If you aren’t familiar with the Susan Boyle story, or if you haven’t seen this interview, I highly recommend watching it.

Susan Boyle interview with Meredith Vieria

Three things about this interview intrigued me.

1. The way that Susan handles herself, seeming to take control of each situation she’s in, yet with a great deal of modesty. For someone with so little training or experience in public speaking, she exudes strength and calmness.

2. I think a lot of creative people will relate to her. Somewhere inside we think we know who we are, but the rest of the world often has no idea, and it’s very easy to doubt ourselves. So it’s a bit of a shock for us to discover that others really do believe we’re as good as we dreamed/hoped/suspected we were.

3. I also understood her talking about productive nervousness of being onstage. A part of you knows this is a huge deal and you might totally mess up, but the other part of you is thinking, just give me the mic!

Can’t wait to get her first CD, whatever it is. Rumours now say it will contain songs that have influenced her through the years. The first single is said to be "Moon River."

Creativity · Susan Boyle · Susan Boyle interview

I have a few things to say about being Canadian in a publishing industry that doesn't really appreciate books set in Canada or recognize the differences in our culture. Thought I'd start here, with an article that was first published as the "International Column" for the May issue of Christian Fiction Online Magazine.

I used to assume there simply weren’t many Canadian writers who were Christian. But early in May 1992, just after my first novel was released by Moody Press, my paradigm changed. It began when the manager of my local Christian bookstore told me they’d carry my book only “if it becomes a best seller or goes on sale.” And here I was expecting a huge display with a sign that read CANADIAN AUTHOR.

In shock, I investigated the Christian publishing industry and discovered that 98 to 99.9 percent of the books sold in Canadian Christian bookstores were brought in by Canadian distributors whose sole purpose is to import books from the United States. One distributor told me that the hardest thing for a Canadian Christian publisher is getting its titles distributed in Canada. I also learned that few Christians—including those working in bookstores—could name more than a couple of Canadian authors who were Christian (and those they knew were all published in the U.S.)….

Our three choices: 

1. Find a US Christian publisher. This often meant setting your book in the United States. Or, if you set your books in Canada, using American spelling and terminology and concepts. This means there are few books in existence showing the Canadian Christian culture.

2. Find a mainstream Canadian publisher. This meant writing historical fiction or fiction with little Christian content. Few people have managed to do this successfully, and those who have aren’t often carried in Christian bookstores.

3. Self-publish. While moderately popular, this hasn’t been a good option for most people because of their lack of marketing know-how, distribution, and publishing experience.

Along with the majority, I looked for an American Christian publisher, and five of my books were successfully published in the US. I’ve appreciated support and encouragement from American Christian and mainstream editors, writers, reviewers, readers. I’ve been to ICRS a number of times, taught workshops on writing, been on panels at mystery conventions, signed books, and done interviews.

But, ultimately, that didn’t satisfy me. I felt like someone without a country. But what really got my attention was the thought that if our best books are being published by American publishers, we’ll never have a Canadian publishing industry. And, more to the point, future generations of Canadians are being robbed of their heritage because there will be so few books written from a Canadian Christian worldview.

Change is coming
 
Over the past six or seven years, the publishing industry as a whole has been in a state of flux. I believe God is using this, and Canadian writers who are Christian are going to thrive in coming years. What’s needed is a team effort—with Canadian and American Christians working together to develop a new publishing model that will foster the development of not only Canadian Christian publishing, but indigenous publishing in other countries around the world. The best way to strengthen the worldwide church is to help each nation develop its own Christian culture and work together as equal members of the body of Christ.

I see four key needs in Canada:

1. Canadian writers who are Christian need to work with other Canadians to create awareness in Canada. The danger is that if your only focus is on getting an American publisher, it’s easy to forget you are Canadian. Canadians involved in the Christian publishing industry (writing, publishing, marketing, etc.) need to work together to initiate change in Canada. There is a great deal of strength in numbers.  

2. We need to be innovative as we develop more ways to get our work out there, including having more and stronger Canadian royalty publishers releasing work by Canadian Christians—to both Christian and mainstream audiences.

3. Perhaps the biggest change we need is for Canadian Christian readers to realize that our own authors are just as capable as any other authors. It’s ridiculous that we have to become bestsellers in the United States before we’re taken seriously in Canada. One of the reasons for this feeling is that most speakers and Christian TV guests here have been American. Nothing at all against the US—some of my closest friends are Americans—but should Canadians not support each other? This is especially strange since it’s only a Christian phenomena. Mainstream Canadian authors are respected and sought after both in Canada and throughout the world.   

4. As I alluded to above, I’d love to see American writers and publishers help us develop our industry, perhaps even co-publishing our work in the US. The real goal, for all of us, is to glorify God. That means encouraging and empowering each individual and each nation to use their gifts and talents to serve him.

God could just as easily have put me in the United States. But he didn’t. So I’m going to continue to work hard to ensure that the voices of Canadian Christians who write are heard, both in Canada and beyond.

What fiction do Canadian Christians write?

Back in the late 1990s, my American agent told me my mysteries were “too sophisticated for the Christian market and too Christian for the secular market.” Since judging the Best New Canadian Christian Author competitions for 2008 and 2009, I believe I’m not alone in this. The Canadian Christian culture isn’t highly influenced by the religious right. We have a lot of people who would say they believe in God but don’t get upset by a few swear words or people drinking alcohol or a bit of sex or violence. But they also relate to stories involving faith, provided they’re honest.

Canada’s literary heritage is actually very strong. The encouragement is to write the book that’s in you and worry about the market later. That’s what I’m planning on doing for the next while—writing the books that are in me. I hope they get published one day—in Canada and/or wherever else God thinks they’ll be of value.

Oh yes, in case you were wondering, the bookstore that treated me so badly no longer exists. In its place is a brand new store that supports Canadian authors and has all my books on its shelves. Change can be good.

Photo: Back row: Les Lindquist, N. J. Lindquist, author Angelina Fast Vlaar, author Marilyn Meyers, author Keith Clemons: front row Wendy Nelles, Kathryn Clemons in front of one of two Canadian authors areas in Faith Family Books and Gifts in Toronto

Canadian writers · trying to get published