Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Christian Fiction Celebrated in PW



The new Publishers Weekly has a whole section on Christian fiction--in books and movies.


Hollywood Gets Religion--Christian movies are really happenin'!


Sparkling Debuts-- Five new novelists and the openings of their novels




It's a Fantasy--Speculative fiction


In Profile--Angela Hunt, Tracey Bateman and Athol Dickson


Books in Brief--What's New in Christian Fiction


11 comments:

Tracey Bateman said...

Do I get to be the first to comment on your blog today? :)
Thanks for the heads up, Brandilyn.
Can you believe they actually put me with Angela Hunt and Athol Dickson???? How surreal.
Tracey

Kristy Dykes said...

Great articles, B.! Thanks for posting the links.

Anonymous said...

" . . . and it's okay if you get to page 200 and no one's prayed yet. Religious themes, says Karen Watson, fiction editor at Tyndale House, need to be "integrated into the life of the characters. We are publishing for a new generation, and as the CBA tries to attract and serve someone beyond baby boomers, the message has to be authentic."

I'm sorry, but statements like these bother me immensely. There's nothing this "new generation" needs more than "authentic" Christianity which does happen to include prayer and discussion about Jesus. I understand this comment from the standpoint of characters who do not know Christ, their story and evolution, or where there are situations in sections of the book which don't directly refer to faith, but somewhere there has got be the real message of the Gospel, or it just isn't Christian fiction. In fact, without Jesus it is just a "religious theme". JMO

T. Forkner said...

How cool, Tracey!

Thanks for posting this Brandilyn.

Eden said...

Thanx for this post. Great links! I went directly to Netflix to get those Christian movies added to my queque.

Susanne said...

All great articles, Brandilyn. Exciting to know that there will be more Christian movies in the future.

Nicole's comment above really struck a chord with me also. I tend to agree. Angela Hunt had a very interesting discussion going on her site not long ago on this very topic.

~ Brandilyn Collins said...

Tracey, you're going great guns! I'm thrilled to see what's happening with you.

I was taken by the openings of all five debuts covered in the "Sparkling Debuts" article. These books sound wonderful.

Nicole, the topic you brought up is a tough one. I've seen it recently debated on a published novelists' loop. Interesting to see all the varying opinions.

Karen said...

Very cool! Thanks for the sharing the goodies.

Angela said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Angela said...

(Sorry--I had to edit!)

Thanks, Brandilyn--I hadn't seen any of this yet. Your blog is the hot spot of the web!

I know Karen Watson and Tyndale House, and believe me, there's no company more committed to keeping Christ in Christian fiction. Believe me, if it's a Tyndale novel, the Christian content is going to be there and an integral part of the story.

I'm more and more convinced that Christian content is necessary not only because the condition of the world cries out for it, but because it's what makes our books unique in a sea of literature. If we eliminate our uniqueness in the marketplace, why should anyone read our books?

Anyway, thanks for posting these links. You rock, BC!

Angie

Angela Walker said...

I think this conversation about Christian novels is a lot like the conversation about Christian Movies that's happening these days.

I think there are almost as many opinions about it as there are writers, readers, filmmakers, etc. I think the best thing we can do is support each other & encourage each other to the best work possible.

And for "Once Upon a Dream," if you want to support Christian filmmakers, don't go to NetFlix to rent videos - go to a Christian movie rental site.