Jenkins is best known for his collaboration with Tim LaHaye on the Left Behind series--16 books in all--which, taken together, chronicle the time just before the Rapture up through Jesus' reign. Jenkins still finds the huge crossover success of those books “astounding,” and all told, the series has sold well over 65 million copies. Though Jenkins's latest novel may appeal mostly to Christian readers, he says, “Naturally, I'm hoping for crossover.” And he very easily may get it, considering the phenomenal success of the Left Behind books. (According to Publisher's Weekly,  “Desecration, the 9th book in the series, was the best-selling book in the world in 2001.”)

Jenkins is well aware that even with the crossover success, many of his readers are Christian. But that in no way limited Left Behind series sales. Jenkins says, “There could be no more ‘Christian' novel than a story by two Christian authors from a Christian publisher and concerning the Rapture of the Church at the end of time. And yet Left Behind became the most successful crossover title ever.” In fact, Amazon.com honored Jenkins and LaHaye for reaching its Top 10 List, comprised of authors who have sold the most books since Amazon's founding in 1995.

So, after so much time immersed in the Left Behind series, Jenkins found writing this novel a good change. “This title was less of a chore and more of a magnet, drawing me to the keyboard every day. I write as a process of discovery, putting interesting characters in difficult situations and writing to find out what happens. This ranks among my top four experiences writing a novel (the other three were The Youngest Hero, 'Twas the Night Before, and Though None Go with Me ).”

The idea for Riven came first, but the characters, Jenkins says, were actually modeled loosely after a high school teacher and a classmate. He further worked their “types” into the two key roles as the inmate and pastor, and as they interacted, the process took on its own life. “I liked the contrast of the one who is a trailer park kid who competes with middle class kids, and also the contrast between him and a simple pastor who becomes a prison chaplain,” he says.

The book's title even has a long history. According to Jenkins, “I have always loved the specificity of the word. It's from “Rock of Ages,” of course, and it has enough mystery and music to it that many people will be curious about it.”

Speaking of titles, some of Jenkins's many other works include Midnight Clear with Dallas Jenkins (Tyndale, 2007), John's Story: The Last Eyewitness (Penguin/Putnam, 2006), Writing for the Soul (Writers Digest Books, 2006), the SOON trilogy (Tyndale) , and the children's fiction series The Wormling (Tyndale, 2007). In all, Jenkins estimates he's worked with about 40 publishers. And he's also done numerous biographical titles, including assisting with Just As I Am, the biography of Billy Graham, which was also a New York Times best-seller. 

Jenkins began his long and prolific writing career after an early teenage injury sidelined him from the sports he so loved. Determined to “keep a finger in the sports scene,” Jenkins began writing sports stories. He says, “Most kids hated writing. I loved it and seemed to have a knack for it, but of course I was a rank beginner.”

“I became a stringer for local papers, covering high school sports, but I was two years from even being able to drive. So my parents would drive me to the games and then to the newspaper office where they would wait in the parking lot while I banged out my stories.” Jenkins didn't stop there. By age 19, he was the sports editor for a daily suburban Chicago paper.

Jenkins felt called even at a young age to full-time Christian ministry work, but he was afraid that might mean giving up his writing. But after some time as a sports writer, Jenkins became an editor at Scripture Press, then managing editor at Moody Monthly in 1974. He would later become vice-president of publishing at Moody Bible Institute. In 1990, he made the fateful decision to go freelance. And one look at his booklist will confirm he wrote hard even up to that point. Things haven't changed now, either.

Jenkins, busy as he is, has his irons in several fires. His movie company, Jenkins Entertainment, which is run by his son, Dallas, is getting noticed in the movie industry. “Our two proudest achievements are Hometown Legend (a high school football picture starring Terry O'Quinn [ Lost ] and Lacey Chabert [ Party of Five ], which was picked up by Warner Bros.), and, most recently, Midnight Clear (a Christmas picture picked up by LionsGate). That was Dallas's directorial debut, and it won several awards at secular film festivals. We currently have a true period piece, tentatively titled Mountain, in pre-production.”

And there is the Christian Writers Guild, which Jenkins also owns. “Our primary thrust,” he says, “is teaching people to write and training them to become professionals. We don't believe in self-publishing, except for personal and family stuff. Our aim is to get people paid for their work, not the other way around. We have more than 1,500 students from children through senior adults taking email courses and being personally mentored.”

The Guild hosts two huge events, the Writing for the Soul conference every year in Colorado Springs, and an annual contest for first novel and first book publishing, with large cash prizes and publication. In addition to a steady stream of successes reported by those who are members of the Christian Writers Guild, the annual conference has produced many deals, including Jennifer Valent's Fireflies in December (2007), Tom Pawlik's Vanish (2006), Terry Barnes's In Everything Give Thanks (2005), and Jan Watson's novels Troublesome Creek, Willow Springs, and Torrent Falls. Also, pastor Matthew Raley's novel Fallen (Kregel, 2008) was featured as a “staff pick” at the 2008 conference.

“We hear daily that our students are selling and being published,” Jenkins says. That success, he believes, comes from the fact that every CWG student is paired with a seasoned professional as his or her mentor. Several of the courses are also eligible for college credit.

Jenkins is keen to help other writers find their (paying) way in the world. But the journey, as he well knows, takes years and lots of work. And Christian authors, Jenkins says, face two key challenges: “being stereotyped and facing a noisy, glutted marketplace.”

Part of avoiding the stereotyping is to think broader, bigger, Jenkins says, especially if you're writing from a Christian perspective but hoping for a wider readership. “When writing for the broader audience, you must keep in mind where your audience is coming from. In Left Behind [the first book in the series], the believers disappear in the first chapter, and thus those who would use stilted evangelical lingo are gone. Get valid, credible skeptics into your story and let them have their say. Don't make them straw men. Give your readers someone to identify with, and then see if your themes can impact them.”

His well-informed concerns reach beyond writers to editors and the Christian publishing industry itself, with its author-impacting strengths and weaknesses. “The strength is that we are finally being recognized in the marketplace. The weakness is too many publishers wanting to publish fiction and too few demanding editors who can push novelists to do their best work. I feel blessed this way, but I fear that overall the volume of manuscripts has outrun the reach of top editors.”

That's a daunting summation, but one that may very well be true, as others have stated about the secular publishing industry. So, then, it's imperative for the individual writer to do his or her best BEFORE the manuscript hits the desk of an editor.

Part of the challenge, too, according to Jenkins, is how to move the message Christian writers carry about the love of God and Jesus' sacrifice for sin into the hearts of those who are skeptical or who may not believe. “This is the crucible of the novelist,” he says. “I must depend on the story to do the work. I want never to sermonize or be over-obvious. The second I move from storytelling to preaching, I lose even the most loyal reader. I give my readers credit, assume they get it. And if they don't, it is the fault of my storytelling.”

Jenkins sent out advance reader copies of Riven, “and the early feedback includes many readers telling me that they could see my doomed character making bad choices, and they feared for his future. I didn't have to point these out. They unfolded with the story.”

Jenkins writes only when he's on a deadline, he says, “unlike many of my colleagues, who try to write most every day. I get away to a mountain retreat 80 miles west of our Colorado Springs home and write about 20 pages a day, keeping my deadlines religiously. Each morning I do a heavy edit and re-write of what I wrote the day before, and when the manuscript is done I go through every word again until I am satisfied with it.”

He reads others' works, too, as you might suspect. “Rick Bragg, former New York Times columnist (and Pulitzer winner) is--in my opinion--the greatest non-fiction writer since Truman Capote,” he says. “Really a poet. I often read his paragraphs over and over; they're that good. With many writers I strive to be like them. With Bragg I simply surrender and admire. All Over But the Shoutin' is my favorite.”

Jenkins, at book number 175, has settled into his voice, his niche, and his own soul in writing, and it's apparent that it's okay with him. “I make no apologies for writing for the masses. If I am criticized, it is for being too pedestrian. Well, I am a pedestrian writing for pedestrians. I have often said I wish I were smart enough to write a book that's hard to read.”

He recommends two books for writers (besides his own, Writing for the Soul ): How to Write Best-Selling Fiction by Dean Koontz, a book he says is “long out of print, but worth the premium price for the rare copy online,” and, of course, Strunk and White's The Elements of Style.

In addition to sound mechanics and writing techniques, he lists three elements that must also find their way onto the page: “Passion for your subject. You can't fake that, and it will color every word. Then clarity and readability. If readers have to read even one sentence twice to catch your meaning, you risk losing them.”