Biblical (era) fiction – a PR problem?

I said to a friend, “I’m going to write some Biblical fiction.”
She looked at me. “If you do that, I won’t read them.”
I was dumbfounded. This was a close friend who had been tremendously supportive of my contemporary Christian novels.
“I don’t want to read anything that leads me away from the Bible,” she added.
Therein lies the problem with Biblical fiction. The two words themselves set up a dissonance between them and are, I believe, unhelpful. Hence I prefer the term, “Biblical-era fiction.”
If we love Jesus and his word, we want what we read to drive us further into that word. We want to grow in the way we think about the Bible and we want what we read to help us mature.
Like all genres there are good Biblical-era and bad Biblical-era novels.
Here are the criteria I write by and how I work hard to keep my novels in the ‘good’ category.

A Biblical-era novel:

• Must never contradict the Bible. I have had to rewrite scenes because I’d set them in the wrong place or missed a detail that the Bible reveals.
• Should also lead to the reader wanting to read and delve further into the Bible. That is, it should stimulate Bible reading and study.
• When facts are made up – which they have to be because there is a lot the Bible doesn’t say, then they have to be consistent with the tone of the original and also the characters as God has revealed them.
• Does not skip bits of the story that we don’t find palatable. If it is unpalatable, an attempt must be made to wrestle with it.
• Gets the history right and although we use modern language, doesn’t use modern words or idiom.

Some of the things I’ve done to minimise the risks that people assume happens with Biblical-era fiction.
* I read every reference in the Bible to the story I’m researching or the people group. I list my questions about each story under the verses that I’m questioning.
* I try and find relevant Rabbinic thoughts/traditions on the stories.
* I check relevant history and archeological findings. I go looking for clues to what people ate, wore, did …
* I find genuine names for the people group at that stage in history. This was relatively easy for Egypt although most of the names were of princes, queens, and important officials. But people throughout history have named their children after famous people. This has been harder for Moabite or Midianite names as we have few that are known. It is particularly hard for women’s names and for some I’ve had to feminise a male name – for example, Zura, in Bronze and Brokenness – I added an ‘a’ to the known male name of Zur.
* I have good early readers/editors to raise questions and point me towards relevant research. I have used Jewish background folk, Old Testament experts, perceptive and Biblically-trained friends. There may still be errors but having a team hopefully minimises these.

Four kinds of Biblical-era fiction

1. A Biblical character is the main character of the story. These novels are attempting to fill in the blanks of a Biblical character and imagine what it would have been like for that character. When the character is a major one of whom much is known, this is hard work. (e.g. Ezekiel by Naomi Craig). Some authors choose a minor character, of whom little is known, so they can make up more of the story (e.g. Land of Silence by Tessa Afshar about the bleeding woman in Luke …)
2. Fiction set within the time of the Biblical story but with minimal connection with Biblical characters. Connilyn Cosette’s ‘City of Refuge’ series is more like this.
3. Made up characters within a Biblical story. This is the approach I’ve made with twin Amorite slaves within Abraham’s household for Wells and Wanderers or a papyrus farmer experiencing the plagues of Egypt in Plagues and Papyrus.
4. Fiction set very close to Biblical times – more like an extension of Acts. Carol Ashby does this with her excellent Roman-era stories. They feel like Acts and some of the characters have actual links to the apostles and early believers. These stories would certainly help you understand the world of Jesus and the apostles.
   

If you are an author writing Biblical-era books then it would be helpful to have:

• A section on historical notes and why you made certain decisions is particularly helpful.
• A discussion guide which helps readers apply the story to modern times.

And my friend? She decided to trust me and loves the new series.

Have you read any Biblical-era fiction? Which of the 4 approaches above do you prefer? What is some that you recommend that drives people towards the Bible rather than confusing them and drawing them away?