Anna-Stacia Haley, Writing Consultant 

I was making my way through all forty books in the Left Behind: Kids series. I spent my summer days at the library reading them. The workers at the time took note and eventually gave some of the books to me. After a few Christmas presents, library trips and trips to Hallmark, I soon had a collection of my own

The books are still sitting in my book shelf at my apartment. The series, co-authored by Tim Lahaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, comes in three versions: adults, kids, and graphic novels. All of them are fictional depictions of the eschatological beliefs of the Christian faith, beginning with the Rapture and ending with the Second Coming of Christ.

Given that my favorite book of the Bible has always been Revelation, these books were perfect for me. These books gave language, faces and fullness to a subject that I adored studying. They made it come to life for me even the more and I wanted so badly to create something of my own that could do the same.

I was so enraptured—no pun intended—by the series that I desperately wanted to talk to the people that had created such a treasure.

That’s how I found myself sitting in the Madisonville Public Library. I was sitting at one of their computers, furiously scribbling down Jerry B. Jenkins’ address from his website. I was sure he had a lot to do, being a best-selling author and what not, so I wasn’t sure he would respond. However, my childlike hope refused to be deferred as I sent off my first letter to him and waited for a response. I won’t tell you what I put in that letter, one of the reasons being I don’t remember—ok, all of the reasons are that I don’t remember. I am sure that I mentioned something about how much I loved the series and how pleased I was that Vicki and Judd (two of the main characters) got married.

Sorry, spoiler alert.

I would wake up eagerly, and watch the mail man place mass amounts of mail into my grandmother’s mail box and then go on his merry way, completely unaware of how much his visits had begun to mean to me. When I got my first letter from Mr. Jenkins, I hit the ceiling. Yes, I said first. Overtime I began to write him letters as often as I could and he would always respond. There’s very little that I remember about most of the contents of the letters, but I will always remember the letters I sent when my mother became ill. It was a hard time for me, and I looked forward to his responses. The time he spent writing to me has shaped me into the person and writer that I am. I will always honor and respect him for taking the time out to respond, for never becoming too “important” to reach back out to a reader.

The letters I wrote became less and less until eventually I stopped. The letters I so earnestly cherished, were lost after our house caught fire during my latter middle school years. It was so long ago, I doubt he remembers me, but I will always remember him and what it felt like to have one of my heroes in Christian writing value me as a reader.
It is through writers like Mr. Jenkins, Tim Lahaye and Frank E. Perretti that I find strength to try new and exciting works. It is authors like them that break ground for new aspiring writers of Christian fiction. I have always admired their style and demonstration of ministry by way of literature.

The contents of their writings could be viewed as controversial, and maybe even strange. The topics covered like the End Times, Spiritual Warfare, Angels, Demons, and the Miraculous are all fare and fodder to a lot of people. To write about these things through a fictional scope, can be challenging; but to write about these things as you believe them to be, can be somewhat of a scary task. It strays a bit from mainstream works and can come off as a little more daring.

Their works have their own genre, that many others are also apart of, but they were the first that I ever encountered. Their ground-work in my life inspires me to step out and venture into places of boldness that I wouldn’t normally tread in writing.

As a writer whose writing and inspiration stems from my Christian faith, I often wonder where I fit, especially in academia. However, authors like Mr. Jenkins, Mr. Lahaye and Mr. Peretti inspire me to believe that the basis and joys of writing aren’t found in or decided by what is important to others. Rather, it is determined by what is important to you. They gave me a model, they gave me a guide and they presently give me hope and motivation to create my niche wherever I am.

Because in being true to myself and my identity as a writer, I can create masterpieces that touch the lives of little girls in small town libraries just like me, who dream of writing works that don’t just touch lives, but touch souls.

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