I am picky about what I read, and I am even pickier about what my kids read. To that end, I want you, dear reader, to understand what you’re getting yourself into when you read one of my books. Consider this an author statement. I want you to understand my motivations and meaning behind my work.
I have always been a voracious reader. Sometimes my zest for reading led me into books that were inappropriate for my age, or perhaps for anyone at any age. In hindsight, there are some books I truly regret reading. There are others that, while they had offensive or adult content, I am glad that I read. 1984, Atlas Shrugged, and A Brave New World, are a few that I think should be read when the reader is at an appropriate age.
Back when I first started homeschooling my children, I had this fantasy that I would pre-read every book, to make sure they weren’t exposed to anything that was inappropriate. Unfortunately, books don’t generally come with content warnings and it wasn’t long before I realized I just had to do the best I could do. I’d read up on a book on a site like Plugged In before letting them read it, but I also implored them to alert me if anything inappropriate did come up, so that we could discuss it. Unfortunately, there were still plenty of things that my kids were exposed to that I wish they hadn’t been.
I want my readers (and parents of my readers if those readers are kids) to understand what they can expect from my books. I understand that different parents have different ideas about what is appropriate and what is inappropriate. As an author, I never want my reader (or my reader’s parents) to be unpleasantly surprised about the content they find in my books. But this process is not so clean-cut and easy as I initially thought it would be.
Let’s take my young adult fantasy series, The Forgotten Portal, for example. Most readers classify it as “clean.” There is no romance in these books at all. That said, there are some elements that I think parents should be aware of. A main character smokes a pipe, and this is not treated as a bad thing (think Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings). Some parents may take issue with that. There are some descriptions of swordfighting and other types of fighting. I wouldn’t call it violent, but every parent will have their own definitions.
Profanity is another place that seems clear cut until you get into the weeds of it. I am sure we can agree on the major ones. But what about dang? Darn? Heck? Those last three are ones I have used, but I avoid the stronger language entirely. Many writers think dialogue should reflect real dialogue. And these days, to reflect the dialogue I hear at my local Wal-Mart, would mean I’d need to drop the f-bomb constantly. And that’s just not something I am willing to do. I prefer to edit the profanity out, and make the dialogue sound more like what I wish it sounded.
I am a Christian, but I am not a writer of Christian fiction. My books are not like the works of Francine Rivers, Tim LaHaye, or Frank Paretti. My storylines are not theological, but I hope that my Christian values and worldview shine through in the unfolding of the story. The long and short of it is this: if you’re good with the type of content that is present in the works of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Agatha Christie, and Jane Austen, I think you’ll be fine with what you’ll find in my books. I hope that this explanation helps you feel comfortable as you explore the books I’ve written.