“More Than Fiction?” A Guest Post by Author Sara Whitley

Today, I am excited to share a post written by Sara Whitley, a fellow member of the Brave Authors Collab Group.

Haven’t heard about Brave Authors yet? We are Christian authors who dare to go hard places in our writing. Some of us write Christian Fiction while others write for the General Market. Learn more at the link below, and look for new collab authors in January!

I am excited to be promoting Sara Whitley’s work this month, and today she is going to share with you the driving force behind her writing. Without further ado, I’ll turn it over to her!

When I released my first novel Another Ending back in 2013, I did so without much of a plan for how to reach my target audience. I, like most novice authors, simply assumed that my book would sell because it was available for purchase! I had no plan, no vision, and no real purpose besides fulfilling a dream that I’d held since childhood. And while it’s been fun to see that dream become a reality, as the years have gone by I’ve become much more intentional with my writing. My goal? To illuminate the darkness one book at a time by writing stories of broken people, shattered, hope, and a redeeming God who re-writes our stories for our good and His glory.

I think it’s safe to say that most of us read without a plan, vision, or purpose either. Most of us read fiction for entertainment purposes only. We read to dive into a new world, to try on someone else’s life. We read to escape reality.

But what if we added those elements into our reading—a plan, a vision, a purpose? What if we read to gain insight, to more fully understand the hurts that some people face? And then, what if we took that insight and used it to minister to real hurting people? What if we used fiction as a tool—not just passing along a good book because we think someone else might enjoy it too, but because we think the message inside could bring some healing to their soul?

When I first began typing out the words to Another Ending, I did so simply to clear my head of a story that had begun to overtake my mind. It felt a little crazy to consider publishing it, but I’ve also always felt that this is a story worth telling—the story of a broken young girl with shattered hope, of a redeeming God pursuing that broken girl and re-writing her ending into a glorious new beginning.

It’s worth telling because this is what Christ has done for us on the cross! Our broken, sinful stories should end in death—”But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”—Ephesians 2: 4-7.

It is my firm conviction that the Bible is the one and only place you need to go to read and understand this glorious truth. We should be cautious about relying on human words to deepen our understanding of Biblical truth. But just as a worship song proclaims the work that God has done and praises Him for it, so can a work of fiction. Just as a personal testimony tells the story of how a lost sheep is brought back home by a loving Shepherd, so can a work of fiction. I write books not to take the place of God’s word, but to expose readers to it, to pique their interest in a God who loves and pursues—to hopefully lead them to open it themselves.    

It’s my hope and prayer that my readers use my books as more than just a way to entertain themselves. I hope they use it as a tool. I hope they pass them on to someone they’ve been praying would receive salvation and that they will share Jesus with them. Because in these stories you will encounter characters who believe the lie that Satan whispered to Eve as she held the forbidden fruit in her hand in the Garden of Eden— “God doesn’t know best, and God doesn’t really love you.”

It has always been my prayer that these stories reach souls that need healing; that they could play a part in someone’s salvation story. I didn’t write them simply to entertain my audience. I wrote them to provide insight, stir compassion, and tell the glorious story of the God I serve and love—to proclaim that we are more than broken people with shattered hope—all through Christ and because of what he has done for us on the cross.

If you’re interested in joining me on this journey, you can check out my books on my website: https://www.sarawhitley.com/books/

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Another big thanks to Sara. I listened to Another Ending in July and enjoyed it. I can’t wait to find out what new projects she has in the works! Meanwhile, the story of Another Ending continues in Books 2 and 3 of the Hope on the Horizon Series, An Open Window and A New Day Dawning.

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