One of the most common objections to allowing expletives into Christian fiction is that of potentially “stumbling weaker brothers.” The argument is based off of two sections of Scripture: I Cor. 8: 9-11 and Romans 14:13-23. It usually goes something like this: Everyone is not at the same level of spiritual maturity. Those who are [...]
If the entertainment industry is any indication, modern man desperately needs to “escape.” It’s understandable when you consider how bleak things can appear — globally, economically, and existentially. What better way to forget that you don’t have a good job (if you have one at all), your love life stinks, your knees are shot, an [...]
Several weeks ago I had to blacklist someone from commenting on this site. They kept leaving long, rambling, nonsensical comments. First, I cautioned them privately. When it didn’t stop, I cautioned them publicly. When it still didn’t stop, I started deleting their comments. But that didn’t stop them either. So I blacklisted them from commenting. [...]
Much thanks to new blogger friend Hannah Roeleveld for a fun interview with me appearing in her Crafting the Creeps series. Among other things, Hannah asked: What’s something no one will ever say about you? I answered, “I hope no one would ever be able to say I’m boring, uninteresting, or dispassionate. I’d rather have [...]
Today I’m guest posting at Speculative Faith with a post entitled Reasons Christians Don’t Read Horror (and Why They Should). In it, I tackle some of the most common objections Christians use in refusing to read the horror genre. Like Horror is about Darkness, but Christianity is about Light. The reality of evil is not [...]
Apparently, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg’s ban on soda is the next phase in human evolution. Or so says Daniel E. Lieberman, a professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard. In a recent New York Times’ article entitled Evolution’s Sweet Tooth Lieberman writes: We humans did not evolve to eat healthily and go to the [...]
We writers have long memories, often in the worst ways. Which is probably why I’ll never forget what one literary said about my first novel. I was at the beginning of my agent search back in 2005-06. This particular agent had requested three sample chapters of what would go on to become the first of [...]
I recently had several great conversations with individuals in the Christian publishing industry who are philosophically progressive. They were fun, vigorous discussions; I consider myself very much friends with these people. I am fascinated by the evolving cultural intersection between Evangelicals and Progressives. Our “conversation” was the one the now defunct Emergent Church was supposed [...]
It would be very easy to turn this into a rant against those uptight, priggish, puritanical, and very vocal Christian fiction readers who keep the industry in check with their incessant whining about “clean fiction”… but I won’t. Last month, Bethany House published My Stubborn Heart by Becky Wade, she even had the books distributed all [...]
At my recent book release party for The Telling, my second novel, a long-time friend approached and lathered me with praise. They were so proud of how far I’d come, what I’d accomplished, and how successful I’d been. I smiled and thanked them. But deep inside, I didn’t buy a thing they said. You see, [...]
