Comments on: Stoker’s Dracula as Christian Fiction

By: Rachel Starr Thomson

Rachel Starr Thomson — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:04:03 +0000

Now I want to read Dracula . Your final question is a really, really good one. Possibly because that's what modern man wants to make it?

By: Mike Duran

Mike Duran — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 20:14:47 +0000

Hmm. I'm not sure I'm positing any solution. At least not in this post. The sacred / secular paradigm is far too entrenched in American Evangelicalism for industry "tweaks" to matter. An entire culture of separatists has been created. Christian readers have cordoned their little niche and defend it with relative fervor. Any "solution" would involve organizational / financial risks (on the part of the publishers) and extended theological / philosophical rumination (on the part of the readers), and I'm unsure how either fares against money and entertainment. But I would agree, Dayle, that the audience is more of the problem than the suppliers. After all, this is the country that's fixated upon Reality TV.

If anything, I am happy to regularly point out why the term Christian art (be it fiction, film, or music) misconstrues both the concept of art and how Christians are to interact with culture. If readers — or publishers! — happen to dig that vibe, I'm all the more happy to continue my rants.

By: Kaci

Kaci — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 04:07:21 +0000

But I would agree, Dayle, that the audience is more of the problem than the suppliers. After all, this is the country that's fixated upon Reality TV.

Ha.

By: Dayle

Dayle — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:12:28 +0000

Mike, I understand your frustration and your overall point, but I think you're positing the wrong solution.

The solution is not to open the eyes of these publishers and make them realize that they are doing a dis-service to the world with their stringent rules and guidelines and thus becoming a blight on the cause of evangelicalism. They serve an audience that demands a certain type of product. It seems to me your real issue is with them.

Changing the little signs in the bookstores would seem to be the real solution.

By: Mike Duran

Mike Duran — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:56:26 +0000

Dayle, my book is being shopped ABA, so I have no real stake in the debate… other than being a Christian reader and author. As such, I'm concerned about Christian fiction in the same way I'm concerned about Christian music and Christian film — they are cultural representations of Christianity. Though CBA / ECPA "never declared themselves the governing body or ruling authority on the strict definition of the label Christian Fiction," by being the primary purveyors of Christian fiction, they are, perhaps by default, shaping its identity.

Really, I'm not saying anything other than what other, far more authoritative voices have been saying. Dave Long, Mick Silva, Jeffrey Overstreet, Barbara Nicolosi, Andy Crouch, and many others have, at one point or another, expressed similar sentiments and/or frustrations with the Christian fiction industry. Perhaps in your eyes I'm grinding an axe. But if that's the case, I have many companions.

By: Dayle

Dayle — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:28:14 +0000

Mike, due to the fact that e-mail offers no inflection, keep in mind I say this with all sincerity: For your sake, you really need to let this go.

CBA & ECPA are merely purveyors of a niche product. That being books purchased mainly by American Evangelical Christians.

The label Christian fiction should not be interpreted any other way. They have never declared themselves the governing body or ruling authority on the strict definition of the label Christian Fiction. If they ever do, I will join forces with you to defeat them.

There's plenty of Christian fiction in the regular fiction section of your favorite bookstore–curse words and all. Try reading Koontz's latest stuff.

By: Sue Dent

Sue Dent — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:34:47 +0000

No CBA or ECPA publisher has allowed a story to be written about vampires or werewolves of lore. They've only allowed a suggestion of such things and it's so odd those general market readers are left going huh along with core market readers. CBA was formed in 1950 to provide Christian Bookstores with fiction their visitors could read. It was/is targeted and overt fiction that was never meant to appeal to general market readers Christian or otherwise. Jeff Gerke's work is also targeted and overt just not as strict or rigid as CBA. CBA publishers are pushing to appeal to a readership that seems to be changing but aren't doing a good job of it. They're losing core market readers and doing little to attract enough Christian readers from the general market to make up for the loss. I wrote a vampire/werewolf story that has overwhelmingly appealed to CBA and ECPA readers as well as general market readers and has been deemed "socially acceptable" by Spring Arbor for distribution into the Christian market. I wonder why my work isn't being talked about here? Probably for the same reason my work isn't allowed into the larger Christian bookstores, it isn't through an affiliated publisher.

By: Mike Duran

Mike Duran — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:09:13 +0000

Nicole, despite Eric Wilson's trilogy, there remains far more resistance to vampires in Xian-fic than there does interest. While Karen Ball may express intrigue, John Olson's "Shade," which was published by B&H, is not really about vampires. In fact, it is openly described as the "vampireless vampire book." Are they trying to tiptoe around the concept? This, to me, refutes any suggestion of movement toward CBA exploring vampire mythology. And while Wilson and Thomas Nelson should be commended for taking risks, from my understanding, after the final book in the trilogy, that risk is over.

I understand that vampires are not everyone's cup of tea. But religious publisher's continued inability / unwillingness to explore an archetype so rife with possibility — especially one that reinforces a Christian worldview — strikes me as weird.

By: Nicole

Nicole — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:52:42 +0000

I do understand your plight in the fantasy/Xian-fic/specfic/scifi realms in CBA publishing. It's interesting to me that Jeff Gerke put his money where his mouth is and took on a risky venture with his Marcher Lord Press. I think–it's been awhile so I could be wrong–he's giving it a couple of years to prove profitable or at least break even. If not, there goes another avenue for readers who desire the Christian slant to the aforementioned genres and the writers who write them.
I agree, though, that any genre which gives an open door to a Christian worldview should be wide open to the possibilities and not be coming late to the party or more likely totally absent from the niche crowd because it does seem to be ripe for the picking.

By: Nicole

Nicole — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 23:46:34 +0000

Fascinating information, Mike. Since vampires, et al, hold no interest for me, I really had no idea what the story was about other than blood-sucking. Not so many years back, CBA publishers had zero interest in such things, and, as you know, adult fantasy is still a hard sell, but Eric Wilson with his UnDead Trilogy has made an entrance into CBA. Karen Ball (B&H acq. editor) likes all stuff vampirish and fantasy, but what it takes in a proposal to sell it, I have no idea. Might be worth trying to get an interview with her, Mike.