What do you write?

Whenever I mention that I just published a new book or that I have published books, the next obvious question is, "So what do you write?" I kind of dread this question.  In fact, it makes me feel embarrassed about my writing.  When I reply, "Christian romance novels", I always duck my head and mumble it.  I love to read the genre and I have so much fun writing these books, but I dread the reaction that I'll get for three reasons.

Christian
As soon as the word "Christian" come out of my mouth, I have people completely shut down.  I can see the look on their face and it says, "I wouldn't touch your book with a ten foot pole".  Or even worse, a feeling that it isn't a "real" genre or book.  Yet Christian novels can have interesting, deep characters as well as secular novels.  Their stories can be as varied and interesting.

Romance
The reaction I get from this is mostly from men.  It's a look of "Aw, how cute."  If I wrote mystery, suspense, drama - almost anything else - they would be impressed, but romance?  Of course a girl would write romance.  Inevitably the teasing will begin as images of the covers of romances in the grocery store come to mind with the bare chested male with the helpless damsel clinging to him.  I hate telling men that I write romance novels.  The common view seems to be that they're the easiest to write and the least important of all the genres.

Novel
I don't get nearly as much negative reaction from this, but there are a few intellectuals out there who would be much more impressed if I wrote theological commentaries or history books.  Instead, I write novels.  The feeling I get is that only untalented writers, nonintellectual writers would write novels - and especially romance novels!

I was realizing how much I dread answering this question as it came up over and over again with the publication of Dress for Success.  Yet, I also get support - mostly from women.  I have women respond with "That's my favorite genre!" or "I love Christian romance!"  Those answers keep me from being completely discouraged.

While thinking about these things, I was reading Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen.  Jane Austen got lots of criticism for being a woman author and an author of romance novels at that.  In this book, she says that the main character, Catherine Morland, read novels and followed that statement with this one.  "Yes, novels; for I will not adopt that ungenerous and impolitic custom, so common with novel writers, of degrading, by their contemptuous censure, the very performances to the number of which they are themselves adding: and scarcely ever permitting them to be read by their own heroine, who if she accidentally take up a novel, is sure to turn over its insipid pages with disgust.  Alas!  If the heroine of one novel be not patronised by the heroine of another, from whom can she expect protection and regard?  I cannot approve of it. . . . "And what are you reading, Miss - ?" "Oh! it is only a novel!" replies the young lady; while she lays down her book with affected indifference, or momentary shame.  "It is only Cecilia, or Camilla, or Belinda"; or in short, only some work in which the greatest powers of the mind are displayed, in which the most thorough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties, the liveliest effusions of wit and humour, are conveyed to the world in the best chosen language."

And so Jane Austen encouraged this new writer nearly two hundred years later.  I will never write a book that becomes a classic like Pride and Prejudice, or works that last for centuries, but I enjoy what I write and I have readers who enjoy reading it.  I strive to get better with each book.  I know I have more to learn.  But I will no longer be ashamed to claim to be a writer of Christian romance novels!  (At least I'll try).

If you are one of the readers who love to read Christian romance novels and you haven't seen my books, you can find them by clicking on the links below.

Best Laid Plans
Smell the Roses
Dress for Success

Dedication: Dress for Success

My third book had to be dedicated to my sister, Ashley Beaulieu.  She's one of my best friends and one of my editors.  She also happens to be one of my biggest fans.  She is more insulted than I am when I get a negative comment and she is always pushing me forward to keep me writing because she's anxious to read the next book.

Ashley and I often get asked if we're twins.  We're not. There are four years between, and Ashley would be quick to tell you that I am the older one.  We're often seen together.  We say the same thing, at the same time, with the same inflection - evidence that we spend a lot of time together.  People will often call us by the other one's name and we don't correct them any more.  We'll just go to each other and say, "So and so thought I was you."

Ashley and I have been blessed to serve together in many capacities.  We used to teach the four and five year olds in Vacation Bible School every year.  I would teach and Ashley would help.  We were able to co-direct VBS together this year and right now we serve in the same small group for ladies Bible study.  We work well together.  As the oldest, I tend to be the leader and the one who takes charge, but Ashley has a lot more contacts as the younger, more outgoing one.  I can delegate things to her easily and she's always willing to help out.  We're a good team and we balance each other out nicely.

When I got back her editing notes for Dress for Success, she had written on the first page, "LOVED IT! P.S. I cried a lot! :)"  She encourages me all the time and will list me as one of her favorite authors, which always makes me smile.  The thing that I love about it is that I know she's being sincere.  She's not saying that just because she's my sister.  She genuinely enjoys reading my books.

We didn't always get along as well as we do now.  When we were growing up and she would irritate me, my mom would remind me that I had prayed for a sister and God had given me one.  I didn't think it was very fair to remind me that I had wanted a sister.  I often thought that if I had known what a pest a little sister was, I wouldn't have asked for one.  But now I can't imagine my life without her.  God knew what He was doing when he gave me a sister and a best friend rolled up in one amazing person.  I love you, Ashley!

Switching gears a little bit, I want to thank everyone who has purchased Dress for Success.  I hope you enjoy Brooke's story as much as I enjoyed writing it.  If you haven't purchased it, you will be able to find it by clicking on the link below.

I also wanted to quickly update you on my Christmas novella.  It's coming along and I'm really enjoying writing it.  It's not part of the KW Consulting series so I've been able to develop all new characters which has been a lot of fun.  I think it will be a nice Christmas read when it is finished. I still have my eye set on a Thanksgiving release date.

Dress for Success

Dress for Success

Here it is!  The cover for book three, Dress for Success!  The book has been edited, formatted and is now ready to publish!  It should be available for purchase tomorrow, September 16th, in the afternoon sometime.  You can find it at amazon.com.  

Dedication: Smell the Roses

After my husband, the next most obvious people to dedicate my book to was my parents.  I dedicated Smell the Roses to both of my parents because I couldn't possibly choose one over the other.  When I first told my parents that I was writing a book, they were both excited and supportive.  It would have been so easy for them to think that I was wasting my time or to warn me that the likelihood of my ever getting published was not good.  Instead they acted like it was completely natural for me to be writing a book and that they would fully expect to one day expect to see a book with my name written on the cover.  Their reaction gave me confidence to continue and see where it went.

Both of my parents have helped with editing my books, although my mom is more active in that aspect than my dad.  I know that I could go through my book ten times and still miss errors simply because I know what it's supposed to say.  I'm so thankful to have fresh eyes take a look at my books and catch those errors or those phrases that don't make sense.

I know my parents are proud of my writing.  My dad actually has read my books which says a lot and I can honestly say that I am the only romance author he has ever read.  My dad likes to tell people that his daughter is an author and I can hear the pride in his voice when he does.  My mom enjoys reading my books and she loves to tell her friends that are looking for a new book to read that they should try my books.  I appreciate her willingness to "advertise" for me.

My parents taught us the value of hard work by example and taught us that we should serve the Lord, not to gain us "brownie points" or to get noticed, but to thank God for all He's done for us and to spread the Word.  I can't remember my parents ever going to church and not being involved in some sort of ministry.  I appreciated seeing them serve and then later they brought me alongside them so that I could learn from them how to serve.

My family is close.  We just enjoy spending time together.  I love the times that I can cheer on our favorite sports team with my parents, or play board games.  I can talk to my parents for hours.  My dad and I have always been close.  My mom and I are so much alike that we understand each other better than anyone else.  This makes her someone that I can go to when I'm struggling because most likely, she's been there too and she understands.  

Thank you, Dad and Mom, for all your support and help!  I love you!

Now for a quick update.  Mom has finished editing and is going through a second time to double check.  Meghan thinks she should finish up sometime this weekend.  Which means that hopefully I can start the final edit either this week or next!

If you haven't read the first two books, you can find them by clicking on the links below!

Best Laid Plans
Smell the Roses

Dedication: Best Laid Plans

I've been thinking about my dedication page for the upcoming book and I realized that I wish I could just write a page or two about the people who have been so supportive of me during this process.  Then I realized that I have my blog and so I could dedicate a post to them.

My first book, Best Laid Plans, I had to dedicate to my husband, Joel.  We've been married for fourteen years and this month we'll have been a couple for nineteen years.  I often tell him that I can't imagine being with anyone else.  He's a man who wants to be the best husband and father he can be.  He wants to grow closer to God all the time and he serves God with all his heart.  He is passionate about the power of prayer and I love to see how excited he gets when he sees wonderful things happen because of prayer.  I have seen an improvement in my own prayer life, not because he preaches at me to be better at it, but because his own excitement is contagious!

When I told Joel that I had started writing a book, he never questioned, never doubted, never discouraged.  He helped me to research various publishing options and graphic artists to do my cover art and we made the decisions together.  He was excited for me when I first published the book and he's cheered me on every step of the way.

Since that first book, he often gives me suggestions for how to work pricing and sales.  He anticipates each new release and is excited for me when my sales do well.  I'm not sure that I would have had the courage to go through this without his support.  I certainly would not have been able to wallow through all the options without his help.

Joel encourages me to better myself as a writer.  He wants to see me grow and develop as an author and not stagnate.  I know that he wants me to be the best writer that I am capable of being.  I love how he actively participates in this process with me without taking it over.  He lets me write as I want to write.  He lets me set my own deadlines.  He lets me have the final say in the decisions that I make.  Yet he's right next to me to support me, advise me and encourage me.

Joel often gets asked if he's actually read any of my books.  It's a valid question since Joel is not a big reader and he certainly doesn't read romance novels when he does read.  In all honesty, I don't let him read my books until they're published.  After Best Laid Plans was published, he did read it.  It's the only one he has read.  It may be the only one he will ever read and that's okay.  He doesn't need to read my books for me to know that he supports me.

I have been blessed by the man that God put in my life.  He has supported me in every way possible through this journey and I know he'll continue to support me.  Joel was an obvious choice for the dedication of my first book.

Now a quick progress report.  My editors have book three.  I know one of them has started on it.  She said that she was taken completely by surprise by the end of chapter three.  Before then she was carefully reading for errors, but after that she found herself reading quickly because she had to find out what happened next!  She had to force herself to slow down.  I love hearing things like that!

I have also started working on my Christmas novella.  I hurt my back last week and the only time I felt comfortable was when I was sitting down, so I wrote - a lot!  I'm about a quarter of the way through and hoping to have it completed by October so I can hopefully have it published by Thanksgiving!

If you haven't read the first two books you can get them by clicking the links below.  Book three should be ready to purchase in September!

Best Laid Plans
Smell the Roses

Sent out

I have finished writing Brooke's story!  I wasn't sure how it would flow when I read through it, but I only made minor changes when I went back through it.  I love when I read it over for editing and I forget that I'm the author.  That's when I know it's good.  When it just seems like an old favorite that I'm re-reading, that's a very good thing!  The only thing that reminds me that I am the author is when I stumble on a sentence that makes no sense or some other error and then I have to fix it.  The read through is done now which means that I have sent it on to my editors and am now waiting for their notes to make further editing.  I'm excited and eager to see what they think of it!

I'm going to try to write a Christmas novella this year as well.  I know what I want to write, but I'm going to take at least a few days off from writing.  The reason is that I pretty much put everything on hold while I finished up book three so that I could give my editors plenty of time and still do a September publication.  Which means that my house is in terrible condition.  I have dishes piled up in my sink, laundry piled up both to wash and to fold and just a general mess everywhere.  I need to take some time to get things into some sort of order before I get back to work.  Besides it's nice to take a little time between two stories to let my mind sort of shift gears.  Especially since this one wouldn't be linked to the KW Consulting series and would have all new characters to develop.  My hope is to have it written by October so it can be published around Thanksgiving or the beginning of December.  Since it's a novella, I'm thinking I can accomplish that.

Thank you for your support and encouragement!  I really appreciate it!

Progress

I am happy to say that I made writing a priority last week and now have about one more chapter to write before book three will be finished!  Next week, I will finish the final chapter, go back through for a quick edit and then send it to my editors for their editing notes.  If all goes well, it should be ready to be published in September!  I'm very excited!

Brooke's story has been more difficult for me to write than Georgia's story was.  I think I probably related more to Georgia than I do with Brooke.  It's been interesting to see her story unfold though.  Her story has brought me to tears on occasion, has brought in some new characters and brought back some old ones and I think it will be a touching story when it's all is said and done.  At least, I hope so.

On another note, Georgia's story, Smell the Roses, will be on sale for $0.99 starting August 3, 2014 for a week!  There will be no price increase through that week so it will be available for 67% off the regular price all week long!  If you haven't bought it yet or know someone who would like to read it, this would be a great time to get it!  You can find it by clicking the link below.

Smell the Roses by Courtney Lyman

Best Laid Plans by Courtney Lyman