About Urban Verve Publishing
We are a collaboration of Christian authors dedicated to sharing the Good News and the transformative power of Christian faith through our Novels, Christian Teaching Series and Testimonies Series. We were founded by Fred Dent and Marcel Combs who met in Airway Heights Corrections Center. Marcel is the story teller and creator of the Urban Verve concept and stories while Fred acts a story advisor and editor. You can learn more about Fred at his web site acts519.org. Marcel’s story will be posted here in Urban Verve if we can ever get him to sit down and write it! He is much better at stories than autobiographies.
Over 81% of the US population now lives in an urban setting as defined by the US Census. Other standards place it at over to 90%. The modern Christian message needs to relate to Urban living. Our style of “reality fiction” draws from American urban living with a Christian message.
Urban – of or relating to cities and the people who live in themVerve – great energy and enthusiasm.[1]
Urban Verve – The stories of people living in cities or towns full of great energy and enthusiasm.
Our take is that the “great energy” can be positive (from Christ) or negative (from the world). Our mission is to share how the redemptive power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ transforms lives to claim His victory over the world to live productive, fulfilling lives.
Our two founders met seemingly by chance through the leading of the Holy Spirit. Some would call it a divine appointment. One founder is from a middle class upbringing set aside from gangs, drugs and crime and the other is from an inner city upbringing in and around gangs. One a college graduate, an experienced teacher and editor the other a great story teller with little writing experience who had written the beginnings of two novels in what he calls the “reality fiction” style. With dramatically different backgrounds they found common ground sharing their Christian faith and experiences. The stories were powerful and moving about the tragedies of lives lost through the influence of gangs. Although the stories were about gang life, the messages were universal about young lives being destroyed by temptations in the world.
We began our first collaboration on a story titled ‘Urban Verb.’ It became apparent that there was a much larger story to tell across three generations and two major cities. The title became ‘Urban Verve’ which also seems to be the theme at the core of each of our collaborative novels. My friend also shared a story he had written before I met him but he didn’t have the manuscript. He aurally told me that story ‘So You Think You’re a Gangsta,’ which convinced me that he was a gifted story teller and committed to helping young people break from the influence of gangs and find redemption in Jesus Christ. We were not able to finish Urban Verve before circumstances changed and my friend, the story teller, moved away and we lost track of each other. I prayed that one day we might be reunited to complete the novel. Twenty months later we reconnected and Urban Verve Publishing was born. We are more than just collaborators; we are Christian brothers who strengthen each other.
We pray that our publishing will speak to those searching for direction, strength and redemption and attract other Christian authors who share our mission.
Novels
Our novels are based on our personal experiences in a style that we call “reality fiction.” This is in contrast to the media definition of reality fiction that underlies much of reality TV programing like Big Brother, Survivor, Bachelorette and others. These shows place people in a fictitious or contrived setting then watch how their lives play out in “reality.” Our reality fiction is the opposite. We base our stories on real situations then write a fiction story based on that reality and our experiences.
Christian Teachings Series
This series is based on our personal understanding of the Word as revealed to us through the Holy Spirit. Each teaching has been honed through our collaborative process.
Testimonies Series
This is a collection of personal witnesses of God working in our lives. These testimonies give glory to God for revealing Himself to us in a variety of ways.