Our culture remains fascinated by angels and demons, though probably equally confused by them. Some notable Christian authors have written speculative works about the activity of good and bad angels. Frank Peretti published This Present Darkness in the 1980s, but it remains in the top ten for Christian science fiction on Amazon.
By the way, I prefer speculative fiction as a more descriptive genre title, it seems to me more open regarding the question of possibility. SciFi has a connotation of infeasibility, as does fantasy. Speculations, on the other hand, can turn out to be true. The Christy Awards, by the way, refer to these books as “Visionary Fiction.” Not bad.
Lately, some cheerier books about angels have hit the Christian fiction market. A Mrs. Miracle Christmas and Christmas Angels have caught my attention. They only caught my attention because I was looking for comparable books to my newest one. That’s part of marketing a book.
My current project, The Girl Who Sees Angels, falls squarely between the darkness of books like Peretti’s and the Christmas cheer of recent angel books.
Here is a brief description of the new book:
Sophie Ramos has struggled all her life with visions of things that no one else can see. Her mother took her to the local priest and to numerous psychologists. Sophie was hospitalized several times and medicated most of her life. But the visions continued. When she was small her father disappeared. She’s convinced he was driven away by his crazy daughter.
At the age of thirty-two Sophie lets one of her friends talk her into seeing a church lady who believes in visions. Detta Washington tries to convince Sophie she is seeing angels and demons. That sends Sophie running out the door at first. But continued sightings of beings and creatures others don’t see send her back to Detta for help.
With Detta’s patient support, and a small group of loving friends, Sophie opens her mind to the possibility that what she has is a gift and that her gift can help others. If only she can shed her identity as a crazy girl and embrace her role as the girl who sees angels.
What do you think about angel portrayals in Christian fiction? Do you have a favorite?
Blessings!
Jeff