{"id":134,"date":"2014-03-05T00:27:00","date_gmt":"2014-03-05T00:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/blog\/2014\/03\/05\/guest-post-writing-line-by-delia-latha\/"},"modified":"2023-05-25T18:09:46","modified_gmt":"2023-05-26T00:09:46","slug":"guest-post-writing-line-by-delia-latha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/guest-post-writing-line-by-delia-latha\/","title":{"rendered":"Guest Post: Writing the Line by Delia Latham"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t(Editor's Note: We are pleased to reprint this post first published at Delia Latham's blog<\/a>.\n<\/div>\n
\n\t \n<\/div>\n
\n\tWhat makes Christian romance "Christian"?\n<\/div>\n
\n\t \n<\/div>\n
\n\tWriters, please understand before you try to write an
\n\tinspirational romance: Placing
\n\tcharacters inside a church building on Sunday mornings, or having them say
\n\tgrace before a meal does not make a novel inspirational<\/b>.\n<\/div>\n
\n\t \n<\/div>\n
\n\tIf I had to sum up the essence of inspirational romance in
\n\tone word, I'd use "relationship." The major difference in a secular
\n\tromance and an inspirational one really is that simple: the emotional connection (relationship) between the hero and heroine,
\n\tand between the characters and God<\/b>.\n<\/div>\n
\n\t \n<\/div>\n
\n\tAside from the stringent expectation of quality writing,
\n\tcertain additional standards exist in the world of Christian fiction. A writer
\n\thoping to place a manuscript in this market would do well to become familiar
\n\twith those finely drawn lines and stay well within their borders.\n<\/div>\n
\n\t \n<\/div>\n
\n\tI can point out the right direction. You'll have to choose
\n\tthe roads.\n<\/div>\n
\n\t \n<\/div>\n
\n\t1. The sensuality
\n\tmeter<\/b>\n<\/div>\n
\n\t \n<\/div>\n
\n\tI was once challenged by someone who felt the words
\n\t"Christian" and "romance" conflicted.\n<\/div>\n
\n\t \n<\/div>\n
\n\t"You cannot write about romance and call it a Christian
\n\tbook," he stated. "Christians don't partake in romance, at least not
\n\tuntil after they're married. And no one wants to read about that stuff between
\n\ta husband and wife. What's the point?"\n<\/div>\n
\n\t \n<\/div>\n
\n\tHow sad, this inability to distinguish between sex and
\n\tromance!\n<\/div>\n
\n\t \n<\/div>\n
\n\tLet me try to make it easy.\n<\/div>\n
\n\t \n<\/div>\n
\n\tRomance<\/b> is the wooing of another's heart and the emotions involved
\n\tin that courtship.\n<\/div>\n
\n\tSex<\/b> is the physical consummation of a physical attraction (no
\n\trelationship necessary).\n<\/div>\n
\n\t \n<\/div>\n
\n\tIn a Christian romance, sex is off limits for the unmarried
\n\thero\/heroine, and takes place behind closed doors for married ones. What's
\n\tleft? Relationship.\n<\/div>\n
\n\t \n<\/div>\n
\n\tThat said, eliminating blatant sexual activity is not the
\n\tbe-all and end-all of an inspirational novel. What is important is the interweaving of the characters' spiritual
\n\tjourneys into their lives—and that includes their romantic overtures.<\/b>\n<\/div>\n
\n\t \n<\/div>\n
\n\tPhysical attraction should be a part of the story, but it
\n\twill be communicated through emotions instead of hormones. He may notice the
\n\tway the heroine's dress accentuates her curves, but he won't focus on those
\n\tcurves. He'll be drawn to her sense of humor, her generosity, her sweetness of
\n\tspirit. Neither is she blind to how he looks in those hip-hugging jeans, or the
\n\tway his muscles bulge when he ropes that heifer. But her emotional reactions
\n\twill supersede any physical ones. She'll be moved by his gentleness with an
\n\tinjured animal…touched by the respectful way he handles an annoying elderly
\n\tneighbor…moved to tears by his love for children.\n<\/div>\n
\n\t \n<\/div>\n
\n\t2. Christian protagonists\n<\/div>\n
\n\t \n<\/div>\n
\n\tA Christian romance will focus on two relationships:\n<\/div>\n
\n\t \n<\/div>\n
\n\tthe one developing between the hero and heroine, and<\/b>\n<\/div>\n
\n\tthe one between those characters and Christ.<\/b> (This one must be  clearly defined, either from the start of the
\n\tstory, or by the end of it.)\n<\/div>\n
\n\t \n<\/div>\n
\n\tIt is acceptable to start a book with a protagonist who
\n\tdoesn't know or is estranged from God, but that spiritual rapport will grow and
\n\tevolve throughout the storyline and must be reconciled by the last page.\n<\/div>\n
\n\t \n<\/div>\n
\n\t3. Dealing with sin <\/b>\n<\/div>\n
\n\t \n<\/div>\n
\n\tIn real life, Christian people live with and among
\n\tnon-Christians. So it is within the pages of a book. Contributing characters
\n\tmay smoke or drink, get pregnant before marriage, have abortions, cheat, steal,
\n\tlie…even murder. That's life. These characters' non-conformity to a godly
\n\tlifestyle adds color to the storyline.\n<\/div>\n
\n\t \n<\/div>\n
\n\tIt is crucial, however, that the main characters either stay on the straight path or find it<\/b>.\n<\/div>\n
\n\t \n<\/div>\n
\n\t4. Preaching<\/b>\n<\/div>\n
\n\t \n<\/div>\n
\n\tUltimate challenge: Do
\n\tall of the above without turning the story into a sermon.<\/b> Readers read for
\n\tentertainment and escape – not a class on Christianity. Any message the author
\n\twishes to deliver must be woven seamlessly into the storyline. The reader should not be aware of any
\n\tspiritual lesson…until it's already learned.<\/b>\n<\/div>\n
\n\t \n<\/div>\n
\n\tWhat makes Christian fiction Christian? The differences aren't many, but mighty<\/b>. I like to think of it as
\n\tgiving my readers a touch of Heaven in an earthly tale. Why wouldn't I write on
\n\tthis side of the line?\n<\/div>\n
\n\t——————————-\n<\/div>\n
\n\tBorn and raised in a place called Weedpatch, Delia Latham<\/a> moved from
\n\tCalifornia to Oklahoma in 2008, making her a self-proclaimed California
\n\tOkie. She loves to read and write in her simple country home, and gets a
\n\tkick out of watching her husband play Farmer John. The author enjoys
\n\tmultiple roles as Christian wife, mother, grandmother, sister and
\n\tfriend, but especially loves being a princess daughter to the King of
\n\tKings and Lord of Lords. She loves to hear from her readers.\n<\/div>\n
\n\t \n<\/div>\n
\n\t You can find Delia's books<\/a> at the Pelican Book Group web site. Delia<\/a> also writes with fellow author Tanya Stowe<\/a>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Editor's Note: We are pleased to reprint this post first published at Delia Latham's blog.   What makes Christian romance "Christian"?   Writers, please understand before you try to write an inspirational romance: Placing characters inside a church building on Sunday mornings, or having them say grace before a meal does not make a novel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[512],"tags":[105,106,26],"class_list":["post-134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-about-books","tag-christian-romance","tag-delia-latham","tag-guest-blogger"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}