Her life filled with disillusionment, Callie volunteers for a psychology experiment that promises to turn her life around. When she encounters only secrecy and evasion during her orientation, she demands to be released. Instead, she's dropped into a terrifying alien world amid a battle of good vs. evil! Will she escape? 400 pages, softcover from Bethany.

A Repackaged Award Winner From Karen Hancock

Callie Hayes is living a life of fear and disillusionment when she volunteers for a psychology experiment that promises to turn her life around. As her orientation proceeds, Callie becomes frightened by the secrecy and evasion she encounters. When she demands to be released from the program, she is suddenly dropped into a terrifying alien world and into a perilous battle between good and evil. With limited resources and only a few cryptic words to guide her, Callie embarks on a life-changing journey. Will she decipher the plans the Benefactor has established for her escape, or will she succumb to the deception of the Arena?

Karen Hancock won Christy Awards for each
of her first four novels--Arena, The Light of Eidon, The Shadow Within, and Shadow over Kiriath. She and her husband reside in Arizona. Visit her website at www.kmhancock.com.

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Author: Karen Hancock
Located in: Tucson, Arizona
Submitted: April 15, 2002

    Tell us a little about yourself.  I love to read and write more than almost anything. But while my reading habits are as eclectic as they are voracious, I seem to be able to write only in that far hinterland of the imagination that is science fiction/fantasy. I think it’s because I am deeply interested in spiritual matters, and have found the genre of speculative fiction to be best suited for pursuing that interest. I’ve been writing a long time, too, in a market that hasn’t been particularly keen on spec fic, so I know a lot about persistence and waiting on the timing of God. I can definitely say it pays to wait! I’m also married, have a son in college and far too often find myself answering to the beck and call of our Redbone Coonhound, Boo Boo Bear.

    What was your motivation behind this project?  I wanted to show, in a visible, allegorical and entertaining way, something of the invisible supernatural conflict mentioned in Ephesians 6. I also wanted to explore the wonder of the plan and grace and love of God, and I wanted to do it in a story that would never sacrifice the integrity of plot, action, or characters for the sake of making a point.

    What do you hope folks will gain from this project?  First and foremost, I want them to have a grand reading adventure. I hope they will experience a story that will grip them and fascinate them and make their souls sing, a story they will remember for a long time after they put it down. After that, I hope they will think about what they have read in other ways besides pleasure. I believe it’s crucial that we as Christians understand why we are here and what our place is in the overall plan of God. It is my hope that Arena will stimulate readers to consider how their own lives fit into that bigger picture. Specifically, I hope they will gain or be moved to seek greater understanding of the invisible conflict in which we are all enmeshed and how God’s purposes for us are tied to that conflict.

    Who are your influences, sources of inspiration or favorite authors / artists?  For Arena itself -- The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, the Bible, video games, my husband’s many strange adventures, my own adventures, various science fiction and fantasy novels . . . well, basically my life, including everything I’ve read and watched until I finished writing the book. I invite you to check out the Arena Scrapbook section at my website for selected particulars, including photos.

    Anything else you'd like readers / listeners to know:   A writer friend, curious about my experience in the process of bringing Arena to print asked how many times I had to go through it in response to editorial comments, and didn’t I get tired of the story? I went through it maybe two times in the editorial process, but many more times prior to that. And no, I have to say I never got tired of the story. I consider Arena to be first and foremost the Lord's gift to me. I still enjoy reading it, still get caught up in the story, and my favorite parts still give me a little thrill. Sometimes it really seems as if it’s someone else’s book, entirely! I hope you will gain as much pleasure from it as I have. If you’d like to receive some free bookmarks to hand out to friends (or just for yourself) or an autographed, stick-on label, please ask for them at my website (www.kmhancock.com) Thanks for reading!

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