Kathryn Mackel - Outriders and Trackers

Welcome to another month of the Christian Sci-Fi/Fantasy blog tour! We'll be featuring Kathryn Mackel for the next few days.

When I began work on The Restorer (NavPress 5/2007) over four years ago, my adult son, (a huge Stephen Lawhead and Ted Dekker fan) said, “Mom, whatever you do, don’t stop and explain things in the story. I love when the reader explores and discovers along with the character.”

The first thing I noticed when I read Kathyrn Mackel’s book, Outriders, was how well she set us loose in a story and had the confidence to not explain. Even her language choices were brilliant. The dialogue had the same wit and whimsy as the movie Serenity, where permutations of words sound familiar but still a little “different.” Different enough to set the foreignness of the setting/time, familiar enough to understand in context. Again, no explanations necessary. She reflected a shift in language (as occurs through time in all cultures), but she also used this to show the contrast between the new “rooks” and their "jangle" from the outriders and trackers who had been on the surface for some time. I loved that. This is how I want to write when I grow up.

I was captivated by her young, heroic, and flawed characters (yes, even the good guys struggle with rebellion, anger, doubt, and jealousy), and intrigued by the choice of having a community of key figures that are sent out into danger very young. The theme of corrupting the world with horrific attempts at creation really resonated with me. We are made in God's image and so are stirred to create things to His glory. But when we chose to create things in an attempt to BE little gods, the results are hideous. More tomorrow!

Meanwhile, check out her newest book, Trackers.

And visit these other blog tour participants:

Jim Black
Jackie Castle
Valerie Comer
Frank Creed
Gene Curtis
Chris Deanne
Janey DeMeo
April Erwin
Beth Goddard
Todd Michael Greene
Karen Hancock
Elliot Hanowski
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Sharon Hinck
Joleen Howell
Jason Joyner
Karen and at Karen’s myspace
Oliver King
Tina Kulesa
Lost Genre Guild
Kevin Lucia and The Bookshelf Reviews 2.0 - The Compendium
Terri Main
Rachel Marks
Shannon McNear
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Caleb Newell
Eve Nielsen
John Otte
Cheryl Russel
Hannah Sandvig
Mirtika Schultz
James Somers
Stuart Stockton
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Chris Walley
Daniel I. Weaver

Blessings!
Sharon Hinck