TODAY: Bailey Truitt--Feeling Worn

...The cafe needs a good toothbrush-cranny cleaning job. Maybe I'll get Wilbur to pitch in since he spilled his coffee all over the countertop and floor the other morning. Thank goodness he drinks it black. It also happened to douse him a good one in his lap. Never, ever, have I seen Wilbur move quite that fast. The out-of-towner who entered the shop about that time took one look at Wilbur fanning the front of his pants and busted out laughing...

Messy Fiction

I am on the countdown to finishing Crimson Eve, third in the Kanner Lake series. About forty pages left, then one last read-through with some editing. Maybe four days of work.

I have never written a book quite like this. The end is messier than the beginning.

Oh, sure, the suspense plot will be solved. I don’t think readers would be satisfied if I left them hanging. But underlying that plot, this book is really about our past. And how our choices in the past can affect our future. Of course, the past is past, and we can’t change it. But we are creating a past every day by the choices we make in the present. And those choices direct what happens tomorrow.

The problem is, the repercussions of all the events in Crimson Eve are huge. A lot of people’s lives will be shockingly changed, inextricably intertwined. All this will cause major upheaval, months, even years of tears, of soul-searching and regrouping. Sounds like the beginning of a book, right? Nope, this is the resolution.

Well, there’s simply nothing to be done but tie up the suspense ends and leave the rest where it lies. I will infuse hope, of course. I really don’t care to become a darkly minded, existential writer. But there’s no way for this to be a happy, all-is-well ending. All is definitely not well.

But isn’t life like that. And really, that’s the point. That when the past raises an ugly head and bites the present, people suffer--many times people other than just ourselves. Answers and fixes don’t come easy. God can help us through, if we’re willing to let him, but we still face serious debts to pay.

When I was a teenager, a woman said a very wise thing to me: “God will forgive you, but nature won’t.” Nature’s not going to forgive my characters, either.

Sigh. Somehow I have to make this all work. To bring a satisfying conclusion to the suspense, yet depict life in its messy consequences without leaving the reader feeling cheated...

It’s going to be a long four days.

TODAY: Leslie Brymes--New Food Critic in Town

Leslie here. I might have a future as a food critic. I visited a restaurant in Coeur D'Alene recently with one of my friends, and the chef recognized me from the media coverage this past summer. She thought she'd try some new dishes on me and then had the bright idea that I should write out my thoughts so she could review them later and make any necessary changes. I didn't like the sound of it. What if I insulted her by my reaction to the food? And yet I wasn't sure how to refuse without sounding rude. It didn't help that my friend was all for the idea and encouraged the chef to send us any "culinary experiments." My friends are so helpful...

Bestseller Lists, Take 2--Part 4

Here’s the best I can figure as to how secular bestseller lists are put together, according to my research. If anybody out there can add something, or certainly if you see something I’ve gotten wrong, please let us all know. You can’t just go to some site and see all this info. You have to look around and piece bits of data together.

There is no one secular list that covers all data. Each gathers from different sources, and as a result, on any given week, you’ll see different books as #1 on different lists.

The most inclusive data-gathering device is Nielsen’s BookScan, started in 2001. BookScan compiles point-of-sale data, and boasts that it can account for nearly 70 percent of all book sales in the United States. (Some would put this figure closer to 65 percent.) "Point-of-sale" means when a customer in a store buys the book. Each week, participating retailers-- online sellers such as Amazon.com; chains such as Borders, Waldenbooks and Barnes & Noble; independents; and some discounters like Costco and Target--send Nielsen a sales file of data scanned during purchases. However, these places do not report to BookScan: Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, smaller independents, drugstores, supermarkets, and all Christian bookstores. (Obviously, BookScan is therefore not a good source for sales of Christian books.) As you can see, these nonreporters can make a huge difference. For example, a certain kind of book may do real well at Wal-Mart, but those sales won’t be counted.

BookScan data is reportedly very expensive—although nobody’s allowed to say just how expensive. (Secrecy abounds.) BookScan's subscribers are mostly publishers and distributors who use the data for sales and marketing purposes, inventory control, author acquisitions, etc.

But these data are not being used to make most of the bestseller lists. Newspapers and magazines prefer to gather their own data, based on differing criteria.

Periodicals that create their own national lists typically collect data from only a sample of representative stores, then extrapolate that data. Some of these lists are national, some merely regional. An example of the latter is the Los Angeles Times, whose list is based on a sample from about 30 Southern California booksellers. Obviously, what sells in Southern California isn’t necessarily going to be selling equally throughout the country. And even for their regional focus, the LA Times’ extrapolation of data apparently isn’t all that accurate. Steve Wasserman, the Book Review editor at the Los Angeles Times, is on record with the Washington post in saying the Times’ data is a “deeply unscientific … compilation, which has a veneer of a certain kind of science."

USA Today says it uses data from 4,700 sources across the nation, including online bookstores, which many other lists don’t include. This list is different in that it ranks its 50 bestselling titles together, without breaking them into categories. Publishers Weekly lists are based on data from 3,000 chains and independents, which also is then extrapolated. Thing is, no list will tell you how the data are extrapolated, or who their source booksellers are. They say this secrecy is important, so no underhanded author can go to some bookstore that reports data and buy 10,000 copies of his/her own book. Maybe so, but it also leaves a lot of questions as to how these samplings are weighted.

What stores are used can also make a huge difference. Independent bookstores, for example, may tend to sell more literary novels than the chain stores like B&N. This fact is why the San Francisco Chronicle’s list, which uses data from many independents, looks a lot different from other newspapers’ lists.

The New York Times list draws from almost 4,000 bookstores nationwide, plus wholesalers. The NYT divides its best sellers into hardcover and paperback lists and then divides each of these into fiction, nonfiction, and a third category called "Advice, How-To, and Miscellaneous." But the NYT ignores certain types of books altogether. For example, it doesn’t track “primarily religious” titles. (There’s that Christian thing again.)

Here’s the stunning news on how the NYT—the most prestigious bestseller list in the USA—is made. The Times sends a form to bookstores that includes titles they are "tracking" as potential future best sellers. Whoever fills out these forms (perhaps a clerk or assistant manager) records the number of books sold of that title. There’s a place to write in names of books that aren’t on the form. But you have to wonder how many of these folks will take time to do that. The Times says this tracking form is drawn up from information from bookstores, but publishers say they routinely call up the Times to tell them about selling with increasing momentum so that they can be added to the form.

In other words, the NYT list is driven at the very outset—before sales are even recorded—by titles the Times thinks will become bestsellers. This prognostication apparently is derived by the sell-in numbers of a title (how many copies a bookstore buys up front). These sell-in numbers can be supplied by stores and publishers (the latter of which certainly have a vested interested in supplying titles). And what books have high sell-in numbers? Those written by big names, or those with high marketing budgets.

You can see how hard it is for a “regular” book to appear on the NYT. A lot of diligent clerks are going to have to enter its title onto the tracking form. And even then, a spokesperson for independent stores has complained that titles indies write onto the forms are routinely ignored.

Of course, all of these periodical lists merely rank books. They don’t tell how many copies a title sold. (Wouldn’t we all love to see this!)

None of these lists gather data from Christian bookstores, just as Christian bookstores don’t gather data from secular stores. The closest thing to accuracy is BookScan, but most lists don’t use their data. Plus, 70% accurate means almost one-third not accurate. And as I’ve pointed out, BookScan has some huge holes in its gathering of data, (Like our entire industry of stores.)

So. Bottom line, the Christian book industry may have a difficult time with data-gathering and lists, but we’re sure not alone. At least our lists aren’t driven up front by write-in-the-number-sold forms sent to the bookstores. And I don’t think the data are extrapolated, either. Nothing but straight sales, recorded at the cash register. It’s just too bad those stores reporting are such a small number.

These articles were used in researching this post:

The Book Industry’s Bestseller Lists
Making Books (Washington Post)
The Problem with Bestsellers
Book Clubbed
BookScan: Acceptance and Questions Grow (Publishers Weekly)

TODAY: Wilbur Hucks--Longfellow of the Lake

...Before I can open my yap, S-Man hands me a sheet of paper. "Take a look at this."

It was a printout for a poetry contest. Some place I never heard of: Dragons, Knights and Angels Magazine.

"What, where's your entry?" I asked.

S-Man grabbed the biggie coffee Bailey started pouring when he walked through the door.

"Don't have time to enter, gotta write my book. Thought maybe the Longfellow of the Lake could do something with it..."

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Blog tour today through Friday for: Scoop, by Rene Gutteridge. A funny, enjoyable book!

Bestseller Lists, Take 2--Part 3

So some of you aren’t feeling all that hot about the bestseller lists anymore, I see. Having a little more of a tainted view of the things? Darcie asked yesterday (in the comments) if the general market is any better in collecting their data. Afraid not. (More on this tomorrow.)

Julie asked, "Do you know of any plans to get actual sales of books from all (or most) outlets? I'm thinking Walmart, B&N AND Family...all melded into one big sales pot. Would be nice."

I don't see this happening, as Christian booksellers seem to want to control their own data, and of course, they can only use what they're gathering. They'd have to go to an outside source like Bookscan for data in the secular stores. But even Bookscan doesn't get data from big box stores like Walmart (who won't seem to let anyone have their sales data). Neither does Bookscan gather data from Christian stores. So, you see, looks like never the twain shall meet. And no, there is not one entity that gathers all. But we will look at this more tomorrow.

Tina said, “I hate to sound cynical here, but then why do we watch the CBA listing so closely...?”

Because the lists are all we have. Are all the bookstores have, actually. Booksellers want to see what books are moving the most. They tend to use the list to “pull out” the bestsellers—at least those up toward the top—and give them a special display in their stores. In this way, the bestseller list begets publicity, which begets more sales. This is why the lists are important to authors, too.

On Monday, November 6, when the posting of the November lists (other than the Top 50, which was up) was almost a week late, I wrote the good folks at CBA, asking them what was up with this whole situation in general. Here is my letter to them, followed by CBA’s response:
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Greetings in Christ:

What's happened to the Nov. bestseller lists? (Other than the Top 50.) This isn't just a short-term question, but also a more general question of what's happening. I have a blog with a good readership in which I try to keep authors/readers updated on various issues in the industry (among discussing many other things), but I'm at a loss to explain what's up. Neither my agent nor even my publisher, Zondervan, can explain.

From what I understand, CBA answered ECPA's STATS with their own data-gathering: CROSS:SCAN. Many booksellers, including all of Family, pulled out of reporting to STATS and began reporting only to CROSS:SCAN, while others reported to both. The ECPA was supposed to replace STATS last May with the new Pubtrack. Am I right so far? I was hoping Pubtrack might provide a compromise that would negate the need for CROSS:SCAN and bring those who jumped ship (like Family) back into the fold. (Now there's an interesting mixed metaphor. :)

However, I see no evidence that Pubtrack ever started. Bestseller lists in Aspiring Retail and on www.cbaonline.org still say the data are coming from STATS. Which means the lists are skewed, because so few booksellers are reporting. For example, a book that's appeared in the Family catalog and had a large promo at the 350 Family stores = nothing for the bestseller list.

Truthfully for us authors, it's all so very frustrating. I understand the data aren't ours--they belong to the booksellers. But may I just say, "I wish we all could get along." The tension between various methods of reporting leaves our industry without a solidly-based bestseller list. Plus we have to wait so long to even see the lists that are generated. Meanwhile these lists, skewed as they may be, are used by booksellers for "bestseller" promotion in their stores. Which is understandable; these lists are all they have to work with on the matter.

I'd love to think that the current slowness in posting all the lists is due to some great change in the wind. ?? But since the Top 50 is listed, seems you'd have to know the rest of the lists.

In our industry, with a formal organization for the booksellers, and one for the publishers, we authors, who produce the product, sometimes are left feeling rather discombobulated. I'd love to really understand this issue, what the plans are for the future of data-gathering and the lists, so I can explain it fairly and accurately to others. I'd really appreciate any time you can give in helping me understand this matter.

Blessings and joy on your journey,

~ Brandilyn Collins
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CBA responded:

Hello Brandilyn,

Thank you for your email. I think you hit the nail on the head, as well as could be done as the nail is really doing some dancing currently. (You like my metaphor?) The November lists are posted as of today, I am not sure what caused this delay, and hope it was a one-time occurrence.

You are correct that the situation is currently unclear where the future of CROSS:SCAN, STATS & PubTrack may or may not intersect in the land of data collection and data sharing. CBA is continuing to pursue options that will provide the best overall gathering of data from as many Christian retailers as possible, ensure the protection of this data where necessary, develop tools for Christian retailers to use this important data, and share what we can with the public and industry partners such as authors and publishers.

The best I can say is stay tuned, we should have some more news to report in January during Advance 2007!

Thanks,

Eric Johnson CBA Member Services Manager
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Hey, you gotta love a guy who picks up on mixed metaphors.

Bottom line, I don’t know any more than before I wrote the letter. Except that perhaps change is coming. Of course, if I hear stuff about this issue from Advance, I’ll pass it along. (Advance is a yearly convention-like gathering of booksellers and publishers in January. The main, bigger convention for the industry is held in July.)

Tomorrow—wanna hear how the secular lists are put together? Oh, my. Now that’s a tale …

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Read Part 4

TODAY: Carla Radling--What Do Your Belongings Say About You?

Here's Carla talking at you. I have this writer friend who lives down in Arizona. I met Jennifer Cary at a hotel in Denver a few years ago. She was there for a writer's conference and I was town for realtor's workshops. Jennifer had such a charismatic personality. I was quite intrigued. I found out she was a teacher and a published author. Before we both left, we decided to exchange e-mail addresses, and have kept in touch ever since.

After visiting her blog, Abundant Blessings, I realized that some of those writer types, while odd, usually have some interesting things to say. (Take our own S-man, for instance.) Recently Jennifer had a post on her blog about "What our purses say about our personalities." She asked some of her writer friends to display their purses. I thought it was kind of cute. I had no clue who the purses belonged to, so I went back to see the answers this week...

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Blog tour today through Friday for: Scoop, by Rene Gutteridge. A funny, enjoyable book!

Bestseller Lists, Take 2--Part 2

So here’s a quick review on data-gathering within Christian publishing. The bestseller lists have been based on STATS—a database compiled and sold by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA). STATS uses ISBN codes to track actual sales to customers at participating bookstores. The number of bookstores reporting to STATS is now down to only about 650. Some stores, including the entire chain of Family Christian—around 350 stores—pulled out of reporting to STATS when the CBA (Christian Booksellers Association) came up with their own data-gathering mechanism, called CROSS:SCAN.

Then ECPA, in response to CROSS:SCAN, decided they’d come up with a new mechanism of their own. Last May, ECPA was supposed to scrap its old STATS program for the “newest generation of channel-wide sales collection and interpretation” called Pubtrack. According to ECPA, Pubtrack “is specifically designed to improve data collection and analysis for both publishers and retailers while simultaneously protecting data integrity and confidentiality.”

The hope was that booksellers who had pulled out of STATS might come back to report to Pubtrack. In this way, gathered data on book sales would be more complete. Bestseller lists would benefit, too, as they would better represent sales.

Only problem—apparently Pubtrack never happened.

If you check bestseller lists now at www.cbaonline.org, you’ll see that every list still states it’s compiled from data gathered through STATS. Which means we’ve still only got those 650 or so stores reporting, including none of Family Christian. As a result, data aren’t always as complete as they should be, and lists can be skewed. I see this with my own books, and I’m sure other authors out there have their own stories. Some times I might benefit; other times I may get knocked.

For example, Violet Dawn showed up in the last position on the current list despite the fact that during September (when data were gathered for the November list) it was heavily promoted in the largest Christian chain. However, that chain was Family—which doesn’t report. Violet Dawn’s Lifeway promotion didn’t start until October. Lifeway does report to STATS, but October sales will be reflected on next month’s (December) list.

At the same time the mass market paperback version of Eyes of Elisha—a one-time 30,000 promotional printing—showed up around #2 in STATS data at the end of the month. (The book was priced el cheapo at ninety-nine cents, and could be bought for that price along with the purchase of any other fiction title.) However, this book is not on the list at all. No doubt someone made an executive decision that a promo at a price this low did not warrant making the list, even though sales numbers would put it there. So, yeah, I lost in that the mass market paperback version of Eyes of Elisha wasn’t included on the list—and it would have been way up there. At that level, it would have been pretty high on the Top 50 list, too. On the other hand, if they had included Eyes of Elisha on the fiction list, it would have knocked Violet Dawn off entirely.

Ya win some, ya lose some.

Tomorrow—Part 3.

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Read Part 3

TODAY: Hank and Janet Detcher--The Land of Mao

Occasionally one of our overseas friends will invite us to be a part of their mission. Such was the case this summer when we were invited to participate in a Bibles for China outreach. The trek began on a Wednesday when we flew out of Spokane heading for Hong Kong (via San Francisco, Honolulu and Manila). That was one long trip. In Manila we stayed overnight with missionary friends George and Stacy Barlow. We spent hours reminiscing about our lives together in Bible College. We left Manila the next day and finally arrived in Hong Kong on Saturday. Kurt and May Jansen met us and explained the nature of the Bibles for China outreach. We would join a group of eighteen others to carry the scriptures into the mainland ...

Bestseller List, Take 2--Part 1

Anybody out there notice that the current bestseller list for fiction wasn’t posted until around November 8? It was very late, along with all the other lists, except for the Top 50 list, which was put up around the end of October, as it should have been. Fiction continues to make a good showing on the Top 50 list. The top twelve spots on the fiction list all made it to the Top 50. (The Top 50 list represents all books—other than bibles—sold within the Christian market, both nonfiction and fiction.) Unlike the general market, in the Christian market nonfiction has traditionally outsold fiction by far. But for the last 1 1/2 or so years, I've been watching fiction make a better and better showing on the Top 50.

Remember some months ago when I posted about the bestseller lists, how they’re put together and based on what data? (These posts started May 3, '06.) Data-gathering was supposed to change, but apparently it hasn’t. I asked questions of my agent and my publisher, neither of whom could tell me what’s happening. So I figured—go to the source. I wrote CBA, asking what’s up. Tomorrow my letter, and CBA’s answer. Plus some insider info on the placement of my novel Violet Dawn on this list, and another of my books that should have been on the list, but isn’t.

Sigh. It’s all so very convoluted.

November Fiction Bestseller List (representing sales in the month of September)

(The number in parentheses refers to the title's placement on the Top 50 list.)

1 (3) The Brethren: Beverly Lewis, Bethany House (Baker)

2 (5) Found: Karen Kingsbury, Tyndale

3 (9) Before I Wake: Dee Henderson, Tyndale

4 (18) House: Frank Peretti & Ted Dekker, WestBow (Nelson)

5 (32) Night Light: Terri Blackstock, Zondervan

6 (33) Redeeming Love: Francine Rivers, Multnomah (WaterBrook) (#6 was a tie)

6 (33) The Bishop's Daughter: Wanda Brunstetter, Barbour (Tied with Redeeming Love)

8 (37) Leave a Candle Burning: Lori Wick, Harvest House

9 (39) A Merry Heart: Wanda Brunstetter, Barbour

10 (40) Like Dandelion Dust: Karen Kingsbury, Center Street (Hachette)

11 (45) The Ezekiel Option: Joel Rosenberg, Tyndale

12 (50) The Copper Scroll: Joel Rosenberg, Tyndale

13 The Englisher: Beverly Lewis, Bethany House (Baker)

14 The Last Jihad: Joel Rosenberg, Tyndale

15 The Prophet: Francine Rivers, Tyndale

16 One Tuesday Morning/Beyond Tuesday Morning: Karen Kingsbury, Zondervan

17 Last Light: Terri Blackstock, Zondervan (#17 was a tie)

17 The Witness: Dee Henderson, Tyndale (Tied with Last Light)

19 Forgiven: Karen Kingsbury, Tyndale

20 Violet Dawn: Brandilyn Collins, Zondervan

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Read Part 2

TODAY: Bev Trexel--The Other Twenty-Five Percent

Hello, Bev Trexel with you today. After four months of interruptions, I've finally made it back to my original topic: why I am writing for this blog. Four months. My goodness. I knew I should have never agreed to this. But it is too late now.

As I made very clear in my first post, I hold my friend Angie mostly responsible for my participation in this activity (although what type of friend would write such slanderous things about me as she has might be brought into question). But to be fair, I cannot blame her one hundred percent. Twenty-five of it sits squarely in my husband's lap...

Fabulous Friday!

Whew, haven’t we had some heavy topics this week. They’ve been thought-provoking, and your comments have been great. But for the sheer sake of balance, I’m thinkin’ Forensics and Faith is about due for another crazy story. Problem is, being Friday, my brain is fried.

Perhaps I shall just babble.

Here’s the thing. I am finally within spitting distance of my current book. About 60 pages away from the end. Should be done with the draft—I’d say by a week from tomorrow. Not too long a spit.

Then it’s off to Coeur d’Alene for Thanksgiving. Yay! I will be editing for the first couple days of Thanksgiving week, then doing all final editing after Thanksgiving. THEN—off to Zondervan goes my manuscript.

You writers out there--remember the old days when we had to print out all the pages and mail ’em? What a pain. Plus it was costly. Either in the overnight shipment, ’cause I’d push it to the last minute, or in number of writing days. Now it’s an e-mail, and we’re done!

I have a routine after I hit “send” on that auspicious e-mail. I crawl outta my chair (yes, definitely it is crawling, because I’ve no doubt pulled an all-nighter), get down on my knees and pray. My prayer is quite erudite and literary. It goes something like this:

"Thank you, God, for getting me through another book! Oh, God, thank you! Thank You, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you …"

When I am done with this procedure (which might take some time), I push to my feet, shake myself off—and look dazedly around the office. Wow. So this is where I’ve been all this time. Then I’ll stumble into a vacant-eyed walk through the house. Man, look at all the rooms! Look at all the stuff!

Look at all the ironing!

(I have things to confess about ironing, but I shall leave this for another day.)

Look at the world and all the people!

I must have been glazed out of my mind for the past couple months.

Ah, the sensations. I can almost feel them now. Can’t wait!

But no, I must pull back. I still have pages to write and pages to edit.

Meanwhile it occurs to me I have absolutely no idea what I’ll be cooking for Thanksgiving. Sigh. Ah’ll think about that tamarrah.

For now I’m hangin’ in there, teeth gritted, jaw clenched. Counting the pages to the end. Homestretch, here I come.....!

TODAY: Angie Brendt--A Nutty Thanksgiving

Hey folks, Angie here again. I had forgotten how nice it was to have my boy here as Thanksgiving approaches. I'm so excited; I've already started planning the feast. Boy, oh, boy is it ever going to be a good one. The pressure is on to make it the best ever, if only to make up for last time. I don't think Frank has been home for Thanksgiving for five or six years.

Back then he brought a girl with him from Chicago for a week-long visit. What was her name again? Suzanne, or Sharon, something like that. One of those big city types, with a cell phone hanging from her ear at all hours of the day. She was nice enough, but right away I could see she wasn’t "wife" material. She was just too frilly and fancy for my Frank, Jr. How would she be able to keep house and cook with those nails?...

Not Too Proud A Californian

My daughter is a senior in high school. She carries over the counter pain medication in a small pill case in her backpack because, if she gets a headache during the day, no one at school is allowed to give her so much as one aspirin. I couldn’t even get on the phone with a teacher or administrator at school and say, “Hey, will you give her two Aleve?” No can do. They cannot dispense medication to a minor, period. For who knows how that medication might harm the child?

However, thanks to the election on Tuesday, any minor girl in California who wants an abortion can have one without the parents ever even being notified. Forget parental consent. We’re talking mere notification. Proposition 85, which called for parental notification, was defeated about 55% to 45%.

How illogical is this? A girl can’t be given aspirin, but she can undergo an invasive out-patient procedure in a clinic. One that has far more potential to cause her physical (not to mention emotional) damage than an aspirin.

Ads against Prop 85 showed an apparent loving mother telling us she knew if her daughter was pregnant, the girl would come to her and talk. But many girls “don’t have that kind of relationship with their parents.” At that point in the ad, background noise switched to yelling voices and breaking glass. The ad ended with urging voters to “think outside their bubble” and vote no.

Do voters really fall for that kind of spin?

Maybe some. But I tend to think it’s simply a part of the rigidity of pro-abortionists. (No, I will not call them by their fave moniker, “pro-choice.” They are pro getting rid of fetuses that grow into full-term babies.) Pro-abortionists don’t want anything that, in their view, encroaches on total rights to an abortion by anyone at any time. Logic doesn’t matter.

To be fair, I could be called rigid, too. I’m rigid in believing that the fetuses have a right to live and grow. In all the spin about girls in abusive households who might come to harm, and women who might die if abortion was outlawed, nobody on the pro-abortionist side talks about the thousands, millions of fetuses who absolutely, positively DO die every year.

Forensics and Faith has never been a political blog, and I’m not going to turn it into one. Tomorrow we shall return to talking about writing and the writing life, and I’m sure many of you will breathe a sigh of relief. But I’m speaking up today and saying--I'm angry. And I’m sad. Sad for California. Sad for our whole country.

Before my daughter left for school, I asked her if she still had enough aspirin in her backpack. Wouldn't want her to run out.

TODAY: Jake Tremaine--Puppy Tails, Part 2

As I was saying yesterday, I got to the end of the row, and here's this puppy looking at me with old man's eyes. Looked like he'd lived a lifetime, but his paper said he was only ten weeks old. Something about the pooch grabbed my heart. Told me he needed a home and mine was as good as any...

Preaching to the Choir

Today I'm pleased to give you guest blogger Robin Lee Hatcher. She's a pal of mine--even if she doesn't read my books (she's a card-carrying member of the Big Honkin' Chickens' Club).

Robin began writing her first novel in 1981 and saw it published (with all its imperfections intact, she says) in 1984. Fifteen years and thirty books later, she followed God's call on her heart to write Christian fiction. In October 2006, her 50th book was released. A Carol for Christmas is a story about the desires of our hearts and how God wants to change and use them for His glory.

A week or so ago, I saw a post by Robin on an author's e-mail loop. I liked what she said, so I invited her to post something similar here on Forensics and Faith. Take it away, Robin.

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Discussions on Christian writer blogs and in email groups turn frequently to matters of quality, "writing real," reaching our audience. Said discussions frequently include complaints about what CBA publishers (and readers) will or will not accept in books published by them.

Some of those discussions can put a real twist in my knickers. Others challenge me and cause me to consider once again my audience, why I write what I write, what I feel called to do.

These discussions usually include comments regarding reaching the lost. What are seen as restrictions by CBA publishers (i.e. more graphic language) are also viewed as barriers for reaching those readers who don't know Christ. Accompanying this, there seems to be a disparaging attitude about writing for the Christian audience who makes up the vast majority of CBA readers. It's a negative attitude toward "preaching to the choir."

Since I published 30 books in the ABA before coming to the CBA, I know something about that attitude. It was a wall I built as I felt God calling me to a new commitment to Him, including in my career. "But, God, can't I reach more lost people with what little bit of gospel I can slip in to my secular books (read "Christian worldview") than I can writing for those who are already Christians? Isn't writing for the CBA preaching to the choir?" To which He answered, "Yes. And the choir is sick."

I so totally understand this. I was a born-again, on-fire-for-the-Lord, Jesus-Freak, carry-my-Bible-everywhere, living-for-God Christian in the 1970s and early 1980s. But I let the cares of the world ensnare me and I drifted, grew lukewarm. I was still a member of the choir, but I was a "sick" one. I've been one of the "walking wounded" in the body of Christ. I knew what a total screw up I was. God had a whole lot of teaching and healing to do in me, and He did it in amazing ways, beginning with Francine Rivers' Redeeming Love.

So when He called me to "write for the choir" I understood why. I'm part of the choir. I'm a flawed Christian. I need to learn constantly. Salvation happens in an instant; sanctification takes a lifetime. That's why I look forward to my pastor's sermons on Sundays and why I want to read Christian fiction and why I do Bible studies. It's why I pray and why I worship. Because I need to be constantly challenged and taught. I don't write fiction for the purpose of evangelizing the lost (although the Holy Spirit has used my books in that way a time or two). I write fiction to challenge and encourage and build up the body of Christ on their individual journeys of sanctification. I write about flawed believers and I write about the One who loves them.

Paul said, "But my life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus -- the work of telling others the Good News about God's wonderful kindness and love." (Acts 20:24)

If God has called a person to write evangelistic fiction with the hope of winning souls for Christ, then that person should do so. If God has called a person to write "Christian worldview fiction" where truth and grace are demonstrated without naming the name of Christ, who am I to say that writer should not do so? But those writers called elsewhere should not disparage those who have been called to write "for the choir" in the CBA. After all, we are in good company. Paul wrote the epistles to the "choir," in order that they might be built up in Christ. He spent a great deal of time helping believers learn how to grow and mature in Christ.

Acts 18:23 says, "... Paul went back to Galatia and Phrygia, visiting all the believers, encouraging them and helping them to grow in the Lord." In Acts 20:28, Paul says, "And now beware! Be sure that you feed and shepherd God's flock -- his church, purchased with his blood -- over whom the Holy Spirit has appointed you as elders [and others as writers of Christian fiction]."

Paul didn't just evangelize unbelievers. He encouraged the believers and helped them to grow in the Lord. Then he encouraged others to feed and shepherd God's flock, the church.

I'm a writer who is called to create fiction about and for the body of Christ, and my life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned to me by the Lord Jesus.

In the grip of His grace,
Robin Lee Hatcher
Eph. 2:10

TODAY: Jake Tremaine--Puppy Tails, Part 1

I mentioned some time ago that I might go down to the SPCA one of these days to see about getting me a dog. Well, I did ...

New Fave Compliment

Recently I received an e-mail from a new fan. She’s a fan of my books, a fan of this blog—hey, don’t you just love this woman? She included a one-liner that’s become my new favorite compliment. Talk about a quotable quote. (We shall ignore the fact that it takes a rather twisted mind to consider this a positive statement.) She wrote:

I didn't know how to connect serial killers with salvation..... until I met YOU!

Makes my heart sing, I'm tellin' ya.

How about you BGs? Anybody out there receive an interesting compliment? Or perhaps give someone else one? Come on and share the glory.

Today: Leslie Brymes--What I Love About Fall

My mom has been organizing again, and she came across a few mementos from my childhood days, some of which she has posted on her refrigerator because they make her smile. Her favourite is the following two-line "essay" from my grade three class with Mrs. Campbell...

My Dear Gobdrip:

It is with much applause and mentoring pride that I congratulate you on the recent public humiliation of your patient. You were given an immensely important assignation, one that not just any fiend would be awarded, and I am pleased to see the depths to which you’ve taken it. You bided your time well as I suggested, working within the patient’s secret mind, even as you allowed him to lead the hue and cry for the Enemy. Some of your younger fellow fiends may have questioned the methods, but now the proof of our cunning is clear. High accomplishments in the name of the Enemy, and over many years, can be blackened in one stunning moment. And, as you know, this particular success ripples far beyond merely you and your patient.

First, all humans who have succumbed to the Enemy are affected. By their very stance in the Enemy’s camp, they stand readily accusable by those who serve Our Father. See—another hypocrite fallen. Are not all of them as such? Humans are most predictable in this regard: they will forego judgment of all the earthly gluttonies put together in the face of hypocrisy. As a result, the accusations against your patient can ring around the world with little to no thought as to the inherent behavior of the human making those accusations. And your own patient stands far less condemned for his apparent gratifying of passions than for his concurrent loud denouncement of the same.

Second, many who follow the Enemy, particularly those brought into his camp by your patient, may be led to feel a sense of betrayal. This can quickly be followed by doubt of the Enemy and all for which he stands. Such progression occurs when a patient is taught to focus on the disturbing actions of the fellow human rather than the qualities of our Enemy himself. There is nothing logical in this, of course. Why should the betrayed feel any less vulnerable to passions than his fallen fellow? And why should human weakness--hardly a new discovery--alter the personhood of the Enemy, who existed long before man? Little wonder we have become expert in guiding our patients to dwell not in reason, but darkly stirred emotion.

Third, those who follow Our Father are awarded serendipitous proof that they are right. In the shining light of your patient’s public disgrace, all other followers of the Enemy who have demonstrated true “life-changing” behavior now pale. How quickly these are forgotten in the singular focus upon the one fallen. As a result, the Enemy himself is once more put into question. If his offering of eternal life were so blessed, why would a follower abandon such promise for ephemeral indulgence? If the Enemy were so mighty, why would he even allow this to happen? These questions, too, would not stand the test of reason, as the issue of man's free will has been left out of the equation. But such issues seem of little consequence in the giddy, heady celebration of being right. Happy day indeed for us, dear Gobdrip, when Our Father’s servants can wield the two-edged sword of an Enemy proven both faithless and flimsy.

Let me remind you, however, that your work is not finished. It has merely shifted to another challenge as your patient goes on from here. Undoubtedly the Enemy will sidle in with his wiles of redemption and humility. These offerings, though failing to appeal while your patient reveled in his duality of public holiness and private indulgence (a duality that for centuries has afforded us some of our highest victories) may now rise as bright promise. Your job will be to focus your patient on all that he has lost. Fame, success, and earthly glory, particularly when gained through claims of direct access to the Enemy’s infamous power, can be most dazzling to humans. Remind your patient of these losses daily. (This will not be difficult due to the many means of communication covering the events.) The danger is that such loss can turn a human’s thoughts to questions of the soul—for what else has he left? You must not give an inch here. I need not remind you, my dear Gobdrip, how the Enemy loves such questions.

In the coming days my colleagues and I shall meet with you and your fellow fiends to discuss ways in which to best exploit your success. We will not fail to use followers of both the Enemy and Our Father alike in our pursuits. Each has his particular weaknesses which, with the right guidance, can prove equally useful.

Once again, my deepest commendations on your victory.

Your affectionate Uncle,

Screwtape