James Rubart: Inspired by C. S. Lewis

In a quaint bookstore in Victoria, British Columbia, I found the book Rooms, by James L. Rubart. The cover caught my attention. Better yet: it was Christian fiction. As I read the first chapters, I knew this
was no ordinary novel. And I was right. Rubart's novels are original, inspirational, and thought-provoking. Without a doubt, Rooms is one of the best novels I have read in a long time.

It is my pleasure to interview James Rubart, member of the Christy Award Hall of Fame.

1. Tell us about your background as related to your writing.

After I read The Chronicles of Narnia when I was eleven I knew someday I wanted to try to do for others what Lewis had done for me. But when I tried out for the school paper in 9th grade and was rejected, I thought I had no talent. I embraced that lie for decades, till 2001, when my wife made me believe my dream could come true. That's when I started writing Rooms.

2. One of your readers warns us on Amazon: "Prepare for a wild ride" when reading Rooms. I agree. What is the secret for a multi-layered plot and dimensional characters?

Such a great question! I think the secret is authenticity. We shut ourselves down so easily because our harshest critics live inside our own heads. Consequently, whether it's writing, or cooking, or music, we
take the tried-and-true conventional path instead of trying the wild, crazy, out there idea that is living deep inside us and (I believe) wants to come out.

3. What authors have inspired you?

As you can imagine, C.S. Lewis is the biggest inspiration. Also, Ted Dekker, Stephen Lawhead, Frank Peretti, Bill Myers, Orson Scott Card. Those were the authors spinning the type of tales I wanted to try
to spin.

4. In your writing, God is at the core. How do you weave God in your stories without being preachy?

I never think about the faith element when I write. I simply write the story that won't get out of my head till I get it down on paper. During my very first interview, the interviewing asked if I was a Christian author. I said, "No, I'm author who happens to be a Christian." I think that's an important distinction. I'm not a big fan of so called Christian fiction that is basically a general market story with a few prayers thrown in and suddenly it's a Christian novel. Write a story from your deep soul and the truth of Christ will come through, whether overt or not.

5. Give us some tips on how to hone the art of writing.

The greatest secret to excellent writing is there's no secret. This should be good news for aspiring writers. Many years ago, I was listening to my nephew playing guitar. (He's amazing.) I said, "Wow, you are incredible! What a mind-blowing talent." He said, "Nope, very little talent. But I do have an unstoppable drive to practice, and practice, and practice." I didn't believe him way back then. Now I get it. You want to get good? Work at it and work at it and work at it. Read the books, study, convince people to tell you truth as to whether your writing is good or bad. And then work more. Most people give up. Don't let that be you.

6. I read somewhere that your wife helped you come up with the idea for The Long Journey to Jake Palmer. Where do you get the inspiration for such transcendental stories?

She did! She's been a huge help with many of my stories. Where do the ideas come from? Everywhere. In the case of The Long Journey to Jake Palmer, we were brainstorming and she said, "Why don't you do
a story about the corridor?" The corridor leads to a pretend world I made up when my boys were young. We anchored our boat at
the end of a lake which was buried in cat tails. I suggested we anchor and try to push through cattails to the other side. After much effort we did, and I told the boys we'd reached another realm only accessible
through the corridor we just created. So when Darci suggested I do a story about the corridor, the basic plot (a man searches for a legendary
lost corridor, which if you can find it and get the other side you'll get what you want most in the world) was already in place.

7. When the theme of a novel is spirituality, a writer may receive negative feedback about his theology, that may not be in line with the reader's point of view. How do you handle this kind of feedback?

I thank them. My belief is no one has everything right. We're all wrong in areas of our beliefs. (Maybe one reason Christianity (globally) has 45,000 different denominations. (No, that's not a typo.) So when
they disagree with me it's a chance to learn. A chance to see life and Christianity from a different perspective. A chance to take specs out of my eye.

8. In what ways should authors cooperate more to advance Christian fiction?

First, write great books. Second, continue to work together to promote each other. This is done (I've done it often myself) but authors doing this is not as organized as it could be by publishers and indie authors. Third, relax. We are to do what God calls us to do and let the Holy Spirit take it from there.

9. Brazil is in its infancy in relation to Christian fiction. Any advice for the new generation of Christian writers in Brazil including myself?

Celebrate. Celebrate that the fields are ripe for harvest. Celebrate that you are at the head of the wave
bringing Light and Life through the medium of story. Celebrate your chance to be part of the new library
being created that will speak to souls for the first time about the unquenchable love in Jesus. You are needed, so do not give up, run the race well!

Images: Google