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Vision
Past
Rebecca Shelley founded DRAGONS, KNIGHTS & ANGELS (DKA) in 1999. The idea? To create a magazine that offered science fiction and fantasy of a different sort, where a Christian worldview touched the future, where the power of God is the greatest magic of all. As former managing editor Johne Cook stated on this site back in 2005, the publication had two original goals:
- glorify God and His truths
- explore speculative literature
Johne also said this: "We believe that God is raising up a new remnant, writers with a love for God and for speculative fiction."
The magazine was named for three traditional fantasy elements.
- The powerful, mystical dragon, traditionally representing evil or the thing feared or the threat to the land. Also standing for that wide-open land populated by astounding creatures of imagination.
- The knight, traditional hero, the rescuer, the Messiah-figure, the undaunted human facing enormous challenges and carrying on with faltering or hardy faith, flawed or virtuous, always intrepid and often blessed.
- And the angel, the messenger of God, the spiritual being that guards and intervenes and fills its space with holy light and power, who lets us know we are not alone and that we ought not be afraid, for God is with us.
Menace, battle, divine intervention.
Enemy, hero, ally.
Hell, Earth, Heaven.
Three icons for various aspects of existence, material and immaterial, mortal and immortal, visible and invisible. Icons for wonder. And not just fantasy wonders. Science fiction's aliens and new worlds and extrapolations and oddities are all also nicely represented by the icons of dragon, knight, and angel. Think in broad terms. DKA isn't trapped in a small box.
DKA was created to offer wonders.
Present
The DKA team takes pleasure in witnessing a rising curve in submissions. With a broader and deeper pool of creative work to choose from, we strive to raise the bar with each issue. As such, we've increased the amount we pay for fiction. We now also offer a print version of the magazine for purchase. This is good for both authors and readers. We value what has been entrusted to our care and continually challenge ourselves to excel.
We've also established annual contests for fiction and poetry.
The goals remain: What we publish must offer a strong moral core that, even at its most subtle, acknowledges truth. Our published works must be truly speculative, and not merely flavored with the hint of fantasy or futurism. An encapsulation of the sort of creative work we want to see from you, writers, and wish to offer you, readers, is this:
A speculative mind animated by a Christian soul.
Such a description excludes what Johne Cook called "humanistic pabulum," yet it allows for varying levels of spirituality, from subtle to overt, in characterization and plot and language and theme. We do not shy away from obviously Christian or moral themes, ideas, or language. We do not, however, want to be preached at. We don't seek to publish works that appear to function mainly as a Sunday School lesson. We are not averse to Bible verses and gospel imagery in stories, but we are put off by the beating drum of a moral point that drowns out the beauty and artistry of a work. Use solid craft judgment, even as you soar with your angelic muse.
Remember that the speculative mind is curious and innovative and surprising. Don't rely on cliché fantasy and science fiction tropes to carry your tale.
Remember that the Christian soul thrives on faith, hope, and love. Even the darkest stories must leave echoes of hope, because of faith, because we're loved, because the God who is love lives. As Johne said so well, "DKA is a publication that embraces the nexus of faith and the fantastic. Stories of faith are sometimes dark, sometimes troubling, always challenging."
Send us stories peopled with richly imagined characters, stories driven by plots that fit the speculative ideas, stories overflowing with curiosity and wonder and revelation. Submit poems exploring resonant fantasy and science fiction concepts, imagery, perspectives, connections, rhythm, and language. The moral or theological or spiritual or Biblical elements that are part of the work should be seamlessly woven together with the other elements of fictional and poetical craft.
We have and we will consider more experimental types of works. They must fit our vision and satisfy the editors. We don't mind if the pyrotechnics of your inventiveness leave us sitting speechless and wide-eyed. Go for it.
At risk of seeming to wag the finger, we do ask you to avoid needless and overly graphic elements--profanity, sexuality, violence. Young readers are welcome at DKA, and young writers are sometimes published here. For the sake of the young and the sensitive, we request you keep those of more delicate sensibilities in mind.
Know this: Judging works is always a tough call. What is too preachy? What is not sufficiently grounded in a Christian worldview? What breaks too many rules? What is too graphic? What is speculative enough? But those are calls for the editorial team to make. As an author, follow your vision of great storytelling or terrific poetry creation.
Honor God with your best prose and verse.
If your vision fits with this magazine's vision, we want to see your work. If you love SF, we want you to become a regular reader.
Join with us.
Future
Only God knows the future, but it is our great desire to grow in excellence. We hope our budget expands, as well, so that we can offer you more and more of the best in Christian speculative fiction and poetry. With the generous and unwavering support of our publisher, Bill Snodgrass, a man of boundless vision, we feel confident about tomorrow.
DKA aims to be a light in the darkness, a speculative city of faith on an internet hill, offering stories and poems that speak to your spirit and thrill your mind and dance into your heart. We want God to be pleased with everything we do and all that we publish. And we yearn for your prayers and support, spiritual and material. Come, engage in discussion with us. Create wonder with us.
But today is the present, so go enjoy the feast that DRAGONS, KNIGHTS & ANGELS has set before you. As with salvation, you get to enter and enjoy the bounty for free.
To His glory.
THE EDITORIAL TEAM
DRAGONS, KNIGHTS & ANGELS
February 2007
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