The Age at Which We Read, cont.

And the winner is . . .

We want to thank all of you who shared your best-friend stories with us. Good friends make life so much sweeter. The winner of our very first giveaway here at Novel Matters is Carla Gade. Thank you, Carla, for being willing to be so transparent. Would you be so kind as to email me here at Novel Matters with your mailing address? You can reach me through the Contacts page.

And then there were six . . .

You might have noticed that Jennifer Valent's lovely photograph is missing from our sidebar. Well, that's because Jennifer has resigned her position here at Novel Matters. Her incredible debut novel, Fireflies in December, was just released, and with the responsibilities of promoting it along with writing the sequel, and keeping her other blog and website current, Jennifer is one busy lady. We wish her great success with her book. To keep up with Jennifer, visit her website http://www.jennifervalent.com/

Now back to The Age at Which We Read . . .

I first read Carson McCullers' amazing debut novel, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, my junior year of high school, having come through a painful year of upheaval my sophomore year. My lit teacher was a newly-credentialed, nice-looking guy barely older than the students he taught. With him at the head of the class I think we girls could have found the likes of Gunga Din romantic. But the Heart is a Lonely Hunter genuinely was romantic to me, maybe because I so deeply related to young Mick Kelly, a girl whose life was so not what she wanted it to be. The story has stayed with me all these years, as vivid as any of my most poignant memories.

But some months back, having come through another painful year of upheaval, my husband (who was not familiar with the story) and I listened to the audio version of the book on a long road trip. Four decades of living between my two encounters with the story had knocked off the romantic edge, and this time I saw -- with such clarity and compassion -- the deep pain of the central character, John Singer, and how impossible his life became in trying to carry the burdens that everyone brought to him.

Had I read or listened to the book for the first time at this stage of my life I don't think I would even recommend it to another reader, only because of how desperately sad the story is. But I do love it still, and one of the reasons I can say that is because, regardless of all I've been through in the intervening years, I don't live in that place of hopelessness any more.

"Words are things; and a small drop of ink falling like dew upon a thought, produces that which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think." Lord Byron

The Age at Which We Read

If you asked me what kind of book would have a profound affect on me at this stage of my life, one of my last choices would have been a book about the Jazz Age in the 1920s. After all, I took a whole semester of F. Scott Fitzgerald in college (only because it was the only lit class offered during the semester that I could fit in my crammed class schedule) and I hated it.

So. . . I buy books on tape, whatever’s available at the time, at a local charity thrift store. (Fortunately for me, someone with literary tastes like mine donates regularly.) So I ran through the Grisham and the Sharon Ewell Foster and the Cornwell and the Hillerman. So all that was left was The Great Gatsby. So I began to listen to it because it was narrated by KJV Bible narrator Alexander Scourby.

When I read Fitzgerald in my twenties, I was newly and happily married. I couldn’t muster up sympathy for alcoholics who danced in Manhattan’s fountains, years before my mother was even born. I couldn’t relate to the angst of those people with their marital problems that bled over into their writing. After all, my life was wonderful – and not only that, I had a whole lifetime ahead of me.

But now I am myself a novelist, and writing about issues that destroy people’s souls, that wash hope beyond the most distant shores, issues that demand re-evaluation because they determine where people will spend a mobius loop of eternity. Issues which demand our attention because ignoring them can put us in a position in which it can be too late, irretrievably too late.

For the first time, the description at the end of The Great Gatsby made sense to my soul:

And as I sat there brooding on the old, unknown world, I thought of Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night.
Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that’s no matter—to-morrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And one fine morning——

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

I am a different person than when I first read that, years ago.

And now I think that I shall never recover from those words; the simplicity, the finality, the truthfulness of those words.

Round-table Discussion: What Do You Look For in Fiction?

“Tollers,” Lewis said, “there is too little of what we really like in stories. I am afraid we shall have to try and write some ourselves.”

The Lewis in the above quotation was C.S. Lewis, and Tollers was his friend, J.R.R. Tolkien. Or did you know that?

Once a month or so, we at Novel Matters plan to host a round-table discussion, in which one of us will throw out a topic, and three of us (give or take) will pitch in. And then it's your turn.

This is the first such discussion, and the question I'd like to ask you and the ladies of Novel Matters is, what do you really like in stories, that you would like to see more of?

If you've read previous posts and comments, you may have guessed that I enjoy a sense of play, a kind of high-wire act in the theme of a novel, in the tone, or the way it is written. I like the writer to take risks. Tolkien, after all, was walking the wire when he wrote The Lord of the Rings. There was no fantasy genre, no deeply layered fairy stories for grownups, before he invented them. A more recent example would be Walter Wangerin Jr.'s The Book of the Dun Cow, a richly woven epic full of crashing battles and deep insight into the nature of good and evil. Not such an unusual theme, except in this case, the main characters are farm animals. It all works beautifully, and it proves my point that spectacular achievement often comes of childlike courage.

Katy's reference to Tolkien reminded me of what I really like in a good novel. I like something that is clearly understandable close to --if not right at-- the beginning of a novel. It can be a character, a setting, or a situation. A good writer will layer meaning, description, innuendo, details onto what's firmly in the reader's mind. In a mystery, it will be clues and cliffhangers. In a character or dialogue-driven novel, it is rich details revealing personality. (Okay, time to confess that I adore Faulkner for that very reason.) The author can then delight me with legitimate surprises, arrest me with insightful descriptions, and keep me coming back to see what new layer he or she will reveal.

I love slice-of-life stories with fully developed characters, refined and elevated craft, and stories downright delicious for their use of language. My first exposure to this genre, sometimes known as women's literary fiction, was a chance encounter with Elizabeth Berg's Durable Goods. Nothing blows up in Berg's books. She reveals only a keyhole look at life through beautifully crafted characters. No epics here. What wins the reader are authentic characters and seamless, never self-indulgent, narrative. Clean. Sharp. And then, never missing a beat, she sticks a description that leaves me breathless. And I do love historical novels like These is My Words by Nancy Turner and The Persian Pickle Club by Sandra Dallas. Oh, oh...mustn't forget Gap Creek.

Most important to me are the characters. I want to be able to identify with them deeply. The plot is secondary, for if the characters are real, I'll follow them anywhere. No matter who they are. I can as easily identify with young Scout Finch as I can Jack London's Wolf Larsen. I want to know the cadence of their voice, want to hear what their words alone don't convey. I want to be so caught up in their world I wouldn't dare skip a word of their story. My co-authors at Novel Matters create these kinds of characters. Step in and get acquainted. . . and find yourself immersed.

When I was a kid my sister (three years my elder and an avid reader) asked me what kind of books I liked best. I replied, "I like the ones about people's lives." And I still like these best. I don't wish for faery wings with which to fly, I don't obsess about 'who dunnit'. I may pat the occasional hobbit on the head, run along side the rare outlaw on the lamb, even don a cloak and grab a dagger, but what I love is fiction that helps me understand human nature - the human experience. Two recent books I love? Joy Jordan Lake's Blue Hole Back Home, and Susan Meissner's The Shape of Mercy.

I look for everyday sorts of characters with whom I can identify, but who become 'heroic' in some sense. They usually rise above obstacles without fanfare, and at the same time, a resilience or greatness is revealed in them. For example, a father and daughter in Anita Shreve's Light on Snow are struggling to overcome grief when they find an abandoned infant. Their struggle may not be perceived as 'heroic' to others, but their choices have the potential to heal or to destroy what is left of their family. I also enjoyed Elizabeth Berg's book What We Keep, which is also about family dynamics.

A Plunge into Reality

Before I start my post, just a reminder to enter the contest to win Sharon K. Souza's Lying on Sunday, a great example of what I'm writing about today. All you have to do is comment on a good friend, a strong theme in Sharon's writing. The winner will be announced on the 30th.

Now, let's take that plunge...

People without hope do not write novels. Writing a novel is a terrible experience, during which the hair often falls out and the teeth decay. I'm always highly irritated by people who imply that writing fiction is an escape from reality. It is a plunge into reality and it's very shocking to the system. If the novelist is not sustained by a hope of money, then he must be sustained by a hope of salvation, or he simply won't survive the ordeal. --Flannery O'Connor, Mystery and Manners.

This is my favorite quote about novel writing. There's a touch of hyperbole in O'Connor's words (I still have my teeth!) but not much. A story owns the writer, not just for the hours set aside for tapping on computer keys, but while we sort lights from darks and wander down grocery aisles. We forget to eat, and yes, personal hygiene suffers. What's more, to write authentic fiction, we are forced to wrestle with God, dig deeper into what we believe about him and how he interacts with us and the world, and hopefully see him with fresh eyes.

Novel writing is not for the faint of heart!

But a deeper truth in O'Connor's words shakes me: Novelists plunge into reality. In our stories, we can rearrange topography, give an alien extra arms, or allow mythical characters into the landscape, but we cannot, must not, rescue our characters from their fallen natures or transfer them to a fall-less society (La-La Land), or save them from meaningful struggle. They will fail, not in a contrived, acceptable-to-Christian-culture way, but in a way that makes our own skin itch. That's when grace shows up.

Does this mean every novel should portray the underbelly of society?

No, but we disrespect our readers if we mishandle the human condition, both its nobility and frailty. After all, the Bible is wrought with counterexamples. Think of David; he committed adultery and sent the husband to certain death, and yet, he is the apple of God's eye. Peter denied Jesus. Judas betrayed him. Thomas forgot. Even Jesus struggled in the Garden of Gethsemane. The faith life is messy!

Now, it's your turn. Have you read a novel lately where the author plunges into reality and does it well? Tell us about it.

Christian lit in Post Modernity

Don't forget it's BFF month. Until the end of January include a shout-out to your best friend in your comment and be entered in a draw for one of Sharon K. Souza's fab-o books!

Mark your calender and warm up your typing fingers - Monday, January 26 will mark our first ever Novel Matters Round Table discussion. On that day all seven of us will discuss that burning question: What do we really like in stories, that we would like to see more of? We'll post our zany ideas, and we want to hear from YOU! Join the Novel Matters round table, we're saving you a seat!

Post Modern Christian Literature?
Post modern literature is making an impact in the world of Christian publishing. Interestingly, its influence is seen most often in Christina non-fiction than fiction. Brian McLaren’s pushing and pulling, Donald Miller’s meandering phrases, Rob Bell’s distracting formatting, they all lean toward the post modern approach to writing – at least in attitude, titling, and packaging (content? Not so much, save Miller’s stream of consciousness style that, even though he and Billy Graham could wear each other’s theological hats, has ruffled conservative feathers. Funny how the way you say something can carry more punch than what you say – ah, but this is what the post modern book does.).

So, where are the post-modern CBA books? On their way, I suspect. But there is work to be done. First up? Discussing the meaning of post-modern literature. What is it? How would I recognize it? So glad you asked.

With post-modernity, one thing springs to mind – academics pounding lecterns in universities everywhere, hollering, “There are NO absolutes.” This bothers Christians. They holler, “God is absolute.” I took a university English course a number of years ago and our professor had stated those same passionate words with the ardor of a lover. Until I raised my hand and pointed out that when he says, “There are no absolutes”, he is, in fact, postulating an absolute. I said, “Maybe what you mean to say is, “There are no OTHER absolutes.” Poor man was left stuttering. Quit teaching after that. Went back to Ontario to do post-doctorate work.

Happily, we can dispense with that bothersome thorn in our understanding of post-modern literature. We can get over it - so to speak. So, what is post-modern lit?

Volumes have been filled discussing that question, but we can skim the surface by looking at two aspects that shine in post modern lit.

One is self-consciousness. Another is deconstruction.

The self-conscious (or self-aware) novel
The post-modern author will slid into the seat next to you, give you a sly wink and say, “Hey, we both know it’s a book. Let’s stop pretending.”

Let’s look at Yann Martel’s fantastic book Life of Pi. It opens with an “Author’s Note” – the story of how the story came into being. A book gone bad, a trip to India. But we, the readers, know it’s just a tale. He tells us the story was told to him by Pi himself – but, of course it wasn’t - not really. Naturally this as-told-to story is written in first person. (see, isn’t this fun? It’s a book, you know, with words that can do anything we want them to do!)

Martel, or the author, or the narrator, warns us on the first page that “A story set in Portugal in 1939 may have very little to do with Portugal in 1939.” But of course Life of Pi is a story set in India. The book is divided, very roughly, into thirds. The first third of the book is a “telling” (My oh my, so very little “showing” ) of how Pi became a devout follower of three religions. Impossible? Ah, well, they’re only words on a page, no? The narrative flows back and forth from present to past, then to the further past and back to present.

Then comes Pi’s terrible adventure in the middle of the book. Here are great gobs of “showing” details, oh the agony of the details as one by one his beloved ideologies are carved off his bones in the name of survival (there is a tiger in the boat, after all – but, of course there isn’t really, not really. Well, maybe. Do you think there is a tiger in the boat?).

The last third of the book is written loosely in the format of a screen play using different fonts for different characters. At least some of it is. And this is where Pi, or the author, or Yann Martel, explains what the book was really all about. Except he never says what the book is really all about – because you dear reader *wink* already know.

With each step, even as you become immersed in the story, bathed in the adventure, you are being made aware this is a book you hold – you know it, I know it, we all know it. Isn’t it grand?

The deconstructed novel
The goal of the deconstructed novel is not to destroy the form of the novel, but to examine it, pull out parts and see how the whole thing runs without them. And then to pose questions. How many cues do we really need? What is it to be understood? How can we change the way we say things and still be understood.

To treat the page itself as an art form – the arrangement of words as a communication.

The first thing to go in a deconstructed novel, often enough, is those pesky quotation marks, you know the ones, they tell you when someone is speaking. “Buzz off,” Michael said to the quotation marks. Sometimes they are subsituted. Replaced by the dash, as Michael Ondaatje did with In the Skin of a Lion.


-There was no record kept.


- Turn off the light.


- What?


- Turn you light off.

Or, perhaps they are ignored entirely as the same author did in his fantastic memoir Running in the Family. Here, Ondaatje opts to deconstruct the story by creating the work in a series of paragraphs. Each paragraph belongs to the actions and words of one character (actually it's better than that because much of the action is confined to the dialogue - making the story snap with virve). New paragraph, a different character’s actions and dialogue (except of course for the last bit of the story which is a telling by the author of how the whole thing wound up – because exceptions prove the rule, right?) Watch how he does it:

Wait a minute, wait a minute! When did all this happen, I’m trying to get I straight. . .

Your mother was nine, Hilden was there, and your grandmother Lalla and David Grenier and his wife Dickie.

How old was Hilden?

Oh, in his early twenties.

But Hilden was having dinner with my mother and you.

Confused? Not in the least. Able to follow the conversation? Naturally! Now tell me, did you have a little picture in your head – forming, people around a table maybe? Chatting away, a family gathering to sort out the business of familiar lore?

Of course there is much more going on here than just dropping some punctuation.

Naturally, there are vats and vats left to say about what the post-modern novel is, what it accomplishes, and how it influences literature in general. But today is just a taste. I hope you enjoyed the morsel. Hope it’s enough to get us thinking about the nature of our work – the norms by which we write, format, assume, and type.

The story is art, but so is the text – it is visual, rich, bizarre.

Challenge yourself to read widely - and to study the form of the novels you read. Your time is an investment that will pay in your work.

More than you wanted to know about Latayne C. Scott...

A Shout-Out to wonderful followers: Rachel, The Koala Bear Writer, Sharon M, Suzi Shepherd, Cathy Bryant, Booklover 323, Yvonne Olson, Kimberly Payne, Page McManus, and Laidlaw Photography. Thank you!

And don’t forget to post a comment about your best friend to be entered into a drawing to win Sharon K. Souza’s wonderful book, Lying on Sunday.


Author Latayne C. Scott

I’d like to introduce myself by saying that, since you’ve already met the other six authors, you’ll agree after reading my introduction: They’re nicer than me.

First of all, they’re six very loving people who reach out to others in a way I admire. I’m not equipped, I guess, to be able to nurture beginning writers in the way that some of them can do.

And secondly, a lot of people are angry about what I write. If you took a poll of the 13 million Mormons worldwide, many of those who have heard of me would say they hate me. Some have threatened me. I’ve written several non-fiction books about why I left the Mormonism I so deeply loved. One of them is the April release from Zondervan, The Mormon Mirage 3rd Edition.

My first novel portrays Mormons – the people – sympathetically, but turns a glaring searchlight on Mormon history and doctrines. So I will try to answer some questions from the point of view of my novel, Latter-day Cipher (Moody) which is, like The Mormon Mirage, available for pre-order on CBD, Amazon, and B&N. My editor called Cipher “the DaVinci Code of Mormonism,” and compared its insider view to The Godfather.

(And now I’m working on a new novel that promises to make some Christians mad or at least very uncomfortable. See, I warned you that I’m not that nice.)

Conflict is central to fiction, but how do you create a work of fiction that is tense, difficult, and sometimes even frightening, yet make it a place readers want to go to, spend time in, and get to know well?

I love reading mysteries – I began with Nancy Drew, and then read every single Agatha Christie and went on to a steady diet of modern mysteries. I love the technique of the cliffhanger, and have tried to use it in my novel, Latter-day Cipher.

But the cliffhanger is a trust agreement between the author and reader – the reader has to trust that the author will resolve it in a satisfying way. Not necessarily fix everything, but earn the reader’s respect for setting up the situation in the first place. Otherwise the reader won’t want to be played with again.

Where is the strangest place that you had a brainstorm and had to stop and write down an idea or snippet of dialogue?

My colleagues have teased me about the dream I had about a family that survived by eating wolves who had eaten corpses. That’s a scene in my novel.

I often awaken in the night and write down ideas, so I try to keep pen and paper nearby. One night I found the pen but it was too cold to go find some paper, so I just wrote all up and down my left arm, looping around, adding in things with carats. When I stumbled into the bathroom the next morning, my husband was shaving. He asked, “What is wrong with your arm?”

For the first moments, I didn’t know either. I wondered if I’d forgotten that I got a tattoo.

Which one of your characters most resembles you and how did you draw from your life to create them?

I thought I was being very subtle, but even before the release of Latter-day Cipher, people who read the manuscript said that I’m very much like the hard-headed agnostic reporter, Selonnah. She’s impatient with foolishness and people who talk too much. Okay, that’s me!

Tell us about the relationship between your writing and your spiritual life.

I guess because I deal in my writing with the way people wrestle with God, I’m a better writer when I’m spiritually off-balance. I do not welcome such feelings but I feel that God enables me to work through, and articulate, difficulties on behalf of others.

When you sit down to write, who is your audience?

As a novelist, I don’t write for Christians. I write for non-Christians. I want my writing to be understood without church-speak. In Latter-day Cipher I have a Christian character explain her faith by using some unusual images, but no Scripture quotations. My greatest goal is to be able to convey the truth of the Bible in a way that gains the respect of the unchurched reader.

What are your favorite things to do to take a break during a long writing session?

I hate breaks and interruptions. Therefore I don’t have any favorite thing to do except get back to writing. I’m really not much fun when I’m involved in a project. (See, not nice…)

Think of a novel you have not written - yet - but would like to one day. The best thing you will ever write before you die. Don't tell us what it will be about, but instead, tell us how it will make the reader feel.

The situations I depicted in Latter-day Cipher were those of the horror of losing one’s faith. I want a reader to feel that someone has looked in his or her soul, extracted the deepest, sick-swallowing fears and put them under a shadowless light.

For such readers, I want to examine in fiction those secret dreads and be able to tell them that there is a coherent, authentic way to find to answers that are transcendently, eternally true.

And, a real Person behind those answers.

Finally….

In subsequent posts, I want to talk less about myself and more about the writing process. But to conclude my introduction, here’s my branding statement, which sums it all up:

I pull an amorphous issue forward until it resolves into its face. Then I put my face right up against it and talk to it.

I take all comers: the monolith of Mormonism, the challenge of writing truthful fiction, the bittersweet contradictions of faith in a mysterious and terrifying God of love.

I look them all straight in the eye.

www.latayne.com
www.representationalresources.com

Introducing Debbie Fuller Thomas

Gentle writers and readers, this site is for you! We want to give a shout-out to some of our followers: Lady Catherina, Miss Daisy Anne, Melinda Patton, Jimmy Davis, C D, Karen, Lilac Grandma, Hope Wilbanks, Jan Parrish, and Nichole Osborn. More welcomes to come on Monday!

Conflict is central to fiction, but how do you create a work of fiction that is tense, difficult, and sometimes even frightening, yet make it a place readers want to go to, spend time in, and get to know well?
I think when readers fall in love with characters, they will follow them anywhere. When a connection is made, when the reader knows what the character wants and how impossible it is to get, they don't want the character to go in alone. Those of us who loved The Lord of the Rings followed Frodo right into Mordor. The fear, physical exhaustion and despair were palpable, but we climbed Mount Doom right beside him, and were left yearning for more when the story was over.

Where is the strangest place that you had a brainstorm and had to stop and write down an idea or snippet of dialogue?

My daughter used to accuse me of not paying attention to her Little League games because she could see from the outfield that I was writing in my notebook. My husband accused me of writing most of my first novel during his sermons, and he's probably right. But when I started Tuesday Night at the Blue Moon, it was on the way down to Disneyland with my family after my last radiation treatment for breast cancer. I had purchased a magazine to read on the road, and an article gave me a great idea. I think I felt like I had permission to resume my life at that point. I wrote in the car for seven hours, and finally had to stop when my family insisted that we go into the park.

Of your favorite books, what one do you wish you had written, and why?

I wish I had written Leif Enger's book "Peace Like a River" because of the beautiful prose, but more importantly, because he wrote about faith and miracles in such a way that they unfolded from the character's life, as one reviewer said, 'without a hidden agenda.'

What are your favorite things to do to take a break during a long writing session?
I really enjoy cooking comfort food. I'll put on a pot of soup, roast a chicken or make a pot pie (I always make my own pie crust). It makes the house smell so good. Then I might enjoy an older classic comedy like "The Philadelphia Story" or "Holiday Inn," or a newer classic like "What's Up Doc?"

How do you know that you have achieved what you're aiming for in a particular passage you're writing? (That is, before showing it to someone else - what rings your internal chime?
I think of Robert Frost's quote, "No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader." If I dig deeply and draw from my own desires and failures, and can transfer that to my characters and their situations, I feel successful. If they are flawed but they don't quit believing or striving to change, I know I'm on the right track. They can make me cry, but they can also make me laugh.

Tell us about the relationship between your writing and your spiritual life
When one suffers, so does the other. When I depend on God to be my 'muse' and ask him for the words and the story, He always provides. But if I get busy, or try to write on my own, it's worthless junk. Likewise, writing helps me to ask some hard questions of God. Why do kids die? Why do marriages go bad? How do we recognize truth when we see it? I think it's helped me to be a little more authentic in my relationship with God, and He's been graciously tolerant!

Getting to know Sharon K. Souza

Conflict is central to fiction, but how do you create a work of fiction that is tense, difficult, and sometimes even frightening, yet make it a place readers want to go to, spend time in, and get to know well?



It's funny that in real life we do all we can to avoid conflict, yet in fiction, as in movies, we're all about conflict. To paraphrase James Scott Bell, from Plot & Structure, we are to get our protagonist up a tree, then throw rocks at her. That one sentence helped me grasp the importance of conflict in fiction, and gave me license to be as heartless as I needed to be for the sake of the story. (Gotta love that!)

If there's nothing at stake, there's nothing for our readers to invest in, nothing to hold them to the story. We need to bring them to the place where they're saying to our characters, " Don't believe that!" "What are you thinking?!" That's what I aim for.

Where is the strangest place that you had a brainstorm and had to stop and write down an idea or snippet of dialogue?

When I go to bed at night, while I'm in that relaxed state before sleep, that's when inspiration most often strikes. I used to be like popcorn, jumping up to rush to my office to write down the ideas -- because I will forget -- maybe a dozen times a night. Popping up, popping up . . . Then a friend, bless her, gave me a pen that lights up. I keep it and a notepad by my bed and write my thoughts without having to get up. My husband can always tell what kind of night it was by how much is scrawled on the tablet.

I've jotted down ideas during a sermon, written ideas on napkins in restaurants, and on anything handy while riding in a car. But as for the strangest place, I sold my first article from an idea that came to me at a funeral. It seems I never get very far away from my stories.

Which one of your characters most resembles you and how did you draw from your life to create them?

My family tends to recognize me in my characters before I do, so judging by their input I'd say I'm not the character the reader would most like to be. But I do think I'm the character who eventually learns from her experiences. In defense of my family, they see me in a better light than I see myself, and they'd like that reflected in my writing. Sorry, guys, that's not likely to happen.

Tell us about the relationship between your writing and your spiritual life.

It's difficult to separate the two, because my writing is do deeply connected to my spiritual life. When I'm dealing with people who haven't yet connected with Christ on a personal level I tend not to be preachy. I usually ease my faith into the conversation, then always wonder if I've failed the Lord by not being bolder. I'm much the same way with my writing -- try not to be preachy or holier than thou. I just want to present an honest picture of Christ as I know Him, to share the love of the One who loved us enough to go to the cross. It's up the Holy Spirit to convict.

When you sit down to write, who is your audience?

I picture my audience primarily as women who have faced the hard issues of life and lived to tell it. I write about illness, infidelity, doubt, death, because most of us will walk through one valley or another before it's all over. I want women to know it's okay to get mad, cry, even laugh -- especially laugh -- in the midst of our trials, but at the end of the day to look up, because we're never alone. God is right there to take our hand if we'll let him. He is the most faithful friend we'll ever have.

How do you know that you have achieved what you're aiming for in a particular passage you're writing? (That is, before showing it to someone else - what rings your internal chime?

I'm really never sure until someone else has read it and, hopefully, responded the way I intended. But if I can go back after a while and experience the emotion I was shooting for, then I'm satisfied that I've done the best I can do.

Think of a novel you have not written - yet - but would like to one day. The best thing you will ever write before you die. Don't tell us what it will be about, but instead, tell us how it will make the reader feel.

It will cause her to smile though her tears, and linger, unable to close that last page, because it's like saying goodbye to a friend you may never see again.

Okay, we promised GIVEAWAY CONTESTS, and here is our first:
Leave a comment on anyone's post between now and Jan 30 for a chance to win Every Good & Perfect Gift or Lying on Sunday by Sharon K. Souza. Because Sharon writes stories about extraordinary friendship, tell us about your best friend.

Thank you for sharing your time with those of us at Novel Matters. Please come back, and let us know what you're thinking. We love to hear from you.

...and the introductions continue

This is Jennifer signing in for my first time on Novel Matters. I'll continue with the "getting to know you" portion of our blog, and hopefully you'll stop by and leave a note so we can get to know you, too!

What is Christian fiction?
Good, quality reading that doesn’t leave you feeling sordid or ashamed. The publishing industry, as with any entertainment industry today, tends to be riddled with questionable content. It’s important to have Christian fiction authors we can trust to provide good books that can be read with a good conscience.

What grade school, middle school, or high school class did you come closest to flunking? How has that marked you for life?
Geometry! I hated geometry. Fortunately, it’s not an essential skill in writing, and I can guarantee I’ll never write a novel about a mathematician.

Conflict is central to fiction, but how do you create a work of fiction that is tense, difficult, and sometimes even frightening, yet make it a place readers want to go to, spend time in, and get to know well?
I think humor is essential to any good book. Humor is always somewhere in the world, and can usually put a smile on your face even in pretty bad times. So I try to keep the tone light enough throughout the book that people can go through the difficult times with the characters but still not feel distraught when they’re reading.

Tell us about the relationship between your writing and your spiritual life.
I’m a big believer in the Lord being my everything, so I feel He not only gives me the time and capability to write, but that He also gives me my inspiration. When I sit at the computer I ask Him to give me the words to write.

What's your favorite brain food while writing?
Chocolate. Is that really a brain food??

Can you make up stories on the spot - at the drop of a hat?
Only silly ones. I’ve been a nanny for fifteen years, so I’ve had occasion to make up nutty stories on the fly. But I’m no serious storyteller.

How do you know that you have achieved what you're aiming for, in a particular passage you're writing? (That is, before showing it to someone else -- what rings your internal chime?)
If I see myself in it. The worst writing times for me are when I don’t feel I stayed true to my style of writing and storytelling. So if it feels off, the delete key gets a good workout.

What are your favorite things to do to take a break during a long writing session?
I like to shop. And I like to eat… which makes shopping more difficult since fitting into pants is an important aspect of that. But if I only have a short break, I’ll watch something on television, particularly sports and old movies.

Kathleen Popa, On Wrestling with Angels

What is Christian fiction?

I’m tempted to chafe at the term, “Christian Fiction,” because I’m not all that comfortable with the sense that we Christians have our own books that are just like other books, only safer. It makes me worry that we have given up on making a meaningful contribution to the great conversation going on out there, and have instead retreated to a little anteroom to talk among ourselves. Not only does this seem the wrong way to represent Jesus , but it also makes for bad art, if we go at it with the first thought of being safe. I’ll talk more about this in a later question, but I almost want to say there is no such thing as Christian fiction; there is only fiction and some of it is written by Christians.

But then I consider how often, in my writing, the fundamental way I view things has come through in ways I never planned. I’m convinced that’s true for other writers as well. So despite myself, I’ve concluded that a novel penned by a deeply Christian author would likely have a thematic undertone, like a soundtrack, a quiet little song that, in the brightest and darkest moments of the story, hints that there is something terrible and beautiful behind it all, that there is an immense, inscrutable God of overwhelming ferocity and unfathomable love.


Conflict is central to fiction, but how do you create a work of fiction that is tense, difficult, and sometimes even frightening, yet make it a place readers want to go to, spend time in, and get to know well?

I once heard someone pose an answer to critics who say we shouldn’t put monsters in children’s stories, because they might frighten the little readers. The response was that children are already afraid. They already know there are monsters in the world. That’s why they love stories about them, because in the stories they can get those monsters out of their heads and onto the page, and confront them from the safety of their reading nook.

We grownups are just children with layers added, only at our age, they put the monsters on the evening news, and now we are the adults, we are the ones who are supposed to keep things under control. Tense? Difficult? Even frightening? Oh yeah.

That’s why we so love to battle Sauron's armies until Gandalf comes charging in on his white horse. It’s why we love to enter Maycomb, Alabama, and peek out from the soul of little Scout Finch, who calls each man in the mob to his better self, and makes a friend of Boo Radley, the monster across the street.

Just be sure to keep that soundtrack playing.


Tell us about the relationship between your writing and your spiritual life.

Back to the idea of “safe” fiction: I think playing it safe makes for bad art and bad prayer. We need to dive into the deep waters of our subconscious*, and trust that God will not let us drown.

Too often, we keep to the surface. When things threaten to get painful, we pull out a Sudoku puzzle or surf the internet. (Don't ask how I know.) As writers we create stock characters doing predictable things. The issue is control. We have to know exactly what is going to happen. We definitely need to know what our story is about before we write it. Otherwise it could mess with the way we see ourselves and each other and even - ack! - the way we see God. Predictability is safe, at least.

It’s also boring. It’s like offering God a gloved hand, and commenting on the weather, when all along, he knows that our insides are screaming. The reader is no less bored, having come to the page hoping to battle with monsters and win.

Remember the psalmist, soaring with joy one moment and wretched with terror the next? Remember Jacob, wrestling with his angel? I think, of all people, the novelist is commanded to wrestle with angels.


Think of a novel you have not written - yet - but would like to one day. The best thing you will ever write before you die. Don't tell us what it will be about, but instead, tell us how it will make the reader feel.

William Blake was once asked, “When the sun rises, do you not see a round disk of fire something like a guinea?” Blake answered, “Oh no, I see an immeasurable company of the heavenly host crying “Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty.”

When my readers come away like William Blake, I will have written my best novel, and I will lay down my pen. (Maybe.)

*A wonderful book on writing from the subconscious is From Where You Dream, by Robert Olen Butler.

Patti Hill answers the tough questions. Help!

Can you make up stories on the spot - at the drop of a hat?

I was a champ at this as a child, but Mom considered it lying. Sadly, I was very good at it. I love Jesus for taking my sin and redeeming it into something that benefits His kingdom. At least, that's my intention. Now that I've matured a bit, I percolate story ideas. I believe strongly in the power of staring out the window. It helps to have a splendid view.

Of your favorite books, what one do you wish you had written, and why?

I deeply regret waiting so long to read To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee’s stellar book. I love the story because it confronts a dark truth in our history without ever feeling preachy. And Scout's voice, oh my, it's spot on--strong and clear. The writing is elegant in its simplicity. I really, really wish I’d written it.

Conflict is central to fiction, but how do you create a work of fiction that is tense, difficult, and sometimes even frightening, yet make it a place readers want to go to, spend time in, and get to know well?

As a beginning writer, this was a tough aspect of storytelling. I don’t like conflict, so I was much too nice to my characters. They all lived in La-La Land. Very boring. And then, interestingly enough, I went through a tough trial. The experience transformed me down to my soul. After that, I have no problem dishing out the conflict for my character. How else are they going to change?

More to the point, I have a rather odd sense of humor. I found something amusing in all of my medical tests, even a lumbar puncture and an episode with a car battery! My readers will see my quirky perspective in my writing. In other words, humor makes conflict more palatable.

What is Christian fiction?

Christian fiction is written by someone who relies on the saving grace of Jesus, believes He is the hope of the world, and writes accordingly. The story doesn’t necessarily have Christian content such as believing characters or Bible verses (although mine do), but the story must reflect the eternal truths of Christianity, things like redemption, forgiveness, sacrificial love. Examples of Christian fiction that fit my definition range from The Shack to The Lord of the Rings.

Where is the strangest place that you had a brainstorm and had to stop and write down an idea or snippet of dialogue?

Bonnie and I have this in common. All of my best ideas happen in the shower! And why not, it's warm and quiet in there. I once had a four-idea shower. That’s a record. I’ve learned to step out of the shower to write the ideas down, or they swirl down the drain with my shampoo. I must get some of those bath tub crayons.

Which one of your characters most resembles you and how did you draw from your life to create them?

Amy in The Queen of Sleepy Eye is very close to how I was at seventeen. I knew everything, certainly had God all figured out, and was convinced that I was bulletproof. Fortunately, I remember that part of my life pretty well (but don’t ask me what I had for lunch). My life, however, was much easier than Amy’s. I dragged that poor girl through the mud. Fortunately, by God’s grace, we've both landed on our feet. Phew!

Tell us about the relationship between your writing and your spiritual life.

I consider my office a holy place where God and I get to play together. As I’m writing, I look for His footprints in the dewy grass and do my best to follow. It’s a breath-taking game of follow the leader, that’s for sure.

I thoroughly enjoyed our first visit. I'd like to know what you remember about yourself at seventeen.

If you'd like to post a link to Novel Matters on your web site or blog, go to Kathleen Popa's brilliant blog at http://www.kathleenpopa.blogspot.com/ to snatch the widget.

Grow in grace, dear readers...Patti

Welcome to Novel Matters

Welcome to Novel Matters, where we seek to engage and explore irresistible fiction – specifically fiction written from a Christian perspective. It’s a perspective that explores the dignity, humanity and mystery of the human experience in light of God’s character.

We seven do not presume our work to be definitive. Rather, we strive to create sumptuous, lush fiction by using surprising and satisfying language, and creating unforgettable characters. And we aren't afraid to ask the difficult questions that linger in the reader’s mind long after the last page. We are students of the craft and desire to join with you in provocative discussions about novels that matter, stirring up the passion within author and reader.

The purpose of Novel Matters is to hone the calling and craft of fiction writing.

It's my (Bonnie's) privilege to be the first blogger on Novel Matters. We're starting off with a interview style tête-à-tête about who I am and a few ideas I have about writing, books, and creating irresistible fiction. I'm new to the world of publishing, my first novel, Talking to the Dead, will be released June 1, 2009 from David C. Cook. You can read the blurb on my other blog.

Each one of us will share a bit about ourselves in the weeks to come. And there will be more, so much more! Contests (with the most amazing prizes!), book giveaways, interviews. Be sure to bookmark this blog, or become a follower, so you don't miss a moment!

Let's begin. Bonnie Grove answers:

What is Christian fiction?
First a pet peeve: "Christian" isn't an adjective - it's a noun, or better, a verb. But on with my answer! Christian fiction has changed over the years, and will continue to change (as it should). It started out as a way of expounding on Bible stories and characters, etc., and now has become a market that embraces nearly every genre out there. But, in general, Christian fiction is stories that accept the God of the Bible as Ultimate Truth.

Of your favorite books, what one do you wish you had written, and why?
A Wrinkle In Time – The first time I “read” this book as a kid, I actually had it read to me by a camp counselor. I was transported. I could see every detail, feel every sensation – which is remarkable for a story that takes place in an unknown dimension. I don’t think I’d go so far as to say I wish I wrote it, but I aspire to write with the immediacy and intimacy I first encountered in this classic book.

Conflict is central to fiction, but how do you create a work of fiction that is tense, difficult, and sometimes even frightening, yet make it a place readers want to go to, spend time in, and get to know well?
Lots of things come to mind – but for me, it’s about respect. If I approach conflict with respect for the issues and people involved in it, and endeavor to show a multi-dimensional understanding of the problem, then I will earn the reader’s trust. I also steer clear of having all the answers about a problem.
Also, my work tends to explore issues and conflict I have lots of questions about, so much of what I write is me wrestling with questions I find compelling – and I’m sure many other people do too.

Where is the strangest place that you had a brainstorm and had to stop and write down an idea or snippet of dialogue?
Oh if I could turn my brain off in the shower! Head full of shampoo, eyes burning and YOWZA! Best idea ever pops into my head. So not fair. Anyone else relate?

When you sit down to write, who is your audience?
I write for women who have experienced unwanted change and/or loss.

Can you make up stories on the spot - at the drop of a hat?
You betcha. I love stories and I’ve been making them up my whole life. At heart, that is what I am, a storyteller. Drop your hat, and I'll tell you a story about it.

Think of a novel you have not written - yet - but would like to one day. The best thing you will ever write before you die. Don't tell us what it will be about, but instead, tell us how it will make the reader feel.
I see the reader finishing the book, reaching for the phone, and calling a friend to talk about the experience she just had – the enjoyment, the hope, the shattering grace she’s just encountered, and to share how God has whispered in her ear about His abiding love for her.

I look forward to hearing from you, sharing your thoughts about irresistible fiction, and engaging in this journey of words with you.