I have a friend on email who had never met a published author face to face until this summer. She was excited, of course, when she attended a book signing and purchased the author's book, looking forward to another good read.
When she found time to read it, however, she was dismayed, and she emailed me about it. The love scenes shocked her. She couldn't read them. She hadn't realized the author wrote those kinds of stories.
I should have warned her about what to expect when I looked up the author's books online and saw the word "sexy" in the description. I have learned, when judging books for the secular market, that when something is promoted as sexy, sex is exactly what the reader gets, not the gentle romances we Christian writers provide, where we allow the loving couple to close the door after a kiss or two--and only then if they're married.
The GirlsWriteOut readers, who have learned to trust us to bring them stories that won't shock them with a lot of strong language or titillate them with erotic description, may feel uncomfortable when they dip a toe into some of the secular romance novels available on most bookshelves. As I've told my friend, however, in judging some of the books for RWA, I've found, to my surprise, that even in "those kinds" of books, one can sometimes find a Christian message, and since I typically read only Christian fiction, I would never have discovered this had I not been forced to read these books to judge their quality.
I remember plowing through one book with a lot of language, a lot of violence, and yes, the sex scenes, and then being surprised when I found that the author had included a Christian character who affected the whole direction of the plot. In other words, she showed regular people--unbelievers--doing what a lot of unbelievers do, living like unbelievers, being affected by one Christian man who lived like a Christian. She included the whole gamut of a secular story, but the one Christian man, who prayed and supported and loved, must have reached some readers who would have turned up their noses at one of our Christian novels.
I imagine you have some strong feelings on the subject. I know the Apostle Paul wrote that he wished to become all things to all people so that some may be saved. Though I know the story world I create will never have a full-blown sex scene in it, and very little problematic language, I have to admire those who put their professions on the line in order to see that the Christian message is shared in places it may never otherwise be shown.
What do you think?
Labels: Christian vs Secular Romance, Shocking Scenes
I have a friend on email who had never met a published author face to face until this summer. She was excited, of course, when she attended a book signing and purchased the author's book, looking forward to another good read.
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