{"id":3881,"date":"2008-12-19T00:20:16","date_gmt":"2008-12-19T00:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/2008\/12\/interview-with-anne-rice-2.html"},"modified":"2008-12-19T00:20:16","modified_gmt":"2008-12-19T00:20:16","slug":"interview-with-anne-rice-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2008\/12\/interview-with-anne-rice-2.html","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Anne Rice 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

This just added: Beliefnet has a discussion group<\/a> about Anne Rice.<\/b><\/p>\n

Recently I read Anne Rice’s new memoir, I reviewed it on this blog (part one<\/a>, part two<\/a>), and Beliefnet found a way for us to get in contact with Anne to interview her for this blog. Her memoir is called Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/strong><\/em> Here is the second set of questions I asked Anne:<\/i>
\n\"annerice.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>
The tell-tale sign of conversion is the re-working or re-imagining of one’s autobiography, or one’s personal story. You have all the marks of conversion – in fact, you have re-shaped your understanding of what your novels were ultimately seeking even though you admit you might not have known such things when you were writing them. Now my question: Why do you say your conversion is not being “born again”? Isn’t a theme of your rediscovery of your faith a new lease on life or a new life for you?<\/b><\/p>\n

Catholics don’t tend to use the expression “born again.”  I
\nthink that my return in 1998 was too unemotional to be called a “born
\nagain” experience, though in 2002, when I decided to write only for
\nChrist, that was an intense emotional moment and a “born again” moment.
\n I was certainly born again at that time as a Christian writer, and
\nonly now some 6 years later am I realizing that I am born again to an
\nentirely new literary world.  Not only does my writing emcompass the
\nChrist the Lord series, of the utmost importance; but I am also writing
\nSongs of the Seraphim, a series of metaphysical thrillers about angels
\nand their activity with humans on Earth.  I see a whole spectrum of
\nChristian novel possibilities before me: Christmas novels, novels about
\nthe early Christians, and other possibilities yet unimagined.  —- I
\nam born again. There seems no doubt of it.  The change after 2002 was
\ntotal and pervasive and dramatic.  Before that time, though I was going
\nto church, I was learning more and more every week about my religion
\nand what it was asking of me.  I was in \u0010an interim stage. I’d
\nreturned, yes, but I did not know yet what Christ was asking of me
\npersonally, and that came to be that I write for Him, and also that I
\nseek to understand His Gospels much more deeply and completely than
\never before, and that I seek to live by them. <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n


\nWhat are the day-to-day differences in your life now that you are writing exclusively for God?<\/b><\/p>\n

Living by them. The day to day differences in my life now that
\nI am writing for the Lord are that I am consumed only with research and
\nother fiction that will be of help to me with this vocation.  I simply
\ngive no time to other themes.  —-  I consecrate each day to Christ, I
\ntry to remind myself to love each and every person I encounter, to hurt
\nno one, to embrace \u0010all, and to use my imagination for novels which
\nwill reflect and even put forth my Christian principles and beliefs.
\n —-  The Christ the Lord series has demanded intense and sustained
\ngospel study which has been a joy.  On planes, I’ve carried my small
\nleather bound bible everywhere, reading \u0010books in it over and over
\nagain, and seeking to really learn how the Old Testament and the New
\nTestament connect.  —- And in Songs of the Seraphim I am facing the
\nchallenge of making “an entertainment series” completely and wholly
\nChristian.  I’m using adventure, suspense, storytelling, historical
\nsettings of different periods, all in shaping books \u0010that are
\nnevertheless completely dedicated to Christ and in \u0010their own way about
\nliving for Christ. My hero, Toby O’Dare, has his own consecration and
\nit is part of the books.  Right now I have a secret subtitle for them,
\n“The Toby O’Dare mysteries.”  But Songs of the Seraphim is really the
\nname of the series.  The first, Angel Time, will be published in
\nOctober of 2009. —— VERY IMPORTANT PART OF THE ANSWER:  Another
\nimportant point about day to day life: to love one’s enemies, to really
\nput this into practice, I think, does turn one’s life around.  One
\ncannot be careless and unpleasant in speech; one can’t hate competitors
\nor reviewers; one can’t fl\u0010ash in anger as those around one.  One truly
\nhas to live for Christ and seek to implement what He said in the Sermon
\non the Mount.  It is a discipline but a lovely one, and a beautiful
\none.  And I’m convinced that if we can all do it, we can bring the
\nKingdom of God to Earth. I think Jesus gave us the blue print for the
\nKingdom of Heaven on earth in the Gospel of Matthew. <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This just added: Beliefnet has a discussion group about Anne Rice. Recently I read Anne Rice’s new memoir, I reviewed it on this blog (part one, part two), and Beliefnet found a way for us to get in contact with Anne to interview her for this blog. Her memoir is called Called Out of Darkness:…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conversion"],"yoast_head":"\nInterview with Anne Rice 2 - Jesus Creed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2008\/12\/interview-with-anne-rice-2.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Interview with Anne Rice 2 - Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This just added: Beliefnet has a discussion group about Anne Rice. 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