Into the Fire

Some readers want their stories short and simple. Others want them long and complex. Still others prefer a combination of these elements. Such as a novel of 100K words instead of 80K. Such as a novel with well-developed characters but without too much detail of their lives. Such as a novel with a fairly complex plot but with an overall simpler solution to the conflict(s).

Readers totally disagree with how this all computes between the covers of novels. Some like the Hemingway brand of sparse description and pure story. Others enjoy the endless rhetoric of William Faulkner. Some go for the darker writings of D. H. Lawrence and Gustave Flaubert. And others wallow in the melancholy of F. Scott Fitzgerald, the speed and imagination of Robert Liparulo, the depth and fear of Steven James, the sadness, humor, and beautiful prose of Sibella Giorello, the biblical concepts of Tosca Lee.

Me? I prefer long tomes with all kinds of characters, descriptions, scenes, emotional and spiritual depth, a realistic portrayal of the world, and the hope of glory. It can't be simple in its delivery, but the overall message is as simple as sin kills. Without a Savior there is no heaven.

There aren't a lot of them in Christian fiction, but there are some. What a pleasure when I find them.

Father, thank you for writers. There is so much to be found in stories told to bring life to pages. You are Life, Love, Truth, the Way. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.