It isn't going to happen – as far as I know – but if I ever wrote a non-fiction book, this would be the title:
Debunking the Bad Boy Myth
And I would follow it up with this title:
Good Guys Finishing First
So. There you have them.
Father, if only people knew your love for them . . . Everything would change. For the better. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
Over the years here on this blog we've examined all kinds of writing topics. I've asked authors and other professionals in the industry to define "Christian Fiction". I've asked the question regarding what different authors and insiders in the publishing industry desire to see change in Christian Fiction. Many answered anonymously because they held some trepidation about the overall responses from their "bosses" or colleagues in the biz. From the techniques, styles, POVs, voices, to even adverbs: we've talked about it here.
We've argued at times over who the "average reader" is, why I think it's possible writers can make lousy reviewers, and who defines quality in the art of writing.
Now over the last two days a romance novel has dredged up the conflict of what "should" and "shouldn't" be included in Christian Fiction. Again.
So I'm going to state my opinion on this matter (again), and I hope you'll have the time to contribute yours. The reason for this is because the public forum presented by the various online booksellers or social media for reviewing books of all kinds also gives voice to readers who write shrill, daggered, mean-spirited, and close-minded opinions of Christian novels. Hey, free speech, baby. Just because it's "free" doesn't make it right or well done. I'm going to address the Christian reviewers here.
In reality the only ones in publishing who decide the shoulds and should nots are the publishers. Most of them give a mission statement or have some sort of protocol for whatever they decide to publish. With most Christian publishers, they call it a mission statement. No matter how it's worded, chances are if they slip a story in there which contains the words or apparently a few of the activities mentioned in Becky Wade's novel, look out. The Christian Fiction Police are on the job and ready to arrest whoever's responsible for disappointing their senses of right and wrong, and what should be included in Christian Fiction and what should not according to their particular judgments, assessments, and evaluations of spiritual literature.
I'm weary of this brood. First of all it's not the decision of the reader what should or shouldn't be included in any novel. Although they're the ones who choose to purchase – or possibly receive a copy free for review – no one insists they finish a story they start and no one demands they enjoy it. I wish I had a dollar for every novel I didn't like. However, if I'm not reading it for review, I'll just file it under "a waste of time" and forget about it. If I'm obligated to review a novel I don't like, I'll certainly give my reasons but definitely not from the standpoint of determining its "fitness" for Christian Fiction. That ship has sailed, and I wish those who complain about the contents of novels "offending" them would dismount their high horses and just write that the story didn't meet their standards. The criticisms of Becky Wade's My Stubborn Heart appeared so graceless and shallow when the readers resorted to citing the poker playing, Yoga, word choices, and a casual date as unacceptable for Christian novels. This is precisely where the stereotypical, legalistic, holier-than-thou parodies originate. Their words remind me of "resounding gongs" and "clanging cymbals".
Understand that everyone's opinion can matter but doesn't necessarily. Reviewing novels quite honestly can reveal our weaknesses as individuals, as writers, and as Christians. The shoulds and shouldn'ts people invariably expose things about themselves better left hidden – or preferably addressed between them and God.
Thank you, Jesus. You gave it all for all of us. May we honor you with our words, thoughts, actions, and prayers. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
And so it is . . . Having jumped over to read the posted reviews at Amazon for Becky Wade's My Stubborn Heart, there were several readers who couldn't let the words I mentioned in my review yesterday pass without comment or criticism. "Not appropriate in a Christian novel" and the like appeared as predicted. Also complaints for the mention of Yoga workouts with warnings to research its origin, the observation of Halloween, Friday poker nights among old friends with a $5 limit ($5 is nothing, folks), the "hotness" of the hero noticed by the seventy-year-old women – like that kind of sight must be dead at 60 or maybe 50? Give me a break. If I hadn't expected it, I would've been flabbergasted, but, alas, it was more than predictable, it was a given. Which continues to disappoint me about some Christian readers.
Let's take poker first. The game of poker is a card game with multiple kinds of hands often selected by the dealer. Betting on the hand you've been dealt or acquire depending on the particular game can be done with money represented by chips, played with just chips, or other venues. Strategies, which include what is termed "poker faces", include bluffing by pretending not to have a great hand when you do or vice versa and/or not giving away anything by your expression. It's fun and harmless when played like those in this novel demonstrated. I completely missed the fact that some Christians would be offended by this example of "gambling" and card playing. Good grief. These are the same people who will play a mean game of Monopoly and bust every other player's stash to win. Or will play Battleship, Life, UNO, or you name it to compete and win a game.
Halloween next. No one hates Halloween more than me. I do. I hate it. Stripped down it celebrates evil. Period. I don't like so-called Harvest Parties or anything else used to placate kids wanting candy or a chance to "dress up" in costumes. Costume parties are available year 'round if you like. So, do we have that straight? However, there is no more than a peripheral Halloween "event" in this novel. Get over it.
The older generation noticing and commenting on a hot guy. Geez. Hellooo! I hope these women who were offended by the older ladies in this novel recognizing the hunkiness of the hero realize how foolish they sound when they gain some years themselves. If they were older women who made these comments, I don't know what to say other than I wonder if they think their husbands don't notice a good looking woman of a younger age. We're not talking vulgarity here. We're talking reality.
Yoga classes. Yes, most people know the background of Yoga. How 'bout Martial Arts? Or any other thing originated within pagan cultures? Some Yoga is absurd and the philosophy behind it is errant. However, some good exercises can be pulled from the collection without embracing the mindset behind them. Did the readers of this novel really feel like Yoga was being endorsed or pushed from its pages?
And, of course, the use of the words I mentioned in my review raised the eyebrows, ire, and hackles of some readers which prompted them to state with authority they were "inappropriate for a Christian novel".
Oh and one more. One reader was offended when the heroine went on a couple dates with an attractive, flirty guy. Keep in mind this heroine is a 31 year old virgin who is a faithful Christian and knows she wants a committed relationship and marriage with a Christian man. She goes out with this guy because he's fun. She has no lurid intentions and trusts she can handle him. He makes no ugly moves on her and recognizes her attraction to him is limited.
Heavy sighs.
I know some readers have a very low threshold for "offensive" language and other possibilities included in some novels. I can appreciate that to a degree. However, stating in a review what you prefer reading is not the same as making a doctrine out of what should and shouldn't appear in a novel. Why must some Christian readers assume their opinions rank higher on the holy meter in establishing what's "acceptable" in Christian Fiction? One reader excused her criticisms by stating she was probably more "conservative" than other readers. Frankly, this isn't really the case and gives "conservative" a bad connotation.
What really stands out here is the severe legalism involved in the judging of Christian Fiction. For readers to be offended and disappointed by these examples in this story smacks of doctrines without grace for those who walk in different stages of Christian life and development. The list of qualifications to pass the muster of these readers requires a glossy observance of strict conduct by characters who walk an intolerant line in life, rarely engaging in the playful, the frustrating, the hopeless, the romantic, the unmapped aspects of living outside a binding religion. Frankly, I find these legalistic opinions offensive way above what was included realistically in this very inoffensive romance.
The final question I'm asking myself is this: Is this really the dogmatic demographic to whom Christian Fiction desires to cater?
Father, in your loving kindness please minister to us all. We're all desperate for you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
My Stubborn Heart by Becky Wade, published by Bethany House, is my final May review for the CFBA Tour and what a way to close it out. It's a rare time, as those who follow me here know, that I can rave about a CBA romance novel. As much as I love romance, that's a sad commentary on the genre in general. However, even though My Stubborn Heart is officially a romance novel in that it follows the formula for such stories, Becky Wade has breathed fresh life into a tried - and/or tired - and true format. My Stubborn Heart touched mine.
Antique-lover Kate Donovan lives and works in social services for child placement in Dallas, Texas. Heartbreak has overridden her enthusiasm so she's grateful for the three months away she gets to spend with her grandmother in Redbud, Pennsylvania, restoring the grand old home where her "Gran" grew up. Weary of the "still-single-at 31" stigma, she wonders if God will ever provide the right man for her.
Shortly upon arrival, Gran introduces her to the contractor hired to renovate the house. Matt Jarreau has little to say, but Kate is nearly paralyzed with attraction to the guy whose eyes telegraph some kind of sorrow while his demeanor shouts "No Admittance" to his personal life. Matt determines to work alone and Kate decides she's going to penetrate that steel façade and make a friend out of him because he's a solid challenge to her stubborn heart. When she and Gran learn his history, a new perspective accompanies the information.
Kate and Gran go to work on sifting through all the decades of stuff in the house while Matt labors over each room in stony silence. When Kate "helps" him paint her attic bedroom, Matt senses she's not going to respond to his stay-away looks and parsed words. Day after day she works her way into stunted conversations with him while Gran invites him to stay for dinner every night after work, and every night he refuses until one night he accepts and berates himself for yielding right up until he's in the kitchen getting coerced cooking lessons from Gran.
Okay, we all know how it's gonna end. However, the walk-through of this relationship is at times comical, always emotional, heartbreaking, and fully entertaining. The sub-plots and peripheral characters offer clever and meaningful variety to the fleshed out Kate and Matt. With the struggles elevated by the faithful Kate and the faithless, angry Matt, we observe the depth of their individual conflicts and accumulated personal pain.
The sub-themes of what's required in faith, of worthiness, of forgiveness, of obedience – they're all there, sometimes subtle, sometimes not – but well done.
For those readers of Christian fiction who've wanted a little more reality in the language department, Becky dares to use the following words (which will no doubt raise the hackles of those readers who pass judgment on these kinds of things): boobs, balls (as in male body parts), crap, pissed. Only once for some of them and at, dare I say, the opportune moments? Really. And this from Bethany House! Ay, ay, ay. Not for shock value but for poignant moments and character-fitting verbiage. Authenticity. The way it should be done in this kind of story.
My one nit-picky criticism is the cover. I wish they would've done the top half like the bottom half just showing part of Kate's face because the cover rendition doesn't fit the girl inside the pages . . .
There's some great writing in My Stubborn Heart. Becky fluctuates between Kate's and Matt's POVs and thoughts and nails their personalities. I love the way the final conflict is resolved. The man's man that Matt is would do it this way. If you want to read a truly good romance novel with heart, skilled writing, and a Prologue and Epilogue which will remind you of the film Chocolat, My Stubborn Heart by Becky Wade is the book for you. Thoroughly recommended.
http://litfusegroup.com/blogtours/13491775/beckywade
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764209744
Father, you know the romance you put in Becky's heart and the talent you've given her to convey it. Please continue to bless that heart and give her those love stories you've designed just for her to tell. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her.
Proverbs 31:28 (NIV)
I've wracked (and racked) my brain trying to discover why the "liberal left" believes what they do. I've concluded it's because they don't want to feel guilty about anything. They want to appear "open-minded" and able to thoughtfully discuss and respond to all kinds of issues. They want to champion the causes of people in general and consider themselves humanitarians at every opportunity to "save" or look out for people. In order to do this they must regulate everyone's thinking and practices to produce a uniform and "productive" herd who will eventually participate in their particular kind of utopia. They perceive themselves as the purveryors of benevolence, providing it doesn't require too much from their personal means.
This kind of thinking is godless. It relies first and foremost upon mankind's ability to engineer perfection. This kind of thinking is elitist. It relies first on a select few keen minds to process the herd and convert them to accepting that these few know the answers to a good way of life. This kind of thinking is coercive. It relies first on the persuasive concert of voices to permeate the minds of needy individuals into becoming dependent and relinquishing all claims to sharing and promoting individual accomplishments. This kind of thinking is greed and power in play. It desires the power to control and manage the lives of others and justifies the enormous personal gains being in charge generates. This kind of thinking is arrogant. It demands all of those who are less "intelligent" obey their "higher" level of thinking, managing, and operating of others' lives and funds because the elevated status of the few deserves the respect and honor of the herd.
So what exactly is "liberal" about godless, elitist, coercive, greedy, powerful, arrogant, and dominating people? The original definition of the word includes "free". There's nothing freeing in the current liberal-mindset. No. Their desire is to control the lives of others, to eliminate all boundaries to human decency, to create tolerance, to engineer peace, and to eliminate their personal accountability. None of which is available to us in a fallen world where every one of us is subject to sinful ideas, thoughts, and deeds on a daily basis. No one can eliminate that. Not politicians or dictators. Only One can forgive our horrendous, appalling conduct. He paid the price for it, and it's available. But not acceptable to those who see themselves as mini-gods because they see no need for the recognition or acknowledgement of sin and because of this: no need for being excused or forgiven.
You want true liberality, freedom?
. . . Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:32 (NIV)
Hey, I'm all for nursing babies. Not for bare-breasted in public feedings so that any and all can see and hear the slurping, sucking sounds of hungry infants. But if you've seen the upcoming cover of TIME magazine, this is just not right. I don't care. It's. Just. Not. Right. No. That's no "toddler".
It's your life. Raise your family how you choose. But public viewings of oversized kids sucking on your breast? Please don't.
Father, I'm desperate for you. In the Name of Jesus.
If you can watch this without bawling, you're a bigger person than me – or maybe smaller . . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihGCj5mfCk8&sns=fb
God, your heart must weep, but your joy knows who will come to you. Who you will take home to the place where suffering is no more. Your arms extended, your heart immense and unfathomable, beyond belief and into the known. I pray your mercy for all who suffer. Let them feel, understand, and know your Love. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
The third book in the CFBA Tour for May is Dani Pettrey's debut novel Submerged, Book One in the Alaskan Courage Series, published by Bethany House. You can learn more about Dani here.
Bailey Craig forces herself to return to the place she never hoped to see again but must because of the plane crash which resulted in the tragic deaths of her Aunt Agnes, the local pilot, and a few other mysterious people. Cole McKenna is involved in the search for survivors in the local waters of his hometown of Yancey, Alaska, where Agnes operated the Russian/Alaskan Trading Post, a museum-like fixture with her living quarters upstairs from the retail part of the building. Bailey Craig lived with her beloved aunt as a teen after her mother dropped her off to live with Agnes. Bailey and Cole have a history that ended badly because of Bailey's search for a cure to her loneliness and abandonment issues. Now a Christian and a Russian History professor at the University of Oregon, Bailey dreads her return to Yancey because of her conduct as a teen. The old nickname of "Easy Lay Bay" taunts her as she steps off the ferry to head to the Post on Tariuk Island.
Cole McKenna is the hunk who does it all. He and his siblings operate their deceased parents' business designed around the local sports of diving, fishing, and anything else which requires the equipment to do it. When he sees Bailey for the first time since high school, he's forced to realize she never left his broken heart and asks God to take away that burning attraction he still feels when he assumes it's not reciprocated.
When the value of local Russian history becomes the focal point of murders in this small tourist town, significant factors point to what Agnes knew got her and the others killed. Bailey becomes necessary to the investigation and her plans to overlook the remaining love she still holds for Cole and jet out of town after settling her aunt's estate evaporate and are replaced by the drive to capture whoever killed her aunt.
Submerged is a good story with well-researched information supplied throughout the hunt. Incorporating diving, police work, historical data, and the importance of family relationships, forgiveness, and the recognition of love, Dani Pettrey created an entertaining and visual story which is sure to offer further books centered on members – and friends like members – of the McKenna family.
One of the strengths of this story is the portrayal of Bailey Craig. Women who've never chosen the route that Bailey took in her teens can't understand the issues which drive young girls to choose the self-destructive paths. Dani handles Bailey's thoughts and memories with skill and compassion. Many like Bailey – even after receiving Christ's forgiveness – can't assimilate it without the tenderness of someone willing to show them how God's love truly works.
The only reason I'm going to mention what I consider the weaknesses of this novel is because I think Dani Pettrey has talent and many more stories to tell. I will preface my comments with "this is only my opinion". So. Here we go. Bailey and Cole are close to 30 years old, have attained respect and success in their individual careers, yet they can't seem to communicate their real feelings to each other. In today's world where everything is kind of in your face, I don't find this particularly believable. It's like they never graduated emotionally from their juvenile high school behaviors. Secondly, there is an abundance of heart "lurching, thudding, stuck in his/her throat, etc." clichéd language which after a point gets old. The tension, be it romantic or suspenseful, and terror can be evident without excessive "heart" demonstrations and palpatations. Occasionally the dialogue needed contractions rather than the less conversational (for example) "It is" or "I am".
Submerged by Dani Pettrey is a decent debut effort, and I'm sure Dani's readers will look forward to the continuation of stories about the McKenna siblings and friends in Book Two of the Alaskan Courage Series. Those who enjoyed Alton Gansky's adventure stories but with an extra dose of romance will like Dani Pettrey's Submerged.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ 0764209825
Father, you know Dani's heart and soul. Help her to continue to create the stories you have for her to tell. Bless her in the process of honoring you with what she writes. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
. . . if I could. It's not that I absolutely want to do these things. In fact, I've done them already in my lifetime. They offered pleasure for the moments of indulging them. Not so much afterward.
So I say whimsically, I would do the following things if they weren't harmful to me. It's just that they are – and were. So that's that really.
However, the real reason I don't do them is because they would not be pleasing to the Lord. If I did them, I would be in direct disobedience to Him. And they just aren't worth it. Not even a little.
But here they are anyway because I'm feeling a bit "confessionary". Is that a word?
I'd smoke. I know. I know. I haven't had a cigarette since 1977. Some of you weren't even alive then. That's when I quit. I was skinny when I smoked. However, no doubt I feel much better being a non-smoker.
I'd have a drink now and then with the stipulation I wouldn't ever feel even slightly drunk. Been there, done that. Don't want it.
So what would you do – if you could? Anyone else feeling "confessionary"?
Father, thank you for your instructions to me and your protection of me. Thank you for your rescue, Jesus. Thank you for your divine revelation, Holy Spirit. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
