Category: The Jewel Series

I saw a blog post titled, “Christian Fiction: What’s the Point?”

And, it got me thinking.  Why do I write it?

When I started writing, I had no direction – no clear intent as to *why* I was writing in the first place.  It basically boiled down to: I had a story in my head and I wanted to get it out. When I finished that story, I was a little surprised that I had another story in my head and I wanted to get it out, too. Once I finished that second book, the ideas just kept coming.  I can barely keep up with the book ideas – they overwhelm me sometimes.

In my writing testimony, I talk about how we cleaned out our entertainment and how I no longer read the kind of books I used to write. I cleaned up, or “redeemed” my books, for the Christian market.  But I could very easily have simply cleaned them up – made them PG-13, taken out the sex and most of the greed and just written clean romances.

So, why Christian fiction?  Why do I add a spiritual arc to my stories? Why is the faith of each one of my characters so important to me? Why do I write about Christians in real situations, about pain and forgiveness, about decisions – made in faith or not? Why am I choosing to be labeled a “Christian” author?

For me, it comes down to this:

Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31

I want my writing to glorify God. That is my intent, my mission, my ministry. And, in the end, what I’m doing is ministering to readers.  I have so many reviews and emails like this one:

Just finished The Jewel Trilogy and am so emotionally moved I almost feel drained. I have never read such great Christian romance ever, and I have been reading for years, through hundreds and hundreds of books. All of these books were just as great as the one before, which is rare. So many times I have read a great book by an author, only to be extremely disappointed by the next book. Not this author. I cannot believe these are her first published novels. I loved the way she carried the characters all the way through the trilogy–not just giving them mention, but actually including them in the story. This is the first time I have ever seen a series follow almost 20 years in the lives of all characters and it was so refreshing. Most books just seem to end abruptly. All characters were believable and none were perfect Christians. I liked the way she had so much dialogue and interaction between hero and heroine in each story. Tony and Derrick so represented the love of Christ and had such a heart after God that I immediately loved them. Barry had his struggles but still was a strong Christian influence. I greatly appreciated the backgrounds of each individual and how God moved in their lives. I could go on and on but will just say BUY THIS BOOK!!!! You will not be sorry. Don’t know how anyone could not love each and every story. Happy reading and may God bless!

It is as important to me to write of the spiritual side of my books as it is to write the romance or the suspense. I think the word “Christian” before the word romance or the word suspense is the most important factor of what I’m writing. My prayer as I finish a book and publish it is not that it will entertain, but that it will bless a reader in some way. I pray that what I write will enlighten, encourage, uplift, or strengthen. I love that God is using me, and I will continue to write as long as He determines that I should.

I write Christian fiction to serve God.

As I went into writing Valerie’s Verdict and the rest of the books in the Dixon Brothers Series, my prayer and desire has been to pull the same kind of emotional and spiritual reaction from readers that the Jewel Series has for the last seven years. As feedback from beta readers has started coming in, I’m feeling very confident that I’ve accomplished that goal. I cannot wait until the October 22nd release of Valerie’s Verdict! You can preorder your ebook today from Amazon at this link!

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