Inspirational Romantic Suspense

What have I been up to lately? Finishing the school marking period and squeezing in moments to write. Writing has become such a joy to me over the past few years. Actually, I’ve always been interested in writing but didn’t get serious about it until I lost my job. When the Christian school I’d ministered in for nineteen years closed in 2008, I found myself at loose ends and began to read books on the writing craft to pass the time. Within a few months, I’d written a mystery novel. (Not a good one!)

Reading my finalist info from the contest coordinator

I began to explore the possibilities writing had to offer, started this blog, and joined American Christian Fiction Writers. After taking an online class, I revised my mystery novel and turned it into Inspirational Romantic Suspense. In March, I entered the first pages of my novel in the ACFW Genesis Contest–a competition for unpublished writers of inspirational fiction. Now I’m a finalist in the Inspirational Romantic Suspense category!

I plan to attend the ACFW Conference this September in St. Louis, where the contest winners will be announced. However, whether I win or not, being a Genesis finalist is one of the most encouraging signs I’ve received on my writing journey. And now that God has provided me this open door, I’m working to refine my manuscript so that I’ll have something exciting to share with the editors, agents, and publishers who attend the conference.

Why do I write?

Ian Charleson as Eric Liddell

Once someone asked me why I write when I could be doing other “more worthwhile” things. All I could think of was Eric Liddell’s explanation. When asked why he took time from Bible study and missionary work to run races, he said: “God made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure.”

I do feel a special communion with the Lord when I’m creating stories. So even if I never improve enough to be published, I’ll never stop writing—it’s too much a part of who God made me.

True love on display in The Best Years of Our Lives. She's determined to marry him in spite of his crippling war wounds.

Why write stories which include a romantic thread? God, Himself, celebrates romance. He calls Christians His bride. He created courtship and marriage as way of wearing His heart on His sleeve. Each time we read of a noble man wooing his pure-of-heart bride, I believe we’re to be reminded of the One who pursues us. And God recorded romances in the Bible. I love the stories of Ruth and Rahab and the good men who loved and claimed them.

Suspense, humor, romance in Rear Window.

Why focus on suspense? I think I’m drawn to romantic suspense because when done well, the books present everyday, ordinary people rising to extraordinary challenges. Just like the background of war gives a male character a chance to prove himself a hero, a classic romantic suspense gives a young woman a chance to become a heroine. These stories show us at our best.

What I especially love about my genre: The Inspirational Romantic Suspense genre highlights the relationship between the two spheres Christians function in every day–the physical and the spiritual. These books showcase how the good vs. evil battle plays out in both worlds.

When the man with the gun facing down a relentless physical enemy can also operate in the spiritual realm—now that’s a great story!

Later this week, I’ll be reviewing a romantic suspense series by Christian author Susan May Warren. Be sure to come back and enter her blog tour contest!

Do you enjoy romantic suspense or comedic romantic suspense in your books and movies? What are your favorites? Here are a few of mine . . .