Are You Hooked on Hooks?

You Can’t Hang A Novel On Hooks



I’m not a big fan of hooks. In fact, to the degree that a hook seems contrived to the reader, to that same degree the book is weakened. A hook should not be there simply because a hook is considered necessary by the author. A hook that attracts a reader into a story only to blend into an unexciting narrative will only alienate the reader.

An unjustified hook is like an advertising headline that promises “FREE MEDICINE” only to later in the body copy disclose that the shipping and handling chargers are actually higher than the medicine is worth. Consumers would resent this and so will romance readers.

Rules for Hooks

1. The story premise should be strong enough that employing hooks are not necessary.
2. The narrative copy should be strong enough to insure reader interest.
3. There should be a multilayered ongoing series of anticipatory events (AEs) that continually reward the reader for turning the pages. These AEs should include short term AEs which resolve in a few pages, intermediate AEs which take a chapter or so to resolve, and longer term AEs which take several chapters to resolve.

Now, after the above conditions are satisfied, then an opening first chapter hook may be advantageous. This also applies to an end of chapter hook leading into the next chapter. However, one should first strive to write in a way that renders hooks unnecessary to insure reader interest.

You can’t hang a complete novel on a hook or even a series of hooks.


Vince

Totally Addictive! Delightfully Unpredictable!

‘Real World’ Christian Fiction…



Staunchly Traditional…Boldly Passionate

Five Star Excellence!

“A Passion Most Pure”, First Book in the “Daughters of Boston” Series 
Julie Lessman, 
Revell, Copyright 2008, 477 pages


“A Passion Most Pure” is a big book -- bursting with surprises page after page. Every time I thought I knew where the story was headed, the story changed again. I’ve reviewed over 1,000 romances and none of them adequately prepared me for the “Daughter’s of Boston” series.


Christian Romance with a Difference

“A Passion Most Pure” is a Christian romance with an importance difference. The men and women featured are ‘Real World’ Christians. These are Christians with heated passions, facing genuine temptations, who still, with the power of their faith, manage to do the right thing. Some reviewers may call this ‘edgy’. I call it “Real World” Christian fiction.


Learning from Four Generations


In “A Passion Most Pure” the reader meets four generations of the same family. Each generation faces a different set of challenges and yet each demonstrates the rewards of living a principled Christian life.



A Moral Compass that Never Preaches

While “A Passion Most Pure” never preaches to the reader, it does mirror the kind of moral behavior that Christians will appreciate. This is an important Christian book. There are many inspiration romances that tell the story of Christians who find love. “A Passion Most Pure” goes further than this by showing how God’s love and living the authentic Christian life provides the grace to be fully human and fully alive.

Young Adults Will Love This Book, Too!

Young adults especially will find this book fascinating. As the story opens, in the summer of 1916, the ‘heroines’ are just 16 and 18 years old. I say, ‘heroines’ because the reader can not be sure just who the heroine of the story really is -- nor can the reader be certain who the hero will eventually turn out to be!

A Delightful Challenge to Romance Fans!

“A Passion Most Pure” poses a delightful challenge to romance fans who have been conditioned to anticipate predictable happy endings. The reader simply has to wait until the final curtain before the uncertainties raised in “A Passion Most Pure” are resolved. These uncertainties make the story more like real life and less like fiction.

Expect the Unexpected!


Be prepared to expect the unexpected. “A Passion Most Pure” is challenging. Even though the book is 477 pages long, the reader won’t encounter a typically slow ‘falling-in-love’ episode. As early as page one, both ‘heroines’ have been in love with the same hero for many years.

A Timeless Tale

You might wonder how a story with such young heroines can capture the interest of a mature reader. That’s easy. In addition to being a boldly passionate romance, “A Passion Most Pure” is also the story of an extended family. Featured are many characters of different ages who are living a purposeful Christian life. There are the young lovers to be sure, but there is also the continuing, lifelong, romance of parents, grandparents, and there’s even a great-grandparent. The reader experiences many different challenges that a Christian faces at each stage of life. This is a theme that is universal and timeless.

Two Sisters in Turmoil

“Sisters are overrated,” the book begins. These may be the most foretelling three words I’ve ever read to begin a romance. For “A Passion Most Pure” involves two sisters in competition for the same things: the love of their father and the love of the same man. The story visits three countries: America, Ireland, and France. The reader can actually ‘feel’ World War I approaching as the news reverberates through the hearts and minds of two of the main characters: newsmen on the Boston Herald.

The Horror & Absurdity of Trench Warfare

The exceptional skill of the author becomes evident in her portrayal of WWI trench warfare. In very few words the reader sees, feels, smells and experiences the sudden terror and acute boredom of life in the trenches. Soldiers watch their comrades die of disease and shrapnel wounds during the day. Then at night they visit Paris night clubs. The futility and absurdity of WWI trench warfare (near Paris) is captured in amazingly few words.


A Most Wonderful & Worthwhile Book

“A Passion Most Pure” is a most wonderful and worthwhile book for readers of all ages. While I wouldn’t expect a young person to grasp every experience of value “A Passion Most Pure” offers, I believe it is a book readers will carry in their hearts for a long time – perhaps even for a lifetime.

More Blessings to Come

If you love “A Passion Most Pure” as much as I do, then you’ll be glad to know there are two more books in the “Daughters of Boston” series: “A Passion Redeemed” and “A Passion Denied”. These are available right now.



Vince

A Clarion Call for a new Christian Sub-Genre?

‘Real World’ Christian Fiction…


Where Faith Comes Alive and Christians Live like Real People

Five Star Excellence!

”Stop! I’m too young to hear this.”

“Faith shot her a cockeyed grin. ‘No. You’re not. It’s about time you hear about the real world instead of what you read in those books.’ ” A Passion Denied, Pages 1947-1948 in extra large type pagination, Adobe format, eBook.


With the above quote, Julie Lessman may have defined a new sub-genre of ‘Real World’ Christian inspirational fiction. Some call this budding sub-genre ‘edgy’ Christian fiction on the assumption that the writing is right on the ‘edge’ of being rejected by traditional Christian inspirational publishers. This is certainly true of many Christian publishers but “A Passion Denied” is not edgy in terms of the ordinary use of the language.

‘Edgy’ is as ‘Edgy’ Does

How edgy can a book be if I would gladly give it to my thirteen and fourteen year old daughters in the hope that they would read and learn from the experience?

How edgy is a book that espouses abstinence before marriage and even advocates the avoidance of the ‘occasion of sin’? As my old fifth grade teacher, Sister Mary Alice, used to say, “Christians should not lead themselves into temptation.” Avoiding the occasion of sin does abstinence one better. I would love it if all teenagers would read “A Passion Denied”.

How edgy is a book that does not even use one off-color word in its many hundreds of pages?

‘Edgy’ as ‘Jargon’

I believe the term ‘edgy’ is insider jargon which makes it seem to the layman that if the book took one step further it would descend into a sea of perdition.

For me, the term ‘edgy’ means ‘Real World’ fiction – that is, as far as any fiction can be ‘real world’.

What Counts as ‘Edgy’?

What exactly is ‘edgy’ about ‘edgy’ Christian fiction?

Using “A Passion Denied” as an example, I found the below features to be ‘edgy’ when compared to the over 100 ‘non-edgy’ Christian Inspiration books I have already read.

“Edgy” Elements:

1. The characters talk about sex. Some talk a lot about sex. For example, soon to be married sisters ask their married sisters about sex. Young wives, who want to have babies, talk about sex. Wives of all ages talk about too much and too little sex. These are real world conversations.


2. The hero and heroine share a deep, passionate, kiss – however, one or both quickly becomes aware of how these aroused emotions could overpower their better judgment and lead to sin. Thus they withdraw from what they know to be the ‘occasion of sin’. This element carries a very strong moral lesson. A young man may be a firm believer in abstinence but if he is fond of petting in the backseat of his car, abstinence will be the last thing on his mind. Again, we are talking ‘real world’ here.

3. In “A Passion Denied” wives are not above using their feminine wiles and even seduction to bring their husbands to their way of thinking. Well, welcome to the real world.


4. “A Passion Denied” also avoids the almost inevitable clichés found in typical Christian fiction. In the over 100 Christian Inspirational novels that I have read so far, the answers provided for why ‘bad things happen to good people’, (as in the death of a good person), always goes: “Gods ways are not our ways,” or “all things happen for the best”, or “the loved one is now in a better place.” The above explanations express fine sentiments but they show little insight or any genuine effort at understanding the complexity of the theological problems involved. I’ve never seen an original attempt at providing a deeper explanation for these serious questions in my reading of Christian Inspirational novels until I read “A Passion Denied”.

I didn’t find any clichés in “A Passion Denied”. The moral problems which the characters experienced were treated with genuine thought. The conversations between the priest, Father Mac, and the troubled hero, John Brady, were in the category of real world, wise, counseling. The author seemed wise beyond her years. The priest’s advice was “real world” and worth reading and thinking about.

What I Found ‘Edgy’

I did think it was ‘edgy’ to have a character, the wise old woman, re-translate the word ‘submit’ to ‘respect’ in the Bible quote: “Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.” Ephesians 5:22-24.

As a man, I like the KJV. However, this interpretation was very true to the character espousing it in the novel. Again, this is the kind of dialogue that you would expect to happen in the real world.

5. It would seem that Real World Christian fiction might render various Bible passages with meanings which not all Christians would agree.

6. “A Passion Denied” mentions actual religious affiliations! That definably is real world. In my over 100 Christian Inspirational novels, all the Christian characters were members of non-denominational churches. In the real world most Christians are actually members of denominational churches. In “A Passion Denied” there is no doubt that the south Boston, Irish families, were Catholic. In the real world of 1920’s that was what they really were.

A Strong Christian Book

For all its real world ‘edgy’ attributes, “A Passion Denied” is a strong Christian book. It demonstrates abstinence, avoids pre-marital sex, and provides a healthy and even glorious view of the manifestation of physical love between a husband and wife. Marriage is a holy sacrament and the love within that union should be blessed.

The Honesty in “A Passion Denied”

If ‘edgy’ equates to honesty, then it was this honesty that I enjoyed most in “A Passion Denied”.

About the Cover Art

On the cover of “A Passion Denied” you will find this quote:

“This Isn’t Your Mother’s Inspirational Fiction!”
By Romantic Times Book Reviews

This may be true, however, the cover art could easily be your grandmother’s cover art. No doubt the cover art is excellent, indeed, it is beautiful -- but it sends the wrong message. What in this cover art suggests that “A Passion Denied” is an ‘edgy’ Christian romance? Nothing!

If the goal is to develop a Real World ‘edgy’ Christian sub-genre, then a new look and feel will be necessary. Just think about the unique cover art that current new sub-genres display. I specifically have chick lit in mind. Chick Lit book covers ‘say’ Chick Lit loud and clear even though books come from different publishers.

There needs to be a new ‘look’ – a modern look – even when the book is an historical. Publishers would be advised to cooperate in creating the same look and feel. Perhaps there could even be a logo as in have a drawing of the earth with a cross behind it rising above the North Pole. What I suggest is making it very easy for a buyer to identify the ‘edgy’ Christian fiction when looking at books for sale.


Vince

My Test for Genuine Inspirational & Medical Romances

The Need to Protect the Franchise.


As a sub-genre of romance both Inspirational and Medical romances should meet minimum standards for fulfilling reader expectations. I’ve read 'so-called' Inspirational romances that were simply sweet romances with prayers added in italic every twenty pages or so. If you took out all the italic copy, you’d still have a fine Tender romance. The same goes for Medical romances. I’ve read one where if you changed the hero and heroine from being doctor and nurse to being lawyer and paralegal, you would only need to make a few hundred words of change in the entire novel. Everything else in the novel could remain the same.

The problem here is mis-branding the subgenre books. A reader who tries a subgenre book and finds it no different than a general romance, may not try any other books from that subgenre. This hurts the subgenre franchise. It would be like going into a national fast food chain restaurant for the first time and finding the food and service to be of poor quality. Would you really be likely to give that same franchise a try in a different location?

Here’s my test.

If the inspirational or medical components of the story can be removed and the remaining story still constitutes a viable romance, then it is not a genuine subgenre work.

That’s it.

Vince

How Not to Write a Medical Romance

And Why Misbranded Novels Hurt the Franchise


I just read a bad medical romance. The story made a good tender romance but it was misbranded as a medical romance and was thus very disappointing. Since this book was issued in a specialty Medical Romance line, it could very well hurt the Medical Romance line or franchise with new readers. If this were my first Medical Romance, I would think that there was nothing special about the line and probably not buy any more of the line’s books. Fortunately, prior to reading this book, I had already read six other Medicals that were excellent examples of this subgenre.

What are the essential elements of a Medical romance?

1. The medical aspects of the story should take on the importance of a major character. If you can easily switch the hero and heroine from being doctors to being lawyers, then you do not have a medical romance. Instead, you have a general romance that features doctors.

2. The medical elements in the story should be detailed and accurate. The general reader should learn something he or she didn’t know about the medical profession or medical procedures after reading the book. This is what makes the Medical Romance a genuine subgenre.

So there you have it; just two essential requirements.

The Medical Romance I just read (and I won’t give the title as I prefer to review outstanding books and let the others be) failed on both counts. In fact, the story was even hurt by being a Medical.

The story opens with an industrial accident in which many people are hurt. The hero and heroine are with some other medical people when they get the emergency call to rush to the accident scene. However, bad gasoline has disabled the ambulances so they take their own cars. On arriving at the scene the hero and heroine, doctor and nurse, stop at the first injured person and administer first aid. This is a child with a head wound. The wound is not very serious but still they spend crucial time with the boy asking about his parents.

After this they go to the next patient they come to and start with the treatment. In the meantime there are very serious injuries going untreated. It is very possible that some victims are bleeding to death that could otherwise be saved with immediate treatment. I kept thinking “triage”! “Do your triage!” You always do “triage” when you reach an accident scene with multiple victims. Not doing triage is such a basic mistake it undermines the rest of the book. It would be like having Julius Caesar looking at his wrist watch before crossing the Rubicon.

In this novel, Medicine did not play an important part. In fact, it actually hurt the story. The heroine had given up on men because after her fiancé saw the very bad scars the heroine had on one side of her body, he was said to be disgusted though he tried to hide his feelings. He gradually backed out of her life. After this experience, the heroine never wants to let it happen again. However, she would like to have a husband and children. This then is the conflict. She is very much attracted to the hero who shows an interest in her.

The heroine keeps putting off the hero’s advances because she does not want him to see her scars. This does not compute with me. Of all the men in the world, a doctor who has seen a career of scars, is the least likely person to be disgusted by seeing her scars. I remember thinking as I read, “if I’m the hero, I would comment on the nice work the surgeon did after seeing the scars”. And do you know what? That is exactly what the hero did.

In short, the story didn’t seem creditable. Now, if this story was released as a general romance, it would have been acceptable. However, I feel that placing it in the Medical subgenre is a case of misbranding. Unfortunately, misbranding can create disappointment for the reader who bought a Medical to enjoy the subgenre’s unique medical elements.

Branding, Unique Selling Propositions, & Positioning

How Everyone is Battling for a Share of Your Mind


If you have a deep interest in author branding, it might be useful to consider that branding originally was designed to make your product identifiable to the illiterate population. Consider the barber’s pole. The basic idea is identification.

Modern branding got a major boost from Rosser Reeves’s book: “Reality in Advertising”. Reeves outlined the USP, Unique Selling Proposition. Example: Ivory soap is pure. (It’s 99 and 44/100% pure”). Dove soap is one quarter cleansing cream. To stand out it was thought that a product had to have a USP.

The USP concept dominated much advertising thinking until Ries and Trout came out with my favorite advertising book: “Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind”. Both these books are very short and written so clearly that they were best sellers even outside the advertising industry.

The big idea behind ‘Positioning’ is that there is only room for one or two brands-- in any one category -- in a customer’s mind. It is also very difficult for a new product to break into the prospect’s mind after the first one or two get established.

Example: we may remember who was the first man on the moon, but how many can remember the second man? Some remember the first man to break the four minute mile, but who was second? Some remember the first man to fly solo across the Atlantic, but who was second? You get the idea.

This is serious business. It is very hard to break into a prospect’s mind unless you position your product in a category that is empty or you spend hundreds of millions of dollars. Therefore create a new category! Gatorade created a new category of drink. OK, now, tell me, how many other brands can you name in this sport’s drink category?


I consider ‘author branding’ to be a subset of the USP and Positioning approaches.

When you are doing author branding several decisions need to be made:

1) are you ready to be branded? Do you really know yourself as an author? Think of branding as getting a tattoo. It can come off but it is difficult and costly to do.

2) is your work ready for a large audience? Nothing kills a product faster than effective marketing because it gets more people to sample your product and they remember who you are. If they don’t like what they’ve read, you may have lost them for good. They may also tell a lot of other people that you are no good. It might be better if some readers actually don’t remember your name. (I just read a very bad romance and the best thing for that author would be if I didn’t remember her name.)

4) if you are ready to go ahead with branding yourself then you need to position yourself in a way to win a place in the prospect’s mind that is not already occupied. (I would tell real estate agents in my marketing classes to ask the infrastructure questions before branding themselves. For example, “Who is the best condominium expert in town. If two or three names keep coming up, then the position is taken. If no names come up or a lot of different names but no leader, then the position is open. (The infrastructure is made up of people in the business: real estate agents, appraisers, lenders, inspectors, real estate reporters, insurance agents, and so on.)

5) you need to develop a USP which is compatible with your positioning. “Let Our Condominium Specialists sell you unit quicker and for more money.”

6) you need to practice ‘fusion’ by making sure all your contacts with the public are consistent. That is, all your avenues of outreach should have the same ‘look and feel’ and support your USP and positioning.

One last thing: marketing is great and can be very powerful but it will not improve your writing. The very best marketing tool is to produce the best “reading experience” for your readers and leave them at the end of the book with a strong desire to run right out and buy your next book.

Can Inspirationals Be Too Preachy?

Should they be preachy at all?

Sometimes a reviewer will write that a given inspirational novel was too preachy. There are some fans who take offense at this because they think the word of God can never be too preachy. One blogger just wanted to know the difference between being ‘acceptably’ preachy and ‘unacceptably’ preachy.

Consider the Bible quote in Matthew, Chapter 7: “By their fruits they shall be known.” I believe one preaches loudest when one silently lives the model Christian life. That is, when one witnesses by example and not by harangue.

I think an inspirational should not be preachy at all. Consider this question: Can a romance be too trite? It shouldn’t be trite at all. I don’t see a need to be preachy unless being preachy is actually part of the plot.

I can even imagine a wonderful ‘Christian’ inspirational in which there is no mention of the Bible or of Christ. The story could be about a good man in a pagan world living an exemplary ‘Christian’ life with his actions being guided from an inner light. The story could show how this man’s example positively affects his neighbors.

C.S. Lewis wrote many Christian allegories that never mentioned Christ or the Bible. It can be done but you have to be a very good author.

The question could still be asked, what do you think makes a novel too preachy as opposed to acceptably preachy? How about if I put it this way:

You Know an Inspirational is too preachy if:

1. Parts of it read like a sermon.
2. Actual sermons are delivered which are not required by the plot.
3. The author takes insider shots at another denomination (like an attack on predestination.)
4. Self-standing Bible quotes are given in italic that are not sufficiently integrated into the story line. (Often the quotes are just there to turn a ‘tender romance’ into an inspirational in order to provide another market for the book.)
5. When on reading it, you think it is too preachy. (In this case, 'thinking makes it so.')


In other words, “walk the walk, just don’t talk the talk.”