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Writing the Christian Romance(continued)
MILD TIMES In His Dreams, a Christian romance title from Gail Gaymer Martin "Start by looking at your own attributes, qualities, values, and degrees of faith or scrutinize the properties that comprise the personality and attributes of your family and friends." Also recommended: "Cutting out pictures of attractive people from catalogs and newspapers." Note on physical descriptions: "Some publishers encourage keeping descriptions above the chest on the male hero and above the shoulders on the heroine." Surrounded as the average secular writer is with drunks, misogynists, and narcissistic assholes, it may be necessary to pluck goodly heroes and heroines from the public sphere. The heroine, for instance, should be inspired by a lady of class and intelligence, ideally for whom there is little photographic evidence of a lower body. For the sake of this example, we'll use the lovely and talented New York Times op-editress Maureen Dowd. Then there's the hero. He should be a man of fortitude and strength, a man who is working to overcome chinks in his spiritual armor and the sins of the past. A man like former Poison lead singer and star of Rock of Love I and II, Bret Michaels. 
JUST HYPOTHETICALLY ... Rock of Love's Bret Michaels, and the New York Times' Maureen Dowd A Christian introduction between two such characters might go a little something like this: Example: Our two heroes find themselves at a Guitar Hero soiree in downtown Manhattan. "Maureen" is attending ironically, coaxed into attending by literary wunderkind Keith Gessen. She scans the room, focused on finding fodder for her next column, "The Infantalization of the American Man." "Bret" is at the bar. As she enters, their eyes meet. He winks at her from across the room, and she is taken aback, horrified at his forwardness. And yet, intrigued. She wanders over to him, curious about this unknown creature with the easy smile and flowery bandanna. According to Martin, writers can avoid the crudeness of secular romance by avoiding gratuitous physical descriptions and "focus[ing] on a admirable characteristic" of each character. There will no bodice-ripping or sheathing of man-swords on this first meeting. Just a quiet appreciation of each other's admirable traits. Example: Maureen knew that many women were drawn to Bret's flaxen hair, but it is was his eyes, glittering pools lined with carefully applied kohl, that she noticed first. Those eyes kept her chatting idly at the side of the bar, sipping her tonic and soda, drawn in. Bret, for his part, couldn't stop taking in Maureen—the way her word choice was so ambitious, the familiar way she spoke of heads of state. He'd heard cautionary tales about women like her before—"handsomely dressed," "career driven." But she was different. Maybe it was her flaming hair, her bodaciousness. No. These were just side dishes—nay, distractions—from her most attractive quality: her indomitable search for truth despite being mired in a den of moral apologists and Jews. 
BARE CHESTED ARDOR Reinvented, with a takeaway "spiritual message" "Backstory is the subtle seasoning of a novel. ... One or two of the conflicts [in the past] should be part of the spiritual struggle character; for example, a prideful character knows that the Lord asks him to be humble." Examples: Bret: His past promiscuity and penchant for godless rock and roll might just might conceal a deep longing for genuine spiritual connection. 
"According to Book Industry Trends 2007, religious books in general show the "highest growth in dollar sales" across the industry. And Christian romances lead the charge, accounting for 11.4 percent of all romance paperback sales. That's a 30 percent increase from 2005, with the numbers continuing to grow." Isn't this wonderful. Thanks for this little nugget. Posted by: JeanK on April 23, 2008 9:31 AM I found your article illuminating. Thank you for the interest in Christian romance stories. I wish you would really read one or more, so you could see why the stories are so popular and the genre steadily growing in the publishing market. I have written several that appeal to men--Pirate's Prize, Gerda's Lawman, Who Am I? to name a few. Try one of mine or some by other authors. Gail has written a large number of these titles. That's why she was asked by the publisher to write the book on how to write Christian romances. Posted by: lenanelsondooley on April 23, 2008 12:51 PM Having read enough secular romances in my time, I find myself enjoying Christian romances more and more and secular ones less and less. One of the problems with having opened the bedroom door, is that by describing everything that goes on in there, the thing that drives romance novels-sexual tension-is lost. After a while, those sex scenes just start sounding like the same old same old. It's like the tv series where viewers are hooked as long as the attraction between the two leading characters remained in doubt. Once they get together, the show loses steam. Posted by: Ruth Axtell Morren on April 23, 2008 4:28 PM Yawn. Is this supposed to be funny? Here's a tip: try reading a book on how to write satire before you try writing any more satire on books about how to write. Posted by: Athol on April 23, 2008 6:55 PM Advertisement If you think a book has to include sex scenes to be realistic, think again. It takes skill to write a beautiful love story without smutty scenes. And the reality is, not everyone has sex outside of marriage and not everyone wants to read graphic sex scenes. That's one reason there's a growing market. Read Francine Rivers' "Redeeming Love" and you'll find another. Prostitution, violence and God's grace. Redemption is the difference. Posted by: Mlynntn on April 24, 2008 2:37 AM The Christian fiction market is exploding--and with good reason. Wonderful stories, which do run the gamut from sweet to heavy suspense--without relying on the cliches of mindless, boring and repetitious sex scenes meant to titillate (and between people with no true emotional commitment), or language that a well- educated, decent parent wouldn't want their kids to say. Each to his own, I guess, but I am thrilled by the burgeoning number of publishers who are expanding into the inspirational fiction market! And, I'm going straight to Amazon to buy Gail Martin's book. Thanks for the heads-up! Posted by: Roxanne on April 24, 2008 10:16 AM You know, Paige, this was pretty funny. Did you ask Maureen Dowd before you used her in your novel??? My book Petticoat Ranch is fast paced, funny, romantic and it sold really well. Simply put...it's a good read. It's not just Christians that would have a great time with my book. There's a market for Christian fiction. Simple as that. It's called capitalism. Maybe you're heard of it? What I don't understand is why it's ripe for mockery that Christians who read for entertainment would have their own tastes and preferences. Why not? Who exactly is it hurting???? If you'd like a chance to read Petticoat Ranch you can contact me through my website: http://www.maryconnealy.com/ . Maybe you can pass a copy on to Maureen after you're read it...if you can stand to part with it. :) Posted by: MaryConnealy on April 24, 2008 1:43 PM Post a commentYour comment will not be visible for about a minute. If you don't see your comment when the page reloads, do not post it again. Reload the page in a minute, and you'll see it. < BACK TO Features |
    
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