When I first joined the writing group that Rachel Marks is a part of, she was just finishing chemotherapy. That was 5-6 years ago. Rachel has since survived cancer, grown her hair back (and turned it florescent pink), and went on to have her YA urban fantasy series contracted by Amazon Skyscape. The first novel in the trilogy, Darkness Brutal, reached number 1 in several categories and has become a surprise Amazon bestseller. Knowing that Rachel’s faith is a HUGE part of her life and writing, I invited her to talk a little bit about being a Christian author in the general market, some of the nuances and potential pitfalls, as well as offer advice for other writers of faith.
* * *
MIKE: Thanks for visiting, Rachel! Your “Dark Cycle” trilogy was aimed at general market readers. Obviously, this is a question faced by many Christian authors: Should they write for the religious / inspirational market, or the mainstream market. So tell us, how do you navigate being a Christian while writing fiction for a general market audience?
RACHEL: As a writer I think my main goal has always been to write a good story, more than an important message. I want my work to mean something but not at the expense of a readership. I write what’s in my heart, in my imagination, and pray that if it can speak to someone, it will. Not just centered around “salvation” but in a broader sense, Hope, Love, and how it feels to be human in a harsh world. God is in everything I write because of my worldview, but not because I put Him there. He is the one who guides my vision, so I have faith His will will be done in the process as well as the product of my work.
MIKE: So do you consider your writing career a “spiritual calling” or “ministry”?
RACHEL: I do, in a sense, but more as a window into the lives of young people. As a YA writer, I write to my younger teen self, and know there’s plenty of hunger out there, and that God will use my work to allow me to one day speak into their lives, maybe even personally. I’ve already had the opportunity to speak at schools and work one on one as a mentor to young people. This, I think, is where God’s hand becomes obvious, because these are young people I never would have had the chance to reach out to before now.
MIKE: A common complaint from many Christian writers is that their story is “too worldly” for the Christian market and “too Christian” for the general market. What advice would you give to an author who feels stuck in such a place?
RACHEL: I would suggest that they reevaluate their goals as well as their story. I was in that place for a time, and discovered I needed to make a choice in my work. Which path did I feel led to? The greater market, or was I meant to speak to The Church? I figured out quickly that I had no desire to preach to the Church, so instead I chose the market that would allow me to reach the unreached. That meant being coy, and not allowing my Christian Pride to make me feel I needed to put certain things in my work to make them “authentically” Christian.
God led me to the scripture (Matt. 10:16) “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”
And in that I felt I needed to write a story, rather than a sermon. Jesus was a storyteller and he never made his point directly in those stories. He was attempting to create an avenue of thought, and open hearts and minds, rather than hitting people over the head with his Truth (though, when the time came, he never shied away from speaking it to the Religious leaders of the day).
I spend a lot of time praying and asking for wisdom. I know that some (perhaps many) things in my stories will likely offend the average Evangelical. But I’m not concerned with them. I’m concerned with that lost soul out there needing Hope, and I pray for him or her and pray my words reach them with God’s Grace and hit that nerve, to open their heart for the next seed that God wants to plant in their spirit.
MIKE: What advice would you give to a Christian novelist who is seeking to change from writing for the Christian market to the general market?
RACHEL: I would advise them to read widely and learn their audience, not assuming that writing for one market just means taking God out in any obvious way. The caliber and styles of writing is vast, as well as the genres. Know that world and be in it. Don’t be afraid to mingle with those who you would normally vehemently disagree with. And don’t allow yourself to be combative, if you want to take part in their world. You must rise above, in both kindness and openness, so that you don’t allow room for the Enemy to dig his claws in and stop you from your mission (if that’s what it truly is). You’re like spies in the Land already claimed. If you wish to find ground for Christ, you need to keep your pride and your need to have truth be heard, out of it. Both politically and religiously. “Even a foolish man appears wise when he is silent.” (Proverbs 17:28)
Know scripture and keep your relationship with God grounded and strong. But know that’s it’s not you, but The Spirit who is important. He will lead readers to Truth. IT’S NOT YOUR JOB TO SAVE ANYONE. It’s your job to be available and to be a vessel. That means you must leave all pride and expectation behind. Live in The Spirit and allow yourself to be flexible, as Paul was able to see beyond The Law and reach those who wished for that Love he offered through Christ. You’re not being seeker-friendly, you’re being a realist. You’re realizing that the world is lost and it won’t be you hitting them over the head with Truth that saves them. If anything that will cast them away, because truly, it’s only your religious pride that is making you feel the need to be so vehement.
Among ourselves (as Christians) we should always be ready to go back and forth and dig deep into the truth. But in the world, we must realize, we battle a very cunning enemy. And waving flags and singing anthems is a very good strategy for failure.
* * *
This interview is part of a series of interviews I’ve conducted with Christian authors about writing for the general market. It’s part of my preparation for the workshop, The Crossover Christian Novelist, which I will be leading at this year’s Realm Makers conference. Thanks, Rachel, for the great advice. Godspeed to you and all your writing endeavors.
Hi Rachel Mark! I first “met” you a LONG time ago over at the Jeff Gerke’s Wherethemapends and fell in love with your charcoal drawings, but ah, time and cobwebs in the brain, I didn’t realize Rachel A. Marks was the same person you. Ha! Congrats on the book!
Great interview! This is something that I have struggled with and I’m still not quite settled about. Mike, I look forward to your class at Realm Makers!
Very cool interview. I know so many of us constantly re-evaluate “who am I writing to?” and more Christian authors than ever are heading into the general market.
Personally, I’ve felt that to be embraced by mainstream readers, I would have to sacrifice the sometimes passionately-held Christian views of my main characters. What are your thoughts on this? In other words, is it best to scrub your book of anything like this to be well-received by a non-Christian audience? Or to take the 1-stars that result from Christian charas who take stands for what they believe?
Would love to know your take and thanks for this informative interview, Mike and Rachel.
Heather, I suppose this ultimately comes down to the author’s convictions and what they’re willing to sacrifice. Personally, I think any movement into the mainstream — whether its writing books, our career, education, etc. — requires some sacrifice. We “modify” our message based on our audience all the time. I approach my co-workers way different than I do the people in my church. I think we need to be careful assuming that toning down Christian content means we’re sacrificing commitment to the Gospel (not that you’re saying that).
The balance between my beliefs and the stories I write for the mainstream market have been on my mind a lot lately. My paranormal romance novel, Malevolent, has two characters who are believers. This influences my monster’s actions–he’s seeking redemption–and influences my heroine’s actions–she realizes there’s good in the monster. Nobody goes to church, nobody preaches a sermon. So far nobody has complained, but I’m waiting for those 1-star reviews to show up.
I’m also writing a number of sweet shifter romances (something I don’t see a lot of Christians doing, although I’d love to read them!).
Back in the 80s, my mom attended a seminar given by Bodie Thoene and another lady author. One of the things that Bodie said was that if you want to be a bestseller, you have to be willing to put sex in your books. The other author vehemently disagreed. Which of them went on to be a bestseller? Yep, Bodie Thoene. So I’ve been pondering an adult urban fantasy that contains some sexual elements–because that’s the market. The trouble is, none of my Christian friends are remotely interested in reading anything like that. 😀
Great interview with lots of food for thought. The cover on your book looks stunning, Rachel.
The thing I wonder – and Mike, I’d love for you to tackle this in your talk and on your posts – is how a crossover artist avoids conforming to the world we live in. There has to be a line somewhere that as a Christian a person will not cross. Where is that line (and what does it look like?)
Mike – I look forward to meeting you at Realm Makers. 🙂
Good question, Lisa. This question goes both ways: It’s possible to write Christian fiction and still be conforming to the world. I’ve read much Christian fiction that, imo, presents a skewed picture of Christianity and the world. So this isn’t necessarily a one-way street. Second, I think the answer to this depends largely on an individual’s personal values and their perspectives of “Christian art.” In other words, for some, including profanity in their novels immediately indicts them as “worldly.” But does it? What makes a novel or an author “worldly”? People will have different perspectives on that. My feeling is that Evangelicals have developed a far too rigid paradigm for what constitutes “holy” vs. “worldly” fiction. Looking forward to talking more at RM!
I wish there were more discussion about the way this is put into practice in the book. The book does some odd things which I don’t know how to process. Like the big reveal of the protagonist’s nature and parentage. I won’t say due to spoilers, but I’m not sure it should have been the character it was, and whether or not it’s safe to use that in a fictional matter. If it’s ok with all involved I’ll mention more to discuss, because it’s sort of an interesting point about how we can interweave faith and fiction.
(bought and read her first book to about 75% based on this article.)
With a couple of books coming out through MuseItUp Publications, I’ve never had a doubt that my market is the general public, in particular, teens, YA, and new adults. My first book is positive SF and a stand against the recent (but cooling) run of teens in dystopias; there are Christians on the crew of the ship, but so far no church services or pastors. There will be, but not for a bit.
My second book was more problematic. It needed to be realistic, so my characters use vulgar language — none of them take God’s name in vain, and they DON’T use “the f word” — but even in the city HS I have worked in for decades, we discourage those two. But there’s a faithful grandmother and the main-character’s former-best-friend-now-enemy uses a Bible verse regularly…though he uses it as a threat.
I’ve debated about my blog — the name of it has been (for seven years) POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAYS, but lately I’ve been wondering if I should change it. My intent as a Christian is NOT to create division, it’s to love and let God do the judging: that’s MY calling and maybe isn’t yours and that’s fine. We’re all called to be different parts of the Body. In this polarized and divisive place we’re traveling through, I’m wondering if my place is to love and get to know people.
Anyway — I hope the conversation continues (though for some reason, whenever I comment, the thread seems to stop!).
See! It happened AGAIN!