Christianbook.com Fiction Blog

An author asked me to write some tips for aspiring authors from my point of view as the fiction editor for Christianbook.com, so here goes:

Write what you know!

Don’t try to write a story based on a setting in a place you’ve only experienced through the internet. Without exception, the A-list authors
either live in, near, or spend time where the story takes place. How can you convey passion or the quirks of a place if you’ve never been there?
One of the A-list authors  never traveled more than 500 miles from her home before her first book was published. Can you guess who this author is? Why is she an A-List author? She writes from her soul about the place she knows best and is passionate about. I cringe when I hear “I looked it up on the internet.”

Write from your heart, soul and what is authentic to you:

It may not be God’s timing for that book now, but God uses everything for His purpose; perhaps it’s a stepping stone to develop your voice (point of view). I had the opportunity to listen to writers pitching stories to publishers. The worst mistake was that a couple of them started with “I have a story about…” That’s fine. The part that’s not fine is …” I have another story in a different genre…and if you don’t like that…. I’ll write Amish.” You are a unique person to God with your own history; your own passions. That’s what’s going to sell in the marketplace, because the characters will take over for you and your fingers won’t be able to keep up with your thoughts and ideas. Why? Because you’re passionate about it, and you’ll remember detail after detail that you’ll never get if you’re trying to write Amish when your passion is somewhere else.

Excellent examples of people writing with passion are Brandilyn Collins, Julie Lessman,  Beth Wiseman to name a few.  Each one lights up like a Christmas tree and shows an energy level for her passion (which, in Julie Lessman’s case, is passion!) You can’t miss it! That’s why they write so well!

Don’t write to Follow trends:

Think about your fourth book in print.  What does that look like? Is it historical because you love history?  Is it contemporary because you have many contemporary issues that are on your heart?  If you wrote one book to follow the market, you may be branded with that label.  If you’re writing that fourth novel and you’re not passionate about the genre, it’s going to be hard work and drudgery instead of the words flying off the page. It takes about 18 months from signing the contract to the actual release date of the book.  Chances are, that trend you tried to follow has come and gone. Obviously, follow what your publisher wants you to do, but that’s after you have your first contract! Who knows, your book may be the one that sets the next trend!

Immerse the reader into the story!

Don’t just tell a story; transport the reader into the story.  Make the reader feel like she/he is hiking in the Colorado foothills, or let them feel the grittiness beneath their nails if they sculpt clay into an art form; let them taste the food on the table, hear the crickets in the background, sense the encroaching fog. That’s the difference between a so-so story and a tightly woven tale that the reader may stay up all night reading, or the reader may listen to the audiobook on a trip and skip to the next rest stop because they’re immersed so deeply in the story that they forget they can turn off the CD and start it up again after their stop. Now that’s the difference between telling and transporting!

Happy Writing!

River's Song, by Melody Carlson

Melody Carlson’s newest book, River’s Song was the perfect read this weekend! Her story brought me back to my childhood, living in Seattle and camping in many of the parks throughout Washington and Oregon. The setting is a beautiful 40 acre spot on an Oregon river where Anna travels back to her childhood home after the death of her mother. She has the opportunity to mend her broken heart and life through cleaning out the attic, discovering the lost treasures of her heart, from her grandmother Pearl’s beautifully woven baskets to journals that her father wrote partly in Swedish; recording the tales of her Siuslaw Indian heritage. River’s Song is rich with treasures, memories of long ago. I highly recommend it! This is Melody Carlson’s best book to date! What are you reading?

On May 5th The Christy Award nominees were announced; one of the most coveted accolades among the Christian fiction authors and deservedly so.  These nominations are a high honor and have been selected based on hundreds of titles and countless hours spent reading and poring over the fine details of the book using the criteria that is most important; how these books reflect God’s word and influence in the characterization and depth of the novels. They are not necessarily the most popular novels but they are indeed the best of the best. I have had the privilege of reading many of these books and would be hard pressed to choose the winners in each category.

And here they are:

Contemporary / Romance:

Sworn to Protect, Call of Duty Series #2, by DiAnn Mills
Blood Ransom, Mission Hope Series #1, by Lisa Harris
Indivisible, by Kristen Heitzmann

Contemporary Series; Sequels:

The Waiting, Lancaster County Secrets Series #2, by Suzanne Woods Fisher
The Thorn, Rose Trilogy Series #1, by Beverly Lewis
The Reluctant Prophet, by Nancy Rue

Contemporary Stand-Alone:

Lady in Waiting, by Susan Meissner
A Season of Miracles, by Rusty Whitener
Almost Heaven, by Chris Fabry

First Novel:

Crossing Oceans, by Gina Holmes
A Season of Miracles, by Rusty Whitener
Heartless, Tales of Goldstone Woods Series #1, by Anne Elisabeth Stengl

Historical Romance:

Within My Heart, Timber Ridge Reflections Series #3, by Tamera Alexander
The Girl in the Gatehouse, by Julie Klassen
She Walks in Beauty, by Siri Mitchell

Historical:

While We’re Far Apart, by Lynn Austin
Chosen, Lost Loves of the Bible Series #1, by Ginger Garrett
For Time & Eternity, by Allison Pittman

Suspense:

The Bishop, Patrick Bowers Series #4, by Steven James
Predator, by Terri Blackstock
The Bride Collector, by Ted Dekker

Visionary:

Konig’s Fire, Marc Schooley
To Darkness Fled, Blood of Kings Series #2, by Jill Williamson
The Last Christian, by David Gregory

Young Adult:

Motorcycles, Sushi & One Strange Book, by Nancy Rue
The Charlatan’s Boy, by Jonathan Rogers
The Healer’s Apprentice, by Melanie Dickerson

Most of the time I am looking at galley prior to the release date of the book, but I made not one, but two exceptions recently by reading two already released titles; Janelle Mowery’s When All My Dreams Come True, Colorado Runaway Series #1, an historical love story and Deb Raney’s Almost Forever, a contemporary that explores the concept, “There but for the grace of God go I.”

Wow! Am I glad I had the chance to read both! Janelle Mowery is a debut author with loads of potential and Deborah Raney’s Almost Forever, Hanover Falls Series #1 brings a new level to her already outstanding writing! It will make you question what you would do in her shoes. Talk about a page-turner!

I could not put either one of these books down until the very end and then wanted all the details for their next books in both the Hanover Falls Series and the Colorado Runaway Series. If you haven’t tried either of these authors, I assure you that you won’t be disappointed!

Two young children meet through their passion for Chopin. As children, they sneak into the music conservatory to write scores and play the piano and cello, totally in tune with one another. Clara comes from a privileged background; her father is an esteemed and quite famous reverend.  Daniel’s father is killed in a boiler explosion and his mother succumbs to depression only months later, leaving Daniel to care for his younger sisters by himself. After years of separation, their story begins again.  Elizabeth Camden captures your heart with every word she writes and leaves you wondering which part of the story is fact and which is fiction. What an impressive debut! Elizabeth Camden Interview.

Have you watched a movie like Pretty Woman, where impossible relationships are possible?  Sprinkle in the magic dust of God’s love and power and you’ve got Lilies in Moonlight by Allison Pittman; a charming love story mixed a bit of flapper, the gilded age, God’s wonderful power to heal broken hearts and spirits. Lilies in Moonlight will hold a gentle spot in your heart.

Have you ever wondered why King David, a man so intimately connected with God, could commit adultery and murder? Jill Eileen Smith does a remarkable job in Bathsheba painting a plausible picture of how this could happen. Depression, vulnerability and loneliness all play a part of David’s…and Bathsheba’s very human weakness. Bathsheba transports you back to that point in time and immerses you into the life of King David and Bathsheba.  Jill Eileen Smith is a truly gifted writer!

For fun, here’s some of stats for the TOP 50 Fiction titles of 2010:

21 out of 50 books were Amish Fiction!

Beverly Lewis claimed the #1 and #2 spots for 2010

3 authors that had 3 books in the 2010 TOP 50:

11 Authors had two books in the 2010 TOP 50:

2 New Authors made their debut appearance in the TOP 50:

Kelly Long
Vanetta Chapman

Deeanne Gist hosted a delightful Getaway Weekend to the Biltmore in

Made to Match: Deeanne Gist

 Asheville N. Carolina where her book “Maid to Match” was based. To actually see the rooms where the story took place one gets a far better understanding of the depth of Deeanne’s work prior to writing the book.  According to her aunt and uncle she researches her books for well over a year before she actually puts pen to paper. To walk the distances between the house and the barn, to actually huff up four flights of stairs and see where Tillie washed the floors every morning and where …..lugged the enormous trunks, was truly taking the story to the fourth dimension.

The details that went into the Getaway Weekend itself were remarkable. To begin the weekend, we had a Gilded Age costume party; many wore true replicas of the gowns worn during the Victorian/Gilded Age era. They acquired them through e-bay or costume shops.  Deeanne also had a very special guest, J’neen, who is an expert in the Victorian area and provided several of the dresses, etc.  including Dee’s lingerie gown.  Dee also had a gown made specifically for the costume party so we could all see the detail that went into dressing the ladies right down to their chemises, and how they needed maids to actually dress them.  Their entire day consisted of dressing and undressing. It sounds and looks glamorous until you see the rest of the story; it’s quite grueling.

We learned the “art of the fan”.  Ladies during that era were never allowed to approach a gentleman, so they used their fans and parasols extensively to communicate with the gentleman, thanks to J’Nean’s demonstrations.

We all participated in “parlour games” which replicated the games of the Victorian Era.  One of the highlights was when all the participants were told to not say a word, except one dainty young woman who was set up and let out a loud “Moo” with all that was in her; the the uproarious laughter of everyone else.  She was a good sport and thought it was extremely funny, too.

While the parlour games were going on, there were also stations around the room…the chocolate fountain station, the picture taking station where we all took a sepia toned picture, displays of the different items from the Victorian era, a display of antique items that you selected if you “forfeited” in the parlour games. It was an exceptional evening, and one none who participated will soon forget.

The next day we toured Antler Hill, which used to be the dairy farm for the estate and is now a profitable winery, shopping center.

I had the delightful opportunity to have lunch with Deeanne’s Aunt and Uncle, and found out the inside scoop about Dee.  Her aunt and uncle lovingly told about how Dee would organize and the cousins and neighbor children and put on plays that the grown-ups were summoned to watch.  Dee also was a journalism major and had stories to tell from the time she was little. What sets Deeanne apart from other authors is the time and detail that Dee puts in, before ever putting a word to paper. It’s not unusual for her to spend over a year just on the research and getting a feel for the places, people she writes about. That has been clearly evident throughout her writing career. Her very first book A Bride Most Begrudging hit the best seller list right off the release date, won the 2006 Christy award, and every book she’s written since always hits the bestsellers list. Her Uncle Harold is one of Dee’s biggest fans and reads every one of her books!  He also participated in the Gilded Age Ball with grace and aplomb!

The Biltmore estate is one of the few privately owned estates left and is the largest in the country with over four acres for the footprint of the house, 250 rooms and 43 bathrooms.  It had the most up-to-date inventions throughout the home of that era, including a gym, deep water swimming pool with underwater lights, a bowling alley.  The fact that pervaded through out our time there was how well the Vanderbilts took care of their servants.  Each year at Christmas Mrs. Vanderbilt would hand select a gift for each person and their families and celebrate the opening of the gifts in the grand dining hall where a 40 foot tree stood.  that tradition is still held today by the current Vanderbilt heirs.

Dinner in the stable was quite an event.  The food throughout the weekend was five star, and this dinner culminated  the weekend as one of the best meals of all.  Deeanne had her uncle give the blessing and by this time the forty participants all knew one another quite well (not a complainer in the bunch) and the laughter and love floating between the tables was palpable.

From there we were given a private tour of the Biltmore Estate, with Deeanne and her sister Gail leading the two groups.  As were on the tour, both sisters gave all these delicious tidbits about the estate, what went on in the rooms, the editing Deeanne had to do, the rooms where Deeanne set the scenes for different parts of the book.  As a fiction author, Dee thought she made up a room called the “Paris room” only to discover that there really is a “Paris room” within the Biltmore estate.

 God put together this amazing group of women and had His hand in the celebration from beginning to end. It was a remarkable opportunity to experience this Getaway Weekend. And one I’ll not soon forget! Thank you to Deeanne Gist, Gayle Evers and the wonderful publisher Bethany House for making this such an extraordinary event.

Early Bird Session:

Renowned author James Scott Bell opened ACFW with an early bird session on writing where he declared that all writers are weird! How cool is that! That simple statement got a huge round of applause, several “amens,” and palpable relief resonated throughout the room. From that point on, everyone relaxed and was hooked into what he had to share. By the time Jim was finished with the four hour session on plot and structure, everyone learned valuable lessons, a whole lot of trivia about Jim’s favorite movies,” The Fugitive“, “Moonstruck, “City Slickers,” and of course the legendary “Odd Couple.” Jim lives in L.A. capital of movie land, and he uses his movie knowledge to effectively demonstrate examples of plot and structure, while keeping his audience captivated!

Cynthia Ruchti opened ACFW with wonderful words of praise to all those devoted to making ACFW the extraordinary event that it is. Held in the Hyatt Regency hotel in downtown Indianapolis, the setting for a scene in a famous movie, everyone who came to the conference was in awe of the beautiful lobby, the glass elevators rising to a fancy restaurant that circled the city at the top. What I was privileged to find out by eating at this restaurant with ACFW president Cynthia Ruchti and VP Becky, the food prepared throughout the entire conference was prepared on the same quality level as their ***** five star restaurant.  (They could make pork chops taste as extraordinary as the best filet mignon.) Cynthia Ruchti was in charge of preparing the menu for the entire 4 days, the best conference fare ever served; among the several thousand other responsibilities she oversaw throughout the conference.

To start the ceremony, Becky Germany from Barbour publishers awarded three never- before-published authors an award of a contract. What a thrill for them and what a way to begin the ACFW conference!

Brandilyn Collins opened ACFW with a story about her experience arriving at the Indianapolis airport.  As she deplaned in the Indianapolis airport and headed to the baggage claim area, it was announced over the loud speaker that everyone must evacuate the area.  Thinking it was a bomb scare, everyone skedaddled out as fast as they could, but not before a huge door came down right in front of Brandilyn. To this day she has no idea what was going on behind these instructions. When they lifted the door, she ran, and as a daily runner, she didn’t hesitate; just grabbed her bags as they circled around the baggage claim and ran, until she got to the car and out of the airport. As she stated; “Suspense follows me wherever I go.”

We all joined in for praise and worship music, the singing led by Rachel Hauck with Denise Hunter on drums.

 Next to speak was Tim Downs, who has a long list of credentials; life experiences, including a syndicated column as a comic strip writer, a marriage counselor, and of course, writer extraordinaire. As Brandilyn described the character from the Bug Man series as “about as socially inept as one can get, but knowing everything there is to know about…well…maggots,” Tim came on stage with several stories which held us all captivated!

 Dinner, breakfast and lunch were perfect opportunities to meet authors, agents other newbies and aspiring writers. No matter which table you sat at, you were sure to meet someone God led to you for help and support.

Throughout the conference, there were classes for all levels of writers, from veteran writers such as Gayle Roper, Colleen Coble, Brandilyn Collins, Terri Blackstock, James Scott Bell and founding author, Tracie Peterson to aspiring writers looking for direction, help and support.  It was impossible to catch all the classes, author signings, agent meetings and publisher discussions. By the end of the action packed four days, most people attending were actually ready to go home, so they could have a chance to digest all they learned and experienced.

The award ceremony was the culmination of the year’s efforts by so many volunteers.  As writers took the stage to accept their awards, most had a funny quip to make, poignant story to tell, and the ceremony seemed to be over in a blink of an eye.

Award Ceremony Highlights:

 The Genesis awards which represent outstanding potential by unpublished authors were presented by one of my favorite people, Camy Tang, author for Zondervan. Camy has a real heart for aspiring writers and is very involved the Genesis awards, spending many, many hours reading over manuscripts, along with several other volunteers.  Although they are not awarded a contract on the spot, historically, almost all Genesis award winners are given a contract within a very short period after receiving the Genesis award.

The Carol Award: As a tribute to Carol Johnson, the real pioneer behind the expansion of Christian fiction, Janette Oke presented the very first Carol Award to Carol Johnson for her lifetime achievements.  Both women  received a well-deserved standing ovation and an extended round of applause!

 Double Award Winners:

 Susan May Warren won two awards; one was the “Mentor of the Year award,” dedicated to her for going above and beyond to encourage other authors and aspiring authors along their journey. 

Susan also won an award for “The Great Christmas Bowl.” The genesis of the book came when she and another author asked the magical two words, “What if?”  The joke between them was that the first one who wrote a book about the football teams and Christmas would be the winner…as it turns out, on more than one level!

 The surprise for me was the speech that  double award winner newcomer Dan Walsh delievered for “An Unfinished Gift.” It wasn’t a surprise that he received the awards for the book, he’s garnered many five star reviews; the surprise was his heartfelt acceptance speech where he mentioned that he’d been a pastor for twenty-five years; what a privilege it was to be among so many talented women and how humbled he was by the encouragement he received throughout the conference. Frankly, his acceptance speech was so poignant, heartfelt and gracious, I was ready to sign up for any broadcasts he may have as a pastor and definitely make a point of reading all his books.

More  Highlights:

 Terri Blackstock also won in the suspense category for her book called, “Intervention.” As she elegantly graced the stage in her beautiful copper gown, she walked to the microphone and made the joke, “I’m the Susan Lucci of the fiction world.” She’s been nominated on numerous occasions but this is her first award that she’s received.  The best part about this award and this book, is that “Intervention” is her authentic story about her family, and she had to reach deeply into her soul to write this story.  Special congratulations to Terri Blackstock!

 After reading most of the books in the finalists category,  how  does  the ACFW committee could select one book from the many choices on the finalist lists?  Most categories had more than the usual number to select from based on ties. If you take a look at the finalists, Christian fiction just keeps getting better and better!

To summarize the growth in the Christian fiction industry; five years ago, for all Christian products sold, fiction was approximately 12% of the total Christian industry. In the last six months Christian fiction has gone from 15% TO 19% of the total Christian industry.