Tag: Genre

  • Christian Fiction? Three Ways to Market Your Book of Faith

    We’re analyzing the Christian Fiction genre, explicitly Christian fiction in the secular market, and implicitly Christian fiction in the secular market.

  • Are Christian Fiction Books Worth Writing?

    I spent my college career debating if Christian Fiction books are worth writing. This is the first post in a series debating the pros and cons of the genre.

  • Faith Music

    Today, I drove along curving, green back roads and took the long way home. I just breathe better when I see houses and farmland dotting the horizon instead of various bits of car wreckage remaining on the shoulder of the interstate. Naturally, I wanted to listen to some good, soul-soaring music. I turned on the…

  • Why English Majors Can’t Read

    This past week I met several new people at a church event, and the topic of books frequently came up. Though the worst question to ask an English major is “what is your favorite book,” it seemed to be the most popular. Despite resulting in a list of books (including commentary) rather than a single…

  • Machine Dreams

    Thoughts on Machine Dreams by Jayne Anne Phillips As with Out of Peel Tree, the fragmented stories are hard to get into, but cover a lot more ground in time and setting. The use of letters for Mitch’s war memories do a nice job of characterizing him and his relationships with others through the use of small…

  • Out of Peel Tree

    Thoughts on reading Out of Peel Tree by Laura Long By fragmenting the novel through short stories, Long could cover an impressive 2 generations of time. This led to some flat sections that told, rather than showed, the passage of time. The inconsistent narrator to style ratio made the overall story harder to follow. (For example, some…

  • Country Music and Running Away

    This past week, I found radio stations that played the country songs popular on the radio in my childhood. The first day I listened to the 90’s and early-2000’s favorites, I estimated that at least 65%, if not up to 85%, of the songs alluded to running away in some form or fashion, usually for love.…

  • Glorybound

    Thoughts upon finishing Glorybound by Jessie Van Eerden Though the beginning was hard to get into because of its dense content and sad tone, I couldn’t put it down for the last 100 pages. It picked up speed toward the end as everything came together and everyone got healed. There were shorter sections and quicker shifts…

  • Point of View

    Yesterday was a big day for the first five pages of my story. I met with my mentor and also had a workshop. Everything seemed positive, and I feel good continuing work on this project. I was particularly encouraged when my professor said the words were flying off the page. She mentioned a couple of spots…

  • Genre Mapping

    I’m not sure what genre I’m trying to write. My first explanation led professors to call it a “novel in stories.” Upon further discussion, I think I have managed to totally confuse us all. Thus, I drew a map. Maybe this is just a normal novel with many narrators. Maybe it is more novel-in-stories than…