by Peter Leavell, @PeterLeavell
When I wrote articles about Women’s Fiction and Inspirational Romance, I devoured books in the market. I couldn’t put them down. Until the day I had a minor squabble with my wife.
With hands on her hips, she said, “What makes you believe I’d think that?”
“Well, I read it in a book.”
“What book?”
I reached into my book stash and pulled out the volume.
She read the back cover, then raised a brow and studied me for a moment. “Hmmm. Read Christian Fiction often?”
“Of course. Since I’ve been published in the market and am writing the articles.”
She pushed past me and glanced through my book hoard. “You’ve got fifty Christian fiction books here!”
I knew I should look anywhere other than my hidden stack, but I couldn’t help it. She followed my gaze, then pulled up the bed skirt. Books slid from under the bed to cover her sneakers.
“There must be a hundred books under here! No wonder the bed was uncomfortable.”
I told myself not to think about the trunk of my car.
She picked up a volume, considered the cover for a moment, then said, “Peter, what’s the main problem with the woman in this one?”
“She’s not sure she really loves her husband.”
“Hmmmm.” She picked up another. “This one?”
“She has money problems because her husband lost his job, and she’s got to balance career with her desire to be at home.”
She picked up a few more. The themes went from cheating on her husband to loving a man who didn’t love her to her body failing to deciding her future between two men who love her.
“Peter, I need you to tell me honestly, do you think I have the same problem…” she grabbed a book, “the woman has in this book?”
“Um, well, she was concerned her marriage was falling apart. But yeah. Of course.”
“Hmm.” She held up another.
“Oh, that one. She’s in love with her husband, but another man is interested in her, and she’s dealing with the confusion of emotional adultery.”
“And you think I have this problem?”
“Well, yeah.”
“Okay, Peter, let’s go out for lunch and talk.” And as we sat down to ice tea and tacos, she explained to me that just because I read it in a book doesn’t mean she has the problem, and she’s not currently dealing with EVERY PROBLEM I’VE EVER READ all at once
This explains why I’d been a bit tense around her lately.
I walked away with the following lesson:
Book characters working through issues profoundly change the reader. And Christian Fiction offers hope.
Do your due diligence. Make sure the issues you write about are realistic and the answers are spot on. Because you could single handedly ruin a life by offering no hope. Or set a person on a trajectory toward healing, comfort, or wellbeing.
How are we to be assured we can offer hope? One simple command from 1 Peter 3:15. “But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.” (ESV)
Keep writing the hope that is in you.
Philip Anderson keeps his past close to the vest. Haunted by the murder of his parents as they traveled West in their covered wagon, his many unanswered questions about that night still torment him.
His only desire is to live quietly on his homestead and raise horses. He meets Anna, a beautiful young woman with secrets of her own. Falling in love was not part of his plan. Can Philip tell her how he feels before it’s too late?
With Anna a pawn in the corrupt schemes brewing in the nearby Dakota town, Philip is forced to become a reluctant gunslinger. Will Philip’s uncannily trained horses and unsurpassed sharpshooting skills help him free Anna and find out what really happened to his family in the wilderness?
Peter Leavell, a 2007/2020 graduate of Boise State University with a degree in history and a MA in English Literature, was the 2011 winner of Christian Writers Guild’s Operation First Novel contest, and 2013 Christian Retailing’s Best award for First-Time Author, along with multiple other awards. An author, blogger, teacher, ghostwriter, jogger, biker, husband and father, Peter and his family live in Boise, Idaho. Learn more about Peter’s books, research, and family adventures at www.peterleavell.com