Into the Fire

dissonance: 1.A harsh or disagreeable combination of sounds; discord 2.Want of agreement or consistency; disparity; variance

dissonant: 1.Harsh or inharmonious in sound; discordant 2.Disagreeing or at variance

(Both definitions exclude the musical components of defining the words.)

I confess to being the dissonant voice in the audience of Christian fiction. I have been "at variance" with a large portion of the proffered fare. The "clean and chaste" moniker attached to much of what is published in many of the genres can be so sanitized it stretches the word "fiction" to the enth degree – so much so as to be unreal.

We're all familiar with the accepted demographic of Christian publishing. And although those who constitute this group have so far supported the industry with their dollars, producing a profitable business for publishers, this group is restricted by its preferences for reading material.

It would seem to me that a business which relies on the fickle pleasures of an audience would be willing to take more chances in expanding that audience rather than catering to a distilled group which will inevitably evolve due to, if nothing else, aging of both authors and readers. There are no guarantees their replacements will step into their discarded shoes. At present, the mainline Christian publishing entities show no inclination or desire to create change, gradual or otherwise. In other words, readers who prefer a stouter and more "real" form of redemptive literature will scout their acquired favorite authors who dare to take chances with their work – and in rare instances are allowed to do so – and support them if they're allowed to remain in Christian publishing and even if they're not.

Those of us dissonant readers who are also writers of fiction will continue to create the kind of faith-containing stories we desire to read and select the only outlets available to us – if we can find them.

Father, you know the plans you have for us. Help us to walk behind you and allow you to lead us where you want us to go. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.