I'm a pulp fiction Christian writer?????

Title: Being a Christian pulp writer

What is a pulp fiction novel?  From the 1800s to the 1950s a popular kind of book was called a pulp, which meant that it was very cheap, almost disposable.  It was geared to be read by the masses but its primary demographic was teenage boys, lower middle class to solid middle class.  The pulps had exciting stories about detectives, Westerns, fantasy, science fiction, and other genres.  Why don’t they exist today?  Technological advances in printing and the rise of comic books greatly lowered the market for these books. 

In some ways it is good the pulps died out.  Some pulps had racy covers and immoral content to boost sales, but overall what sold pulps was hyper masculinity.  For an author, it was considered a lower brow form of literature.  Famous authors who sold stories in pulps often did so under pseudonyms including famous authors Ray Bradbury and H.P. Lovecraft.  One of H.P. Lovecraft most famous short stories, “The Call of Cthulhu” was first published in weird tales, which was a popular pulp.

Before I continue, I want to talk about Ray Bradbury for a moment.  He said, “Libraries raised me. I don't believe in colleges and universities. I believe in libraries because most students don't have any money. When I graduated from high school, it was during the Depression and we had no money. I couldn't go to college, so I went to the library three days a week for 10 years.”  I had a wonderful experience in my college years and my mother and adopted father raised me, BUT I agree with how important libraries are!  Ray put his money where his mouth was later in life keeping several libraries open with his own money.  He also grew up reading and acting in a drama department, just like me.  I discovered Ray through my mother.  She listened to NPR often (mom was a huge fan of sunrise classics) and their radio theater.  I listened in awe to “Gravity,” and other stories but my favorite by far was “Fox in the Forest.”  I liked Ray Bradbury so much I actually went hunting for him in the library using an ancient device we called a “card catalog.”  I usually didn’t hunt for things specifically, preferring just to browse general areas but I made an exception for Ray.  I found he had written a plethora of short stories and read several before losing interest.  Then at my school our reading book had, “A Distant Thunder” in it with pictures!  I loved it!!  It was later in life that I would read his most famous novel, “Fahrenheit 451.”  Ray was also like me in that he read pulps as a teen (his era’s version of comic books).  Although these only had exciting covers, with text within, there are several characters that are similar to famous modern comic heroes.  You have “The Shadow” (a kind of mystical Batman), Doc Savage (a early forerunner of Batman), and “The Spider” (some compare him a little to Spiderman.  I wouldn’t but some do:)  Pulps published Ray early in his career.  One of his stories from 1944, is of a picture of a woman in a bathing suit, catching a torpedo from an Axis submarine.  (Like me, Ray Bradbury wanted to join the military but his eyesight was too bad and I have serious asthma).  Ray was clearly a popular fiction writer in his early days, just like me:)

What does this have to do with an independent Christian author, like me?  Although my books are geared for a far greater age range than just young juvenile boys, they are similar to pulps in that they are popular fiction.  The characters in some ways are a little like pulps, not that they are hyper masculine, but they are grounded in the Bible which makes them more decisive.  More black and white in moral areas.  They are also more action oriented than mainline Christian literature, which focuses on variations on romance fiction due to the primary demographic for Christian books are women.  I am all for godly Christian romance novels!  My wife is still the queen of my castle and has been for twenty-five years now:)  I’ve enjoyed some Christian romance books too, so my goal isn’t to replace them, but it is instead to offer something different.  After all, when I go to the library, I don’t go to the romance section to get books and would only do so if I wanted to read something distinctively Christian.  I generally read science fiction or action thrillers if I’m going to read a novel.  So maybe the market isn’t looking for lots of expensive Christian popular fiction books…maybe e-books are the new pulps.  I have set all my e-books on amazon.com for $.99 cents.  Like the old dime novels someone can read them for less than a cup of coffee at a convenience store much less Starbucks.

Why do I write popular Christian fiction?  First of all, that is the kind of fiction I like to read.  What are kid’s reading today?  One example is the Percy Jackson series, which is huge with kids.  That series has action but it is also fun with heroes that inevitably triumph against great odds.  Although it is nice that kids have favorite series to read, I find that secular literature has no spiritual content.  My books are written for more than entertainment.  I want to move the reader toward conclusions about morality and God but within the confines of an exciting story.

What genre are my stories?  Like the pulps, I write all kind of fiction.  “Life, Liberation, and the Pursuit of Video Games” is a Distopian work.  “American Fairytale” is fairy tale genre but with a twist (children will read it as fantasy literature, adults and older teens will recognize that it is actually science fiction).  Wolf Hunting one is an action suspense novel and Wolf Hunting Two is a military suspense novel.  Asylum is a very different take on the tribulation genre (the Lost TV show meets Narnia meets Louis L'Amour).  The C-3 series is military science fiction (enders game meets pilgrim’s progress meets epic science fiction).  The best part?  I’m a pastor and I’m not writing novels to merely entertain or distract you (the goal of most popular fiction).  I’m writing spiritual truth that will strengthen your walk with God as you navigate this life.  So do me a favor and try one of my books!  Type Amazon Adrian Essigmann into your chrome google browser and get a good book today!  (An Assumed Risk is not available in e-book format at the moment but hopefully it will be by the fall of this year!  When it is ready it will sell for $.99 cents as well, despite being over 200, 000 words!)