Where are the modern Catholic fiction writers?

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Potter said:
Has anyone ever read any of Andrew Greeley’s mysteries? I’ve tried a couple but was never able to fall into them the way I like to do with fiction. Their main character is the assistant to an archbishop stationed in Chicago.
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I have. He also wrote a science fiction book, whose title escapes me.
He’s not the best writer in the world.
But he’s partly responsible for my joining the Catholic church, because I read a comment of his that said, to paraphrase, “you can believe almost anything and still be a Catholic.”
Well, that’s clearly not true, but it sounded reassuring at the time,. so I joined the church, Thanks be to God for his mercy to the ignorant.
 
OP and others, I recently finished reading a novel that had a decidedly Catholic worldview.

Cracks in the Ice by Deanna Klingel. Google it and her website.

The plot involves all the light and sweetness of figure skating contrasting with the darkness and criminality of the Mafia. I found the story compelling, and I even took the novel to the gym with me to read while pedaling the recumbent bike. (I usually just watch HGTV on the little bike TV.)

As many of you know, our family has been uber-involved with figure skating for decades, and I know a lot about the sport. Many figure skating novels and screenplays are filled with inaccuracies about the sport and sometimes the “Cringe Factor” in these inaccuracies make it impossible for me to enjoy the story.

Ms. Klingel did her research well. As far as I could tell, there were no inaccuracies about the figure skating in her novel. In fact, I’m still wondering if it’s true, even though I know in my brain that it isn’t true. But it COULD be true…

Even though the Catholic worldview infuses the entire novel, there is no proselytizing, and people with no religious beliefs at all could still enjoy this novel. I appreciated the author’s treatment of sex and marriage; to summarize, sex happens in marriage in this novel. And no graphic sex–this isn’t one of those novels that women will keep hidden in the nightstand. A teenager or even an older child could comfortably read this novel, and I would highly recommend it for any figure skater.

Finally, I hugely appreciate the author’s “positive” treatment of the sport of figure skating. I’ve read a lot of figure skating stories and novels, and seen a lot of figure skating movies over the years. Almost all of them, even the children’s stories, major on the “negatives” of the sport, and many of these negatives are rare or myths. E.g., the pervert coach and rampant homosexuality among male skaters–these are incredibly rare in the rinks. In any environment in which parents entrust their children to other adults, there will always be perverts (even the Church), but this does not justify condemning that environment utterly. Same for homosexuality–about 2-3% of the population is homosexual, so we will find them in every environment, including figure skating. But they are not the majority of men in the sport. That’s a myth.

Thankfully Ms. Klingel also avoids emphasizing many other “stereotypes” of the world of figure skating: the spoiled ice princess, the barracuda skating mom, the horrific expense, the crushing disappointment of losing a competition, the catty skaters in the rink, the effeminate boys, etc. Yes, I’ve seen all of these over the many years that we’ve been involved in the sport, but they are NOT the norm–the sport is delightful and I always recommend it to everyone, including adults who have always wanted to learn to skate. It’s truly GR8 to SK8, and* Cracks in the Ice* preaches this same positive message about the sport! In fact, along with the Church, figure skating is the other “positive vein” that runs throughout the story.

I think that this novel will have more appeal to women than men, but I have no doubt that men who love figure skating (like my husband) or men who take the sport seriously (like Doug Wilson from Wide World of Sports, who has written a wonderful book about this show), will also like this novel–the mafia plotline is thrilling. And as I said, teenagers and older children would enjoy this book, too.
 
Well, I’m a Catholic author who wrote a sci-fi book entitled Rain from Heaven under my pen name A.J. Avila . I was inspired to write it after reading St. Faustina’s Diary about Divine Mercy.

My second novel, Nearer the Dawn, is about faith and contains Catholic characters.

Both novels are available free online or on Amazon Kindle. Because I wrote them for the greater glory of God and not for money, all net profits from Kindle sales are going to charity.
 
edwest2 said:
There was a time in the 1940s and 1950s when a good SF story by one of the better writers made me feel like I was pulled into the story, and there were no offensive words/scenes or “suggestive” dialogue. Those books can be read by anybody. I felt entertained, even inspired and they helped me to develop a good imagination. I felt good after reading them.

Now. People are so used to seeing “edgy” (profanity, nudity, casual sex, dysfunctional behavior) material in books that I ask myself: “What’s the point?” I saw this start in SF in the 1980s.
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When I was a kid in the 70’s, I read stuff like Robert Heinlein, “Sword of Shannara” by Terry Brooks, Tolkien, the Earthsea series, and I don’t remember ever reading a single sex scene!

I have been interested in Young Adult novels. I’ve been reading a popular series called, “Vampire Academy,” and I’ve been pretty horrified by it. The (good) vampire teenagers at this school are all Orthodox. The main character is one of the few who don’t receive communion during mass. She attends church for the social interaction only. She looks over and notices her love interest is also not receiving communion. She realizes that there is a connection between them because they don’t believe in any religion. The teenagers take the Lord’s name in vain almost every chapter. There’s bullying, group sex and horrible language. One of the main characters is “religious” and attends mass but still sleeps with her boyfriend. Another character wears a gold cross necklace, but admits that it’s just a good luck charm because it has no religious significance to her. What the heck? 😦

What really disturbs me is the message in many young adult novels that it’s cool and “normal” not to believe in a religion. The author trying to leave out religion completely is one thing, but making the characters Orthodox just so they can rebel against it just seems bizarre to me.

My high school years in the 80’s sure seem really innocent right now in comparison!
 
Viki63 said:
I have. He also wrote a science fiction book, whose title escapes me.
He’s not the best writer in the world.
But he’s partly responsible for my joining the Catholic church, because I read a comment of his that said, to paraphrase, “you can believe almost anything and still be a Catholic.”
Well, that’s clearly not true, but it sounded reassuring at the time,. so I joined the church, Thanks be to God for his mercy to the ignorant.
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I just managed to finish one of his books – The Bishop in the West Wing – and don’t know that I would be reading any more. The dialogue is a lot more vulgar and less gracious than I would expect from a priest writing it.
 
Goldberry said:
When I was a kid in the 70’s, I read stuff like Robert Heinlein, “Sword of Shannara” by Terry Brooks, Tolkien, the Earthsea series, and I don’t remember ever reading a single sex scene!

I have been interested in Young Adult novels. I’ve been reading a popular series called, “Vampire Academy,” and I’ve been pretty horrified by it. The (good) vampire teenagers at this school are all Orthodox. The main character is one of the few who don’t receive communion during mass. She attends church for the social interaction only. She looks over and notices her love interest is also not receiving communion. She realizes that there is a connection between them because they don’t believe in any religion. The teenagers take the Lord’s name in vain almost every chapter. There’s bullying, group sex and horrible language. One of the main characters is “religious” and attends mass but still sleeps with her boyfriend. Another character wears a gold cross necklace, but admits that it’s just a good luck charm because it has no religious significance to her. What the heck? 😦

What really disturbs me is the message in many young adult novels that it’s cool and “normal” not to believe in a religion. The author trying to leave out religion completely is one thing, but making the characters Orthodox just so they can rebel against it just seems bizarre to me.

My high school years in the 80’s sure seem really innocent right now in comparison!
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Well, these books, if published by “real” name book publishers decided to take the same wrong path the rest of the media did over the last 40 years. Decade after decade, it gradually got worse. They knew they couldn’t jump from life in the 80’s to books like this overnight. People would have been obviously shocked. So, in most media, especially movies and TV, more sex, more profanity, and more graphic killing, were added gradually and society was gradually poisoned. Religion is a bad thing according to the mainstream media. It’s easier, for some, to believe that religion is ‘too restrictive’ as I read in one article. If they see their friends and neighbors modeling bad behavior, it’s easier, and seems to be more fun than following all those rules. Rules meant to give us life more abundantly. Religion? Who needs it? Or let’s portray it as a bad thing.

I cannot believe some actors and actresses allow themselves to do simulated sex scenes or use profanity or appear semi to completely nude in a movie. And TV - mostly a waste.

So some self-published writers have decided to model all that behavior through their characters in their books. I mean, everybody else is doing it, right?

I’m a professional book editor, and when I get a manuscript with certain words or scenes, I mark them, then add alternative words, or cross them out, and for other scenes, they are modified or deleted. My company is known for putting out PG fiction.

God have mercy,
Ed
 
There is this website as well:

catholic-fiction.com/

(note that this is dot COM, not dot NET)

and in particular this page:

catholic-fiction.com/catholic-publishers/

You’ll find my publisher’s website listed there at the bottom: Oak Tree Press oaktreebooks.com/index.htm Currently, my publisher is accepting entries into several contests in various genres.

They published my first murder mystery “End of the Road” in 2013 and my second one, “No Lifeguard on Duty”, this past April. While my books do not have Catholic themes, they feature Catholic characters who live the Faith (example: Catholic sheriff is divorced, but not in the dating game because he knows he’s still married) and go to Mass.

Several other authors at Oak Tree Press also have books with Catholic themes or storylines. Just to name two:
John M. Wills (“The Year Without Christmas”)
amazon.com/Year-Without-Christmas-John-Wills-ebook/dp/B00H91IBXQ/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1408223444&sr=1-3&keywords=john+m.+wills

and James Callan (“Cleansed by Fire”)
amazon.com/Cleansed-Fire-Father-Frank-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B007FJF2HK/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1408223372&sr=1-3&keywords=james+callan

If you look at secular presses, you’ll find Catholic authors with books with Catholic characters, themes, storylines, or “flavor”. Two big examples: Mary Higgins Clark’s romantic suspense and James Patterson’s “Det. Michael Bennett” series. My friend, the late Aimee Thurlo, also published a mystery series years ago with Tor/Forge where the main character was a nun in a cloistered order.

Bottom line: you don’t need a Catholic publisher to publish your story (unless the story itself deals with Catholicism as the central theme, and you’ll find links to Catholic publishers at catholic-fiction.com) but you will need a good story whether you go to a Catholic or secular publishing house.
 
bluerose said:
They published my first murder mystery “End of the Road” in 2013 and my second one, “No Lifeguard on Duty”, this past April. While my books do not have Catholic themes, they feature Catholic characters who live the Faith (example: Catholic sheriff is divorced, but not in the dating game because he knows he’s still married) and go to Mass.
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Hey, I read both of those and highly recommend them.
 
Kay_Cee said:
Well, I’m a Catholic author who wrote a sci-fi book entitled Rain from Heaven under my pen name A.J. Avila . I was inspired to write it after reading St. Faustina’s Diary about Divine Mercy.

My second novel, Nearer the Dawn, is about faith and contains Catholic characters.

Both novels are available free online or on Amazon Kindle. Because I wrote them for the greater glory of God and not for money, all net profits from Kindle sales are going to charity.
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I have read both books and enjoyed them immensely. 🙂 I’ve started reading Nearer the Dawn again because I like it so much, especially chapters seven and nineteen. I love the way the interactions between your fictional characters affect me in such a positive way and increase my understanding of God and His love for us. It must be difficult to write about a fictional character having a personal encounter with God because none of us can know fully and completely what that’s like, at least while we walk on this earth, and yet you have given me a little peek into what it must be like, and that has deeply touched my heart and soul.

You have helped me grow spiritually and that doesn’t happen very often when I read a book of fiction. I want you to know that I appreciate that.

And I am hoping there will a third novel. :cool:
 
Maria_Monte said:
I have read both books and enjoyed them immensely. 🙂 I’ve started reading Nearer the Dawn again because I like it so much, especially chapters seven and nineteen. I love the way the interactions between your fictional characters affect me in such a positive way and increase my understanding of God and His love for us. It must be difficult to write about a fictional character having a personal encounter with God because none of us can know fully and completely what that’s like, at least while we walk on this earth, and yet you have given me a little peek into what it must be like, and that has deeply touched my heart and soul.

You have helped me grow spiritually and that doesn’t happen very often when I read a book of fiction. I want you to know that I appreciate that.
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Thanks so much! Knowing I helped someone makes all the hard labor worthwhile!
And I am hoping there will a third novel. :cool:
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Yes, and it will be released next spring. This one will focus on trusting God. 🙂
 
This is a question to everyone: where do Catholic/Christian writers get their ideas? Their inspiration? How do you know what to write about? How did others, like Tolkien and Chesterton and Lewis and more know what to write about?

I’m interested because I could never author a book about Christianity and I am amazed by those who can.
 
Maria_Monte said:
This is a question to everyone: where do Catholic/Christian writers get their ideas? Their inspiration? How do you know what to write about? How did others, like Tolkien and Chesterton and Lewis and more know what to write about?

I’m interested because I could never author a book about Christianity and I am amazed by those who can.
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What a great question! I think that creativity is a mystery. I think that when writers read a lot, they store up a lot of ideas, images, languages, and stories in their subconscious minds. All these things work in their minds and influence what they create. But a lot of times I don’t think even writers know where they get their ideas.

Tolkien, for example, loved fairy tales when he was a kid. He read the Andrew Lang fairy tale books. He also read a lot of Arthurian legend, Norse mythology, Medieval literature like Beowulf and the Grail quests. His brain probably had a lot to work with! 🙂 Life experiences influence writing as well.

I’ve noticed that my favorite writers have claimed at some point that they write what they would love to read.

I read way too much science fiction and fantasy as a kid, I must have too much imagination because at night when I dream, I dream in entire novels and a lot of my ideas came from books I read as a kid. My friends think I’m a weirdo.😛
 
Goldberry said:
I’ve written a time-travel fantasy novel, based on Irish history, with a dash of mythology thrown in. My characters are mostly Catholic (since it’s set in Medieval Ireland) and there are quite a few Christian themes in it.

I’ve been on a writers forum, and many of the writers there have warned me that Christian publishing houses absolutely refuse to publish fiction that include Catholic characters. Apparently, they prefer Christian historical fiction that is set after the Reformation. And fantasy is not too popular, either, after all the fuss about Harry Potter.

As I look through Christian bookstores (I live in the south, so there aren’t any strictly Catholic ones nearby) I never find novels written by Catholics. I’ve been frustrated because I love fantasy, and I’d be interested in reading fantasy written by Catholics. Does any exist?:confused: I’m talking about modern writers.

I’m wondering if there are Catholic writers who get their books published by Christian publishing houses, but don’t advertise their Catholic faith.
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There are not many that I have become aware of, but what they lack in numbers, they make up for in quality.

I recommend, of course, JRR Tolkein for fantasy

C.S. Lewis, (Catholic in all but his religion) 😉 - Screwtape Letters and The Great Divorce, as well as his sci-fi trilogy are some of my favorite novels of all time.

G.K. Chesterton wrote some marvelous fiction. Particular favorites are Manalive and The Man Who Was Thursday.

Of modern writers my favorite is Michael O’Brien. The last one I read, in fact was a sci-fi novel. (Voyage to Alpha Centaui). He has written many novels, and I’ve read most of them. I am a huge fan. Can’t wait for the next one.

There are also a couple writers who are not blatantly Catholic in their writing, but are certainly C
 
If you’re interested in reading about Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Chesterton, Oscar Wilde, and other Catholic writers, a really good author is Joseph Pearce. His books are amazing! I taught a class in college on Catholicism in the LOTR, and this guy’s books were so helpful. I think they’re by Ignatius Press.

amazon.com/Tolkien-Man-Myth-Literary-Life/dp/0898708257/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1408682361&sr=1-7&keywords=joseph+pearce

I also really liked Peter Kreeft’s “The Philosophy of Tolkien.”

amazon.com/Kreeft-Peter-Philosophy-Tolkien-Worldview/dp/B00J5TFMXM/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1408682877&sr=1-3&keywords=peter+kreeft+tolkien
 
StevenFrancis said:
There are not many that I have become aware of, but what they lack in numbers, they make up for in quality.

I recommend, of course, JRR Tolkein for fantasy

C.S. Lewis, (Catholic in all but his religion) 😉 - Screwtape Letters and The Great Divorce, as well as his sci-fi trilogy are some of my favorite novels of all time.

G.K. Chesterton wrote some marvelous fiction. Particular favorites are Manalive and The Man Who Was Thursday.

Of modern writers my favorite is Michael O’Brien. The last one I read, in fact was a sci-fi novel. (Voyage to Alpha Centaui). He has written many novels, and I’ve read most of them. I am a huge fan. Can’t wait for the next one.

There are also a couple writers who are not blatantly Catholic in their writing, but are certainly C
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Have you read Charles Williams’ supernatural thrillers? Similar - if equally weird – to those you like.
 
There are not many that I have become aware of, but what they lack in numbers, they make up for in quality.

I recommend, of course, JRR Tolkein for fantasy

C.S. Lewis, (Catholic in all but his religion) 😉 - Screwtape Letters and The Great Divorce, as well as his sci-fi trilogy are some of my favorite novels of all time.

G.K. Chesterton wrote some marvelous fiction. Particular favorites are Manalive and The Man Who Was Thursday.

Of modern writers my favorite is Michael O’Brien. The last one I read, in fact was a sci-fi novel. (Voyage to Alpha Centaui). He has written many novels, and I’ve read most of them. I am a huge fan. Can’t wait for the next one.

There are also a couple writers who are not blatantly Catholic in their writing, but are faithful Catholics, and it shines through in their work in the undertones, morals, and plots, and when the Church is mentioned, it is in positive light. There is usually a character or more, (often the protaganist), who are led and motivated by Catholic principles and morals, though the stories are not specifically religious. The ones who pop straight to mind for them are Dean Koontz, Flannery O’Conner, Graham Green, Evelyn Waugh, Robert Hugh Benson, William Peter Blatty, Anthony Burgess, Mary Higgins Clark, F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Catholic themed contemporary writers can be found here, but I haven’t read them:
catholicfiction.net/book-reviews-by-author.php?category=2
 
holds up hand I’m a Catholic fiction writer. Unpublished at the moment.

I would not seek Christian publishing. Why? Because my story is about people, not about religion. shrug They’re clean, wholesome, fun, exciting, but they aren’t pushing my religion on others. Just my morality. 😉
 
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