Writing Fiction For Christians And The Rest Of The World

I love to write, especially fiction.

My love of writing fiction began many years ago when I penned my first novel. It was an old fashioned, “shoot-em-up” western story. In 1978, I submitted the story to a new magazine Far West, a California publication. I was totally shocked when I received in the mail, a contract for publication offering me $500.00 for the story. (If they’d only have known, they could have had it for $50.00!)

Even better, they’d also obtained a short story from the Dean of Western Fiction, Louis L’Amour. I recall my surprise when, during an exchange of letters with Mr. L’Amour, I’d mentioned to him that I was having my first story published, and he’d wrote me back, congratulated me, and noted that we’d be sharing that issue since he also had a story in that issue.

Since that memorable day, I’ve had other stories published, but gave it up for a career in the law. For decades, I quit writing, excepting for some legal briefs, and for awhile, columns for a local newspaper. Several years ago, I did pick up the “pen” once more to write my thoughts on a wide array of things which I’ve posted on my web site. And, in 2005, I did manage to write a non-fiction book entitled "Protecting Your Church Against Sexual Predators: A Legal FAQ for Church Leaders." Only in the past few years have I begun writing fiction, again. I wrote a couple of full-length western novels, one of which (Bloody Wes Teague) I had published through my company, and have put the other on hold until I regain my health (open heart surgery).

A couple of years ago, I started a book that I wasn’t sure I could complete. I just wasn’t positive that I could manage to make it work, even though it was fun to write. It is a Christian Sci-fi novel. The problem with Christian Sci-fi is that if a writer wants to stay within the realm of biblical possibilities, difficulties arise because of needing foundations for the story.

I felt I’d succeeded. Then, I was fortunate enough to have an editor at a leading Christian publisher review it. She told me: “Voyle, when I began reading this, I really didn’t think you could pull it off. But you did.” Both she and her boss, the Managing Editor, liked it. The problem was with the rather conservative, “too far-out for us” upper management.

That was a “feel good” moment for me. It’s one thing to have confidence within yourself, but quite a different thing to have validation from an unbiased, professional source. So, I feel good about the book and will pursue a course of having it published, or will eventually do it through my company. Part of the difficulty of doing it that way is the time it takes. Hard to run a full-time law practice and publish a book. Both require enormous amounts of time. Eventually, it will see print one way or ‘tuther.

All that to say this: If you are a writer, stick to it. Don't give up. If you can't find a publisher, give serious thought to starting your own company and having it publish your work. It can be a daunting task and takes a lot of time, plus the learning curve can be rather steep. However, there are many out there doing it successfully. A good starting place would be to take a look at a couple places like Dan Poynter's web site. Just Google his name for the web site. Dan is the premier "self publisher" in the nation. And look for the Yahoo self publishing group where there are many pros in the group who are so very talented and offer their advice free. These are good places to start.