Little late, I know! But as a belated Christmas present to you all, here’s a guest post from one of my favorite authors, one I consider a blessing to not only have the honor of being a huge fan, but the honor to consider this amazing woman a friend! JENNIFER HARTZ!!!!!! Lets have a moment of silence for the books we love..and the people who wrote them! Hope you all enjoy this great article as much I did! Because it is pretty awesome..and oh so true!
Also at the end of the article is some noteworthy news about a giveaway 
Is There a Shift Coming to Christian Fiction?
Quick, list all of the Speculative Christian novels you can think of… Chances are you came up with the same three or four that everyone would. Speculative Fiction is a majorly overlooked genre under the Inspirational umbrella. Let’s examine the “big two”: The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia. Undoubtedly, both of these series are works of genius. In fact, The Lord of the Rings is personally my favorite epic; however I felt as if there was something missing. Romance. There was a tiny bit in The Lord of the Rings between Aragorn and Arwen, but even that had to be embellished in the movie version. And don’t be fooled by the movie version of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian; Susan and Caspian did not kiss in the book.
What else seems to be lacking in the Inspirational category? Realistic Romance. There are many great Christian Romance writers out there who create more realistic characters and situations that have people desperately struggling with sin and temptation. Their characters might actually mess up and sin just like many of us in real life. These writers create characters with deep internal struggles between love, duty to God, duty to others, self satisfaction… the list goes on and on. But, for whatever reason, these novels are not as popular as their less realistic counterparts. Could someone please tell me why there are so many Christian Romances with Perfectly Pure Patricia on the cover decked out in her bonnet and long dress? Luckily for those of us wearing blue jeans and a t-shirt, typing on our laptops, sipping coffee, and eating sushi in present-day there seems to be a growing desire for realistic, modern day Inspirational Romances… especially for those of us who love the Speculative genre.
For some reason Speculative doesn’t have a strong foothold in the Inspirational genre. There’s a stigma on anything supernatural when it comes to Christian Fiction. Frankly, I don’t understand this mentality. Have you read the Bible recently? The coolest parts are where God does supernatural things, or He gives His people the ability to do supernatural things. Red Sea parting, stopping the passage of the sun, bringing down the walls of Jericho, closing the mouths of lions, raising people from the dead, and countless other instances… all cool!
So what do you do if you want to read a Christian fiction novel that is speculative and has a heavy realistic romantic story line? Well, if you’re me — and you’re crazy — you sit down and write one yourself. That’s how Future Savior was born. I took all of the elements I wanted to see in a novel: Christian inspired, high fantasy setting, people doing supernatural things, and an intricate realistic love story all rolled into one epic tale.
Unfortunately for me, I wrote a sub-genre of a sub-genre of a sub-genre, so basically I wrote myself a story that had very little chance of publication. However, I believe that there are more people out there like me who would love to read this type of story. I believe that there is a new generation of Christian readers that will welcome supernatural occurrences and realistic love stories. Look at the growing popularity of Speculative in just the last decade or so. When The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia were first published, they were not very popular. Now they’re huge.
The Inspirational genre is starting to shift, it’s starting to change. Speculative is become a highly desired genre and more realistic romantic relationships in Christian novels are being sought after. I was lucky enough to stumble upon Desert Breeze Publishing. They are on the forefront of offering these genres a chance to shine. My un-publishable series is being read by people searching for Speculative Christian Romances. Something that is very hard to come by, but in my opinion on the rise.
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WOW!!!!!!
I couldn’t agree more on all of these issues! Not just because I’m a HUGE fan of Spec. Christian romance…Okay your right that’s probably it. I only hope that authors such as Jennifer keep up their writing, or us Christian fantasy lovers will be in a fix! 
Now for what you’ve been awaiting, fair reader! A Giveaway!
Hie thyself to Jennifer’s yonder website at http://jenniferhartz.com/blog/ To win a copy of future Savior Book One, the book that started it all! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!! But this is a series I cannot talk about much because I’ll faint with excitement. Yep been there, did that, lets not repeat So farewell, Dear reader, enjoy the New Year! Check out my review of Jennifers books here http://thesweetandthesassy.wordpress.com/2011/09/05/future-savior-books-1-and-2/ and the interview with Jennifer here http://thesweetandthesassy.wordpress.com/2011/08/15/jennifer-hartz-interview-and-giveaway/
PAIGE
Its lots of fun, and pretty easy to do!
Let’s face it, there’s a definite lack of humorous YA Christian fiction. As in realistic teen fiction for us Jesus lovin’ girls, stuff we can totally relate to and be all LOL about. Instantly I think Jenny B. Jones, gotta love her writing, Kristin Billerbeck, K. Dawn Byrd, or Cindy Martinusen Coloma. Alas, a writer can only write so fast, and a reader can only read so slow! But as I was casually browsing the aisles of Book-A-Million (LOVE that place, coffee and books all in one store!) I saw a new cover to YA fiction!
