Inspirational Romance

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brainstorm77

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Wow the market is huge for this type of romance right now!!! I have read some of Harlequin's Love Inspired line and enjoyed them all :) Do any of you write this type of romance?
 

Robin Bayne

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I have written inspy romance! My last novella "From Now On" was a Christian romance. I love to read them too!!

Love Inspired
is a very good series! There is also a book club line called Heartsong Presents, published by Barbour. They publish both contemp and historicals, and are more conservative than L.I.
 

L.Jones

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I write for Love Inspired as well as Women'd fic for Steeple Hill.

Have written romances for Multnomah and Waterbrook as well.

Love Inspired is expanding all the time, which is encouraging while the traditional CBA publishers are tending now to fold romances into general fiction.



annie jones (Sisterhood of the Queen Mamas - DEC 06, Steeple HIll)
 

Robin Bayne

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L.Jones said:
I write for Love Inspired as well as Women'd fic for Steeple Hill.

Have written romances for Multnomah and Waterbrook as well.

Love Inspired is expanding all the time, which is encouraging while the traditional CBA publishers are tending now to fold romances into general fiction.



annie jones (Sisterhood of the Queen Mamas - DEC 06, Steeple HIll)

Will watch for your books!!! :D
 

Terre

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I am trying to get into this market myself and I love the Inspirational Romances.
Whenever I send out a query, I always get a good response, but somehow it never seems quite right for them at the moment. Oh well, I must keep trying or otherwise I'll just be dreaming. Has anyone got any advice on getting their attention? When a query letter is sent, how much of it has to keep relaying that it is Christian slanted? I can't seem to keep mentioning God or Jesus all the time throughout, but I do say that their faith is reliant on their faith to get them through.
TerreT.
 
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Robin Bayne

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Terre,

I've read many of these books over the years, and the amount of Jesus and God in them varies, usually by publisher.

For example, the Heartsong Presents (book club) novels are full of God-mentions, mention of prayer, Scripture references, etc.

But the Love Inspired (Steeple Hill) seem much more subtle about it. Read a few from the pubs you might target to get a feel for their tone.

Most editors of inspy-roms agree that there are actually 3 people in the story, hero, heroine and God. The relationship with God has to grow as does the love relationship--sometimes making these stories much harder to write!
 

Roger J Carlson

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Inspiewriter said:
Most editors of inspy-roms agree that there are actually 3 people in the story, hero, heroine and God. The relationship with God has to grow as does the love relationship--sometimes making these stories much harder to write!
That's a really good observation, and one I've never thought of. Seems to me, you could generalize this to most Christian fiction. The protagonist's relationship to God should undergo some change for the better or worse (most often for the better, I'd think). This would differentiate "Christian Fiction" from fiction with Christian characters, wouldn't it?
 

L.Jones

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Not to be contrary but I have NEVER thought of my insp romances as having 3 characters and one of them being God.

My books are about people who already are Christians and about what that means in context and how they face their conflicts.
I think of the element of faith as the freedom to give new depth and potential for growth and understanding to my characters. As a writer I find it a way to make more realistic characters because they have a spiritual thread to their thoughts, actions, motivations.

Most Insp romances are first romance (not all, as has been said some houses want a God story with a romance setting). If you want to write for the market, visit their websites and those of their authors, as they often share insights or give tip sheets.

The market is changing. Many large secular houses are joining the mix. There is no one way to write for it.

Annie Jones ( Sisterhood of The Queen Mamas - Dec 06 - "Laugh Out Loud Funny" Publisher's Weekly)
 

Robin Bayne

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L.Jones said:
Not to be contrary but I have NEVER thought of my insp romances as having 3 characters and one of them being God.

Well I don't think of mine that way either--and I don't think the editors mean that literally. (that would be strange, to literally have God as a character in your romance :D) And I agree with everything else you said--but there is another relationship besides the hero and heroine. It can be new or already established, but I've never read one without it.


Roger: That would probably make a difference in the terminology. There are many secular stories with Christian characters, but I've never read any subgenre of Christian fiction in which at least one character didn't have a developing relationship with God.
 

ByGracePublishing

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From my point of view, Inspirational Romance is a romance in which spiritual growth is a main component. The hero/heroine base their union on the spiritual as well. In a traditional Christian love relationship God is supposed to be at the center. Otherwise, the religious tendencies of the characters are just window dressing.
 

L.Jones

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Inspiewriter said:
Well I don't think of mine that way either--and I don't think the editors mean that literally. (that would be strange, to literally have God as a character in your romance :D) And I agree with everything else you said--but there is another relationship besides the hero and heroine. It can be new or already established, but I've never read one without it.

quote]

Character was a bad choice of words, but to someone coming along wondering what makes an Insp Romance different, that is, indeed, what this advice can sound like. To add interaction with God as an element to set it apart as an Insp Romance.
In much the same way being told having setting as a 'character' can lead to long descriptive passages or the like, saying that all Christian fiction has the third party of God in the story can make it seem as if one must set the spiritual relationship at the same level as the romance. This idea puts some people off as they conclude they are buying thinly veiled sermons not stories.

It may just be a matter of terms, but it seems a good idea to get more than one vantage point out there for new writers and readers to consider.
Just trying to be clear that for most (not all) Insp romances the romance is the story, the faith is part of characterization that shapes the choices the hero and heroine make.

This may be more or less so with single title or other kinds of Christian fiction.

annie jones (Sisterhood of the Queen Mamas, Dec 06, "Laugh Out Loud Funny" Publisher's Weekly)
Luanne Jones (Heathen Girls, out now)
 
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