about rachel
Rachel Leitch writes authentic stories of self-discovery that are free of hurtful stereotypes and harsh content. Usually, this takes the form of young adult historicals with a dash of adventure or a spark of magic. She lives her own adventure in northern Indiana, with her momma, three sisters, two brothers, and a dog who thinks he’s the hero of her story. When she’s not hidden away writing, she’s trying to fit all her reads on her shelf in a somewhat organized manner, obsessing over character arcs, drinking chai, daydreaming at the piano, or teaching students to be just as bookish as she is. In all her adventures, she discovers more about the Father of Lights. |
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."
James 1:17
Art, calling, and loving godMay 31, 2024Last month, I closed out my post with sharing how some simple advice—love God, love people—has set me free in the choices I make surrounding my reading, watching, and writing.
And honestly, it’s just such a good idea, I wanted to go more into it. Because while it’s a good idea and a freeing concept, maybe it also seems a little vague. We hear the phrase “love God, love people” all the time in church, so maybe the phrase has lost a little bit of its sparkle. It sounds good. But what does it actually mean? How does it work? And what does it have to do with art? My Problem with the clean fiction movementApril 24, 2024For a long time, I struggled with referring to my writing as clean fiction.
Don’t get me wrong—I do write mostly clean. For me, that looks like avoiding language and graphic sexual content in my books. But then I’d see posts from the clean fiction community where they would describe any such content (language, sexual content, violence/gore, and/or sensitive topics such as mental health, social issues or trauma) as MORALLY WRONG and a GRAVE SIN. But I hadn’t opted out of writing language and sex because I believed it was a GRAVE SIN. I just didn’t like reading it. So I didn’t write it either. Full stop. And the longer I interacted with book reviews from the clean fiction community, the more I realized that I was cool with a lot of things they weren’t. For instance, I highly recommend The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. It’s one of the best novels I’ve read dealing with toxic gender roles and religious trauma. It also so happens to have frequent language and some extremely intense violence and gore. In the circles of writers I’m in, I interact with people everyday who would clutch their pearls that I would ever suggest reading such a book. And I also interact with people who have watched and recommended far more explicit, more than I personally would read or watch. If I’m being honest? I relate way more to the people who are okay with a little bit more in their fiction. I struggle to relate with the clean fiction movement. |
Springtime in SurreyThe Odd Duck Society Jessamy Aubertine is too much for her university classmates, too little for her overstressed mum, and nothing in between. Then a mysterious letter signed by Jane Austen brings her back to her family’s fading tea shop and a pair of unlikely comrades. Will they find the letter writer—and perhaps discover themselves along the way? Or will their friendship fade with The Muses? |