Have you ever finished a book you loved, handed it to a friend, and heard back, "It was fine"?

That disconnect has nothing to do with the quality of the writing. It has everything to do with a principle C.S. Lewis understood well enough to write classics that have endured for decades.

In this week's episode, I sat down with bestselling novelist Angela Hunt to break down the four ancient loves that drive all fiction, and how mastering them can help you produce a bestseller and a classic.

You’ll learn

• The type of love almost every genre needs more of, and why the most violent stories need it most.
• How the loneliness epidemic is creating a massive hunger in readers, and which type of love lonely readers are yearning for.
• The type of love that makes for a classic but is hardest to write and easiest to botch. Get it wrong and your climax feels cheesy. Get it right and readers won't shut up about your book.

We also explore the dark side of each love and how to use that tension to propel your plot forward.

If the stakes in your story aren’t working or you’re sick of cheap, salacious storylines, listen in or read the blog version to learn how to incorporate these four types of love into your story. This one might change how you outline your next book or build your characters.

Blog link: https://www.authormedia.com/the-four-loves-that-drive-fiction/

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About a year ago I launched a new podcast and YouTube show called Author Update. It is primarily a news show but recently we covered a news story I wanted to share with you here on the Christian Publishing Show.

Pope Leo XIV recently published an encyclical titled MAGNIFICA HUMANITAS. It the the best theological breakdown I’ve seen on AI, and that means a lot coming from me because I’m not Catholic. I’m not aware of any authoritative stances on AI from either the Orthodox or Protestant churches, which means, if and when those do come out, they will be responding to and echoing the Pope’s Encyclical.

If you have ever been curious about how, when, and why Christians can use AI I think you will find this breakdown helpful. But I want to share one other news story first that will help give some context. This story is about the Anti AI Butalrian Jihad that my cohost Jonathan Surger and I break down.

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Steve Laube and Thomas Umstattd, Jr. answer questions from authors about publishing and discuss Steve's new book for writers called Sacred Margins.

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