“Fiction is about intimacy
with characters, events, places.”
— Robert Morgan
I write Christian fiction, and I agree with Robert Morgan’s quote above—to a point. However, he’s missing one very important component, and in fact, THE most important component for a Christian author such as myself.
God.
To me, writing Christian romance is about intimacy, certainly, but intimacy with God. Creating a world where the reader becomes intimately involved with the characters I create—with their struggles, their hopes, their dreams—and through a series of events and places, their burgeoning relationship with God.
As many of you know, I have spent the last month on a spiritual sabbatical of sorts, seeking God as to what direction I should take with my writing, and I am happy to report that God has brought me back to square one: intimacy with Him!
Ironically one of the ways He has done that is through my rereading of A Passion Most Pure. You see, I’m doing that right now for research purposes regarding a short e-book I plan to publish about writing romantic tension for the Christian and sweet markets. I say “ironically” because A Passion Most Pure was basically my love letter to God way back when I started writing, and just reading it again has reopened my eyes to that precious intimacy I had with God when writing that book.
As some of you may already know, Faith O’Connor’s intimate relationship with God was based on my own relationship with Him at that time, and I can still remember the joy I experienced in writing that novel. My biggest desire in writing APMP was to convince readers that not only is it possible to have a living, breathing relationship with the God of the Universe, but that it is exactly what He wants for each of us! He is looking for men and women with a heart after Him, like David. Not perfect people, but sinners who are emotionally involved with Him, just like He is a member of their family. You know—daughters and sons who will talk to Him almost every minute of every day, get mad at Him at times, yes, but misty-eyed, too, over His goodness to them. In short, men and women who as Matthew 18:3 so emphatically points out, “become like little children to enter the kingdom of heaven.” His “little children,” to be exact, who like toddlers with a father they adore, hang on to His every Word, refusing to make a move without Him.
I can honestly say that’s how it was for my main character Faith in A Passion Most Pure and for me in writing that book as well. God’s close and intimate presence in my life was as natural as breathing back then, just like the lyrics from the Michael W. Smith song, Breathe. “This is the air I breathe, Your holy presence living in me.” Having this type of relationship with God is the heart and soul of each of my novels and something I never tire of telling. And with God’s help, I hope to continue to do so in all the books I am privileged to write.
My deepest thanks to each of you who both pray for me and read my books, and my heartfelt promise that all future books (after the Heart of San Francisco series, that is) will focus heavily on how natural it should be to have an intimate relationship with God.
NEWSLETTER CONTEST TO HAVE A CHARACTER NAMED AFTER YOU IS OVER!!
May 31st was the final day to enter, and I’m happy to say there were a lot of readers who took advantage, so THANK YOU for all your hard work and effort. I will announce the winners in my next newsletter sometime this summer, so keep your eyes peeled!
Originally there were only supposed to be three winners, but so many people knocked themselves out for me that I am upping that number to five. The top winner will receive a $50 gift card, a very noticable subordinate character named after them in my next book, Dare to Love Again, and will be listed in the acknowledgments of the book as well as receive a signed copy. Runners-up 2 through 4 will have a bit character named after them and win a signed copy of the book. Then finally, to give everybody a chance — even those who only posted one reivew — the 5th winner will be selected in a random drawing of all entries (and, yes, extra entries will be given for every review posted). The random winner will then have a bit character named after them, too, and receive a signed copy of the book. SO THANK YOU AGAIN TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED!!
Hugs and Happy Weekend!!
Julie
