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You may have heard me say that this new journey I’m on is one big learning curve. That, or something similar to that, and it really is! Right now I’m in a new phase of learning, and that phase is what happens once I’ve finished a manuscript.

I realize, of course, that I’ve finished two manuscripts now, and so I’ve been through this process before, but it’s still a time of learning. What has been similar about the process? What has been different? What will be normal? That’s something I’m still not sure of. What was unusual? Those are the things I’m figuring out.

When I finished the manuscript for book two, I was tired. Physically, mentally…just worn out. I took some time off to play in my garden, sit down at the piano, watch a movie. Something I really wanted was to read laugh out loud books, so I started looking for some of those. I chose to read in the romance category since that’s where I’m placing my books…I could say more on that because I feel like that’s not the only possible category for my work, but I won’t digress any further right now.

I found some great ones, by the way. Laugh out loud books. The very best one was Sister Betty Says I Do. Oh my gosh. You should check it out. Good clean fun right there.

And in all that, I took time off from writing.

Now, let me clarify. Time off from writing (for me) means time off from punching the keyboard and putting words into a manuscript. My brain, whenever it has free time, is still thinking about all the other story ideas I’ve got, jostling them around, tweaking and turning them, trying to decide what’s next. Because you see, I thought I knew what book number three was going to be…but when I finished book number two, I was no longer so sure.

But having been through the process of finishing a manuscript once, I knew I just needed to give myself time to relax, recoup, and refresh. I let my mind wander at will. I read several of those belly laugh Christian romances I looked up, which did wonders to refresh me. And I prayed.

All throughout this whole new endeavor in my life, I’ve firmly believed that God is in control and that He’s guiding me. In that, I have sought to do His will.

Some may want to quietly roll their eyes over God caring about romance fiction, but it’s a very popular genre and has the capability of reaching a lot of people. Nothing wrong with that. There’s a lot in the genre that isn’t great, but again, I shouldn’t digress…

Anyway, one day recently during an event, some little tidbit of information that I was busily tucking away into my brain sparked the seed of an idea. And that seed of an idea blossomed into further ideas. And those further ideas generated the need for some research, and notes in a notebook. And so I’m off and running once again.

Will book three end up using this information? No idea at this point. But this is where I am in the process, and I will see it through until other or better direction leads me elsewhere.

I appreciate your support and your prayers as I seek to write quality fiction that can be enjoyed by Christians and their non-Christian friends alike. In the romance category and beyond.

SPOILER ALERT!
Please note that I briefly discuss aspects of the plot of “Right Where They Belong: Sutton Series Book 1” in this article.

I had an interesting thing happen on Saturday. A Christian bookstore declined to carry my book because they found a curse word in it.

I explained that one of the main characters isn’t a Christian at the beginning of the book and that, in fact, the book is the story of his journey to Christ. It contains his conversion. His language is one of the aspects of his life that he works on and deals with on his journey.

The book has just a handful of these occurrences and never uses the f-bomb.

I knew this would come–that the most conservative among readers wouldn’t want to have such language in their reading material. I understand and respect this choice, but it did cause me to start thinking.

Jesus’ line of work is sinners, right? In Mark 2:17, He said, “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” As a current Christian, I rejoice when someone comes to Christ–when they become my brother or sister eternally. I also know that they, like I, have a lifelong road ahead of them fighting sin and seeking to be more Christ-like.

If I were to reject them because they are still working on the language aspect of their journey, what kind of message would that send? Am I encouraging and exhorting, or am I condemning?

Am I expecting them to be perfect immediately? Am I perfect–ever? Do I perhaps expect them to be where I am in the journey? Is that realistic?

I am saved, but I am still a sinner. I still fight sin in my life and struggle with it. What if I don’t cuss, but I have another sin that I struggle with? What if a fellow Christian rejects me, rather than encouraging and exhorting me, because of that sin? How will I feel about myself? How will I feel about them? If my faith thread feels tenuous to me, will such a behavior strengthen or weaken it?

All this leads me to another thought. If we are going to reject language as an unreadable sin, what other sins will we reject in our reading material? Alcohol? Stealing? Lying? Sexual immorality? Murder? Gluttony? Where will we draw the line on what sinful behaviors we refuse to acknowledge in our art?

Sin is ugly, but it is REAL. We don’t stop struggling with it when we accept the gift of salvation. On the contrary, we may struggle more because God is opening our eyes to its presence in our lives. If all we are willing to read about is Christians who do things perfectly–or new converts who don’t actually struggle with anything at all their lives–will either of those scenarios resonate with any of us, since we are most assuredly struggling with something in our own lives?

Would those kinds of sanitized stories be appealing to the seeking, whose lives most definitely aren’t sanitized?

To be sure, these ugly realities can be dealt with in an ugly way, and they often are. But they can also be dealt with in a realistic way without leaving the reader feeling sullied.

I realize we all have different levels of tolerance for the things that might leave us feeling sullied. This is where I’d like to hear your thoughts.

When you read the book, I’d like your honest opinion on how I did with Marcus and his journey toward faith. Did the representation of his struggle with language leave you feeling sullied, or did it feel honest?

I honestly look forward to hearing from you.