Have you ever heard the term “genre fiction”? It’s the kind of story you can name with one word: fantasy, sci-fi, romance. The Anima Project isn’t just genre fiction; it’s speculative fiction, meaning it asks “what if?” about worlds, eras, and histories that don’t exist but could.
It might surprise some readers that plenty of authors write in genres they don’t usually read. Take J.K. Rowling. She’s said she wasn’t a fantasy reader. Harry Potter simply arrived in her mind already set in a fantasy world.
As for me, I’m not a big reader of genre fiction, if I’m being honest. I’ve read across different genres, but I’ve never been loyal to one. And yet here I am, spending a lot of time writing a dystopian sci-fi thriller. Why?
Like Rowling, the story came to me inside the genre. Some authors devote their whole writing careers to westerns, mysteries, or romantasy. I’ve always felt closer to someone like C.S. Lewis — someone who didn’t force himself into one lane. Maybe that’s part of why he’s so widely read. People from different tastes can pick up a Lewis book and still find something for them.
The one “genre” that shows up in everything I write is probably the most notorious: Christian. Yes, Christian fiction can be cheesy sometimes and heretical at others. But that doesn’t make it less important. If anything, it makes it the most crucial lane to get right.
I’m a follower of Jesus, and I can’t imagine spending years building worlds without Him in it, and even inviting readers to devote themselves to those Yahweh-less worlds. So every story I write engages real faith — through flawed, broken people — in a fallen world, at least implicitly governed by the true God.
My aim is twofold: to write narratives that stand on their own as stories, and to weave through them the Spirit of faith who truly changes lives.
One day I’m going to die, and I’ll stand before Yahweh and give an account for what I’ve done with my life. I don’t want my work to burn like chaff because it never pointed anyone to Him and His gospel.
I live in Yahweh’s universe. My life is Yahweh’s. I won’t be ashamed to write stories set in His world and stories that point to His salvation. There’s no greater story I could spend my life telling.
Until next time, you can read my dystopian sci-fi thriller here:
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Thanks for reading!
A.T. LISCHAK
