C.S. Elston

Worshipper, Husband, Author, Screenwriter, Home Cook, Fan

Common Design?

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I thought, this week, instead of a typical blog post, I would post a small excerpt from the first novel I wrote and had published, “The Four Corners.” I’m currently writing the sequel, “The Four Corners of Darkness,” so my head is in that space right now. The following is approximately the first page of a chapter entitled “A World Aware” and it occurs almost half way through the book. My hope with this post is that it can spark some conversation. I’ll paste, below the excerpt, links to where you can find me on various social media platforms. I’d love to know what kind of thoughts this excerpt generates about both the scientific and spiritual implications.

Without further adieux:

Like a plant, every person begins as a seed. Each seed contains the genetic make-up, passed on through the generations of family members in the lineage of the father who produced that seed.

It is then placed in the mother’s womb where it adds the genetic make-up from her lineage. The mother of all plants is the earth itself and, therefore, that womb is the soil the earth provides. For people, the womb is inside the mother’s abdomen.

Both wombs provide protection from the outside environment so that the seed can grow and start the process of becoming what it was created to be. Inside both wombs, the seed is provided with the nourishment required to mature into the plant or person it needs to become before it is ready to enter the outside world.

However, once the plant or person has entered that world, it is not meant to be detached from its mother just yet. The plant still has its roots embedded in the womb it came from and the person, while not physically, still does as well.

Both continue receiving nourishment from their mother. The plant still gets it directly from its mother’s womb. The person, however, can then be fed by either parent. Or, even another person.

In the outside world, the protection of the mother’s womb has significantly decreased. Both plants and people are still growing into what they were created to be but that growth is determined by additional factors. Not the least of which, physically for the plant and spiritually for the person, is how much exposure they have to both the light and the dark.

 

 

Excerpt from “The Four Corners” used with permission from Electric Quill Press, LLC.

 

Find C.S. Elston on: Twitter – @cselston; Facebook – facebook.com/cselston; LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/cselston

Defining a “Christian” Novel

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I’m continuing to slowly rollout my answers to questions in an interview I did on Twitter back in November for #MounceChat / #HealthyFaith. This week’s post is a short but sweet one. A writer from Montana named Carol Buchanan asked me, “What defines a ‘Christian novel’?” Here is how I responded:

I’m sure it is defined differently by different people. For me, a Christian novel represents Christianity in a positive and honest way through character development and storyline and points people to the truth of God.

Someone whose primary concern is the marketing aspect of the literary world would tell you that it is definitely a genre of its own. But, for me, as the writer, I would say it’s the spirit that pervades the story. I don’t think there’s a strictly right or wrong answer. But, the latter is where I land.

Adding to my answer from back in November, I’ll just say that I don’t believe all of my own work would be called “Christian” by Christian film/book marketers and/or sellers although I also know that some of it certainly would be. However, I do believe that all of it represents Christianity in a positive and honest way and points people to the truth of God. I’m sure of this because I know I write honestly and from the heart and I have personally witnessed the power of Jesus Christ to change lives.

The more mature I become in my faith, the more that truth will reveal itself through my writing because it becomes increasingly intertwined with who I am. If you’re writing honestly, who you are shows up on the page every time. So, if you’re a true follower of Jesus Christ and you’re writing a novel from a heart transformed by the Holy Spirit, you’re writing a “Christian” novel whether or not you set out to do so.

The Influence of My Faith in My Storytelling

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I have been posting my answers to an interview I did on Twitter back in November for #MounceChat (which I believe has since merged with #HealthyFaith.) As I mentioned previously, this started because a participant, Rachael Colby, suggested I turn some of the questions and answers into blog posts. Solid advice. Since the third question was on a topic I have covered in a previous blog post, I’m going to skip ahead to the fourth question I was asked which was, “How does your faith influence your writing?? Here was my response:

C.S. Lewis said, “To love at all is to be vulnerable.” I think the same can be said of writing because to write at all is to expose yourself to your reader. My faith is who I am so, it comes out very naturally in my writing.

I grew up thinking that Christian music, movies and novels were mostly pretty cheesy. And, to be fair, a lot of it is. Certainly, a lot of it was. But, when I was younger, that caused me to run away from it instead of becoming someone who could try and improve upon what was out there. In my youth, I said I would always be a Christian and a writer but, I would never be a Christian writer.

So, on a number of projects I actually made an effort to write and keep certain things from coming off as “Christian.” But, it always felt dishonest because I was holding back a huge part of who I am. I used the excuse that Jesus came to heal the sick, not the healthy. It’s a truth Satan can twist to distract us from our mission.

Shortly before I started writing novels I began to realize that’s the same excuse people use when they water down the gospel or become preachers for selfish gain instead of fully giving themselves over to the Lord to be used by God the way God chooses. Contrary to what our attitudes sometimes suggest, He doesn’t need any help in deciding how to handle anything. To suggest otherwise would be to pretend we belong on that throne. Scary thought.

It’s a struggle everyone has because it’s the essence of sin itself. It’s pride and it’s wrong. What He wants, instead, is for us to let go and allow Him full access and full control. So, I’ve finally embraced it. It’s a decision that brings peace.

I’ve been encouraged as Christian music and even Christian movies have gotten better. But, I’ve also gotten closer to the Lord since I got married and now it feels like to hide that part of who I am would be to hide the whole of me. Quite frankly, if I did that, I don’t think my writing would be any good at all. I think that embrace really shows in my most recent book, “The Gift of Rio” more than in anything else I’ve ever written. Some of the people close to me, who have read most of the things I’ve written over the years, have told me that they think it’s the best thing I’ve written to date. I know this, it’s the most personal. And, that typically makes the writing better.