Ted Dekker ticked me off a bit. I know Love Inspired’s guidelines may seem as if they’re unrealistic, but, they’re writing for their readership, plus, people pick up a Love Inspired novel expecting a certain standard. This post makes me angry because I don’t think Ted’s ever read a Love Inspired! He’s putting down the whole line, and that simply stinks! Read a Love Inspired, Ted, and do some investigating and look at the Love Inspired sales figures!
Huh, well, if I pick up a Christian fiction that has most of those things in it, I put it down. I don’t think a Christian needs to read swearing and things that are about sex. I am fine with romance, but it can be clean. I personally do not like Ted Dekker’s books and after reading that, probably will avoid them even more.
ted dekker was not attacking the books them selves but the “guidlines” the love inspired clams should apply to christian books. christian books should show the raw elements every single christian(and non christian) is exposed to. and as ted said putting this list up online brands all christians as uptight and above non christians when we are all the same.
I don’t know what Ted Dekker had to say. I have a couple of his books but have not read them as I find them hard to get into. But any book labeled Love Inspired I pick up has always blessed me and inspired me and encouraged me. You can go to any place I write reviews and I have been encouraged in the Lord reading Love Inspired. I could name Author’s whose work has meant so much to me as I’ve recovered from surgery, etc. God says we are to lift each other up. Now I believe we can put things in books without the cussing. I read one book about Mafia spies and it was a good book but the cussing turned me off. I wrote the author and she had not wanted to put it in but her Publisher wanted it in. She was right though that spies would probably cuss so I just read over it and did enjoy the book. I even wrote reviews of it without mentioning the tiny thing that I didn’t like. Why? Because I also have read two Christian books which blessed me until I got to the end and the ending left me hanging. But I wrote a good review because there was so much good in the books and if one thought about the fact life doesn’t end at the end of the book – it goes on – then it doesn’t matter. But give me a Love Inspired any day. When you pick up any book intitled Love Inspired or Steeple Hill, you know they are clean.
jrs362(at)hotmail(dot)com
I’m really sorry if I offended any writers in my post on Steeple Hill’s Guidelines, but looking back I can see how it might. Really, my intent was to help the writing community rethink standards that prohibit words like “priest” and others that are surely not offensive to any but the most puritanical. Surely not to the writers themselves. Surely not to you.
What if one of their prohibited words was “Black” because they published for a group of people that were racists, would I be offended? YES! Would there be some outrage? Should there be?
I think so. And I can understand why so many are offended by some of what’s on the list now.
But please, forgive any insult that might have been leveled at any author. I LOVE novelists! It’s a hard life and they deserve so much credit, no matter what genre.
Ted Dekker
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Hmmm, while I agree that he has probably never read a LI book, my guess is that even without knowing these guidelines he wouldn’t ever read one, as they are not his ‘thing.’
Now, that being said, I (wow, can’t believe i’m saying this!) kinda agree with some of what he’s saying. And I’ve read several LI books. Yes, they are ‘perfect’ and very “christian”, but I didn’t realize they had such stringent guidelines.
Don’t get me wrong, I do NOT want to pick up a so-called Christian book and read several sex scenes, foul language, or leud behaviors. However, to not even mention bra, undergarments, going to the bathroom, say ‘oh gosh’, or show any relation to the fact that we (as Christians) are HUMAN and do have human feelings and go through the normal every day stuff, leaves a bit to be desired for me. I like to know that the characters are tempted with sin, that they have to stop themselves from ‘going too far’ because they know what is right/wrong.
I think there is a fine balance. Personally, I think Dekker crosses that line too many times and goes too far to prove the point. But I do think (sometimes) that LI books can be too “clean”, if you will.
I think we need to look at that list objectively and then ask ourselves who are we writing for?
If we are writing to the church – those already saved and just to entertain them, then I suppose those guidelines are fine – even if they still are a bit unrealistic.
I have read some of Ted’s books and although I loved his Circle books (and the young adult series based off them), I can’t say I was such a fan of the others – they crossed a bit too far into the darkness for me and I would rather focus on the light.
However, I think he makes a good point. We won’t win over readers if our books our scrubbed so clean of anything that comes close to real emotions – real struggles (like temptation) and shows how we can overcome and live it.
If all our characters are Barbie & Ken dolls – then what kind of message are we sending to the lost – and what interest can they possibly have in reading our books?
I don’t think they need to be filled with smut & over run with cursing and every foul thing under the sun… but I do think that the Bible dealt more openly with sin than we are willing to – and that is perfectly acceptable.
The Song of Solomon would make most of our romances pale in comparison. Same thing goes with admitting weakness and temptation. If we want to be real – and to draw the world into our characters and stories, we need to be willing to show that we’re not perfect – and how God is the only thing that makes us different. He is our strength. We shouldn’t shy away from being honest and human.
I always read this blog so please enter me into the contest for the book.
mamat2730(at)charter(dot)net
Anonymous #1, I understand where you are coming from, but, not all people will see things the way you claim. When they see Ted saying things about Love Inspired, they’d be LESS inclined to buy the novels. That’s my take on it. Plus, Ted’s a big name, and he has a following….people listen to him. Now, when some of his fans see a Love Inspired, in spite of never having read one, they’ll say, “There goes those unrealistic books.” Not giving the stories a chance.
Anybody else commenting, or who’s reading this post, and have never read Ted’s books – don’t let his post about Love Inspired discourage you from reading his stories. The man can write a good novel. I didn’t much care for House (his collaboration with Peretti), but I’ve read a few of his other novels and I was impressed. It’s not the genre that I usually read, but, when I want a break from my normal reading, he’s an author that I’ll pick up occasionally.
Ted Dekker, thanks for posting the comment on my blog. I didn’t think you’d go to the blog post. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have made my comments so caustic! But, I’m inclined to speak my mind, and those were some of the first things that came to my head when my fingers hit that keyboard!
Okay, subject closed!
Edna, there’s no drawing for this blog post. I’m not giving a book away. You’ll need to comment on the post dated 11/1/2009 if you want to enter the Christmas book giveaway!! Winner receives a box of 10 books! There’s already 115 comments and I’ll be drawing the winning name within the next week or so!
I disagree very strongly with the whole idea of these guidelines. The overly stringent guidelines on sex, cursing, and gambling I find to be very troubling. But I can understand where they are coming from; I disagree, but you can at least make an argument for some of those guidelines.
But forbidding authors to use any terminology related to Catholicism is absolutely indefensible. Christianity is losing credibility because it is perceived as narrow-minded and lacking in intellectual credibility. Guidelines like these exacerbate an already dangerous situation.