Article September 1, 2003 Issue

Writing with God

A conversation with mystery writer Radine Trees Nehring

By Kim Shippey Senior Writer

RADINE NEHRING is an Arkansas writer, journalist, and radio broadcaster. She lives with her husband, John, who is a photographer, in the Ozark Mountains near the town of Gravette. For years, she has written nonfiction about unique people, places, and events in Arkansas. Now she has published two mystery novels, A Valley to Die For and Music to Die For, in which she creates characters who fight for what they truly believe in. And a third novel is on its way.

Radine Nehring is often asked how a Christian Scientist can be a mystery novelist, creating sometimes awful experiences for humans, even if the stories are fiction.

"For several years, that really bothered me," she says. "Here I was, a person who spent a part of every day in Bible study and prayer, and who not only enjoyed reading mystery novels for fun, but wanted to write them. The characters in these types of stories have problems, bigtime. Sometimes they get hurt. And, according to almost anyone you ask, a mystery novel just doesn't fit the genre without at least one murder. What on earth was I thinking? And that was exactly what was causing me to feel conflicted. I felt I was 'thinking on earth,' not listening to God.

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