Into the Fire

There are multiple reasons Christian Fiction is a genre, that it exploded into making its way in the publishing business because readers dared to read it. Some never will. Mention "Christian" associated with a novel – or any book for that matter – and there is instant rejection of the possibility of them ever reading "those" books. And authors, please don't kid yourself. Disguising the genre and not calling yourself a Christian fiction writer won't change their resistance and will actually make some of them angry if the "God-message" is too pungent. They will feel like you "tricked" them into reading that Jesus stuff. 

My opinion is that Frank Peretti had a huge impact in bringing attention to the genre. This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness were a magnificent and powerful introduction to Christian fiction. Another author who hit it so far out of the park with her first effort in Christian fiction with Redeeming Love is Francine Rivers. Other Christian novelists preceded them, but these two in particular brought the publishing spotlight to the genre. 

Since their first bold endeavors, both authors continued to write bestsellers, and a plethora of other Christian authors entered the publishing fray. 

One thing that surfaced in the course of developing Christian fiction – and we've talked about it incessantly here – is the restrictive requirements demanded by certain Christian publishing houses. Author Brenda S. Anderson (and others) and I agree these restrictions haven't helped the genre and at times have caused damage which resulted in enabling a new generation of "indie" and/or self-publishing Christian authors who needed to write from a broader spectrum (myself included).

Another drawback has been the reluctance by these publishing houses to include certain genres (i.e. fantasy, sci-fi) in any quantity when these kinds of novels were flooding the general market. The repeated excuses stated that these genres don't sell in Christian fiction. I'm inclined to think that some of their readers loudly objected to these "unspiritual" types of fiction and spooked certain publishers who became unwilling to venture into those genres risking the alienation (pardon the pun) of their devoted and staid readership.

Just my thoughts on this Thursday . . . nothing new really. 

Father, you know the end from the beginning. You see all hearts. Help me to keep mine set upon you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.