I have now written four works of non-fiction and am working on a detective novel. As my last book How to Cope with the Church is an expression of my Christian faith, I have been asked:
- Whether it is a departure from my usual theme(s)
- Whether my novel will be a Christian book.
The answers are not simple.
- I do refer to God, faith and the Bible in my three secular books, although the proportion of the books taken up by such things is so small that you would have to have a strong phobia of all things Christian to be unable to benefit from the books as a whole. And enjoy them. The references are, I hope, relevant to the subjects I am writing about, rather than interruptions.
- As a Christian, I hope all my books will help readers replace error and falsehood with truth. I hope too they will all help readers deal with various problems in their lives.
- My understanding of life is influenced by my faith, as everyone’s understanding is affected by his or her beliefs and values, whether religious or secular. I do not claim that all my understanding comes from my Christian faith. Like anyone else, my education, experience and environment play their parts too.
- My fictitious heroes will not be committed Christians, neither will religion be a major topic in the novel. It is possible that in one of the sequels they will encounter Christianity in some way and be obliged to consider certain aspects of their beliefs. I intend to make them consider many issues in due course.
- I do not intend to let religion, politics or social concern get in the way of the story. I am writing whodunits not treatises.
- If I am to be real, my beliefs will almost certainly come out in my writing, fiction and non-fiction, as is the case for most writers.
Finally, I do intend to write another book or two on specifically religious topics, but fear not: the titles and publicity will give sufficient warning to enable the more sensitive of you to steer clear of them.
