Tag Archives: Christian fiction

Writing Journey in Thy Dross to Consume

Mark Pacer, a U.S. diplomat raised in Mocking Bird, Georgia, solves mysteries related to his profession. He is again the main character in Thy Dross to Consume, the fifth novel of the series.

An older American man lies in a coma in a hospital in Cairo, Egypt. Mark, from the U.S. embassy, must find a next of kin to notify. The phone number in the man’s U.S. passport has been disconnected. No one, it seems, in the States or in Egypt knows who he is.

For Mark, suffering his own recent loss, the search for this man’s family becomes a pilgrimage.

That’s the plot in a nutshell: a mystery, changing relationships, and the old question of “why do the innocent suffer.”

Mark constantly struggles to reconcile his upbringing in a dysfunctional Appalachian church with his desire for a genuine faith.

A reviewer of one of my earlier books hit on a dilemma I face in marketing my writing. I’m not what is commonly called a “Christian” or “inspirational” writer.

I’m a Christian who writes.

If I say I’m a “Christian” writer, some take this to mean a certain type of literature. This genre is for Christians, often Christians who desire stories with strong “evangelical” themes. (Though I find the term “evangelical” unhelpful these days. It has become political, not simply related to spreading good news.)

This is not to denigrate those firmly set in the “Christian” market. I don’t write science fiction, but I certainly consider science fiction a legitimate genre.

I’ve decided, I write fiction for Christians, as well as other spiritually attuned, who don’t normally read “Christian” fiction.

Literature’s Divorce Between Secular and Religious

 

Today’s literature tends to be divided, like much of our culture, between secular and religious. The two types usually are marketed to different audiences. Religious fiction may be Jewish or Buddhist or from another religion, of course, but the Christian market has grown remarkably over the past few decades.

In a desire to reach secular readers, writers for the Christian market now explore “crossover” fiction, fiction that may appeal to both audiences. Crossover novels often suggest Christian themes but lack overt references to Christian practices or mention them only in a general way.

As both a writer and a Christian, how much Christian flavor should I impart to my novels? The answer for me is that it’s not an issue. I simply write the story, present the characters as they come to me, and attempt an honest telling of the story.

The conflict in my stories, as in my novel Searching for Home, emerges as the characters work out their salvation in an America becoming less religious and a non-Western world becoming more religious. The stories place the characters in a global context. The characters see their lives as related to the larger world, often away from a domestic church-related venue.  They doubt, sometimes are cynical, and may discover less than full answers to their questions.

I am drawn to novels of authors like Marilynne Robinson, a Pulitzer Prize winner for her moving story about a Christian pastor. Though my writing in no way approaches her wonderful prose, authors such as Robinson give me hope that novels with Christian characters can join the secular literary world. My market, I believe, is the Christian aware of a level beyond strict domestic issues and perhaps a few seekers searching for hints of God beyond the secular.