Christian Fiction Bloggers discussion

Hi all, I am seeking Christian authors to address a topic for my blog (http://www.cperrinowalker.com). If you feel that God has definitely called you to write Christian rather than secular material, secular rather than Christian material, or even a mix of both for a particular reason, I'd like to interview you for an upcoming blog post. For the sake of speed, I'll post the questions here directly. If you'd like to answer any or all of them, send your responses to me in a message here on Goodreads.

Name:
Published Work (can be brief list of most recent):
Website (if you have one):
Do you write Christian or secular material, or a combination of both?
Why? What contributed to your choice?
Have you always written strictly Christian material?
If no, what changed?
If yes, why did you decide at the beginning of your career to write Christian material only?
Do you feel that only writing Christian material has been a blessing or has hindered your work as a writer? Why or why not?
If you are a Christian who writes secular material, what contributed to your choice?
What kind of secular material do you write? Is there secular material you wouldn’t write? How do you draw the line?
If you are a Christian who writes both, what contributed to your choice? Is it hard to separate the two? Which field brings you the most work? The most satisfaction? The best income?

Thanks!

Greetings, I would love to be be considered for one of your interviews and therefore my information is listed below:

Name: Shakira R. Thompson
Published Work: High Noon Justice
Website: www.shakirathompson.com
Writings: I now mainly write Christian material and have always but there have been times where I have ghostwritten for secular material.
Why? I was ghostwriting for a minister who was writing a secular fiction novel. I'd previously worked on a Christian nonfiction book for her as well.
Christian material: I was born and raised in the church so Christian material is all I know and what I'm pretty much able to relate to.
Blessing/Hindered: My works are definitely a blessing to me first and then I hopefully pray that they are a blessing to others.
While I have written both secular and Christian material, they all still had some spiritual themes throughout them which made it easy for me. Now that I'm mainly writing Christian material,the income has been slow to come in, however, I'm definitely more satisfied.

Thank you! I'll post on this thread when the blog post is up. I'm giving it a couple days in case others are interested in responding as well.

Nice, thanks so much!

Ce'leste I am a pastor and writer. please consider me for your interview. My webpage is www.camdockery.com. You will find my blog there and I currently have a couple thousand followers. You can find a short story I published on amazon called The Note. you will need to type my name Cameron Dockery in Amazon's search and it will pop up. it is a story about grace and redemption as experienced by an eleven year old boy. I'd be happy to gift you a copy.

look forward to hearing g from you.

Hi Cameron, thanks for your interest! If you'd like to participate, you'll find the questions posted above. Just go ahead and answer them.

Thank you for this opportunity, Céleste. When I have all the questions answered, I will gladly post them here and look forward to hearing from you, if you so chose to interview me.

Years ago, a dear author friend of mine in England started telling me that I should be writing. The seed was planted but did not take root until many years later. The beginning was very slow and it wasn't until early this year that I finally finished my first book and had it published. Since then I have had my second story published and now am in the process of winding up my third novel. All my books are in the Christian-Romance-Drama genre.

The novels I have written, available on Amazon, so far are: A Very Present Help, and Paths of Righteousness. Currently I am working on my third novel entitled There Abideth Hope, hopefully available by the end of this year.

Anyone is welcome to visit my website and leave critiques or comments at https://sites.google.com/site/rosecas... I appreciate all input regarding my work, or my website, for that matter.

It was about ten years ago that I started writing Christian fiction and that is where my interest has stayed. Since God gave me the ability to write, I want all my stories to be a blessing, not only to people, but also to my Lord. My desire is to be an encouragement to those who read my work. I have often heard a preacher say that when God gives you a talent, you need to use it for His honor and glory. When talents are not used for the purpose they have been given, I believe that they are slowly lost. As long as I am able, I will use what He has given me to the best of my ability to draw others to my Lord.

Only writing Christian novels blesses me as I hope it does others. In no way has it been a hindrance to my writing. Each day as I work on my story, I get more and more excited about finishing it, having it published and then read by others.

Hopefully, this answers all the questions regarding my writing. And hopefully, I will be among those blessed to be interviewed. It sounds exciting. Thank you for the opportunity.

Thank you, Sharon! The questions WERE the interview. :^) I'll let you know when it's posted.

Thank you, Céleste. I figured they were in some form. This is something I'm really looking forward, to and I hope you get a good response.

Just dispatched a GR message to you. Thanks for the opportunity!

Thanks! It's been pretty good so far. Answers keep trickling in so I'll keep it open a little longer to give folks an opportunity.

Got it! Thanks!

Thanks so much for all the replies so far. I won't be accepting submissions after Thursday night so I can post on Friday. I'll paste the link here when it's live. Feel free to direct your own followers to the post to read your perspective on this sometimes difficult question.

Ah Celeste, I would love to be interviewed by you. Actually, I was a talk show host before I retired! I loved interviewing people from all walks of life and fields of thought. Now I love being on the other end of the questions. God used some pretty amazing things to take a Fiction Snob and turn her into a Fiction Writer. Funny how He does that! It's a great story. And my first fiction book, Ellie's Window, is the result of that story. Check out my blog www.sandysnavely.net and my book trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8aMc...
Love and joy, Sandy Snavely

Hi Sandy, thanks for your interest! The questions are posted at the top of this thread if you want to answer them. Just be sure to post them before tonight. I plan to release the post on my blog tomorrow. And yes, you gotta love how God changes us!! Will check out your links. Thanks!

Great Celeste. I will get on it soon. Love and joy, Sandy Snavely

Name: Sandy Snavely
Published Work (can be brief list of most recent):
Ellie's Window - Surrender
Called to Rebellion - The Key To a Single-Hearted Love for Christ
Website (if you have one):
www.sandysnavely.com

Do you write Christian or secular material, or a combination of both?
I write Christian material in a way that those who have not yet begun to follow Jesus will enjoy, be inspired by, and find challenging to their existing life and worldview.
Why? What contributed to your choice?
Oh that's easy. God has given me this gift, therefore I feel a strong, pulsating, need to honor Him by using it for His pleasure. I have come to see that when we are actively involved in using our gifts and talents, they become as prayer to us for God becomes intimately involved in the process.
Have you always written strictly Christian material?
I was quite the radical 60's kid when I was in high school. I wrote all kinds of things that I thought were deep and world changing, only to find later in life that they were trite and full of illogical ideals.
If no, what changed?
Everything changed when I met Jesus heart to heart.
If yes, why did you decide at the beginning of your career to write Christian material only?
Do you feel that only writing Christian material has been a blessing or has hindered your work as a writer? Why or why not?
A blessing! It's been a huge blessing. I so often feel like God is whispering in my ear, "Sandy, I have a story that needs to be told, and I want you to tell it. As a woman I have many words! What a privilege it is to use those words to the praise and Glory of God.
If you are a Christian who writes secular material, what contributed to your choice?
What kind of secular material do you write? Is there secular material you wouldn’t write? How do you draw the line?
If you are a Christian who writes both, what contributed to your choice? Is it hard to separate the two? Which field brings you the most work? The most satisfaction? The best income?
Income is never a part of my thinking when it comes to writing; which is a very good thing because, quite frankly, my earnings are nothing that will buy me a villa in Italy. Because I write strictly Christian material, I have to say, I don't separate the two. That's because I see the secular world as an extension of Christianity. To separate the two, I believe, does a disservice to Jesus Followers and those who have not yet given their lives to Him. If Christ is indeed, above all, in all, and through all, how can we draw a line in the sand between the two. Isn't this why the veil was torn in two? There will be plenty of sifting and dividing when the Day of the Lord comes. Until then, our job is to be in the world, with the Word, while striving to not become the world's mission field. Life isn't tidy. But Jesus has come to clean it up, from the inside out.

Thanks!
Thank you...what a fun interview!
Love and joy, Sandy Snavely

Thank you, Sandy! Great answers!

Thank you!

Hi, Celeste! :) I'd like to contribute too. I hope I can meet your deadline. :)

Name: Jessy Rei
Published Work: Faith In Forgiving
Website: http://jessyrei.wordpress.com
Do you write Christian or secular material, or a combination of both? I write Christian stories as an obedient response to God's command to lead the readers to Him.
Why? What contributed to your choice? My personal painful experience has been God's instrument for me to discover His will for me--to share my story and create a story for His glory. Through that heartbreaking experience, He allowed me to experience His supernatural grace so I could extend forgiveness to the person who've hurt me and share it through a story.
Have you always written strictly Christian material? No. I have started secular stories before but I wasn't able to finish it as I was depending on my wisdom which is limited.
If no, what changed? God reminded me that my interest in writing is "from" Him and "for" Him alone. So I surrendered my dream as a writer and asked Him to reveal what He wants me to write that could bring glory to His name.
Do you feel that only writing Christian material has been a blessing or has hindered your work as a writer? Why or why not? Writing Christian material has been definitely a blessing. Through this, I'm not only sharing what God wants me to share but in the process, I'm having a closer relationship with my Creator. Since I acknowledge that my wisdom is limited, God pours His blessing through the words, scenes and dialouge that can be included in the story. And it will always be a blessing to be used by God to display His glory.

Thanks for this opportunity, Celeste! God bless you. :)

Thanks Jessy! I gotcha! Will post the link tomorrow when it's live. p.s. Your "If not, what changed" answer is a lot like mine. :^)

I'm glad that I was able to read your post and send my answers just in time. :) And with regards to our same experience, I'm happy that aside from me, God enabled other people like you to be also reminded that even our writing skills are from Him and for Him alone. May God bless you more, Celeste! :)

I was hoping to get this post up today, but there were so many responses I'm still formatting them all and forming them into a cohesive post. Which is a good thing, I suppose! Will try to get it live by Monday. Thanks to everyone who participated and additional thanks for your patience.

You are quite welcome, Céleste. I'm sure everyone is anxious to view it, but please take your time and get it the way you want it. We as authors should know all about getting it right. :D

I love what you're doing Celeste...it's a blessing to us all. Love and joy, Sandy Snavely

Hi, Celeste! :) I agree with Sharon and Sandy. :) Have a wonderful weekend! :)

Hello everyone, thank you again for your participation!The post is live. Please feel free to share everywhere. :^)

http://www.cperrinowalker.com/blog/ch...

Thank you, Céleste.

Thank you, Celeste! :) God bless you. :)

Thanks so much for the opportunity!

Such an encouraging blog! Thank you for the opportunity Celeste and I hope this helps others as reading the other answers will definitely strengthen the faith and show we don't walk alone in this journey. x Have a great day everyone! x

In reference to yesterday's post, Heather Day Gilbert asks:"For those of you who write secular--do you have ANY references to God or Christianity or do you feel you have to remove them? My books have gotten 1-stars when it wasn't obvious there were Christians in the book (not preachy at all, though). I'm just wondering if you have to remove ALL spiritual threads to go 100% secular."
If you can answer this question, here's a link to the post: http://www.cperrinowalker.com/blog/ch...