Black History Month Salute, Reshonda Tate Billingsley – 2/27/2008
By APOOO • Feb 27th, 2008 • Category: Black History Month Salute •
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Case in point–a recent email that told me I ‘wasn’t a Christian’ and in fact was ‘the biggest heathen this side of the Mississippi.’ Why? Because all of my characters are not saved. Some curse, some gossip, some even have sex. Gasp! How dare I “write some trash like that?” Because we know in the real world, everybody is saved. I know I should not let one little email get to me, but I get this quite often and decided enough was enough.
I cannot help where bookstores place my books. Because of my inspirational-themed titles, many automatically place me under Christian Fiction, even though my books were more ‘Christian Friction.’ It is a battle I have stopped trying to fight, but honestly, I prefer that my adult books be called Inspirational or Faith-based fiction for this very reason. When you get the Christian Fiction label, the black robes come out the woodwork. The judges. Those holier-than-thou Christians who stand in judgment of you as a person because of what you write. No joke, I have been told I was going to ‘rot in hell’ because my gay character was not “delivered from his homosexuality.” I have been crucified because my crazy baby mama character cursed her Baby Daddy out. I am sorry. I write reality and in my world, non-married people have sex, people get ig’nant, crackheads curse and men do not ‘pray hard enough and get delivered from their gayness.’ My characters (like myself) struggle in their daily walk with God. Some do not want to know Him. Some swear they know Him. And some need to get to know Him. Just like life.
Now, I will say this, in my growth as a writer, I have learned to tell my stories in “tamer” ways, but the bottom line is I am still going to keep it real. And I am sorry if that offends anyone. My aim is to inspire and entertain through my writing. And judging from the countless positive emails/feedback I get, I am doing just that. I am reaching the sinners (many of whom would NEVER pick up a book they thought was Christian Fiction) and to me that means a lot and in my heart, I know that God is pleased. My books have caused some readers to reflect on their own lives, forgive someone they never thought they could and deal with issues that may not have otherwise faced. And they are able to do that because they see themselves in the pages of my stories.
I am working on my thirteenth book, getting ready to head to California to shoot the movie version of my book, Let the Church Say Amen, and traveling the country touring and speaking. I have been so blessed telling the stories just the way I tell them. Maybe the devil does not like that and he is throwing these darts (people condemning me, questioning my relationship with God, etc). I will continue to pray for strength not to let these people get to me (obviously, I’m not there yet:-).
Visit Reshonda on the Web: http://www.reshondatatebillingsley.com/
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