What the Heart Sees is the first strictly romantic novel I've written, although all of my novels have included an element of romance. It was fun to write something lighthearted and humorous for a change. My work in progress, entitled Places on Moriah, will be the second romantic comedy I've written, although it contains a great deal of angst as well. Right now I'm struggling to finish it because of family matters and time constraints, although I believe my WIP shows promise. It is also written in first person, and I tend to fall into character as I'm writing it. I love first person for this reason. No, I do not suffer from MP. (At least I don't think so.)
My other novels are considered literary mainstream—a genre that is difficult to sell, I've learned. It seems there are only a handful of publishers who are interested in this category. The themes of literary mainstream are usually psychologically intricate and tend to be more serious in nature.
Basically, everything that doesn't fit another genre usually lands there by default. Unlike sci-fi, mystery, romance, fantasy… it is a hard genre to describe or characterize, which I believe makes it hard to market. Exactly where on the shelf does it belong?
I'm grateful for small publishers like Desert Breeze whose editors publish novels based on the quality of the work rather than name recognition. Finally, first time authors who are really good writers have a chance to put their work out there.
After What the Heart Sees debuted, one of my old friends from way back called to actually thank me for writing it.
She said, “You have no idea how much I needed to laugh.”
It was one of the neatest things that's happened to me in my writing career. Even if that person had been the only one to read it, it would have been worth the effort to write it.
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