Where Faith Meets Imagination
How does my faith tie into my writing?
I want others to feel the love God gives us. In Harris Meets Lottie, for example, that love shows up in the tenderness between siblings and the quiet reassurance of family—even in the crazy. In my upcoming stories, it appears through small acts of courage, kindness, and the sense of wonder that points back to God's heart. It's not something that is received the same way by everyone. When I write I try to bridge the gap between the imagination, and the love Christ gives us. Reading books are just another opportunity to introduce others to Christ and his never-ending love.
For many, the connection is immediate — like Aslan from C.S. Lewis's Narnia series. Others may need a bit more subtlety. Others need a little bit more obscurity such as the transformation of Gandalf the Grey into Gandalf the white, or Jesus's resurrection, in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. Fantasy as a genre is not inherently bad. Some people worry it encourages escapism or distracts from truth, but in reality, it can point us toward deeper truths when used with intention and care — especially when it reflects God's beauty, sacrifice, and hope. It's pulling ourselves back into our imaginations as we did when we were children. Christ himself said to be like children in our faith in him. In my own writing, I try to bring that childlike trust and wonder to the page—creating stories that invite readers to hope, imagine freely, and see the world with the openness Christ encourages. How else do we behave with that faith if we cannot place ourselves back in our childlike shoes? When I write I focus on what our children think about our world and try to transform that into something magical. God's love is quite magical.
My love for imaginative faith began when I was a young girl. It is also connected to how I began to love reading. I learned to love reading primarily through the introduction of C.S. Lewis's Narnia. It was a book I simply picked up because "It's DEAR (Drop everything and Read) time". It opened the door for my love of literature. To have something resemble the stories I've heard in church — and to find that same wonder in the fantasy genre — blossomed my love for both Christ and reading. As I continued to grow I tried to find something else like Narnia. It wasn't until I was much older that I was finally able to comprehend the Lord of the Rings. I have struggled to find books that carry similar themes, and this ongoing search has deeply shaped the kind of stories I now feel called to write with them included. My corner of the internet may be just too narrow. If you know of a series or book that fits this, make a comment, I would love to expand my library!
Because of my connection with Lewis and Tolkien, for me faith and writing have never been a separate concept. They both loved God and wanted to share their faith with others. I can only hope to make such an impact as those men.
Although I write for children, my intent is to make it available to everyone. This desire to offer wonder without compromising truth is one of the clearest ways my faith shapes my writing. I don't know how many times I've picked up fantasy books written for children because I want the wonder without the adult content. It's a rare event to find a Young Adult book without inappropriate content or themes that feel out of place. Thankfully I am starting to find more of a community online where I can find this in authors such as E.A. Winters, Elizabeth Wheatley, and Mary Mecham. It’s been really cool for me to follow these women and know that there is an audience for my preferred novel. Whenever I write I hope that the wonder I felt as a child and the faith I've grown to hold as an adult meet and point my audience back to God.
