Steven H. Propp, from Sacramento, California, is an author whose novels deal chiefly with religious and philosophical themes.
Most of his novels feature a protagonist, or a set of protagonists, who are faced with a particular philosophical question (such as life after death in Beyond Heaven and Earth) or belief system (such as Evangelical Christianity in And With All Your Mind), and their responses and reactions to it. Besides their storylines, these novels are generally informative and even educational, providing lucid descriptions of particular controversies and issues of relevance (such as the sex abuse scandals in the Catholic Church in Three Brothers.)
Works by Steven Propp include:
- Tattered Pilgrims
- Beyond Heaven and Earth
- And With All Your Mind: A Novel about Evangelical Theology
- Beyond the New Age: A Novel about Alternate Spiritualities
- Three Brothers: A Novel about Change and Diversity in the Catholic Church
Tropes commonly found in the author's work are:
- Christianity is Catholic: Averted. One of his novels (And With All Your Mind) is entirely about American evangelicalism, and even Lucas O'Sullivan in Three Brothers eventually accepts than non-Catholics, such as his friend Leroy Steele, can be "saved".
- Happily Married: Most of his novels feature a couple who are quite happy together, such Janet and Hank Runyon (in Beyond the New Age), Matthew and Maggie O'Sullivan (in Three Brothers) and Silas and Judith Baker (in And With All Your Mind).
- Infodump: Used for instruction in many novels, particularly in Beyond the New Age.
- Rage Against the Heavens: A reaction of some characters, when faced with an overwhelming loss or grief.
- Shown Their Work: A tremendous amount of reading and thought has gone into the writing of each book, and even complex theological or philosophical ideas are clearly explained.
- Straight Gay: Both Desmond Maria of And With All Your Mind and Marcus O'Sullivan of Three Brothers are sympathetically drawn, realistic gay men struggling with their respective faiths (Evangelical Protestantism and Roman Catholicism, respectively.)
