Send to KindleI have long said to write what makes you uncomfortable. If it affects you, the writer, then it will also affect the reader, and that’s the goal. Isn’t it? To make people think.
There is, however, always a line you shouldn’t cross. In Christian fiction, it seems this line gets pushed about by the whims of others. Some prefer it way back where there’s no doubt of their intentions when they were writing. Others move it forward to stir the thoughts of the reader. I believe both mindsets serve a purpose.
It all comes down to who you are writing for and, again, there are two camps. Some authors write for a completely Christian audience, often, in a particular faith. Others write as a witness, a draw, to the unsaved. Both sides are needed.
Frankly, when I was a teen, I went to church, made good grades, never broke any “rules” given to me. I showed up where I was told when I was told. I never missed school or youth group. But neither did I care two whits about Christian things, and my mother was a Bible teacher. I was deeply engrained in the world, reading and listening to secular things and happy, I thought, doing so. My grandmother, who I loved dearly, read Janette Oke, who (personal opinion) I can’t read to this day. No one out there tried to offer me anything that even remotely appealed to a girl like me.
Thinking of that, I have to ask myself two important questions. If I felt that way, then what of people living in much different situations from mine? Who exactly do I want to reach?
I was approached by a lady the other day on this very issue, and I told her what I’m writing here. God died for “whosoever”. (Jn 3:16) He didn’t discriminate because this one does drugs or that one has tattoos or she’s been living with someone for three years. He loves the unwed, the homeless, the person deep in their sins, just as much as He loves the church person, like me, who at age sixteen simply didn’t get the need to be so “clean” all the time.
Jesus mingled with lepers, Samaritans, a woman taken in adultery. Think of that and read the oft-repeated phrase, “What would Jesus do?” Yes, what would He do? He’d love those people right where they’re at with no condemnation. He’d say, “No matter what you look like or what you’ve done, I will help you.”
That is what motivates me to keep writing. I love that I can share my faith in a way that helps others. But it requires having stiff shoulders and a lot of gumption because there will always be those who draw their line of faith differently. I have to draw mine where I believe God has placed me, to the readers I believe He wants me to reach. As long as I obey that, the book will sell, even if it’s only one copy to one person who needed to read it.
About the Author:
Best-selling author, Suzanne D. Williams, is a native Floridian, wife, mother, and photographer. She is the author of both nonfiction and fiction books. She writes a monthly column for Steves-Digicams.com on the subject of digital photography, as well as devotionals and instructional articles for various blogs. She also does graphic design for self-publishing authors. She is co-founder of THE EDGE.
To learn more about what she’s doing and check out her extensive catalogue of stories, visit http://suzanne-williams-photography.blogspot.com/ or link with her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/suzannedwilliamsauthor.
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His gaze seemed made for her alone, the curve of his mouth fashioned solely to bring her enjoyment, and for a moment in time, she melted into it, lost to the war and the frayed edges of her life.
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Caught up in an adulterous love affair, Charlotte Lake can only blame herself for how miserable it’s become. After all, she chose to become the “other woman” and with that choice, betrayed everything holy about marriage.
When her secret threatens to emerge, however, she finds her only salvation in the kind, gentle hands of sailor, Nashville Jaeger. If she’ll trust him, he knows a way out.
But the biggest thing he brings into her life is perhaps the greatest gift of all – forgiveness – and with it, a piece of his heart.
A story of God’s willingness to heal any heart by best-selling author, SUZANNE D. WILLIAMS.
