Reflections from book signings

Second guessing is my new pastime

This past month has been an interesting and educational one for me. My novel, The Excalibur Parchment, was published in November and I have been busy doing launch parties, book signing events, interviews and the like.

It’s been interesting and education since, for once, the product I am marketing and publicizing is ME! Up until now, I have been involved in PR campaigns and media stories for others—individuals, organizations, causes, campaigns, events and the like. Never before have I had such a stubborn client unwilling to listen to advice such as me! I second guess myself all the time. I like one idea, only to fob it off the next day. I agree with myself that a particular campaign or release or communication would be idea…but who’s going to do it? I am too busy with other things!

In spite of my intransigence, it has been a busy month.  Book signings have proved very interesting. I am grateful to all who bought the book but I am especially grateful to those who asked “what’s the book about?” It has made me focus on the core story and forced me to stop wandering down the laneways of side stories, back stories and irrelevancies.

One bookstore owner looked at me with scepticism.  She was worried that it would be too preachy for her secular store. I gave her a copy to read first. Her enthusiasm (“Gripping read; this will be an easy sell”) elevated my own confidence in the book. Since then, rave reviews on Amazon in the US and Canada have made comparisons between my writing style or the plot to some of this generation’s top thriller-suspense novelists. Gratifying but also scary!  How can I live up to expectations if others read the reviews, then buy the book but don’t feel the comparisons are justified? Like I said, second guessing myself has become the plot du jour this month. A psychologist would have a field day inside my head. (Come to think of it, what would make this month any different for him?)

The busyness has also pulled me away from the middle of book two of the trilogy. Guilt sets in as I push to market #1 while neglecting completion of #2 and initial plotting of #3. I second guess myself all the time as to where I am placing my emphasis and am I stretching myself too thin. So far, my answers depend upon my mood of the day, the weather, position of the moon and the conjunction of the stars. In other words, I am all over the map on these issues on a daily basis. But above it all, I am confident in one thing. I believe strongly that God led me to write this book and that my own puny efforts to market pale into insignificance with what he has planned for me. It is humbling to realize that while he expects me to work hard at all aspects of this project, the ultimate success is his, not mine; the glory is to him, not me.

I have also been encouraged to break out of the bookstore milieu.  Many bookstores, particularly Christian ones unfortunately I find, are uninterested in working with authors to build traffic in their stores. The effort is too much for them. They’d rather just sit back and hope that people come in and buy. That’s okay for major chains like Chapters, but surely smaller bookstores need to be creative and work harder to build traffic, not sit by passively and hope. Thankfully, my local bookstore owner is forward thinking and was a delightful (and delighted) host for a book signing.

So I did a book signing at a coffee house in downtown Toronto and had a great reception there. (Plus I didn’t have to supply goodies and drinks). One lady spent a long time drilling me for information on how she could get her own book on budget travel for single women published. I offered my advice and we talked some more. She left without buying my book, but she left happy and encouraged which is just as good. The coffee store experience was so positive I am looking forward to doing similar events at other non booky locations in the New Year.  So the first month has been, as I said, interesting and educational. It has also been humbling and provocative, challenging and exhausting. All in all though, I am gratified for all the experiences and conversations.

But now it’s time to slow down, sip some eggnog and enjoy the Christmas season.  The Excalibur Parchment, The Lucifer Scroll and The Madoc Treaty are waiting for me in the New Year. No doubt I’ll second guess this decision then, but in the meantime its carols and Christmas trees, stockings and surprises for me. Happy holidays!

Samhein. The Real Halloween

 

Halloween’s Back Story

In my novel The Excalibur Parchment, the Druid zealots who have global domination ambitions, plot to overturn democracy with a horrific act of terrorism in the heart of London. Significantly, they plan their bloody attack around Samhein. Or, what we would call, Halloween.

There is a vague understanding in modern society that there is a connection between the supernatural and Halloween. After all, we focus on ghosts, ghouls, zombies and the like as part of our “celebration”. Me, I prefer to focus on the candies! (I was a mean Dad. Went through all the candies my kids brought home and sifted through, eliminating the ones they could have or not have. I admit that safety and nutrition were not always my motivations. Sometimes I kept the best for me!)

So what was Samhein anyway? An encyclopedia of religion stated that Samhein (pronounced so-wee, sow-wayn or saw-win) is the night Druids and Wiccans believe the barriers between our world and the supernatural underworld are broken. That’s why ghosts, ghouls and zombies are so prominent. It is the Druids’ Feast of the Dead. For Wiccans and witches, it is also their ‘New Year’s’.

There are rituals during this time to contact dead ancestors, perform ancestor meditation, and rituals to honour the mother goddess (known as Crone) and the god (known as the Horned One. There are even rituals to indoctrinate children into the old religion.

Celtic Druids were followers of those old gods. They worshipped nature—as exemplified by the mother goddess, a forerunner of Mother Nature—and a head-spinning variety of other gods. Historians believe that at last count the Druids revered more than 370 gods of all kinds (though most of them are believed to be local deities). There are about 30 gods who were spread across the pantheon of the Celtic world. Among them were Awawn, god of the dead and the underworld; Cerunnos, god of the underworld and The Horned One; Danu, the mother goddess of the Tuatha De Danaan (who make an appearance in The Excalibur Parchment but take a more prominent role in Book Two, The Lucifer Scroll); Belenos, god of the sun and light; Ogmios, god of eloquence and communication and Taranis, god of war and thunder.

To the Druids of today and the followers of Wicca, Samhein is one of four focal celebrations during the year. It is not only the feast day of the dead and a new year, it is recognition of the fall harvest season and the beginning of winter. Because the veil between life and death, this world and the world of the dead, is broken during this time, it was traditional for strange things to happen symbolizing that world breach. So, men dressed as women, farm gates were unhinged and left in ditches, children would bang on doors and then run away or, better yet, demand food. In other words, the precursors of today’s trick or treating and Halloween pranks.

The dead were honoured not as dead people, but as living spirits who were guardians and guides to wisdom for the followers. For those who were properly and ritually prepared it was a time when journeys could be made “to the other side”.

So Halloween is not just a fun day filled with merriment, costumes and candy. It has its roots deep within the pagan belief system of the Druids. It is coated with satanic rituals, pantheistic beliefs and deviltry. Even today, a quick internet search will unearth modern Druidry websites complete with explanations of their beliefs and outlines of their rituals and their modern day celebrations of Samhein around the world.

By all means, enjoy your costumes and candy in a few weeks.

Just remember the pagan background of the holiday.

A place in history

The King cracks Time’s 100 list (and no, it’s not Elvis!)

I am always amused as I watch pompous self-important historians pontificate on various aspects of history. The Hittites, they argued, never existed but were in fact the products of over active imaginations in the writing of Hebrew Scriptures. There never were a people known as the Hittites, they argued, and therefore The Bible (yet again) was wrong!

Then those same pompous nits were left scrambling to explain themselves when irrefutable proof came to light showing that the Hittites did indeed exist and were actually an empire bigger than Egypt and one of Egypt’s greatest enemies.

All of this to say that it is very interesting to read this month’s latest list from Time Magazine. It is a list of the 100 most significant people in history. Now, we can argue about the criteria that the magazine used to compose the list and we can certainly argue about placement on the list. But what is most interesting to me is that King Arthur made it onto the list.

Yes, Arthur, who was High King of Britain, comes in at number 85! This king, whom many argue is a myth and either never existed or is a compilation of various other warlords and chieftains in the Dark Ages, made it onto a list of significant historical figures in the year of our Lord 2014. He places just below such other significant individuals as President John F. Kennedy (76) and Richard Nixon (82).

But he places ABOVE such notables as Michelangelo (86), President Harry Truman (94), Pope John Paul II (91), Otto Von Bismarck (97) and theologian John Calvin (99).

Some others on the list: Henry VIII (11), Queen Elizabeth I (13), Queen Victoria (16), Julius Caesar (15), King David of Israel (57), the Apostle Peter (65),  and William the Conqueror (70).

All of this is interesting to me. When I wrote my novel The Excalibur Parchment I noted that a sea change is beginning to occur amongst some historians. Slowly, as they begin to really study and understand the so-called Dark Ages, they are picking up strong evidence that King Arthur did in fact exist and was indeed High King of all Britain. And, if Arthur was real, why could Excalibur also not be real. They are beginning to figure out that the so-called 'Dark Ages' were only dark because the people of the day lived mostly by oral tradition rather than written. Thus there was very little 'hard' proof of peoples' existence, lives or achievements. Yet as they now probe deeper and use modern technology and processes they are finding out that these dark age peoples were in fact creative, advanced, interesting and very, very real. And not just in Britain, but in other parts of the non-European world as well. New civilizations are coming to light and we are "amazed" at how progressive and intelligent they all were. Or is it that our academics are just so tunnel-visioned that when things don't line up in pre-conceived patterns they prefer to ignore rather than explore? Just saying.

And I am intrigued that it is not just Time underscoring The Excalibur Parchment, when I see the spread of pantheistic and even pagan religions such as Wicca. Here in Canada there is a renewed emphasis on First Nations' spirituality and Shamans are often included in ceremonial events that normally called for Protestant, Roman Catholic and Jewish participation. Now the Shamans also participate in 'blessing' an event along with representatives of the Sikh, Hindu, Buddhist and other religions. All in the name of inclusion, of course.

Specifically, in the past few years Druidry has been recognized by the British government as an official religion. A group known as The Druid Network won charity status as a religion and is listed in the official survey of religious beliefs in Britain. While various Celtic cultural events such as the famous Welsh Eisteddfods always included people dressed in Druid garb and reading poetry, these are often cultural druids (or people dressed up and performing) rather than worshippers of the Druid religion. But today, across Britain and Ireland and in Brittany, France, real Druids exist and the Druid religion with its worship of the old gods is increasing. 

So Arthur is real. Excalibur is (probably) real and Druids are indeed a recognized religion.

Fiction and non-fiction are beginning to collide methinks!

(Oh, and for those interested. Number one on the list of most significant historical figures was Jesus Christ. Elvis Presley came in at 69)

Spiritual Wolves. Identify and Confront them

Writing the tough ones

Writing is never easy. Particularly when you are dealing with very difficult and often painful subject matter

My good friend Coleman Luck has tackled that problem and, in my opinion, delivered a well-written, well-researched and much needed book. “Day of the Wolf: Unmasking and confronting wolves in the church” is a look at the difficult subject of painful, in-church dynamics and politics. Specifically, Cole looks at those who prey upon the “sheep” in the flock that is the church. These ‘spiritual wolves’ are endemic in the church. They are people who use the goodness and fair-mindedness and, yes, the love of most people inside a church body in order to further their own greedy grasp for power.

What struck me about the book is that as I read along, I began to identify—by name—individuals I had known who exhibited all the traits of spiritual wolves. They were individuals  who amassed followings of unthinking church goers who were awed by skill, looks, talent or sheer force of will and unblinkingly began to ‘follow’, aiding and abetting,  as their idols systematically destroyed and abused other church goers who refused to drink the kool aid.

As Cole wrote, he was cognizant that this book would not be well received in some circles. He relates experiences from his own church going background and his experiences as a Hollywood producer and writer. He tells tales that are not easy to hear.  He makes some harsh, yet justified, criticisms of the culture of celebrity that comes from the Hollywood milieu and has infiltrated the church—particularly the music scene. It is not pleasant reading and, I am sure, not pleasant writing.Yet he persisted driven, I believe, by the knowledge that this was a book that needed telling. If you have been in church circles where people (perhaps even you) have been hurt, this is a book that brings light to those aching moments. It is, in a strange way, affirming. You are not alone, thank God! You are not the only one who’s suffered under a wolf’s destructive attacks.

“Day of the Wolf” may not make Christianity Today’s list of top books for 2014 (though it should) but for me it is one of the top books of the decade. I strongly urge you to buy it and read it (check it out on Amazon). You won’t be disappointed.

Independence and national desires

 

The thing about independence

We are on the eve of a historic vote in Scotland.

After more than 300 years and shared history, the Scots are about to decide on a referendum to reverse this and proclaim independence from the United Kingdom. At this point is seems, as Wellington said at Waterloo (where he heavily depended on his Scottish forces) “a near run thing”. Tomorrow we will find out whether the Yes or No side prevailed.

When I wrote The Excalibur Parchment I postulated (in the words of a Druid leader) about the growing movements for independence around the world. She reveled in the fact that in Wales and Scotland an independence movement was mounting and that similar demands were popping up in Brittany in France and Cornwall in England. She notes too that Quebec and the Kurdish people are demanding nationhood while the Czechs and Slovaks, Bosnians and Serbs had already achieved their goals. All this was written before the Scots decided to proceed with their referendum.

What is it that leads people groups firstly to coalesce around a shared heritage and, secondly, to create a sense of nationhood that ultimately results in the calls for separation and independence? Is it simply a return to the old tribal or clan mentality that some have suggested? Or is it something deeper; a yearning for a simpler and more controllable present and future? Certainly the current globalization has complicated our lives and made us more and more vulnerable. Big Brother is alive and well and we fear him. (I wonder if Orwell was mocked and ridiculed when he wrote 1984; that his premise was ridiculous and could never happen).

It is perhaps a combination of the fear of the uncontrolled future and a rose-coloured view of the past that powers these independence drives. On an individual level we do it, don’t we? ‘Back then’ we remember all things were good; the weather was perfect, everyone was safe and life was wonderful. So too, when the ‘tribe’ or ‘clan’ was our primary governance model it was closer to those affected and there was a greater sense of being and of control. Those were the good old days, the days when heroes walked the face of the earth protecting the people.

Ah, that it was so. The reality is that often there was incredible grinding poverty, starvation and most certainly vulnerability on the political end of the spectrum. The sad reality is that these small ‘nations’ and tribes and clans began to merge into larger units in order to survive. It is the way of human history. From the beginning of time and the onset of evil, people have preyed on each other.  Being a big nation or small tribe was no protection against the ravages of an ever changing and, basically, malevolent world.

That’s the ultimate power behind the pagan Druids as they seek to manipulate the ebb and flow of history in The Oak Grove Conspiracies. There is an evil force in this world—our Druids were part of it—and it is deeper and more intrusive than even a fictional band of Druids can imagine.  I believe firmly that Satan and his demonic forces are indeed real and increasingly impacting our world. Here’s just a few of the groups exhibiting the uncontrolled hatred and violence that marks their controller regardless of their religious (or non-religious) background: Hamas, ISIS, Boko Haram, Al Queda and its various offshoots, Hezbollah, Al Shabaab and others. Then there are the political, economic and territorial machinations of the Putin regime trying to destroy the independent Ukraine having already seized Crimea. 

Seeking independence in and of itself is not a bad thing. But if big nations are falling prey to the economic trial and tribulations of today’s global economy, never mind the malicious machinations of satanic groups, what hope do smaller more vulnerable peoples have?

Independence—whether for the Scots or the Welsh or any other group—has a profound rallying heart pull on the people. Shared heritage and history, cultural and linguistic ties are incredibly strong and are a hugely motivating force, sometimes against the harsh realities of this 21^st century world.

For all their longing for a misty long distant past, the Scots have also to remember an equally profound and glorious history as part of a united kingdom. They have had a lot to think about and consider these past months. Tomorrow will tell the tale.

Whatever they decide, one thing is sure. Yes or No, I will still love the bagpipes. And I will still love Scotch eggs and yes, even haggis!

Fiction vs Non Fiction

They made an impression

The other day I had the privilege of doing a radio interview on “Arts Connection” on FaithFM with Robert White. (You can listen in on my website www.barriedoyle.com). Rob asked me a very interesting question that got me thinking deeper than I was able to within the span of the few seconds the interview provided.

Very simply, he asked me what books had influenced me in my writing career. On the spur of the moment I suppose most of us could trot out the ‘standards’—The Bible, War and Peace, Shakespeare, and so on. But it is a good question that deserves deeper thought.

What books influenced you when you were growing up? For me, I remember reading, no devouring, books by Arthur Ransome. Swallows and Amazons, Winter Holiday, Coot Club and his many other stories about young kids spending holidays in the Lake District and Norfolk Broads of England. It was a time of freedom, adventure and little parental or adult interference. Camping on a deserted island and sailing across the lakes with a bunch of kids with vivid imaginations. John and Susan, Nancy and Peggy were pirates and explorers. So what if it was the mid-30’s England and I was in Canada in the 50’s! The stories were real and captured my imagination.

Then there was C.S. Lewis and his Narnia stories. I graduated from them to Lewis’ seminal works such as Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters. Interestingly, I was not as fond of his science fiction trilogy even though others loved them.  From Lewis I moved on to the glory and wonder of Middle Earth with J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. I try to read those books every couple of years and have loved Peter Jackson’s rendering of the stories (recognizing that movies can never provide the depth that books do, simply skimming the surface and adapting the stories for visual and cinematic reasons). I cannot wait for the conclusion to The Hobbit this Christmas.

As I reflect on these books, I realize that I was always enraptured by good solid storytelling. There are hundreds if not thousands of other authors who have also enthralled me with good stories. And, if there is one common denominator it is this: all those stories identified human situations and as stories embedded in life, they also reflect humanity with all its triumphs and failures. Whether these books were written with an underlying Christian world view or not, the really good stories document the gospel in action—sin, courage, love, redemption and forgiveness among them.

Tolkien’s masterpiece exemplifies this. Frodo is challenged to undertake a perilous journey. So are we. He is bucked by malevolent forces and tested to the extreme. As are we in our life journey. He is guided by a kindly, loving, powerful man named Gandalf. So are we and his name is Jesus. Frodo is surrounded by loyal friends who go to the wall with him. We have them too—family and friends who love us unreservedly and who will support us to the end. And finally, Frodo achieves his quest and is given the ultimate reward of immortality. We too have the same ultimate reward.

Too many of my friends brag about the fact that they are “not into fiction” and never read fiction. And I feel badly for them that they lose so much by not taking the time to relish good fiction and become part of a new and different world. Good friends they will remain, but they miss out by not cracking open a good story that paints the human condition in rousing ways. They miss out on stretching their imaginations. They don’t get to observe the ultimate endings of stories. They never get to enjoy imaginary friends who feel like they do, suffer like they do, accept challenges and succeed like they do.

There is a place for non-fiction. I spent my career as a journalist and public relations executive telling the true stories of real people. But in the back of my mind always, was the thought that there is something more, something missing in the human condition if that’s all we concentrate on. The human mind was conceived by God to embrace both reality and imagination. If we shut one element off, we deplete the power of the other.

Put it another way. All music—classical, opera, rock, country—is fiction; it is created from nothing. Yet not one of my non-fiction friends would argue that they are not “into” music because there is no such thing as ‘non-fiction music’. The same applies to art. So why do they think that missing out on fiction is somehow good and to be celebrated?

Sure there’s good non-fiction but there is also some really bad non-fiction. And, conversely, there is also some bad—sometimes grossly bad—fiction. But that too is life.

My challenge to you is two-fold. First, identify the books (stories and novels) that first impacted you and made and impression. Then explore the exciting world of writing and discover new books that will charm and challenge you.

For me, I have two more books in the Oak Grove Conspiracies trilogy to write. The Excalibur Parchment is almost ready for its debut; The Lucifer Scroll and The Madoc Treaty are in the hopper. More suspense thrillers I hope my non-fiction reading friends will enjoy.

But first I think I will brew a good cup of coffee (thank you Keurig) and curl up on a hill overlooking the Lake District in England and enjoy the adventures of John and Susan and Roger and the rest of the Swallows and Amazons gang. I need some more inspiration.

Ikea and new technology

Ikea and new technology

I have to admit that I am ambivalent towards the furnishings giant Ikea. On the one hand, there is no doubt they have great products. On the other hand, their stuff is a pain to put together.

Having said that, their advertising is often brilliant, bordering on the cheeky at times. Case in point: their latest “BookBook” campaign. It’s a poke (well deserved) at the ‘nerdy-look-at-me-I’m-much-trendier-than-you’ approach of techno giants such as Apple. In their minds, you have to have the latest gizmo or feature and they regularly add ‘features’ that suddenly become ‘must haves’. 

Ikea introduces the outrageous notion that books—yes ordinary books—are a technological wonder. They store information, easy to share, easy to search and bookmark, not need for plugs or wifi, and so on. And it is all done with Ikea’s trademark sense of humour.

But it does bring about some interesting thoughts. Books, hard copy printed materials, may just be making a comeback after too many computer or ebook crashes, internet malfunctions, gigantic data bills and hacking issues. And why not. Books are simple, easy to use (no manual needed—and if you did need a manual, it would be a book!) cost efficient, found everywhere online or in brick and mortar stores. It’s an idea whose time has come!

Not too long ago, the techno revolution swamped the concept of vinyl LP records in favour of compact disks which were then swamped by mp3 and itunes. The sound was said to be inferior. Now, however, vinyl is making a comeback and it is said to be superior to CD’s and digital offerings.

The wheel is turning. It’s not just troglodytes embracing the joy of holding a book in hand, turning the pages and revelling in a good story.

There’s hope for me yet. 

Lessons from the Ice Bucket

Lessons from the ice bucket

Unless you are living in a sealed environment you have seen, challenged or been challenged to the ice bucket fundraising for ALS. Some have had fun with it. I have seen some very creative responses. Some have argued with it and denigrated it. I have seen sometimes poignant and sometimes offensive objections to the ice box challenge.

This post is not about the rights or wrongs of the ice bucket challenge. Rather, I want to reflect upon the astounding success—the viral success—of the challenge. It is not the first such campaign to consume the social media world of course, nor will it be the last. But it makes me wonder about the thinking that causes one item go viral while something else does not.

It's not just good causes that go viral. Conspiracies theories develop a life of their own on social media. False stories, political claptrap and faked photos and videos do the rounds, die away, and then miraculously do the rounds again. The thing is, people get sucked in time and time again and never seem to be able to differentiate good from bad, true from false.

Could it be that a large majority of people today, all over the world, have lost the power of discernment? Could it be that the concept of independent thinking has been so beaten out of people (metaphorically speaking of course) that people have become like sheep and follow a fad, a trend, a person, a cause, without thought? Social media provides anonymous and somehow unconnected connections to coalesce around situations or concepts. Yet here I am, using social media to promote my thoughts and give a platform for my books.

As I said, this is not about the ALS ice bucket challenge, but the challenge does illustrate the point. Someone somewhere poured a bucket of cold water on someone else’s head to raise money for a cause. Others saw it and copied it. For a while it was a unique and creative thing. Now it has become de rigueur for celebrities, politicians, and athletes to promote themselves while taking the challenge. There is a “me too” or “monkey see monkey do” narcissism about this social media stuff that sometimes makes me cringe. Why do we have this incessant desire to copy what others do or say? It’s been a question for time immemorial. Moses had that problem in the desert when the Children of Israel worshiped a golden calf. The Spanish Inquisition, Stalinesque communism and even the current ISIS holocaust in Iraq provided the masses with an unthinking, follow-the-leader-and-forget-about-truth mentality that resulted in utterly evil destruction of peoples and society.

Social media, like mass media, has the capacity to do great good or great harm in our modern world. It can spread truth or evil. It can promote or destroy. One careless comment on Twitter has already ruined careers and caused employment loss for hundreds, perhaps thousands. Deserved? Sometimes, perhaps. But as Jesus pointed out, only cast the stones if you yourself have never uttered or shared offhand or insensitive remarks. I, for one, would not be able to meet that standard.

The missing link is discernment and rational thought. Why do people carelessly “retweet”, “like” or “share” without taking a moment to think about it? Is it out of line to suggest that a little research, a little scrutiny, a little sceptical thinking be utilized before carelessly spreading a story?

Let me close with an illustration. I mentioned false stories. I was inundated a couple of years ago with heartfelt pleas from my Canadian friends via email and Facebook to stand up against evil, anti-Christian thinking in government that was planning to remove the phrase “In God we trust” from our currency. Really? Canadian currency has no such statement anywhere. Never has. But my Canadian friends thoughtlessly spread this nonsense (which obviously emanated from the United States which does have that statement) without considering either the truth behind it or who initiated this fabricated nonsense.

I sometimes despair for the human race.

Kudos for the money raised for ALS (a despicable disease) and other causes that have benefited from the ice bucket challenge.

Despite that, I will be my usual skeptical journalistic self and question the veracity of a lot of the junk that passes across the social media.

But before I do, I am going to my ice bucket, take a chunk of ice and drop it into my drink.

Cheers.

What drives publishers today? Amish Vampires?!

When I began flogging my newly finished manuscript “The Excalibur Parchment”, I knew it would be a rough ride. Publishers don’t like “debut” authors today. Particularly if they are unknown. Oh, the odd one makes it—and good for them—but for the bulk of us it is a long, hard, frustrating, debilitating, soul-destroying, manic depressive journey. (Do you get the idea it is tough?) Fair enough. But a harsh reality showed up on the radar. Publishing—particularly in the Christian field—has undergone a sea change. And I am not talking about the technological changes that are impacting the industry. Nor am I talking about the change in media platforms that such technology is bringing about.

Rather, it appears that the major houses have learned from their secular counterparts and from the Hollywood mentality that only one thing matters. Money and profit. It is not enough to have a message any more. It is not enough to create something to entertain, inform, educate or minister. No. Today you have to jump through some new hoops: is the book written by a celebrity, sports personality, politician or megachurch pastor? Or, does it fit under the new flavor-of-the-year type of book we (the publishers) have decided is the “in” thing.

Let me give you an example of the latter type of thinking. My agent told me that the hot thing for publishers these days is Amish romance! A good friend of mine, a Hollywood screenwriter and producer, told me he’d had a conversation with an executive of a major Christian publisher who told him the same thing. The publisher’s rationale was simple. Only middle-aged women read and go into bookstores and that’s what they want ergo that’s all the publisher will produce in the fiction line.I checked it out in bookstores in various parts of the United States and Canada. Sure enough, there were rows and rows of Amish romance novels. Hundreds of them. More Amish romance than I think there are Amish people.

But who’s reading them. I have spoken with hundreds of women—of all ages—who are avid readers. None have read, or want to read, Amish romances. Nor is it confined to Christian publishing. I noted that Danielle Steele, one of the most successful secular romance writers, has produced an Amish romance!

The answer I believe is what drives Hollywood and most of the entertainment industry today. Simply put, it is “monkey see, monkey do!” If one book (or movie or TV show) is successful, we soon find a plethora of copycats. This is why the current movie trend is for comic book characters translated onto the big screen. What a sad commentary on the literary capacity of people today!

 

It’s all about the bottom line. What will bring in the most money and return on investment for shareholders. Christian stuff is a hot commodity now, particularly in the United States. That’s why secular houses like Random House and Harper Rowe bought major Christian publishers. And why those same publishers seem now more concerned with generating revenue quickly and easily rather than ministry or edification.

Oh, and the real bottom line for the Amish romance trend? I just read that a publisher recently released a new book.  “Amish Vampires in Space.” Yep. It’s for real (check it out on Amazon).

So maybe I should have written about Amish Druids falling in love with Aliens who are in fact crime-fighting turtles led by a rat.

What do you think?