crime wave and political upheaval with a spiritual battle?

However, being in this pandemic, I heard his side of the story with new ears.

Things keep getting crazier. Death tolls rise. Laws become more strict. Political leaders are called into question.

There are many strategic ways we can fight what’s happening around us: whether we’re taking on the fear, the loneliness, any signs of injustice, or the virus itself. No doubt there are many strategies that are Biblical, logical, or fair.

But I realized that, whatever happens, first and foremost, I want to respond the way that Jack responded: with prayer. I want to be able to see the spiritual side of things. To keep God at the forefront of my mind. To sometimes put aside other plans that seem good, in favour of leaning on His input.

I know not everyone will see things the way I do. I’m learning to be at peace with that.

I’m also aware that there are conspiracy theories and spiritual theories swirling around this pandemic. I’m not talking about taking a side on whether Satan started the virus or whether this is judgement from God.

Rather, I’m wondering if we need to get back to the basics, to realign our priorities and focus: “Our Father in heaven, may your name be honoured. May your kingdom come. And may your will be done.”

This pandemic has changed many things. But it hasn’t changed the mission that Jesus gave us: to spread the story of his kingdom to all corners of the earth. Nor has it changed the fact that God is at work in the world. Or made obsolete the command to pray continually and to trust God over our own understanding.

I want to focus on how God can use this event. How is he changing me? What is he teaching me? What does he want me to do during this time? How is he teaching and changing and challenging his church?

When all this is over, how do we move on, while not forgetting the lessons he’s taught us, the people he’s opened our eyes to, and the actions he’s asked us to take?

I think it starts… with prayer.

Art Contest Take 2

How about another art contest? This time, we’re going to do things a little differently!

One, art pieces should represent a CONCEPT from Tales of the Diversity. Sailing, exploration, discovery, cultural diversity… or whatever you pick out from reading the books!

Two, I’m looking for PICTURES. Paintings, drawings, posed photos of toys: as long as the final art piece is an image of some kind!

You can submit as many pictures as you like between TODAY and JUNE 15th, to author@karlissaj.com. No crude content please.

Two winners this time: Author’s Pick and Best Representing the Book (i.e. using characters or a scene from The Quest or The Loss to illustrate the concept).

Contest winners (and possibly runners-up) will be shared on my blog. (Click here to see the winners from the last contest!) Winners will also receive a $10 Coles gift card.

This time around, I’LL be submitting an art piece or two myself! Though obviously I can’t win, I can share with you my images during the contest, and a little on why I chose to represent those concepts.

I’m looking forward to seeing what you create!

Book Review Black Mists

Black Mists is the black sheep of my books. My second published work, it’s a ‘real world’ story, instead of a fantasy. It’s also my darkest book, better suited for adults than youth.

I previously called Black Mists a mystery, but upon revisiting it, I’d say it’s more of a thriller. It’s actually three or four stories combined into one. It features fast-paced action and a thrilling writing style, with many surprises along the way. Characters are unique, and can be quite colourful.

However, I do have several problems with this book. I feel like I’m a different person now than when I wrote Black Mists, with different life experiences affecting my perspective of it.

Black Mists is something… Bizarre. Complex. And fast-paced. And if that’s your type of book, it could be worth giving a read.

As a warning, the rest of this book review WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS. I know many prefer not to read spoilers before they’ve read a book: this is your warning!

Like I said, I do have some problems with Black Mists, and new life experiences that change how I see the book today.

Since I wrote the story – about six years ago – I’ve actually been in a situation where a hospital had to find me a place to spend the night. With that experience, I would write the first scene with “Julia” at the hospital a bit differently!

I’ve also been to mental health appointments, and learned a bit more about psychotic illnesses like schizophrenia and how they are diagnosed. Revisiting how I approached the topic of mental illness in Black Mists, it seems shallow and half-hazard, lacking much focus or education. There is sympathy towards Nika and her situation, but I believe I could do better at writing those scenes today than I did back then.

And since publishing Black Mists, I’ve been to London again, refreshing my memory of this beautiful city. My descriptions of it would be more in-depth now.

Regardless of my problems with the book, it was a big part of my writing journey. I had a surprising amount of memories floating through my mind while reading it… which seems appropriate for a story about remembering.

Book Review Dwelling in Darkness

It’s been a while since I read my third published book, “Dwelling in Darkness.”

I’ve called it a ‘loose sequel’ to “Kingdom of Bats.” But really, the two have different writing styles and characters, and take place on different worlds with different technology. They are in the same universe, and one character is in both, but that’s about it.

Rereading “Dwelling in Darkness” today, I’d say it’s one of my favourites. The threats to the heroes are introduced right from the start. And the story is fast-paced, but still allows time to get to know the characters involved.

One of my readers described this book as “nerdy,” and I think that’s a pretty accurate description! I wanted it to be more informative and fact-based than “Kingdom of Bats,” so I dived deeper into the animals represented.

I also wanted to stretch and challenge myself as a writer.

I took a swing at tapping into traditional stories, with references to Mayan and Malagasy (Madagascan) mythologies.

Chapter thirteen gave me an opportunity to dive into what it might be like to experience the world from the perspective of deep-sea fishes, creatures very unlike us. I enjoyed writing that chapter, challenging myself to think outside the box.

This is one of those books that someone like me may love, but someone else may find infuriating.

The mystery concerning how, why, and to what extent the dream-world is real never gets answered. I think it works fine that way, but I could see it frustrating certain readers.

The nerdiness was something I enjoyed, something I can appreciate in animal fantasy stories; though I know some may find it distracting.

And my dive into the weird world of cave and deep-sea creatures – especially the latter – really was designed to stretch the mind a little. I can see some people finding that a bog to get through.

The book has flaws, but I still had fun reading it, and I felt very passionately about it when it first got published. I find it sad it hasn’t succeeded as well as “Kingdom of Bats” and “Black Mists,” but I suppose it is more written for a niche audience than either of those.

If it sounds like your type of book, then give it a read! It’s available online, and in ebook form from various sellers!

2020 Art Contest Winners

Time to announce the winners of the Tales of the Diversity art contest!

First of all, thank you to everyone that participated! I enjoyed getting to see all the unique art pieces and takes on the characters in “The Quest.”

But I could only pick three winners… so here they are!

For Author’s Favourite:

An adorable take on Katia hanging out on the mast, by Daniel!

For Most Accurate to Book:

An incredible model of Reto from Josiah!

And for Most Unique Style:

A fun little craft of Black Night from Ethan!

Again, thank you to everyone who participated, and great job on your art pieces! I’ll aim to get prizes delivered within the next few weeks!

Looking Back: First Book

Back in 2013, I published my very first book, Kingdom of Bats. A lot can change - and has changed - in seven years. I got married, had kids, and my writing style has evolved.

I decided to revisit that first book: rereading it and seeing whether my perspective on the story has changed over these seven years.

And… I found Kingdom of Bats to be a good book! But for different reasons than I expected.

The themes of good versus evil, and how the past affects the present, were what stood out to me.

A variety of bat species are introduced, along with other animals, creating a colourful and diverse world.

And I found the climax exciting and well-paced… even if it was too early on in the book!

It’s evident that this was my first published work, with my writing and storytelling less polished and developed than future works. It’s interesting to see how far I’ve come since then, and how much better I feel about how I wrote my most recent books, The Quest and The Loss.

Thank you to those of you who’ve shown an interest in the art contest: it sounds like some artists are hard at work on their pieces! Remember, the contest is currently open for submissions, and will close at the end of January.

Looking Back: Art

I happened to be going through some old notebooks, and I discovered these: early concept art for the different races in “Tales of the Diversity”!

First of all, some context: the concepts, stories, and races now found in “Tales of the Diversity” have been on my mind for a long time, and therefore, been through many changes.

At one point, the stories were set in space, across multiple planets. I’ve had alternate races. And many of the creatures have changed over time.

This concept art, then, is a look at how I’ve imagined these races in the past… not necessarily how I picture them now.

Above is a few attempts I made at drawing Scavgans. That second image, labeled “MaiX,” was probably my inspiration for Jair’s current look (though I don’t imagine him quite like that).

I’ve never drawn a Scavgan that fully satisfied me. I’ve made lots of attempts over the years, but never really settled on a final look. I always knew I wanted them to look alien, but to what degree, I still haven’t decided.

I actually came up with the design for the Athai as part of a school project. For a later art assignment, I invented the Reea as their adversaries. In the books, I described the Athai as “lizard-squirrel people,” which is the best summary I could come up with for the design I’d chosen.

Above: this was an old concept for the Mocjoa… I certainly don’t imagine them this way anymore, though I do find this picture cute!

And finally, these are some Kamai sketches. The one on the left is mine. After giving some concept art to an artistic brother-in-law, he came up with the middle image. And the one on the right is one that I drew and he shaded.

All this to say… feel free to image and draw these races as you see fit for the art contest! You just might inspire me to reimagine the looks of the different characters once again!