My favorite author is John Grisham. I had the opportunity to read “People in the News: John Grisham” by Robyn M. Weaver. At one point Grisham says, “Throughout my school years, I read constantly and became familiar with what books were getting published. As a result, I came to believe that my story idea could also be published” (22).
Anyone who wants to be a writer has to read and read a lot. In college we had to read a lot of old stuff, so my stories either came out sounding old or didn’t compare to the greats I was reading. Then a couple of years ago when I began working on “The Sixth Commandment” I realized that I could write something just as good as what’s out there. And my goal for sometime has been to write about preachers the way Grisham writes about lawyers. (Although that plan is starting to shift.)
At the Blue Ridge Conference a couple of years ago one of the authors made the comment that the preacher as a lead character was over-done. I haven’t read a book about any. At the same conference an agent said that I had to have a strong female protagonist as well because the market is made up of women. Even if it’s a man’s book, which it was, men won’t buy it for themselves. A woman will buy it for him. So the book has to appeal to women as well. Suddenly, I was reading every Nicholas Spark book, which I enjoyed. I picked Spark because he was a male romance writer.
Now I think I have a grasp on the whole romance thing. I guess only time will tell, as I get ready to send the book out.
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