Why I Dont Read Christian Fiction

"Why can't you read something Christian?"

It's come up a lot in my house. When I have a stack of books next to my bed containing things like Clockwork Angel, Legend, Green Rider, and others, it's kind of hard to give a straight answer when your parents ask "What are you reading? Is that clean?"
Now it's not that I don't keep a eye on the content I read, but each of the books I just mentioned has content in it that could be questionable, and my parents would really like it if I just read Christian fiction.

But I can't stand Christian fiction.

And here's why:

#1. It's all prairie romance.
No, not ALL of it. But lots of it. Don't get me wrong, I love a good pioneer/western story, but in moderation. I also like the other genre's. And there just aren't many in Christian Fiction.

#2. The men are sensitive sissies.
In no other genre will you find men that soft-hearted and considerate. Now I'm not saying that all book guys have to be baddies with tortured pasts (even though those are fun sometimes), but the men in Christian Fiction aren't realistic. They're bordering on being feminine. And I like He-men, not girly men.

#3. The Characters are perfect.
They just are. Even when they make a huge mistake, you get the whole giant confession scene within a few pages. I want the characters I read to have flaws. And bigger flaws than "A telemarketer called and I told them I wasn't home. I lied 0.o". I want real flaws. I want to be able to relate to them. I want to see them grow.

#4. Every Christian fantasy novel known to man is some kind of allegory.
I'm serious. They all have some kind of King who died for his people, or was betrayed by the fictional Judas, or some other parallel to Jesus. I love Chronicles of Narnia. But it was a diamond in the rough. Not every fantasy book can pull off a good allegory. Is there really something so wrong with just writing a clean fantasy story?

#5. The salvation scene.
Salvation is an amazing thing and books just never do it justice. If they try to make it too special it comes out sounding ridiculous and far fetched. But too little drama and it's just a boring event that can easily be skimmed over. Another thing is, after the salvation scene, the character- if they had any flaws at all before hand- suddenly becomes a choir boy. The change is instant.

#6. The long drawn out prayers on every page.
Maybe I'm reading the wrong books, but every Christian book I've ever read was full of prayers. And I love praying. It's an amazing thing. But once again, the book version of it doesn't do the actual act justice, and it just grows tiring.

#7. The Sunday Sermon.
There's one in every book. And we get to read the entire thing.

#8. Zero action.
The Christian fantasy novels I've read are a little better at this, but still, most basic fiction genre's will have way more action (not talking violence or gore- just excitement) happen in them than the Christian version will.

Now I'm not here to bash Christian fiction. I would love if every genre had a Christian version. It would save me the time of trying to decide if I'm going to get halfway through a series and suddenly get bombarded by sex scenes and language. I'd like to avoid that.
But you just don't find Christian Dystopian. Or Christian Steampunk. Or all those other genre's that are so cool. And I don't know why, because it can be done. I love the Divergent series. I know a lot of people disagree with that, but what I really loved about it besides the story was that it was clean (I don't mind kiss scenes). It was one of the few modern YA books that didn't have a sex scene in it. There was very little swearing. The violence wasn't graphic and disturbing. There weren't dark, practically satanic themes in it. But never once did it sound preachy or lame. Veronica Roth is a Christian, yet none of those annoying traits I just listed made it into her books. You know what's cool? I read the books and told my mom "I think this lady is a Christian. It just sounds like it." And then I found an interview where she did say she was a believer.

Hunger Games is another one that impressed me. While I don't know if Suzanne Collins is a Christian, she did leave out swearing and sexuality, which is something that is very rare lately.
It is possible to write a clean story without trying to force a Bible down the reader's throat.

So why aren't there more?

This is a question I lament to my mom at least once a month. And she always tells me, "Well, if there aren't any, write them yourself."
And on one hand that's helpful, because I do want to try and write stories that are clean, but still totally exciting to read. But on the other hand, I don't have time to do all of that writing. And I would like to read plot twists that I didn't come up with thank you. I like being surprised and having my feels ripped out by someone other than me. I want to fall in love with characters that I didn't create- because that's just awkward.

One thing that has been awesome is my discovery of Blink YA, and Playlist Fiction. They're subdivisions of the big publishers (Zondervan I think), and they have lots of books they've been cranking out. I own several of them and they've been amazing. Clean stories, with Christian themes, that didn't read like a sermon. I'm so glad I was able to discover them because I had literally about given up on ever liking Christian fiction again.

Are you guys looking for a good read this summer? Here's some of my favorites.

Starlighter by Bryan Davis. Awesome fantasy stories with boys that are to die for.
 And there's a whole series of it, plus some tie-in series'.

Legends of Karac Tor: The book of names, by D. Barkley Briggs. It's been a while since I read this one, and I think it might have had some allegoric qualities, but they weren't cheesy, and it was a really cool story. It's the first book in the series.

The Healers Apprentice by Melanie Dickerson. Great old England story with awesome characters and huge plot twists. She's also written several other books that I have, but haven't read yet.

Running Lean by Diana L. Sharples. A modern story with a realistic problem that still managed to read like a story and not a self-help book.

Solitary by Travis Thrasher. This one was creepy. It's in the Christian horror category. And it as oh so creepy. But oh so amazing. There's a whole series for it too.

Captives by Jill Williamson. A dystopia from a boys point of view that's wrote in second person. Yay!!

By Darkness Hid, also by Jill Williamson. the first book in an awesome fantasy series. No allegories included. And a very cool story world.

The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet by Stephanie Morrill. This one is a fun read. And it has a sequel.

Halflings by Heather Burch. I haven't finished this one yet, but it seems like it would cater to people who like the whole idea of angels living on earth, (so like the Infernal Devices) and supernatural creatures. Mace is awesome.

There you are! Enjoy your reading. If you guys know any awesome Christian books, feel free to leave them in the comments.

Weekend Frenzies

Hi guys! Geez it's been a while. Four days? I was pretty much doing the exact same thing on every one of those days, so I'll catch you up on that.

We were sorting pairs.

 A phrase which here means, get all the cows into a corral, find the matching mother and baby, put them in a trailer and haul them to a nice grassy pasture.

 

(Just thought I'd clear that up, since the last time I said that, people were asking mom about fruit trees)                                                                                             (Peppermint is my cow, She's that crazy red and white one)

Sorting pairs is a lot of fun (even though losing Tick put a huge damper on the whole week). We wake up at six and go saddle the horses, chase all the cows in, and then mom keeps an eye on the gate while me, The Minions, and Dad all chase cows and calves down the hill to go into the loading pens.

Normally we have a lot of cows with no tags, so we would be out there, trailing a calf around saying "Who does M50 belong to?" And my mom would frantically flip through her notes and say "A black cow with a tore left ear, a silver clip in her right, and a little white on her bag." To which Dad would say "That's half the cows in here. Find one with a real number."

           It was long, tiring, and seemingly futile most of the time.

 

This year though, we tagged our cows. All of them. So we only had a few odd ball numbers. (I think we only got up to M5) Which was so much easier it isn't even funny.

We sort the cows five into a pen, then when we get twenty, mom and dad take the trailer and haul them out to the pastures. While they're gone, me and the girls hold the horses and take turns sneaking to the house for books, food, and that sort of thing. Part of Blaze was wrote this weekend sitting in the dirt with cows watching. And all the pictures for todays post came from the waiting in between loads.

(I'm on Woody- The red one. Flint is my horse- the black- but Dad is riding him)

Mom was awesome and got us pop, and nibs, and cherry mashes (greatest candies ever- and No, they are not the same thing as Twin Bing, I don't care how many people tell me they are).

We got all the major bunches out Sunday, and tomorrow we will haul out the last two pairs. (My heifer decided to calve way late, so she gets to go out to grass finally. I've got a cute little brockle face. (Black with white spots on his face)


So that's my week. How was yours?

So Long, Buddy.

Yesterday goes in the history books as one of the saddest days of my life. We lost our dog Tick . Yet another good dog lost to a fluke accident and a vehicle.
He was honestly the best dog I have ever owned in my life, and dad says the best of all his dogs as well (and he's had at least 20).
So forgive me for the melancholy mood of this post, but I'm sad, and since I know lots of my friends know and liked Tick, I wanted to share the news and a little memorabilia.

First day home, Valentines Day five years ago.

He was a fat little guy. This was back when we called him prairie dog, or Kaviezel. Just cause he was a little weasel. Pupstar was another nickname. It eventually made it to Tick, Ticker, Ticker Tape, and Ticker Tait. He came running if you whistled Iron Will's Tune.

 

Tough guy. He took on a German shepherd at this size.

All tuckered out. Man he snored.

Rub my tummy. With one of his favorite cat friends. He was so friendly with all the cats and the chickens and any other critter we showed up with.

Playing with Uriah in the yard.

 

Minion 1's agility course for him. He could go through the whole thing in 30 seconds.

There's something in here- and I'm gonna get it.

He dug into the tent to sleep with us. All the time.

And turned up with...something with a tail. It wasn't a rat or a mouse.

Climbed the tree

He literally loved to dance.

He got into every basketball game. Ever. He was the real definition of 'ankle biter'  



Was very photogenic. Waaay too cute for his own good.

Always wanted to ride the 4-wheeler. Always.

What's up dawg?

SOMEONE'S COMING!

Never, ever stopped chasing his tail...or digging holes 

 

Needless to say the entire family is absolutely crushed about all this. But we're trying to remember all the great memories we had with him. God blessed us with five full years with him and they were truly fantastic. Tick was literally like a part of the family. He was very smart and he knew exactly what we were doing and he was always doing it with us. I've had lots of dogs in my life, and it's a rare thing that one comes along who is that connected to everyone in the family.

My dad says there is something to be learned from all of this. That even as we're sad we have to be mindful that we don't turn bitter. God is not the author of death. God is the author of life. Satan is the author of death. Way back in the garden of Eden he knew that if he could bring death into the world, people would hurt and grieve and some would shake their fist at heaven and ask why. But heaven is not to blame. Satan and our own sin is. God loves us. He doesn't bless us beyond belief and then one day decide that he's going to take away a loved one or pet. Because he loves us, he sent his son to die for us. And Jesus conquered the grave. It couldn't hold him. And if we trust in what he did for us, it won't be able to hold us either.

I don't know what any of you think of this- if you disagree, you're entitled to your opinion, and I'm no preacher, so I could be wrong- but I believe that animals will be in heaven. The argument against it is always that animals have no soul, and I agree with that. But the Bible says that all of creation cries out to God and is waiting for the day the curse is lifted. Animals are part of creation. That means they know there is a God, and they are waiting for the day when he makes everything perfect. The Bible also says he sees every sparrow fall. What's the point of taking note of a falling sparrow if its just dead and doesn't go anywhere? Another verse says that we should tell everything that has breath the wonderful things God has done for us. It didn't say a soul. It said breath. Why tell animals what God has done if they don't have any clue that there is a God?

The Bible also says that Jesus comes back on a white horse. There's several other horses mentioned in heaven. So we know horses are there. To me, it just makes sense that since everything in heaven is perfect, and God at creation said that what he had made was very good, it stands to reason that he would want all of his creation to be there in heaven with him.

God says we will see our loved ones in heaven, and I believe I will see my little buddy Ticker again too.  

 

Tick

 

This Feeling of Power...

 

It's official people. I am without doubt, a completely bonafide adult. Because...

I'm on my way to go vote.

For the first time.

Ever.

Yep!

 

I really don't have a topic for the day, because all I'll be doing is fixing fence and stuff like that, but I am going to vote this morning and it's a thrilling feeling.
Obviously, not for president, but it'll be for governor, senator, etc. Got my list of names all wrote up and in my pocket in case I become so overwhelmed by the glorious exercise of freedom and totally forget who I wanted to vote for ;)

Tell me I'm not totally crazy about being this excited?

 

It's just kind of an amazing feeling. I'm old enough now, to take part in shaping the decisions of this country! I have a voice!

Alrighty, I'll stop now. Have a nice day :) I promise I'll have a real blog post with an actual topic soon.

Blog Tag!

Thanks to Zara Hoffman for tagging me in her blog yesterday.
Here's my answers to the questions.

1) What are you working on?

Right now I'm working on Blaze full time. I've got a few other stories that I dabble in when I'm board, but Blaze is the main one right now. I think most everyone knows what it's about by now, but basically it's a medieval story about a guy who's girlfriend gets kidnapped and he goes after her but ends up in a war, and lot's of people die, and my readers yell at me ;)


2) How does your work differ from others of it's genre?

Um...we'll I guess it's a fantasy since it's medieval, so it's different in that it doesn't actually have any magic in it. It's also different than most young adult books since the main character is a boy, and lately most of the MC's have been girls. And there is no love triangle.



3) How does your writing process work?

Haha, we're calling it an actual writing process now? That's sounds rather professional doesn't it? I can dig that. Usually I get some kind of idea. Usually from a book I read that didn't end how I wanted it to, or a pin on Pinterest, or a game I played with the minions. After that I think about it for a while and scribble out a very basic excuse for an outline. I make a pinterest board for it, and find the perfect tablet to write it in, and start writing.

There you have it! I'm tagging Mirriam Neal and Skye Hoffert so be sure to go check out their answers later on :)

Mother's Day Post

I don't usually post on Sunday because it's so hectic, and my brain needs a break from trying to think up topics, but since it's Mother's Day I thought I'd do something kind of special (besides posting mommy/baby pictures of me and my mom-mommy on Facebook)

First off, let me just say that I have the best mom in the whole world, and don't bother arguing that point, because I will absolutely never believe you. My mom will sit and listen to me yammer about fictional boys (and a few real ones) for literally hours on end. She will listen while I go on and on about how my characters aren't being written according to plan, and usually she'll give me a brilliant idea for a plot twist. She puts up with every crazy song I put on the radio. She humors my ideas for clothing designs, and painted my bedroom purple for me, and made me two amazing quilts (even though one still isn't finished), and she helps me out all the time, and she's just great. So shout out to mom coming up.

YOU ROCK MOM!!

Now that that's out of the way,  I have something for the rest of you who aren't actually my mom. Which is 99% of you. Because I only have one mom. And she's amazing.

This scene hasn't actually been wrote into the story yet, (I actually just wrote it up now off the top of my head, so if it sounds awful, don't tell me) but it comes from my Beautiful Things work-in-progress and the characters are Ashley, Jason, and Teeg.

Anyone who says having a baby doesn't hurt is a liar. Ashley definitely hurt. In more ways than she'd ever felt possible. She squeezed her eyes shut and sucked in a shaky breath.
"Ashley?" She opened her eyes at the nurse who was holding out a small bundle. "You're little guy is here."
A fear she couldn't really explain shot through her and she hesitated. If she took him, she was truly a mom.
A tiny hand peeked out of the folds of baby blue and her heart skipped a beat. So tiny!
She held her arms out slowly and let the nurse set him in them. Ashley carefully drew him back to herself and stared, a half smile teasing around her lips.
He didn't look like any of the babies she'd seen. None of the newborns on TV looked like this. He was tiny. Like he could break at the slightest movement. And red. Red and kind of blotchy.
"Is he okay?" She glanced up, hoping she didn't sound silly.
"Oh he's just fine." She smiled and patted Ashley's shoulder. "You did really good."
Ashley felt herself flush slightly and looked back down at the baby. Her baby.
His eyes were squeezed shut, his mouth puckered like he didn't like this new place he'd found himself in. His little hands were balled into fists in front of him.
"Hi there." Ashley said softly.
He was wiggling slightly, his limbs not sure of themselves. His eyelids crept up slightly and she bent to try and see the color. "Are you in there?" She giggled.
The nurse came over. "Do you want me to let your friend in?"
Ashley glanced at the door and nodded, suddenly remembering Jason had drove her here in a panic. "Yes, please."
Jason came in a moment later and claimed the chair next to her bed, leaning in close to see. She moved her arm slightly to give him a better view. "Ah Ash, he's adorable."
She smiled at him. "Isn't he? Jason, meet Teeg."
Jason flashed a smile. "Finally decided on a name huh?"
She nodded.
"I like it."
She smiled and looked back down at the little guy as he made weak squeak noises. "I can't even believe this is real. That he's mine."
"Yeah." He rubbed her shoulder. "It's pretty amazing, isn't it Mommy?"
She smiled and nodded. "Yeah..." She looked at Teeg lovingly. "Hi Teeg. I'm your mommy."

From Middle Earth to MidPlains 2014

You know that place between sleep and awake, where you can't breathe through your nose and you have a fever so you hallucinate about why you can't breathe and it has nothing to do with colds or the flu? That's the place where I've been living the last few days.
I've been very shot down, to the point where if I tried to write, I would fall asleep on my tablet, and if I tried to text, my eyes would swim on the iPod screen. So that's my excuse for social media silence lately.

(Sick, by Shel Silverstein)

 

While I as sick as a cat (Have you seen a sick cat? That's sick) I did manage to watch the entire Lord Of The Rings series.

Minion 1 got it for me for Christmas but I was never allowed to watch it while she was home because she thinks it's very boring. It's a very rare thing that I'm home along and not doing anything, so I took advantage of the last few days. I did have to stop every hour or so and pause it and then I would fall asleep and wake up three hours later and resume watching. My love for Aragorn is just as strong as ever, and I'm still neutral to pretty much everyone else in the series (and I will never admit to liking Gollum. Nope. Not going to do it.).
So I may not be a die hard LOTR fan (I don't even know what they're fandom name is...anyone??) but I can at least say that I've watched the movies, and read 1&1/10 of the books.

But anyway-
My lifelong friend graduated from high school today (congrats girl!) and her reception was last night so I went to that and had fun getting to chat with her and some other friends I hadn't seen in a while.
Then today my cousin and a church friend came over and we got all our baby calves branded and vaccinated so they can go out to the pastures this week.
I tried to take pictures for you all, but it's an incredibly dangerous place for a camera when you're running a chute, flipping calves over, and branding (I'm the brand lady. Dad says I have the eye of an artist). So I didn't get any taken of the actual action. But afterward we had dinner in The Pack Iron Saloon (that's our saddle room in the barn). Here's the cowboy chuck:

(Cowboy chuck Mom-mommy and Daddy-kin made)

I'm feeling pretty tuckered out after all of that, but my head isn't spinning, so I'm hopefully going to catch up on some much neglected roleplaying, and then get to work on Blaze, because there is no way it's going to be done on time if I don't get cracking on it.

As I'm about to finish Blaze I'm having some really conflicted feelings. This is only the second full length story I'll have ever finished, and I'm finding myself dragging my feet. Not sure why. Usually I'm so excited to get them finished. And especially this one since I actually have a clear view of what I want to happen, unlike most of my stuff, but I'm still hesitant. Because I'm getting more ideas.  Who is going to live? Should I really kill Blade? Is there any way I can keep Chet? Which brothers get to stay? Is there a way I can sneak in another love interest this late in the game?

(Idea boards)

While I'm dragging my feet, I'm also getting restless. What can I work on next? I've got a lot of new ideas lately, and the pinterest boards for them are just screaming at me to write them. But I've got several stories that are already started that I put on hold to finish Blaze. The Minions are my #1 readers, but they're being fuddy dud's and won't tell me which one they want me to tear into next. I don't know. I guess I'll have to decide. Maybe one of the blog posts I'll give you guys a quick description of my options and put it to a vote. We'll see.

 

Anyway, that's the catch up on everything I've been doing the last three days. Enjoy your Saturday!