Go ahead. You can ask it. "Why, if you really think your novel (s) will be a hard sell, do you go to the expense and effort to self-publish it/them?"
It's a good question and deserves an answer. So here it is. Most of you who visit here know my reading habits and/or genre choices. There are a few novels I've read that I elected not to review, but usually I give my opinion of the books I choose - or am obligated - to read. In all those novels I haven't yet read stories that dare to take an intimate look at sexual attraction, romance, and love the way that I do. Stare at it. Examine it from the world's point of view and contrast it to God's point of view. Look at characters in the world. Dive into their mindsets and physical conduct. Look at those who find or know Jesus and witness the struggle from the inside out to be up against sexual attraction where desire pulses through their pores. This might seem like a trivial issue to many. Perhaps to men in particular because they face this from their early youth and many of them in Christ must resolve to live with it or attempt to ignore it with some of them indulging it or persecuting themselves for it. This most powerful of urges that is splayed across television and movie screens, social media and magazine covers, billboards and the internet opportunities, this desire that God intended for optimum celebration of physical pleasure between two committed/married people: a man and a woman, has been corrupted and exploited by the sin that runs simultaneously through our bloodstream. How can we ignore its influence?
Men often get the short straw of romance. For some reason romance has been relevated to a position of provision. If you want "this", guys, you're gonna have to work for it. Gimme what I want, and I might give you what you want. Which certainly must take all the "romance" out of a sensual encounter and turn it into a contractual agreement reminiscent of prostitution. I like to give men their chance to relate to my male characters even if they never read the novels. It's called being real and looking at the strengths and weaknesses of both sexes in the love department - that includes the physical, emotional, and spiritual elements.
The Famous One looked at the life story of a kid with no idea of what he wanted out of life except for the love and beauty of a family that "got along" better than his own. Discovered while singing a blues song in a bar, he becomes a reluctant celebrity and an acclaimed actor. Along the journey to fame, he searches for love the only way he's ever known and keeps coming up empty. The romance is hot and heavy (not graphic), and the rewards grow slim until . . . Anyway it's his story. If I might brag just a bit here: Robert Liparulo endorsed this self-published book which he read and enjoyed. (Thank you, Robert.)
Breath of Life features another man, divorced and disillusioned, cynical and wounded, who begins to see a hint of hope in a lovely woman that he spots occasionally outside the building where he takes a coffee break from his office in downtown Seattle. It's a love story of two lonely people who find not only each other but face spiritual struggles in the process of falling in love. Now I'm going to reveal who wrote the blurb for Breath of Life: J. Mark Bertrand. (Thank you, Mark.) I'm honored that both of these men chose to read and endorse two self-published novels outside their preferred genres.
I won't give you the dollar figure to produce the three novels I've self-published. Suffice it to say I'm still amazed that the Lord provided the funds for my endeavors in spite of the mistakes made early. I believe these stories serve a purpose. If few people read them, what does it matter you ask? Stripped down, writing is an act of obedience. If you're given stories, you write them. You work on them to make them poignant, strong, real, or whatever your definition of a good story includes. Then you pursue the accepted course of publishing - as I did - and make your judgments and decisions based on your experiences.
I love the characters in these stories and in all of my four other completed novels and my three in-progress. What can I say? I know what I like to read, and I haven't found much of it in the overall romance genre, so I decided to write them. My newest WIP is a mystery/police procedural stationed back at the racetrack. Don't know if I'm up to the task, but I've got a good start on it. We'll see what the Lord does with it - because my writing "philosophy" is summed up in this scriptural reference: Apart from Him, I can do nothing. He owns me. He owns my books and stories. The situation is in His hands. Call it cliché, if you like. Doesn't change the truth of the matter.
Father, I surrender it all to you. Again and again. All of it. All the time. To you. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.