Is that a thing?

If you read a lot, you know the book market is flooded with fantasy, romance, horror, sci-fi, etc. I’ve read a lot of different genres and really enjoyed them. Usually. But what bothers me, both as a Christian and as a mom, is many of today’s popular young adult books are loaded with sex. Pages and pages of it. This is very likely an unpopular opinion, but I just don’t think a story has to include all of that to be appealing. I think young adults are smarter and deeper thinkers than a lot of publishers give them credit for. I think young people rise to the expectations of those who love them and, unfortunately, societal expectations of our young adults are sadly low.

So, what is a clean book?

Great question. The answer depends on who you ask. Some believe clean has no sex, profanity, or violence of any kind. Others are ok with violence, but not sex and profanity. Then there are those who don’t mind profanity, but steer away from sex and violence. But pretty much everyone agrees that a clean book does not contain sex scenes.

I’m somewhere in the middle of all that. Like most, I believe sex scenes are unnecessary and, frankly, harmful. Profanity? It depends. There are words many consider extreme and I avoid those when I write, but there are “lower level” words that can be appropriate to a real-life situation. Now, I have raised five teenagers so I don’t freak out over what I consider more minor cuss words. Sometimes a bad character is, well, a bad character who would not say “gosh darn” (like the pimp in my first novel, Paper Dolls: Trust Your Instincts). I will be realistic with my characters’ dialogue, but that doesn’t mean I have to use offensive sexual language, either. You may disagree, and that is ok. But when I say my books are clean, I am referring to the absence of sex scenes and what I consider extreme profanity.

But when I say my books are clean, I am referring to the absence of sex scenes and what I consider extreme profanity.

Does sex sell? Of course. If it didn’t, authors wouldn’t be writing about it. Anything shocking will be easy to market. But I’m not writing to sell books or compete with them.

I’m writing to leave something good and true in the world. Something that could help those who read it a better person than they were before.

I am writing for all of us.

As I develop stories and essays, I am changed. The work I do, the research I undertake, forms me. I believe the adage, “You become what you behold.” What we read matters. What floods into our eyes also affects our hearts.

So many young women love to read and their minds are flooded with things that make them uncomfortable and form them in potentially harmful ways. But they press on because the Christian stuff generally sucks and they crave well-written stories. Yeah, they could read classics but why do they have to do that to read clean books? Not everyone enjoys Little Women or Little House on the Prairie. It’s just a fact. So what is their alternative?

For too long they haven’t had many choices.

But that is changing.

Challenge accepted.

Like many modern authors, I’m rising to the challenge. I am determined to write compelling characters and stories that keep you guessing without extreme cursing or explicit sex. It can be done.

I write to give you a place of escape, an hour (or three!) of captivating reading in a crazy busy world. And I write to encourage you that you are not alone, no matter what your struggle might be.

I’m excited that you are here. I hope you will stick around and share this content with your friends!

More soon!

~Jeanine