One of the most daunting thing for a fictional writer trying to break into the publishing world, in my opinion, is the selection of a genre. There are sooo many choices, especially if you’re self-publishing. You can broadly choose a genre, like fantasy, or mystery, or romance. And then you start whittling your genre down to focus on your book.
That all sounds well and good. For a newbie, however, it becomes a daunting task. Under fantasy is it dungeons and dragons or sci-fi? As a mystery, is there a recurring theme?
But I think the hardest generic genre is romance. It’s all encompassing whenever you have a relationship between a boy and a girl or a woman and a man or these days two women or two men. The setting determines the type of romance … western, Amish, historical, etc.
If you’re poking around Amazon books, you can readily find the romance section, open it up and discover 28 sub-genres ranging from action & adventure romances to western romances. But you won’t find Christian romance. The closest you’ll come is inspirational, with five very broad categories — Amish, contemporary, historical, mystery & suspense, and western & frontier.
I know it’s all about analytics. Those SEOs (search engine optimization) drive the analytics. Unfortunately, they make or break a book. It doesn’t matter how good or how bad it is, without the proper SEOs it will languish in the back room of the virtual bookstore. No one will find it. The conundrum has spawned a cottage industry where people who don’t read your book determine the right promotional words to drive potential readers your way. Of course, they charge, often more than the average indie author could ever recoup. Many traditional publishing houses employ SEOs in their package but remember, there are tradeoffs between going traditional and self publishing.
Sorry. That was a digression. Where I was going with this whole notion of Christian romance. It is a minefield. There are an estimated 43,000 or so Christian denominations worldwide tracing their roots to nine branches from the one early root. That’s 43,000 or interpretations on the code of Christianity. What is acceptable as Christian romance is debatable ranging from squeaky clean with no naughty words and, Lord forbid, moments of intimacy {I sometimes wonder if these Christians ever read the bible} to dealing with real life issues in a sometimes ugly presentation to show reconciliation.
Take my book My Name Is Sam … and Heaven Is Still Shining Through as an example. I have had reviewers in their Christian charity and mindset, let me know how disappointed they were. One said she couldn’t beyond the language. I went back to see what I had missed. There were about seven or eight instances of off color verbiage and I think the worst was “bullshit.” Another complained the pre-marital sex was problematic, completely overlooking the fact it was the reaction to the pre-marital sex — by both partners — that set in motion the very clean love story that followed. Questioning God and turning her back on Him after tragedy was another no no for another reader. She was young so I felt she never witnessed grief first hand.
T
he overwhelming response, however, has been positive, especially from pastors who have witnessed the sometimes ugly side of life with the parishioners. They saw God’s hand in the lives of the characters. So did many others.
Most Christian writers don’t want to preach to the choir. They want their words to resonate with all who read it. Unfortunately, most of the time they do.
That was my goal as well. I wanted the book to reach the soul not by preaching a story, but showing a story — a story that includes the message God loves you whether you realize it or not.
In that sense, My Name Is Sam … and Heaven Is Still Shining Through is not a Christian romance. It is a love story … Sam’s memoir like story of love, forgiveness, reconciliation, and restoration … and God’s persistent presence in Sam’s life through the skeptical times, the good times, and the bad times.
The challenge has been {and this is a challenge all writers face} getting the book into the right hands. In today’s world, as soon as you identify the book as a “Christian” or “Christian themed” novel, you lose a good chunk of potential readers, ironically the ones who might not only enjoy the novel but at least subliminally hear the message.
The prayer is always to let the words speak to the Truth.
My Name Is Sam … and Heaven Is Still Shining Through might not make page 1 on Amazon’s must read list. It may still be trying to make it’s way in the world. I certainly don’t expect to get rich. But if I can open just one reader’s heart to listen for God’s prompting, I would be the richest man on earth. And I’ll have a new friend in heaven.
If you’ve read the book, I would love your critique, as a comment or a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads. If you haven’t read the book, I hope you will consider doing so. Just follow the link or get a hold of me. It is available as a paperback, e-book on Kindle, and now as an audiobook on Audible. The “Christian” is there but it is silent. It’s all about the message.
THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: I’m scared of failure all the time, but I’m not scared enough to stop trying. — Ronda Rousey
A master carpenter who’d worked for the same builder for nearly 50 years announced he was retiring. The builder told him how much he appreciated his work and presented him with a $5,000 bonus. Then he asked if he would build just one more house. He owned a magnificent lot with a spectacular view and wanted to build a dream home there.
Our character is the house we live in, and it’s built piece by piece by our daily choices. Deceit, irresponsibility, and disrespect are like shoddy workmanship. Whenever we put in less than our best and ignore our potential for excellence, we create a future full of creaky floors, leaky roofs, and crumbling foundations.
When we began the “stay in place” in March we were all scrambling. Where can we go? How will my job situation be adapted? What will happen with school? How will church work? With whom can I be in contact? Why isn’t everyone wearing masks? What is safe and unsafe?
One of the faith-based rhythms that is important for people of faith is Sabbath. The need to truly rest. This is not about a day off or a time of doing nothing. It is a full appreciation for life and all the gifts God has given to us. Sabbath is the observance of those gifts and finding ways to celebrate those gifts fully in the moment and cease from the demands of the world.
As the Hebrew people were traveling through the wilderness, the observance of Sabbath was mentioned 16 times in the book of Exodus. The Hebrew people were experiencing their own pandemic with a wilderness time. God’s primary response to the people then was “remember the Sabbath.” God’s invitation to us in this time of pandemic is essentially no different – remember the Sabbath.
Holding my wife’s hand more often. I can be in the house all day with my wife but am I really “with” her? Holding her hand is a reminder she is my full attention in the moment.
Approach the throne room and respond with faith and not fear, knowing the promises of God and His mighty hand will hold us through any situation! Sometimes, all it takes is just one prayer to change everything. Something extraordinary happens when two or more agree together in prayer.
Fran is recovering from a partial hip replacement surgery. She is doing well, but needs prayers as the next steps in the process unfold.
Irene admits her depression is getting bad again and she feels like she is slipping into a dark place. “I hate asking but would y’all be able to say a prayer for me?”
Please pray for Tomi, a paralyzed woman struggling with infections and sepsis.
Cindy’s depression is back – big time. Prayers sought.
Please pray for Joe. He suffers from depression, anxiety, and self medication as he battles loneliness and isolation.
We come to You, Lord, because prayer is the least yet the greatest thing we can do for each other. When two or more are gathered in Your name, we confidently know You are with us. What better company can we have? You reign and we trust You! We may be broken and battered but know You heal and quiet the soul. You are the source for all that happens in our lives. We thank You for the progress being made. We thank You for the many blessings we have received this week. Some we unfortunately didn’t notice. Nonetheless, those blessings are ever-present in our lives. We thank You for healing. We thank You for slowing us down. We thank You for providing us our daily needs — no more and no less. We thank You for being with us, listening to us, walking with us on this journey. We thank You for the support of our family and friends … for seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary — sunrises, sunsets, flowers, kids laughing, adventures, good news amid the bad news. We especially thank You for standing with Fran, Naomi, Hunter, Joy, Charles, Elliot, and Kaleb. We know we can come to You with our concerns and they will be heard. Through Christ all things are possible. We lift up those family members and friends who are battling various physical, emotional, financial, career or spiritual issues and ask not for Your guidance and healing (although that would be welcomed) but to keep reminding us we are not alone in our battles. Specifically we lift up Darlene, Flora, Andrew, Irene, James, Simon, SV, Sean, Alicia, Tia, Meche, Tomi, Jonathan, Terry, Sean, Miranda, Miranda, Brianna, Mike, Wayne, Nikki, Danielle, Cindy, Craig, Ebony, Wayne, Diane, Deborah, McKenzie, Joe, Viviane, Deb, Nader, George, George, and all those needing Your healing and guiding touch. We pray for the families of all those You have called home. We grieve … You celebrate. We pray for obedience to Your Will so Your “Son” Light shines through us through the power of the Spirit. And we come to You through the confidence of the words taught by Your Son Jesus. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
I’ve been sharing snippets taken from 
In the joy that followed, I asked Karen how I did helping her focus and breathe. With a smile on her radiant face, she said I did well, but admitted if I had raised that finger and told her to focus and breathe one more time she was going to have the doctor chop off the finger! Transition will get you every time.
One thing I don’t like to do in this space is to interject politics. Your political view is yours; mine is mine. 
Ronald Reagan, who had not yet entered politics, gave his official endorsement to Goldwater shortly after my debate. I was in seventh heaven when Reagan emphasized the same issues I had raised such as the spread of Communism, taxes, and the national debt, and advocated limited government and aggressive tactics against the Soviet Union.
We have to do better. Look, we only go through life once. Isn’t it more joyful when we get along, even if it means agreeing to disagree. We don’t have to tear others down. We don’t have to migrate toward the negative. We have a choice to look some something good every day, even with our most ardent enemies.
New DUI Test
Professionally, I never grew up using formal outlines. In my world, deadlines became the bigger issue. I never had the luxury to map out a story on an outline storyboard. It typically was written on the fly in a relatively short time from notes chiseled in the mind or hastily written notes {like quotes}, only sometimes legible in retrospect.
If you remember, 
That’s my story for Jaynre. That’s my two cents worth. I agree planning and outlining are important with the caveat outlines are guides to help, not hinder the creative process. Let the creativity out. Let the words flow naturally. Writing is expression. It’s passion — your passion. Not a bunch of rules. Writing should bring you joy, not angst. If you use an outline, recognize it is just that a guide … not the finished product.
The one that struck me was the man who put on a new pair of shoes that morning, took the various means to get to work, but before he got there, he developed a blister on his foot. He stopped at a drugstore to buy a Band-Aid. That is why he is alive today.
Karen was so weak, but she was still stoic. We conference called the kids Tuesday afternoon with the news and they immediately dropped everything to make a quick arrival despite most being way out of town. All she wanted was to see her kids again.
I don’t know much about the mechanics of death, but I do know Karen faced it with grace and dignity. There was no apprehension. There was no tension in her hands.
Everyone grieves differently and at a different pace, but the commonality is grief has a way of muddling life. Your perspective becomes clouded. Every day activities look and feel differently. Often, it takes all your energy just to get out of bed. There is no such thing as a routine. Life looks more like a jigsaw puzzle straight out of the box. Emotions are raw and unpredictable.
During our memory walk, Karen had told me how much she loved the sunrise we had seen in Florida. She told me she was sad we wouldn’t see another. We had planned on going to the Jersey shore to see another one, but we never got around to it. So, one weekend in early November, I packed her up {one of the advantages of cremation} and we watched the sun rise over the ocean. It wasn’t the same, of course, but I felt her presence on a crystal clear, albeit chilly night turned morning.
Finally, I surrounded myself with positive, grounded people. In particular, we had a family friend who lost her husband to cancer a couple of years before Karen died. She had an editorial background, so I sought her out to help edit 40 Years of Memories. She turned out to be more than an editor. She became my mentor, walking me through the minefield of grief and lifting me up whenever I drifted back toward the dark side.
But I don’t think I would have changed anything substantively. I loved Karen just for being her … the way she was. And I know she loved me for just being me … the way I was … faults and all.
The Light 