Sadly, to avoid confusion for potential readers, I actually have to explain this. When my Thirsting for Blood Series first launched in 2006 I was surprised to find many clearly Christian readers enjoying my werewolf/vampire series. I decided it must've been because I was calling it a spiritual fantasy. Most of these readers however were referring to my work as Christian fiction. I decided to use that label instead.
As time went along I became aware that this label didn't describe my work at all. Indeed it has a redemption theme and yes it appeals to an audience that does fall under the broad category of Christian but labeling anything Christian here in the US marks that product as distinctive to one very narrow segment of Christianity it seems.
I'm not sure who authorized this narrow market to use the overall general label of Christian to describe everything they put out but to avoid being associated with the restrictive, narrowly targeted work they produce it's certainly worth one's while to say they aren't that.
If you put much thought to it however, it does make sense. Why would anyone market their work as Christian fiction unless the work specifically dealt with targeted subject matter? Duh! Mine doesn't. It's simply a story which happens to have a redemptive theme and happened to appeal to readers who favor a market that won't produce the type of stories I write. :) Unfortunately I can't keep those readers from calling my work Christian fiction and of course they don't see the marketing faux paus so I'm sure my stories will continue to be called that.
While I am a Christian I'm fairly certain I don't appreciate being associated with a market whose work by design does not appeal to general market readers Christian or otherwise. If they did represent everything Christian then they'd carry non-affiliated books deemed socially acceptable by Ingram's Christian distributor in their bookstores as readily as they carry affiliated ones. Christian fiction/fantasy/sci-fi/thriller/romance etc . . . is for the most part, narrowly targeted for a particular Christian audience.
Aww, but y'all alreayd knew that. :)
