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Any other Christians here?

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writergirl

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Hi everyone! I'm new to the forum, and as I write contemporary Christian fiction, I would love to connect with any other Christian readers or writers. :)
 
Hi everyone, thanks for all the replies! :)

Wikipedia defines Christian fiction as: "any novel that expounds and illustrates a Christian world view in its plot, its characters, or both, or which deals with Christian themes in a positive way."

Some mainstream novels fit that definition, and could be classified as Christian fiction. 'Christian fiction' is also a genre, which has become increasingly popular in America. The 'Left Behind' series is an example. Here there is a Christian Booksellers Association (CBA) and publishing houses that publish Christian fiction exclusively (some examples: Bethany House, Tyndale, Thomas Nelson). Random House also has a division called Waterbrook that publishes Christian fiction.

When I say 'contemporary', I mean as opposed to 'historical'. There is a lot of historical Christian fiction out there, which is not my cup of tea personally. A few contemporary Christian fiction novels that I've enjoyed and would recommend:

Uncharted by Angela Hunt
Color the Sidewalk for Me by Brandilyn Collins
Like Dandelion Dust by Karen Kingsbury
Hangman's Curse by Frank Peretti

Saliotthomas, you're right that these books don't include graphic descriptions of sex, but some of them do include violence. Frank Peretti (and Ted Dekker) actually write 'Christian horror' novels.

Disenthral, I read The Shack too, and didn't care for it much either. ;)

Thanks again for replying...I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you, and having some good book discussions. :)
 
I guess you can call me a Christian, even though I just recently gave up on the Catholic Church-Blah! too much political BS if you ask me. I guess I would say I'm still a believer though.

However, I don't care much for Christian fiction and any kind of religious fiction or non-fiction and certainly NOT Christian rock/music of any kind, unless if you count Bono....HAHA!
 
Isabell said:
I guess you can call me a Christian, even though I just recently gave up on the Catholic Church-Blah! too much political BS if you ask me. I guess I would say I'm still a believer though.
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I'm right there with you, Isabell. First I was a lapsed Catholic, then I became a lapsed Epicopalian, then I lapsed right out one of those rock-n-roll churches. My problem seems to be a healthy distrust of the very human beings that make up organized religion. I saw so much hypocrisy and heard alot of double talk. I gave up.

But I do believe. It's a start.

As for contemp Christian fiction I would say I don't avoid it nor seek it. I want to read good books. I will say I enjoyed Jan Karon who I first think of as a "cozy" writer but I would guess she qualifies. Nice, peaceful stories.:flowers:
 
saliotthomas said:
A book with no sex and violence ?
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Farthest answer from the truth. Any reader of Ted Dekker knows that Christian fiction does not equal boring, "clean" writing. True, you'll probably not find as much profanity and explicitness in most Christian writing, but we all know those things do not make a better book make, only when they help the story. (Sorry, I know you said this kind of thing first, writergirl)

Adam is by far one of the scariest books I have ever read, and that's compared to Steven King, H.P. Lovecraft, Dean Koontz and Richard Matheson. Boneman's Daughters is about a serial killer who murders by breaking every bone in a person's body while they are still alive.

And yes, obviously I too am a Christian, and I particularly enjoy the authors of the genre who write from the (in my opinion) more accurate view that we are in a dark and evil warzone.

mmyap, I have similar concerns to yours, in that I've become rather disillusioned by denominations and organizations. I don't know that I distrust them, I never met too many who seemed to have "agendas" mostly good people who truly wanted to help others. I guess my issue is more frustration with church members being convinced that they "know" what is right and what is not.
 
Revised said:
Why is that, Abc? One of my christian friends raved about that book.
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Some of my Christian friends rave about it too. I'm basing my reluctance on Mr Abc's partial reading of the book. He hated it. I might give it a go, and see if the author makes it all right at the end..According to my friend, Mr. Abc gave up too soon. I might sometime give the book a chance; much as I love that man, we don't always agree on books;)
 
The Mythwriter said:
Farthest answer from the truth. Any reader of Ted Dekker knows that Christian fiction does not equal boring, "clean" writing. True, you'll probably not find as much profanity and explicitness in most Christian writing, but we all know those things do not make a better book make, only when they help the story.
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I never said that sex and violence made untertaining books.
They don't one their own.(thoug lenny might desagree:D)
I notice that after saying it could not be "farthest" ! ouch ! from the truth, you sort of agree about sex, but not violence.
Violence seem to be fine!!?
I too am Christian,but on the open mind side and it's more educational and culturel the bible related.But i could not care less for christian writing.
Reading only things related to ones own belief or station in life is bit reductive and blindfolded.
I know some poeple love reading what they feel related to,Gay literature,Jew,ect...but it's the opposite of what i look for in reading.
It is more interesting to learn about other and to realize that the stranger is often not so very different from us.
There is a lot of good French christian Authors.Paul Claudel was one.
 
The Mythwriter said:
I guess my issue is more frustration with church members being convinced that they "know" what is right and what is not.
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I understand your frustration. I am not a church goer. I wouldn't even call myself a Christian, although I do find the Bible to be compelling if taken as an allegory, but I find anyone that is convinced that they know what is right for other people to be not only frustrating, but sometimes dangerous. Show me a perfect person, and then maybe I will let them tell me how to live my life.
 
About 'The Shack'...honestly, in my opinion it was not well-written, and I have hard time getting past that. I think that Christian fiction should be held to the same standard as regular fiction, and I feel that a good book should grab you on the first page and hold your interest throughout. For that reason I find comments like those made by Mr. Abc's friend - that he 'gave up too soon' - irritating. I don't want to slog through 100 pages of bad writing and predictable melodrama in order to get to a 'good message'. However, a lot of people have been touched by that novel, which I think is proof that when God wants to use something to impact people, He will!

saliotthomas said:
Violence seem to be fine!!?
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It's my opinion that the best Christian novelists are able to portray reality (including sex and violence) without glorifying it.

saliotthomas said:
Reading only things related to ones own belief or station in life is bit reductive and blindfolded.
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Agreed. I don't read ONLY Christian fiction (in fact my favorite author is very non-Christian). Like mmyap, I'm interested in reading good books. :)
 
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