Over the years, we’ve asked several Christian authors how their faith has impacted their storytelling. Here’s how nine authors answered the question…
Billy Coffey (Contemporary)
The choice every writer has going into a book is to tell a good story about how we’re all different, or a great story about how we’re all the same. My faith tells me that deep down, we’re all the same. That’s why so many of my characters are ones lost looking to be found and ones broken looking to be made whole, because that’s all of us at some point. The grace they find is the grace available to us all. (Read the original interview here!)
Carrie Turansky (Historical Romance)
My faith is central in my life, and I hope it shines through in my writing. I like to give my characters issues and struggles that are common to many of us, and then I ask how would God help them overcome those challenges. I hope people will enjoy reading Shine Like the Dawn and feel as though they’ve been swept away to Edwardian England, but I also hope they will be challenged to explore what it means to forgive and reflect God’s mercy to those who have hurt them in the past. Those are lessons that touched my heart as I wrote this story, and I trust they will touch my reading friends too. (Read the original interview here!)
Barbara Cameron (Amish)
I like writing Christian fiction that inspires and gives hope. I don’t like reading a story that does what I call “Bible thumping” so my message is quiet but I hope meaningful. I am most influenced by a message that doesn’t hit me over the head so I try to write a story that way. (Read the original interview here!)
Mary Manz Simon (Children’s)
My personal mission is to put God-honoring products into the hands of children and their families. I am thrilled God opened the door to create Where Does Love Hide? with the Tyndale team. I love this book and hope others do too! (Read the original interview here!)
Carolyne Aarsen (Romance)
Every story I write is about a character’s growth. They start out in a position that is not healthy. They need to change but either they can’t or don’t know how or don’t have the support system in place to facilitate that change. At any rate, the events of the story will force that to happen. And often, a huge part of that transformation has to do with their relationship with God. It’s broken and needs to be fixed. The story is as much a journey of their faith as it is a journey of their growth as it is a romance. I’m always very thankful that writing for Love Inspired, I’ve been able to and encouraged to incorporate my faith into the stories I write. (Read the original interview here!)
Angel Moore (Historical Romance)
My faith is such a part of me that it flows naturally onto the page in all of my books. I write stories of faith and hope. My faith doesn’t keep me from having problems; it gets me through them. I want to share that with readers. (Read the original interview here!)
Samuel Parker (Suspense)
I think as a writer, you need to employ all aspects of your thought process to execute a good story. Nothing should be held back or reserved whether that is memory, ambition, beliefs or doubts.I also think those same thought processes are constantly growing and changing, evolving and eroding, and so to be conscious of that constant flux and to infuse that into a story brings it to greater life. My beliefs as a child are different than where I am now, just as assuredly as my 80-year-old self will be different. Being comfortable with that idea allows me to pose bizarre questions and carry them to what are, hopefully, interesting and suspenseful conclusions. (Read the original interview here!)
Carol J. Post (Romantic Suspense)
I know there is evil all around us, and I try to portray these elements realistically, but without unnecessary violence. I’ve read some things that are too graphic and disturbing (in secular books), and that is something I avoid in my own writing. I want to give my readers an engaging, tense read, not nightmares! In writing Christian characters who face these dangerous situations, I know fear is a natural response, in spite of faith. When the killer is creeping ever closer to my heroine’s hiding place, her heart is pounding (and mine is too). A silent “God help me” is realistic. I’ve even had a non-Christian or backslidden character bargain with God. (Read the original interview here!)
Brenda Minton (Romance)
My faith is an integral part of who I am and how I live my life. In my stories I want the faith aspect to be organic and not preachy. I hope it shows in how the characters approach even their fictional lives, the way they treat others and how they overcome obstacles. (Read the original interview here!)