by Jason Joyner | May 29, 2007 | Biblical worldview, Blog, fiction, music, writing craft
I posted a seven day discussion on the Christian Marketplace (convenient links: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7) and thought I was done with it for a while. Well, not quite.
Basically, I wanted to add a little balance to what I said. Last week I was reading in my devotional time when I came across this passage, 1 Corinthians 10:23-33.
“Everything is permissible”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.
Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”
If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. But if anyone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man who told you and for conscience’ sake—the other man’s conscience, I mean, not yours. For why should my freedom be judged by another’s conscience? If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.
I made the plea for freedom for the Christian artist to produce the kind of art that they feel led to produce, whether it was overtly religious or not. I still believe and stand by that, but this passage both supports what I was saying yet provides a little balance to my screed.
Everything is permissible, but should we ask what is the value of it. Obviously Christians shouldn’t make godly erotica, but I do believe that what we create should be “constructive”. What does that entail? Well, I think each sincere Christian artist needs to come to their own conclusion about that. One suggestion I would have is: there should be an overall building up in what we do. There’s a whole lot I could say on this, but that may be for another post.
Art has value in and of itself, and I want to see Christians produce the best music, the best fiction, the best of everything–because we have the great Creator as our inspiration, muse, and guide. However, we need to see if what we are doing is complying with this admonition from Paul: All should be done for the glory of God…For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they might be saved.
by Jason Joyner | May 29, 2007 | Biblical worldview, Blog, fiction, music, writing craft
I posted a seven day discussion on the Christian Marketplace (convenient links: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7) and thought I was done with it for a while. Well, not quite.
Basically, I wanted to add a little balance to what I said. Last week I was reading in my devotional time when I came across this passage, 1 Corinthians 10:23-33.
“Everything is permissible”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.
Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”
If some unbeliever invites you to a meal and you want to go, eat whatever is put before you without raising questions of conscience. But if anyone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, both for the sake of the man who told you and for conscience’ sake—the other man’s conscience, I mean, not yours. For why should my freedom be judged by another’s conscience? If I take part in the meal with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of something I thank God for?
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.
I made the plea for freedom for the Christian artist to produce the kind of art that they feel led to produce, whether it was overtly religious or not. I still believe and stand by that, but this passage both supports what I was saying yet provides a little balance to my screed.
Everything is permissible, but should we ask what is the value of it. Obviously Christians shouldn’t make godly erotica, but I do believe that what we create should be “constructive”. What does that entail? Well, I think each sincere Christian artist needs to come to their own conclusion about that. One suggestion I would have is: there should be an overall building up in what we do. There’s a whole lot I could say on this, but that may be for another post.
Art has value in and of itself, and I want to see Christians produce the best music, the best fiction, the best of everything–because we have the great Creator as our inspiration, muse, and guide. However, we need to see if what we are doing is complying with this admonition from Paul: All should be done for the glory of God…For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they might be saved.
by Jason Joyner | May 28, 2007 | Blog, CFBA, fiction, reviews
Okay, I missed my review post when I said – holiday weekends with family can kind of clobber the best blogging plans. But don’t take my tardiness for disinterest, for if you like a laugh at all, you don’t want to miss Snitch.
This is the second of the Occupational Hazards series, following the kids from a homeschooled family who leave the family clown business when their parents died in a tragic hot-tubbing accident. This book focuses on Mackenzie “Mack” Hazard, a police officer from Las Vegas who had an appearance in the first book, Scoop.
She is chosen for a special undercover task force involving stolen vehicles, though this decision is questioned by the aging head of the task force, Ron Yeager.
His task is to train this rag-tag bunch of officers into a unit able to bring down this crime ring. He may have lots of experience, but nothing prepared him for Jesse, his hotshot maverick; Dozer, the loveable narcoleptic; Wiz, who likes to visit the bathroom; Mack, who wears her faith like “an ever-present badge”; and the mysterious Kyle. The stakes get higher as the team must learn to trust one another to even survive.
This sounds like your typical crime/suspense novel. It is, but then again it is anything but. Gutteridge is perhaps the funniest author currently writing Christian novels. The story moves along and draws you in, but it is the zany cast of characters and the zig-zag journey the author takes you on that makes this book sparkle. I have an hour bus commute to work one-way, and I had to stifle many laughs so I wouldn’t draw the stares of my fellow passengers. The book was a great read – my only complaint is that I was drawn in so much that I am already finished! I’m not ready for it to be over. Gutteridge has an original voice and talent with keeping you guessing that you don’t feel like you’re reading – you feel like you’re along for the ride of a real-life sitcom.
Basically, Rene is one of my favorite authors now, and her books are worthwhile for great humor and stellar writing. Be sure to check out both books from the series!
by Jason Joyner | May 28, 2007 | Blog, CFBA, fiction, reviews
Okay, I missed my review post when I said – holiday weekends with family can kind of clobber the best blogging plans. But don’t take my tardiness for disinterest, for if you like a laugh at all, you don’t want to miss Snitch.
This is the second of the Occupational Hazards series, following the kids from a homeschooled family who leave the family clown business when their parents died in a tragic hot-tubbing accident. This book focuses on Mackenzie “Mack” Hazard, a police officer from Las Vegas who had an appearance in the first book, Scoop.
She is chosen for a special undercover task force involving stolen vehicles, though this decision is questioned by the aging head of the task force, Ron Yeager.
His task is to train this rag-tag bunch of officers into a unit able to bring down this crime ring. He may have lots of experience, but nothing prepared him for Jesse, his hotshot maverick; Dozer, the loveable narcoleptic; Wiz, who likes to visit the bathroom; Mack, who wears her faith like “an ever-present badge”; and the mysterious Kyle. The stakes get higher as the team must learn to trust one another to even survive.
This sounds like your typical crime/suspense novel. It is, but then again it is anything but. Gutteridge is perhaps the funniest author currently writing Christian novels. The story moves along and draws you in, but it is the zany cast of characters and the zig-zag journey the author takes you on that makes this book sparkle. I have an hour bus commute to work one-way, and I had to stifle many laughs so I wouldn’t draw the stares of my fellow passengers. The book was a great read – my only complaint is that I was drawn in so much that I am already finished! I’m not ready for it to be over. Gutteridge has an original voice and talent with keeping you guessing that you don’t feel like you’re reading – you feel like you’re along for the ride of a real-life sitcom.
Basically, Rene is one of my favorite authors now, and her books are worthwhile for great humor and stellar writing. Be sure to check out both books from the series!
by Jason Joyner | May 23, 2007 | Blog, CFBA, fiction
This week’s CFBA featured tour is Snitch, book two of the Occupational Hazards series, by Rene Gutteridge. She is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors with her humorous, intelligent writing. There are lines from this book and the first in the series, Scoop, that still crack me up when I think of them! Scoop was my top book for 2006, so I was anticipating a great read with Snitch. I wasn’t disappointed.
I’ll post my review tomorrow. Rene was gracious enough to answer a few more questions for me (she also did an interview for the Scoop book tour). Without further ado, here’s the author!
1. This has been a busy 12 months for you considering the release of Scoop, The Ultimate Gift and Snitch. How has it been keeping up with things?
This was definitely one of my busiest writing seasons. Three books in one year is challenging, but I’m proud of all the projects and I’m glad I was able to do them. However, after all that, it does take some time to decompress.
2. The police details in Snitch have authenticity to them, telling me you did your homework. How do you go about researching for a novel? What type of people do you interview?
I’ve done a tone of research for each of the Occupational Hazards books, more than any other books I’ve ever written. For Snitch, I flew out to Las Vegas and met with an undercover officer who was willing to take the time to give me a complete picture of what the life is like. I wanted insight into everything, and I wanted to depict it more like real life rather than television. Then of course I add my quirkiness to it, but that’s a whole other story! I also flew to Atlanta to research Skid. I have several technical advisors for each of these projects. For Snitch, I interviewed undercover officers and patrol officers.
3. Can you describe your writing process (daily routine, revision, plotting, etc)?
I write about three hours a day, then do e-mails, interviews, etc. for the rest of the work day, so I spend about five hours a day total. If I’m plotting and forming a story from scratch, I rarely work out of my home office. I’ll go to Starbucks or drive around the city or something. But if I’m writing, I usually always do it from my home office. I don’t like typing on a laptop keyboard. I’m trying to get away from working on the weekends. Sometimes I just don’t know how to stop working.
4. What is next for the Occupational Hazards series? How many books do you plan for this series?
Skid is the next one. So there are for sure going to be three. Beyond that I don’t know. There is a potential for seven.
5. I’m reading a series of books (not yours!) that are getting a little stale (I’m on book 3 of 4). You’ve written both series and stand alone. In your opinion, which kind is harder to write? Any advice for avoiding that staleness?
Series are definitely harder for me. That’s why I created The Occupational Hazards books the way I did, so each one stands alone and has its own cast. I really like writing stand alones more, but everyone loved the Boo characters so much, so we decided to stretch that into a series, and I’m glad we did. It really worked out well. Boo Humbug will be coming out this Fall.
6. What is your opinion on the state of Christian publishing currently?
I think we’re in a really good season. A lot of exciting things are happening. I believe that we’re going to have to make some hard choices, but I think the right people are in place to make those. The Christian novelists that are working today are very in tune with the critical issues, as are the publishing houses and the bookstores. So together, I believe we’ll continue to go down a healthy, exciting and productive path.
by Jason Joyner | May 23, 2007 | Blog, CFBA, fiction
This week’s CFBA featured tour is Snitch, book two of the Occupational Hazards series, by Rene Gutteridge. She is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors with her humorous, intelligent writing. There are lines from this book and the first in the series, Scoop, that still crack me up when I think of them! Scoop was my top book for 2006, so I was anticipating a great read with Snitch. I wasn’t disappointed.
I’ll post my review tomorrow. Rene was gracious enough to answer a few more questions for me (she also did an interview for the Scoop book tour). Without further ado, here’s the author!
1. This has been a busy 12 months for you considering the release of Scoop, The Ultimate Gift and Snitch. How has it been keeping up with things?
This was definitely one of my busiest writing seasons. Three books in one year is challenging, but I’m proud of all the projects and I’m glad I was able to do them. However, after all that, it does take some time to decompress.
2. The police details in Snitch have authenticity to them, telling me you did your homework. How do you go about researching for a novel? What type of people do you interview?
I’ve done a tone of research for each of the Occupational Hazards books, more than any other books I’ve ever written. For Snitch, I flew out to Las Vegas and met with an undercover officer who was willing to take the time to give me a complete picture of what the life is like. I wanted insight into everything, and I wanted to depict it more like real life rather than television. Then of course I add my quirkiness to it, but that’s a whole other story! I also flew to Atlanta to research Skid. I have several technical advisors for each of these projects. For Snitch, I interviewed undercover officers and patrol officers.
3. Can you describe your writing process (daily routine, revision, plotting, etc)?
I write about three hours a day, then do e-mails, interviews, etc. for the rest of the work day, so I spend about five hours a day total. If I’m plotting and forming a story from scratch, I rarely work out of my home office. I’ll go to Starbucks or drive around the city or something. But if I’m writing, I usually always do it from my home office. I don’t like typing on a laptop keyboard. I’m trying to get away from working on the weekends. Sometimes I just don’t know how to stop working.
4. What is next for the Occupational Hazards series? How many books do you plan for this series?
Skid is the next one. So there are for sure going to be three. Beyond that I don’t know. There is a potential for seven.
5. I’m reading a series of books (not yours!) that are getting a little stale (I’m on book 3 of 4). You’ve written both series and stand alone. In your opinion, which kind is harder to write? Any advice for avoiding that staleness?
Series are definitely harder for me. That’s why I created The Occupational Hazards books the way I did, so each one stands alone and has its own cast. I really like writing stand alones more, but everyone loved the Boo characters so much, so we decided to stretch that into a series, and I’m glad we did. It really worked out well. Boo Humbug will be coming out this Fall.
6. What is your opinion on the state of Christian publishing currently?
I think we’re in a really good season. A lot of exciting things are happening. I believe that we’re going to have to make some hard choices, but I think the right people are in place to make those. The Christian novelists that are working today are very in tune with the critical issues, as are the publishing houses and the bookstores. So together, I believe we’ll continue to go down a healthy, exciting and productive path.
