1. Very cool. Congrats, Kerry!

  2. That sounds awesome! Congrats to Kerry and everyone else involved in the publication 🙂

    Kind of has me generally curious about how our stories’ themes, etc. might be interpreted in other cultures. If a fantasy book talks about a creator, would someone from a more Islamic background imagine Allah? I know that stuff depends on a lot of factors, but I suppose it’s important to keep that stuff in mind when an author intents to publish in multiple countries.

    • Travis Perry says:

      Sure, Autumn, I imagine someone with an Islamic background will think of Allah. But you know, I would say that in certain ways, the Islamic concept of God is very similar to the Christian idea of God. Using what we have in common as a basis to open the door to distinctly Christian ideas isn’t a bad thing.

      And yes, in general, it’s important to understand target cultures in a variety of ways. But the advantage we have in the United States, without even realizing it, is that most foreigners are at least a little familiar with American culture. Which means we can talk to them from our cultural references to a degree and still be understood. (Which has positive and negative aspects, but when it comes to selling stories overseas, is pretty cool.)

      • Yeah, I agree that it can be helpful in that sense, and I generally don’t have an issue with Christian authors trying to sell their work overseas even if there are some risks. I do try to think ahead to all the potential outcomes of things, though, so misinterpretation is something that came to mind when considering possibilities.

        Of course, that’s partly because in a lot of my stories it would be kind of easy to misinterpret. In my current WIP, for instance, there isn’t a Jesus like figure mentioned (for worldbuilding reasons), but God still exists in that world even if he’s called something else. If I handed that book to someone of a vastly different culture without any explanation of the content, it’d be pretty understandable if that person misinterpreted it.

        And I suppose either way that working with someone from the cultures we publish in, or at least someone pretty in tune with those cultures, helps a lot in terms of understanding how something will be received/understanding what hurtles may be present, even outside of issues like misinterpretation.

What do you think?