Cathe Swanson's Blog, page 14

What is Christian Fiction?

What qualifies a book as Christian Fiction?

We all know that our first responsibility in this world is to glorify God. Whether we eat or drink or whatever we do – including writing! – we should do it all to the glory of God.  Therefore, all “Christian fiction” in every genre should glorify God.  That is true and simple, right? No, it’s true and it’s complex.

Ever since the Christian market grew beyond Amish romances and sweet prairie mail order brides, there is an ever-cycling argument about what kinds of language and situations are permissible in Christian fiction.

Although I occasionally enjoy an Amish romance, I am mostly interested in police mysteries/political thrillers and romantic suspense, and those genres are more likely to be set “in the world.”  I live in that world, but I am still a Christian reader. Personal convictions vary, and personally, I lean toward prudery – I do not want to be shown the nakedness or sexual activities, conversation and thoughts of other people. A skilled writer can write (ahem) physically-charged scenes without gloating over the details or making me a voyeur. I don’t want to read blasphemous or vulgar dialog. A good writer can show a powerful conversation between unsaved and/or angry characters without having to tell me which bad words were used.

Hollywood Ratings

Maybe fiction that is specifically marketed to a Christian audience should come with the kind of rating labels we see on TV shows, movies and video games: G, PG, PG13, R, M with the separate content factors of violence, drug use, profanity, degrees of sexual content/nudity, etc. , so readers could make informed decisions about their own reading preferences and the Christian fiction industry wouldn’t have to worry about uniform guidelines and lists of forbidden words.

“Christian fiction” can be about people with sinful pasts or in challenging situations. It can address difficult marriages, poverty, crime and sin, fame and success, business, social justice issues and other tough subjects.  It doesn’t have to have a warm and fuzzy pink bunny ending. Some of the characters might even have tattoos or piercings or – gasp! – ride Harleys.  But if you are a Christian and a writer, your work must glorify God according to His Word.

Write in the World

If a Christian writer really wants to push past the limiting industry parameters, in an effort to represent the secular world in all its dirt, why not bring a few characters with a Christian worldview into mainstream fiction? Write a story without an evangelical message but with ordinary, genuine believers living in the real world and still committed to glorifying God and living according to His Word.  Write about sincere Christians who are imperfect and sin but are not willing to wallow in their sins, either. There are millions of us out here.

Who Gets to Define Christianity?

Almost all portrayals of Christian characters in mainstream fiction are extremes. In general, they turn out to be deceitful and particularly slimy villains. The depicted churches are not real churches but rather hateful cults or ineffective associations of people. In other words, non-Christian authors are the ones defining Christianity for their readers: “This is how Christians are and this is what the Church looks like.” Christian authors are afraid to speak into that stereotype, worried they will be accused of lying, preaching or creating a Pollyanna world.

How often do you see a sincere Christian man – one who loves the Lord before all else – as a fictional character? A Christian homeschooling family that raises productive, intelligent children? Missionaries who do practical good works as well as their spiritual work? A Christian woman who is kind and honors her husband without making her a victim and him a bully? Priests who aren’t pedophiles?  A pastor who isn’t a cult leader?  When did you last read about honest Christians who sin, repent and try to do better the next time? All of these characters are very common in this world and almost unheard of in mainstream fiction.  Do you want to write realistic books? Then include realistic Christians, because there are a lot of us out here!

A skilled Christian author could write these mainstream fiction books. That would indeed glorify God.

In the meantime, maybe we should look into using those Hollywood ratings.

Save

Save

Save

The post What is Christian Fiction? appeared first on Cathe Swanson.

Miranda Warning – An Audiobook Review

I just finished reading Miranda Warning (A Murder in the Mountains – Book One) by Heather Day Gilbert. I thought it would be a straightforward mystery, but it turned out to be a multi-faceted introduction to what I expect will be a long series.

NOTE – This kindle book is FREE on Amazon right now, and when you buy it (for FREE), you can get the audible version for $1.99.  I highly recommend it, and I think you will want to follow up with the next in the series, “Trial by Twelve.”

The author has created a refreshingly original world. I wouldn’t classify the book as “Christian Fiction.” Instead, Ms. Gilbert writes from a Christian worldview, and her setting includes a realistic mix of Christians and nonbelievers in community. None of them are perfect, and they live naturally according to their convictions. The heroine is a unique character. She bears some scars from a dysfunctional childhood, but she went to college, married into a healthy family and doesn’t wallow in angst. As a mother-in-law, I was pleased to see the loving relationship between Tess and Nikki Jo. The politically conservative characters are portrayed as intelligent and sensible instead of rednecks or greedy industrialists. They have guns but aren’t violent. A young boy is allowed to be an ordinary young boy who enjoys his family. An older woman is sometimes lucid and sometimes vague. Tess’s husband, Thomas, is allowed to be grouchy and jealous sometimes without being a bully. He is macho and vulnerable. She is vulnerable, too, but also willful and sometimes intrepid. And she doesn’t hide (too many) things from her husband; she can be foolhardy and she has common sense. On these and several other points, Ms. Gilbert succeeds in breaking free of stereotypes. Refreshing!

There were some inconsistencies that struck me as jarring: Miranda initiated the whole mystery and then became disinterested. The doctor was too accommodating, too fast. Why didn’t Tess have a concealed carry permit? Axel provided insight to Thomas’s character and feelings for Tess, but he seemed extraneous otherwise. He felt like a subplot that never developed, and then he left the country to tie up the loose end. Rosemary’s actions were odd. The friendship with Charlotte happened too quickly and conveniently. The ending felt rushed. And yet, it was still an engrossing story. I wonder if the book was originally much longer and then cut back to meet modern publishing standards.

The author’s creativity and skill were displayed in the two parallel story lines that linked all of the characters. Rose’s story unfolded slowly, changing our perceptions of each character with every installment. THAT was superbly written.

 

Trial by Twelve, the second book in this series, features the same characters two years later and is more of a murder mystery than this one. I look forward to reading it soon!

 

 

 

I had purchased Miranda Warning in kindle form and was already reading it when the author approached me with an offer of a free audiobook in exchange for an honest review.  It was nice to have both formats. The reader did a very good job, but of the two formats, I preferred the text book.  The first-person, present tense style sounds a little dreamy and “stream of consciousness” when it’s read aloud.

There are quite a few female characters in the book, and the reader was consistent and distinct in each voice. She had to create separate young and old voices for three of the characters, since there are separate timeline passages, and she did great with that. She also did the child’s voice quite well. The Appalachian dialect was just right – not overdone. 

This kindle book is FREE right now on Amazon, and the Miranda Warning audiobook is only $1.99.  That’s $2 for 8 1/2 hours of entertainment!!

The post Miranda Warning – An Audiobook Review appeared first on Cathe Swanson.

Life in the Castle

My family and I have always lived in rural – some remote – places,  but we made the difficult decision to move to town ten years ago, when the two youngest boys were finishing high school, in college, working and active in our church and community. My husband was working in the city, too. When we did the math, we realized that the four of us were driving a combined total of 1000 miles per week. We moved to town.

They dragged me, kicking and screaming and sulking, away from the farm with my chickens and goats to a lovely Victorian farmhouse in a very nice part of Burlington. There was no space outside; it was on a corner lot, and there was a parking lot on the other two sides of it, but it was a beautiful place, big enough for our ever-changing family and frequent houseguests. I hosted a ladies’ Bible study, and there was room for all of their little ones to run around and play while we studied.  I had a large sewing studio and office, four bedrooms, a living room and dining room, a sitting room off the master bedroom, a large attic and basement, two bathrooms and a big kitchen. We lived there for ten years, and even though it was a rental, it felt like my own. We took care of it and decorated (and redecorated) it with the seasons and our changing lives. I thanked God every day for that house, and I always asked him to help me hold it loosely, because I did not want it to become an idol to me.

And then, after ten years, we had to leave it. And guess what… I realized that it had become an idol to me, at least a little bit! Because it was unexpected, and we had become complacent there, we weren’t sure what to do. In the end, without any other options, we moved to staff housing on the 1000-acre campus of my husband’s workplace, in the country,  very private. We have the downstairs apartment in a (pseudo) Tudor castle. It has a large kitchen and living room, and a laundry room, but it only has one bedroom and one bathroom (accessible only through that bedroom). Right now we have a lot of our life’s “stuff” in storage and I still feel crowded. There are two apartments upstairs, and a guest apartment across the foyer from us, which can be used for those frequent houseguests. No sewing room!

The castle was built around 1926, at least twenty years younger than our house in town, but the architects went to great trouble to make it as authentic as possible. It’s a maze of doors and rooms and open spaces, a basement and the third floor which is currently uninhabited. It’s even more confusing now, after it was cut up into apartments. There are servants’ quarters, a dumbwaiter that goes from the attics to the basement, plenty of fireplaces, chutes for laundry and coal and garbage and fireplace ash. There’s a bell-pull/intercom system.  There was originally a tower and also a 3-story conservatory wing that fell into disrepair and were torn down. Our attached garage has lead-paned bay windows that match the rest of the house.

A writer friend came over to help me clean before we moved in, and the two of us explored the unoccupied parts of the castle. It was fascinating and a little spooky. The upstairs rooms are tiny, probably for the serfs, but they have a much nicer bathroom than I do! Becky and I agreed that this was the perfect place for me to write. How could I fail to find inspiration here? Besides, I have no sewing room.

The problem is, I am really only inspired to go outside. The setting is incredibly beautiful. Ninety years ago, someone created formal and informal gardens and paths, fish ponds, and special places. It has an iron fence around it and pillars at the start of the driveway. The first owner kept a pet bear in a den just outside the grounds. There is the shell of an in-ground swimming pool. The rock well is completely filled in, safe for the grandchildren! There is an archery target, a fire pit, a deck where the conservatory used to be. Flagstone paths meander in odd places, sometimes ending abruptly for no apparent reason.  There are a wide variety of deliberately-planted trees and shrubs.

Some residents, over time, have made efforts to restore the landscape, but some of it has gone wild. I enjoy watching birds, so I’ve had my binoculars and field guide out every day, watching the overgrown yew shrub community outside my living room window. It was once a garden spot, but I don’t plan to disrupt that habitat. Instead, I put a little rock house in it. In fact, I plan to add whimsy with fairy gardens and other accents all over the grounds. No gnomes, though.

I have a fine writing place here in the sunroom end of the livingroom, but I might need to move my computer to the kitchen table instead, because I can’t concentrate on writing with a view like this. I overlook the fish-pond-turned-garden and well, with their rock path and peonies. The symphony of birdsong calls to me. There is a gingko tree on the left and this giant horse chestnut tree in front of me. I had never seen one of those before. I had my husband stand next to it, for perspective.

It’s hard to be further from our church and family members, but I no longer miss my house in town at all. I may feel confined in the winter, but right now I just want to be outdoors, planting and weeding and digging. Today, I planned to write for two hours and then reward myself with some time in the garden. Instead, I went outside and pulled all the deadwood from what was once a formal garden spot. I want to do something interesting there.

 

 

 

 

Before and after:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

God is more than just good to us. To say that his provision is abundant and lavish is an understatement. Like David, I can say that my boundaries have always fallen in pleasant places. I certainly don’t deserve a home like this, in the kind of setting I love most. It’s all grace and love, poured out on me.  That knowledge keeps me humble. My current book is a Christmas novella set mostly in a Chicago homeless shelter.  I’m writing about people trapped in poverty, in the winter in a big scary city.  And God has set me here, in this jewel of a place.

I hear it’s going to rain next week, but we are having houseguests. Don’t worry… I will make writing a priority soon. I just want to revel in this gift for a while.

 

The post Life in the Castle appeared first on Cathe Swanson.

Bite Size Book Reviews

I’m not feeling romantic this week. When I am stressed, instead of reaching for something lighthearted, I usually pick up a mystery or (slightly)romantic suspense novel. We moved two weeks ago, unexpectedly, and I listened to audiobooks while I worked on packing and cleaning.  When in Rome is an old favorite, and I always enjoy Kristen Heitzmann, but the others were new to me.

Dangerous Passage by Lisa Harris is a FREE KINDLE BOOK! (Price may change without notice, but it’s free right now!)

We are starting to settle into our new home – did I mention that it is an apartment in a Tudor castle? – but I’m still not ready to snuggle up with a romance. Expect more murder and violence next week…

When in Rome, audiobook by Ngaio Marsh, read by Nadia May

Retro Read! This classic detective story from 1969 is an old favorite. Ms. Marsh writes so clearly that the reader experiences the story more like a movie than a book. She researched Rome, its history and its legal system for this tale of blackmail and drug smuggling. Her characters are varied, each drawn with realistic attitudes and behaviors, and each has his or her own motive for murder.

 

 

 

 

~ FREE KINDLE BOOK ~

Dangerous Passage, kindle book by Lisa Harris

This book was different in that the romantic relationship is already in place at the start of the story, and the hero is a medical examiner, which places him in the criminal investigation field without having him be a police officer. The complexities of the heroine’s family life added depth to this story of human trafficking. The author has set the stage for a series, and I look forward to reading the others.

 

 

 

The Edge of Recall, audiobook by Kristen Heitzmann, read by Katherine Kellgrenn

Kristen Heitzmann writes complex stories, and this is no exception. The heroine is still living with unresolved trauma, which makes her a bit frustrating, but the hero and his sidekick are enjoyable. The plot is – as always in Ms. Heitzmann’s books – original and well-researched. I learned a lot about labyrinths! The ending seemed rushed and too “pat” for such a rich story.

 

 

 

The Patmos Deception, audiobook by Davis Bunn, read by Rich Orlow

Good writing, great setting, unique characters, cultural and political authenticity, intriguing history… that made up for the fact that the plot was a little confusing and the ending was not quite an ending. I wondered if Bunn might be setting us up for a sequel. More suspense than romance – just the way I like my books.  I do recommend it.

 

 

and now for something completely different…

Opening Moves, audiobook by Steven James, read by Richard Ferrone

I picked this one up because my library had it listed as Christian fiction and it’s the prequel to a long suspense/thriller series. I am always looking for new authors and series.  It freaked me out. Cannibalism, torture, mutilation, violence – with descriptions of the emotions experienced by the villain and the victim as they happened.  I regret reading it. BUT – I understand the rest of the series isn’t as gruesome. The author has good writing skills, so if you enjoy this genre, give it a shot. It’s not Christian fiction, but there was very little to object to (aside from the brutality, sadism, etc.)

 

 

 

The post Bite Size Book Reviews appeared first on Cathe Swanson.