Scot,
Thanks for these two “interview” posts. Anne is such a gracious woman. I blogged about her Christ the Lord books and she was kind enough to leave me a lovely comment. She is really taking this discipline to every aspect of her life–humbly obedient. Would that this would catch on more, eh? “…if we can all do it” indeed!
I look forward to reading more of her works…and I’ll have to try to pick up her memoir….

Amen to the post and to Peggy’s comment; thanks to Scot and to Anne for having this graceful and challenging conversation with us.

A fitting two posts for Advent.
I never tire of hearing these conversion and life transformation stories. Thank you, Scot for posting these.

I don’t know the content of Rice’s Christ books so I may be wrong in what I’m hearing her say. But it sounds like she has bought into the notion that to be a christian artist means to portray Jesus, or the good part of a christian life. I’m a visual artist and have learned for close to 30 yrs what it means to be a christian and an artist. At first I thought I had to portray the beautiful of the christian life, or push Jesus in my work. It was freeing when I learned I can portray all of a christian’s life – the good, the bad, the beautiful, the ugly etc. That meant I could, for example, draw pictures of plants just to draw pictures of plants, not to push a message through my art. And when I draw a person it’s not to show the grandeur of being an image bearer, I’m merely trying to draw a good picture of a person. I would like to see Rice write good entertaining books in their own right, not feel compelled to include christian virtues in thinking that’s what it means to be a christian writer. As I said, I don’t know her books so maybe I’m wrong in my assumptions here.

Thanks Scott. I “discovered” Anne the Christian writer in her Jesus trilogy, as I had not read any of her earlier work. I love what she does in those novels. They open the cultural context and make Jesus’ humanity so real and accessable without detracting from his divinity or contradicting the Biblical records. I’ll look forward to the “Songs” novels.
Becky R. (#4). I’m speulating here, but I doubt that Anne is hung up in the way you’re thinking. I think she had a special epiphany, a special calling from God, to “write only for Christ” as she puts it. As you read in the interview she likens it to being born-again. I don’t think she would try to impose that on other Christian artists. In fact I will wager that her new “Christian” fiction will be very realistic and true to life with multi-deminsional and complex characters who reflect the sturggles that everyone experiences.