Gold Medal Writers

by Dana Mentink

As we experience another summer Olympics, I’m enjoying learning about new sports I’d never imagined before. Break dancing? Did you know that was a sport? Skateboarding? Climbing? Wow! It makes me wonder about my favorite sport (calling/profession/obsession) WRITING! When you think about it, it can be a struggle of epic proportions to get those books out into the hands of eager readers. It got me to thinking.

What would it be like if writers earned medals too? Can you imagine? We’d never win races or row our way to victory, but there are certainly members of our profession who are worthy of such Olympic sized recognition, especially as they slog through what can be one of the most discouraging sports of all. So here’s Dana Mentink’s take on the gold medal winners in the Mystery, Romance, and Christian Fiction genres.

Cue the trumpets! And the gold medal in Romance goes to…Francine Rivers! Francine started her career as a newspaper reporter, writing obituaries and human-interest stories before she began creating historical fiction for the general market. Fast forward to her book Redeeming Love which was her statement of faith. The story retells the book of Hosea, placing it in the 1850s in the American West. She’s won every kind of award in Christian fiction for her body of work including an ACFW Lifetime Achievement award, and many of her books have been brought to the big screen. Wear that medal proudly, Francine! You earned it!

And the gold medal in Mystery goes to…Dick Francis. This was a tricky one, but the best-selling British writer wrote 42 novels, incorporating his own life experiences as a jockey into most of them. He was much more than a horseman, having served in the Royal Air Force as a fighter pilot. After his service, he became a champion jockey, but suffered many horse related injuries over the course of his life. A favorite with the Queen’s mother, he was made a Commander of the British Empire (and all this for a man who left school at age 15!) Though many of his fictional heroes worked in the equine world, he also explored other professions  in his novels such as gemstone trading, restaurant service, and photography. Further, he rarely reused a hero (only two heroes were featured more than once) in his collection of novels. He wrote all his stories out longhand and his faithful wife read, edited and transferred them to the computer. His son Felix once said his parents were like “Siamese twins conjoined at the pencil.” I love that quote. She should be credited on that gold medal as well!

And finally in the area of Christian Fiction, the gold medal goes to… Jerry Jenkins. Though I struggled with this category as there are so many inspirational authors I love, Jenkins really put Christian Fiction on the map when his Left Behind series sold more than 70,000,000 copies. He’s enjoyed 21 NYT bestsellers.  (Of course, everyone knows about his son’s current project, The Chosen!) I remember an agent in the writing business told me one time that Jerry Jenkins basically put the genre of Christian fiction on the map, so for those of us who write or read those books, we bestow this medal upon you, Mr. Jenkins!

So those are the gold medal awards presented by this judge. Your turn! Who would YOU award gold medals to in the writing world?

Dana Mentink is a USA Today and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author as well as a two-time American Christian Fiction Writers Carol Award winner, and the recipient of a Holt Medallion for excellence in mystery/suspense. She was honored to receive the Author of the Year award from West Coast Christian Writers. A California native, she’s written over fifty titles for the general and Christian markets in the suspense, lighthearted romance, and mystery genres. She is pleased to write for Harlequin’s Love Inspired Suspense, Revell, and Poisoned Pen Press. You can connect with Dana via her website at danamentink.com if you’d like to learn more.