Michelle Griep

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Of Lollipops, Rainbows, and Fluff

DAY 18

Word Count: 12320

Sentence of the Day: Her tongue darted over her lips after she said the name, tasting of it as she might a sugared date.

Must uplifting always have to equal fluffy? I don't think so. God's encouraged me through some of the ugliest situations in my life. And if fiction is to mimic the human condition, it makes sense to me that the darker side of humanity must lurk in its pages as well.

I understand that women (it's a fact...females make up the bulk of fiction readers) are looking for an escape from reality. But does that mean I should only write of lollipops and rainbows?

I can't. It's just not in me. Life sucks sometimes. I don't want to encourage a flock of ostriches by writing pap.

Does that limit my market? You bet. And that's precisely the tribe I want to reach. Readers who are crunchy on the outside and soft on the in...exactly how I imagine the Apostle Paul, a man who lived a gritty life while anchoring his hope in Jesus.

2 Corinthians 4:8-10
We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

There. Considering that truth nugget, see if you can go write a fluffy scene.