Monday, at Novel Rocket, I re-posted an article I’d written a while back on men and the Christian market. I asked Does the Christian Fiction Industry Know How to Market to Men? During the course of the discussion, I found myself coming back to the idea that the Christian publishing industry has a “moral obligation” [...]
After all the lectures and denunciation about the evangelical church’s lack of love toward homosexuals, you’d have thought those making such accusations would have jumped on this. Last week, The Gospel Coalition (TGC) posted An Open Letter to the Church from a Lesbian. It basically takes the church to task for its handling of homosexuality [...]
An interesting article was being passed around by fellow writers and industry folks this week entitled, It’s Time For (Many) Experienced Writers to Stop Blogging. The author’s basic point was that blogging is a waste of time without a big audience. Last spring, an author approached me via Twitter to get my advice about blogging. [...]
Caleb Breakey on Staying in Church, His Upcoming Book, and a Chance for You to Join the Conversation
It’s refreshing to find a twenty-something Christian who is not only staying in Church, but is encouraging other twenty-somethings to do the same. In his forthcoming book Called to Stay (releasing Oct. 2013 from Harvest House), Caleb Jennings Breakey does just that. Subtitled “An Uncompromising Mission to Save Your Church,” Caleb tackles the troublesome exodus [...]
So I watched the media’s 24/7 coverage of the election of a new Catholic pope with mild interest. By far, the most interesting thing about the whole affair was the debate about changes the new pope might bring. Would he finally crack down on pedophile priests? Would he ordain women? Would he endorse same-sex marriage? [...]
Gina Holmes is not one to avoid tough issues. Her third novel, Wings of Glass, is no exception. The story centers around an abusive relationship and the troubled psychology of the woman who can’t wrench herself free. Wings of Glass released February 2013 and has already earned a starred review from Library Journal, a Romantic [...]
Occasionally, when asked how they liked a book, a reader will say, “I just couldn’t get into it.” But what does this mean? It’s obviously not the same as someone outright hating the book. It’s not a definitive thumbs down. In fact, it’s slightly open-ended. As if the problem could have been on the reader’s [...]
I’m not sure I would have read this book if not for the fact that I’m researching memoirs on Christian spirituality. When Blue Like Jazz was all the rage (back in 2005-6), I checked out Miller’s website to see what all the buzz was about. The deeper I went into his site, the more suspicious [...]
Christian readers and reviewers often portray themselves as “discerning.” Being discerning is a good thing. However, if we’re not careful, “discernment” can become an exercise in nit-pickiness and hyper-criticism. Especially when it comes to Christian fiction. Sometimes we’re so busy straining at gnats that we swallow camels. Case in point. The Christian Manifesto (TCM) is [...]
Last week, writer friend Katherine Coble linked to an interesting article entitled If Boys Really Won’t Read Books about Girls, We Have a Problem. The author, Amy Sundberg, is coming at this from the angle of a YA writer and how the gender of your protagonist possibly affects the scope of a book’s readership. The [...]
