Into the Fire

                                   by Brenda S. Anderson

 
I’ve been reading Christian fiction (defined by me as fiction marketed toward a Christian audience) nearing forty years now. For the majority of those forty years of reading, I’ve had multiple choices to pick from. My to-read list once was pages long, but now, it’s dwindled down to half a dozen books.

Unlike many long-time readers of Christian fiction (CF), I wasn’t introduced to CF with Christy by Catherine Marshall, but rather with a little-known series by John Benton. Benton’s young-adult books, published in the 70’s and early 80’s were centered around the rough sides of life: teen runaways, prostitution, mental illness, etc. I loved seeing God working miracles in those broken lives.

Today, my reading habits haven’t changed much. Give me stories about broken, messy lives, and I’ll read about God at work. Love it! The problem is, finding those stories is getting tougher. Ginny Yttrup writes them, but after her publisher closed their fiction line, she went indie. Kellie Coates Gilbert’s Mother of Pearl was very gritty, and her Texas Gold series isn’t your typical Christian fiction. But finding other authors like Ytrrup and Gilbert is tough.

It’s no secret that the genre choices for Christian fiction has narrowed dramatically in the last few years. With a few exceptions, the stories are romance-centered and don’t deal with harsh realities. There’s nothing wrong with those stories—the problem lies with finding little to choose from beyond light romance. Gifted authors such as Athol Dickson, Lisa Samson, Tim Downs, and J. Mark Bertrand are no longer putting out novels, and that’s a shame. And I could name a dozen additional authors who no longer write.

A big reason for this shift has been monetary, and that does make sense. Publishers are in a for-profit business, and when your audience is buying historical romance and Amish, that’s what you put out. The problem is, that’s all that was put out. Okay, maybe saying “all” is stretching a bit as there are rare exceptions, but if you go to your local Christian bookstore—if you have one around anymore—the majority of the shelf space is taken up by light reading. A quick glance at what’s coming up on the Family Fiction website (http://www.familyfiction.com/books/) shows we’re still going to be treated to a glut of Amish, historical romance, and light romance, with a few romantic-suspense thrown in for taste. On Relz Reviews (http://relzreviewz.com/), do a search for publishers by name to see what’s ahead for spring of 2016. You won’t be surprised by what you find.

Enclave Publishing is striving to change the view of Christian fiction with their Christian fantasy and science fiction line, especially as science fiction and fantasy is huge in the general market, but it’s been a struggle getting their target market to notice them.

What the narrow focus has accomplished is turning off readers who look for something different.

Will this trend continue? I’m not an analyst, so I can’t give a scientific answer, but as a Christian fiction reader who seldom shops at Christian bookstores anymore, I think if the trend does eventually shift to a wider focus, by then the readers will be long gone.

So, what’s a reader to do who enjoys Christian or clean fiction, but wants something different than what’s offered? I see a couple of options: general market fiction or independently-published fiction. Both options involve a lot of digging.

In the general market, a couple of crossover authors come to mind: Charles Martin and Steven James. Both authors write captivating stories without compromising their beliefs, yet they’ve been successful. This year I’ve seen a couple Christian fiction authors try their hand at writing for the general market, and both have succeeded at turning off some of their previous readers with claims of not being Christian enough.  Lady Maybe by Julie Klassen (published by Berkley instead of her usual Bethany House) has been met with a lot of hostility from Christian readers saying it’s too worldly, that there’s a scene that reveals way too much. Well, I read Lady Maybe and found it quite innocent. Then there’s Ginny Yttrups’ Flames, an excellent indie book written for the general market. Flames has also met with resistance because it isn’t boldly Christian, rather it’s more of a parable—people tend to forget that Jesus told parables.

Beyond James, Martin, Klassen, and Yttrup, I’ve discovered few authors in the general market that deliver *clean* fiction. Not to say those authors aren’t out there, I just haven’t found them yet.

If you really want variety, take a chance on indie-published books, but like the general market, you have to wade through a sea of inferior product to find the gems. I know of a few Christian fiction authors who have found success in the indie world by putting out a quality product. Heather Day Gilbert has done very well with her Murder in the Mountains series and with God’s Daughter, a Viking saga. Sally Bradley’s Kept has become a fixture in the Top 20 in several Amazon categories, even a year after its release. Don and Stephanie Prichard’s Stranded has accumulated nearly 700 reviews in just eleven months! I recently discovered Tom Hilpert’s Lake Superior Mysteries, which I loved. And, of course, Nicole Petrino-Salter’s books are far from your typical CF fare!

The fact is, whether you’re looking for clean fiction in the general market, or quality fiction in the indie market, you have to do a lot of digging to find it. But both venues provide the variety readers are hungry for.

So, is Christian fiction dying? Maybe not, but it certainly needs to be resuscitated, and that will only happen by becoming more diverse. Judging by what I’ve seen for 2016, we’re going to be treated to more of the same ol’ thing.

Father, Brenda's your daughter who you love deeply. Please let her know how her efforts in the kingdom are pleasing to you. Please meet her every need and continue to give her hope and determination to do as you ask. Bless and encourage her as only you can do. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.