"Christian Fiction"

Quite a question (I know; I write the stuff). The answers are many and varied, but at its core I believe "Christian fiction" is fiction that encompasses a Christian worldview (best expressed in the evangelical sense). For a real-world taste, visit your local B&N or Borders, cruise the Christian fiction aisle (they should have one) and peruse a few of the titles. If you're really brave, buy a couple (including mine *G*). That should give you a pretty good idea.

John

Vuligora said:

Thanks, I guess it's one of those things you have to read to completely understand. Any recommedations on Titles would be appreciated. I'm experienced in looking for a good Sci-fi or fantasy, but am inexperienced at loking up Christian Fiction. I'd hate to spend my ntime on the worst of the possible selections!

-Thanks Oodles

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For sci-fi, you can't go wrong with Alton Gansky's A Ship Possessed or Vanished; for a legal thriller consider James Scott Bell's Blind Justice (a caveat: both are good friends of mine, so consider the source! )

For a good ol' out-n-out monster book you can't go wrong with Frank Peretti's The Oath (now a movie). Or, for tough, private eye fiction, one could do worse than Until the Last Dog Dies or When Skylarks Fall, both by...well...modesty prevents me.

John

I'm not sure if it's just a Christian worldview that would get a publisher that doesn't want Christian fiction to reject it. Things that would make it more overtly Christian, when combined with a Christian worldview, would include something like the following:

Characters having long, introspective moments about their faith - or discussing their faith - that is integral to the plot.
Using God, Satan, angels, or demons as characters.
Having characters intereact with Bible characters.

There are many Christian authors who have a Christian worldview but do not write things that would be considered "Christian fiction."

In this case, if they say they don't want Christian fiction, they probably don't want anything that mentions Christ or Christian theology in a positive light (more than perhaps in passing)--that is, they probably want something purley secular. That doesn't mean that anything that mentions or involves Christianity positively will be considered "Christian fiction" by Christian publishers, but I imagine that's what this publisher means, since he/she is making a negative conclusion.

I agree with all of the replies, plus would add that for the Christian romance genre, besides the developing relationship between hero and heroine, there is another element-- a relationship with God. It can be a new or developing relationship, but definitely one a secular publisher would want to avoid.

I'd agree with Matt and would add that the publisher is thinking about stories where it's a major point that the main character is either A) a Christian, or B) becomes one over the course of the story. But even then there could be exceptions.

Wade