Well, today is Good Friday, and my family and I have a full weekend with observances and celebrations for Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Morning. It's likely to be a roller coaster of self-reflection, repentance, gratitude, and joy. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
In honor of Holy Week, Clean Fiction Magazine is giving away the eBook version of their Spring Edition 2022 during Holy Week ONLY!!! If you're a reader who also finds it important to guard your soul, this may be a great resource for you, as the editor spends time reading, rating, and detailing potentially questionable content so that you can find books that will work for you, or find the right book for the eager young readers in your family.
The Spring Edition 2022 also happens to be the issue in which "Into the Unknown: Seven Short Stories of Faith and Bravery" was reviewed and featured. "Into the Unknown" is a Christian Science-Fiction/Thriller anthology put out by Ambassador International, in which my short story "Safeship" has been published!
Clean Fiction's editor Amy Lynn McConahy had great things to say about the anthology, and gave it a rating of G/GASP. If you are unfamiliar with their rating system, let me break it down real quick-like:
The ratings are as follows, in order from milder content to more inappropriate content.
N/NOTHING to worry about. Read this to your infant with a clean conscience.
A/Showing some ANKLE. A perfect book for the Puritan in your life.
P/Clutch your PEARLS. Grandma may raise an eyebrow, but keep on reading.
G/Will make you GASP. Both eyebrows will be involved in reading this book.
B/This is the full BLUSH, people! If you are prone to fainting, you will need a fan.
DB/You must Double Blink to clear your eyes from being contaminated. You will not find books of this rating in Clean Fiction Magazine.
From the review, it seems that the biggest contributing factor to the G/GASP rating was the level of violence at times.
"There is a fair bit of action in most of the stories," the editor writes. "They may be short, but the authors did not waste the time that was given to them. Space battles, attacks on alien planets, dire situations, and a fair amount of gunfire found within. There are a couple instances that most would find a bit gory, but following the "3 Strike Rule" they are few and far between."
After breaking the anthology down according to content categories (Action, Adventure, Romance, Religion, as well as Availability), McConahy's final thoughts sum it up:
"As with all short stories, there is a sense of "there is more to this tale," but the authors of this anthology combat this with strong characterization and bright burning stories that will keep you turning pages and wishing for more. Within the intensity of these Science-Fiction segments can be found Biblical truth that can be applied to our own lives which, I think, was the most successful part of this book."
I loved to hear that, because that is after all the entire reason I do what I do! I want my brand of entertainment to be healthy and beneficial for growing minds, and to cultivate virtue and courage into their hearts. My aim is always to entertain, but to do so in a way that points to the one who created me and redeemed me.
Thank you to Ambassador International for selecting and publishing my short story Safeship in this anthology, and to Amy Lynn McConahy and Clean Fiction Magazine for reviewing and rating it! You can pick up your free edition of Clean Fiction's Spring Edition 2022 here (free through the end of Holy Week 2022), and you can purchase "Into the Unknown: Seven Short Stories of Faith and Bravery" here.