Okay, so I’m not the only one who feels like this. We all do from time to time. What’s in my craw these days?
Of course I’d like to “keep” posting regularly to this blog. What’s keeping me from doing it? Too many things. The substack articles for one thing. I post the links here because the things I post there are very relevant to the issues of liberty. Maybe more relevant than one might think.
Also my other writing projects are squeezing me for time. My writer’s site AMHavens.com needs to be kept up. Who knows? I might write something worth reading someday. Well that and I am working on a couple of other projects.
One of these pertains to Joy and my scriptural research into this and related topics. The problem here is, when it comes to God’s Word, everything is relevant. Relevant to other topics. Relevant to life itself. God’s Word is certainly relevant to issues of liberty and our Constitutional Republic. Only this morning I saw a blatant analogy between the Body of Christ and our Republic. It’s mind boggling. I have no research on this other than decades of reading and studying scripture but for reference sake, read Ephesians chapter 2 and compare what it says to a body of self-governing citizens forming a nation.
Then there’s my fiction works. I have one book for a potentially “final” edit before sending it off to a line editor and the publishing. In addition to that I have several other projects I could be working on.
All of these, including both fiction and non-fiction projects could be published at one point and that brings me to a major decision point. What do I want to promote?
There are a couple of real-time considerations involved. This blog has yet to gather much steam at all. Is this because I’ve been lousy at promoting it or more that so few care about the topic? This latter reason is why I’m leaving off promoting Life Insurance “Dirty Little Secrets” for Consumers Revealed!. I might as well promote a book entitled “Pulling Your Own Teeth Just for the Fun of It.”. Yeah.
I’m not all that certain the Substack newsletter GOD and the Republic will fare any better. Time will tell… IF I can keep up the pace.
Then there’s the fiction works. The book I have in the works “No More Mr. Nice Guy.” is, if I may say so myself, pretty good. It is one of two novels I’ve completed. The other one, my first attempt, is unlikely to ever see publication. While the story and the novel itself will always be dear to my heart, I don’t think it would be received too well in this day and age, even (or especially) in Christian circles. (It is a Christian novel.)
Then there’s my newest project. I am only at the beginnings of this one so I won’t say much except I am very excited about it. It was “born” of an epiphany I had the other morning. Now that I think about it, the idea has been brewing for quite some time but on that day, it all jelled. The epiphany was similar to those I experienced with the first two novels so that is encouraging. Better yet, unlike my two previous efforts, I can see this idea as a continuing series with a wide appeal. It won’t appeal to everybody, but the concept could easily pique the interests of a wide range of people. What that boils down to is it may stand a good chance of being a commercial success and something I would feel comfortable promoting. What do I mean by that?
Take Life Insurance “Dirty Little Secrets” for Consumers Revealed! for instance. I’m glad I wrote that book. I’m glad it was the first book I published. All else aside, it is well worth reading for the intended audience. It is best suited for young couples with or planning on families or for individuals who already have life insurance. For all that, I can tell you from a great deal of personal experience the very people who need this information most have near zero interest in reading about it. Many of them may even want to get life insurance but, gee, do they have to learn a bunch of insurance stuff? The answer would be a resounding NO if life insurance was sold properly but it is not. So, anyway, that is the problem there. I can see where promoting the book would be almost as discouraging as trying to convince people to consider their life insurance needs. They may need it and know they need it but they don’t want to hear it.
As for as the Christian novel is concerned, well, it revolves around some concepts that are not favorable these days. In addition to that, the story deviates enough from certain doctrines as to make it somewhat controversial. And I have no ideas, much less plans, for a sequel. For that matter, at this point I have no ideas for any other Christian novel.
Then there’s No More Mr. Nice Guy. It may or may not sell well. I think the story is engaging enough to be enjoyable. Again, I have no where to go as far as another book is concerned. As with the Christian title, I’ve no ideas for anything in that genre.
So with these three examples, can you see where I’m going here? Why promote what may well be “one hit wonders”, IF they have any appeal at all? While I do have other projects I work on from time to time that do have potential to become series, this last one is something I feel has all the elements.
The next thing I had to ask myself is “is commercial success all that important?” The answer is no, at least not financially. Don’t get any ideas. It’s not that I am well off but rather my financial needs are few. Sure, if my bank account swelled up to dizzying levels, I’d make some changes, but if my income relative to my current standard of living remains level, I’ll do just fine. Nor do I have any great desire for fame. In fact, I’d likely hate it. While I doubt I’d have any problems appearing on an interview (hey, I don’t have to look at me!), I rather like going places and doing things as just another person. What commercial success does mean to me is validation. If I perpetuate any stereotype at all it is the “insecure writer”. Maybe I’ve earned it. (See?) It would just be nice to know that thing I’ve done all my life, that thing that is so much a part of me – writing – is worth reading to someone other than myself.
Add to that the fact that I have no “credentials” when it comes to writing on scriptural topics. I’m just an average believer in Christ. What do I know about godly things? When it comes right down to brass tacks, I have nothing and know nothing more than what’s available to any of my siblings in Christ. The only thing I can really call uniquely my own is my perspective.
I don’t need credentials to write fiction. All I need is a good story and the ability to tell it well. So what does all this mean?
If you’ve stayed with me this far, you can probably guess my biggest challenge. It’s me. Yeah, I’m longwinded all right. Worse, I write slow. With so many things on my plate through nobody’s fault but my own, I need to make some choices. I don’t want to discourage anyone stopping by here but I’ve been where you are myself. I stop by a blog from time to time only to find out there’s nothing new posted. So let me as a favor…
Anyone reading this, if you would like me to continue posting here, please leave a comment or drop my a line at the email address at the top right of this screen. I do answer emails.
God bless,
Andy
Sean? Sorry, but WAY back when I was just a young man, I went to this annual camping event sponsored by a Christian ministry. It was attended by thousands of believers. I remember the head of the ministry, standing on state, berating the feds for snooping. He said something like “I know the FBI is here looking for guns and stuff. You won’t find any.” I don’t know what else he said but it wasn’t much. Of course we were shocked – this was over 40 years ago. I doubt if it was anything out of the ordinary even then for feds. Hoover, among others, sported a long history of trashing our Constitution.
