It’s Not Your
Grandmother’s
Christian Fiction
Anymore
Deborah Bryan
Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library
dbryan@mail.tscpl.org
http://www.librarything.com/profile_reviews.php?view=debs4jc
Librarything
Graph from American Piety in the 21st
Century, Baylor Institute for the Studies
of Religion
Inspirational
Fiction
Gentle Reads
Christian Fiction
Religious or
Spiritual Fiction
“Christian fiction makes you
feel good about God;
inspirational fiction just
makes you feel good.”
~ Denise Stinson
You Call THAT Christian Fiction?
A Genre’s Past:
1978: Janette Oke’s Love Comes Softly
Appeals strongly to Women
Historical Romance that shows
traditional values
Setting evokes a nostalgic feeling
of a warm, safe, traditional,
environment
”Happy Ending”, good clearly
wins.
Adheres to the “CBA Code”
CBA Code: Example
Tyndale Fiction Content Policy
As a conservative Christian publisher, Tyndale House has policies that pertain to
the use of sexual content, violence, and profanity.
Suspense stories sometimes involve some type of violence. Tyndale fiction,
however, should encourage a respect for the value of life. Readers should feel
uncomfortable with the results of violence in a story, not by the violence
itself. In other words, readers do not need to see the violence to understand
and lament its impact. Moreover, violence and its effects should be answered
by the hope of Christ and redemption.
We will not accept gratuitous violence in our fiction. If used, violent content
must be integral to the story and used infrequently. Here is a case where we
encourage writers to break a rule of fiction writing—tell, don’t show. And
remember, less is more.
Tyndale does not allow the use of profanity or the taking of God’s name in vain.
Tyndale considers the use of profanity inappropriate and believes that such
language tends to offend and alienate the very readership that Tyndale seeks.
While many Christian stories have characters that are romantically attracted to
each other, they must at the same time uphold the principles of Biblical sexual
purity. Along with physical attraction, healthy Christian dating relationships
should also involve spiritual, intellectual and emotional attractions.
A Genre Changes
1986: Frank Peretti’s This Present Darkness
Opened up the genre to new subgenres,
such as spiritual warfare, fantasy, science
fiction, suspense, and apocalyptic
-While the tone is anything but safe, warm
and gentle, there is still a strong theme of
good vs. evil—and Good always wins
-Depictions of sinful behavior is OK, but
with the message that negative
consequences follow these actions.
A Genre Gets Noticed:
1995: Jerry B. Jenkins & Tim LaHaye’s Left Behind
Prophetic fiction comes to the forefront,
and breaks out onto the bestseller lists.
A well known Pastor/Teacher teams up
with a Fiction writer to create a novel that
illustrates his or her teachings.
Branding: Left Behind becomes it’s own
brand name and spins off into many, many
related products. Other examples: Women
of Faith, Thomas Kincaid, etc.
A Genre goes Mainstream:
1996, Jan Karon’s At Home In Mitford
Karon starts with a Christian
Publisher, but then gets signed by a
Mainstream publishing house
Mainstream publishers start to
form their own “Christian”
imprints (or buy Christian
publishing houses).
Christian fiction starts to appear on
the shelves of Wal-Mart, Hastings,
and other mainline bookstores.
Current Trends: What’s Hot
Graphic Novels/Manga
Current Trends
Embracing new formats
Boundary pushing
Seeking a more literary voice
Starting to see some multi-cultural viewpoints
Growing male readership
A growth of more subgenres
Favorite Websites
Contemporary/General
Young Adult
Literary
Multicultural
Historical
Romance & Humor
Suspense and Thrillers
Science Fiction/Fantasy
Local Authors!
Favorite Websites
Christian Fiction: Awareness Tools
Publishing house catalogs and newsletters
Baker and Taylor’s “Spirit”
The standard review magazines: Library Journal, Booklist,
Publishers Weekly. They will sometimes have columns on
Christian fiction, special issues, and cover it in their fiction
reviews. Look at the publishers as well as carefully reading the
review to which will clue you in on the Christian fiction.
Christianity Today—Often has book reviews, they have a
website; www.christianitytoday.com that combines content from
them and from their sister publications like Today’s Christian
Woman, several book reviews can be found on this site.
Romantic Times has a section on Inspirational romance; VOYA
also occasionally reviews Christian fiction.
Christian Radio Stations may do author interviews