With Fear and Trembling 4/28/2023

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by Staci Stallings

One of the dangers of writing outside the box, not following the formula, and going where God leads is that you get into situations that make you really question the wisdom of doing any of that.

You see, as an indie writer, I love the freedom of being able to write the stories the way God gives them to me. They don’t have to be a set number of words or pages or follow a strict pattern. The hero and heroine might meet in the first chapter or the sixth, and no one is at the bottleneck saying, “You can’t do it this way.”

That’s great when you’re writing because… freedom!

It’s when you hit the Sea of Publication that things become a whole lot more dicey.

Because it’s one thing to like or even love a story. It’s a whole other thing to put it out there and know that other people are not going to like your story because it so doesn’t fit the formula.

It’s like the other day, I got a review on a book of mine that I just love. The reviewer clearly did not feel the same way. The review said they could summarize the whole book in eight points, and then they did so. Hey, I could do it in three…

They meet.

They have issues.

They fall in love.

Why is that such a challenge?  I mean, come on. Of course there is a plotline structure to a story. Why is that news?

Then I got another review on a different book that said it was “too descriptive on sex scenes.” Uhm, there are no “sex scenes” in the book. They kiss, yes, like they love each other, but that’s it.

So, it’s in this environment of overly-picky and rather vocal reviewers that I’m sending my latest effort, “The Taste of Tears” out from the safe shore of my computer, knowing…. Oh, knowing it does not follow the formula. Knowing some readers are going to want to throw things at the end. Knowing already what could be coming my way in terms of reviews.

It’s crazy because this book is why I write—to try to break through the things holding people back from their greatest victories.  And yet, this book is also why I hate actually publishing stories that God said were a good idea to write.

I have to admit, there are times I feel like David. Do you think he ever once thought, “What am I doing? What was God thinking telling me THIS was a good idea?”

I don’t know if David felt that way. I know I sure do.

I guess we’ll consider this one a little peek behind the curtain of what it’s actually like to be an indie writer that could never have put these stories out this way through a traditional publisher. No way would this story have made it through in this form.  But it is with fear and trembling, I send my heart’s work away from the shore, out into the tumultuous sea of readers who may or may not be very kind to it. I guess as they say, Ready or not, here we go!

Preorder Staci’s Newest Release

The Taste of Tears

for only 99 Cents!

Release Date:  Friday, September 28, 2018

The Taste of Tears

About the Author:

Staci StallingsA stay-at-home mom with a husband, three kids and a writing addiction on the side, Staci Stallings has numerous titles for readers to choose from. Not content to stay in one genre and write it to death, Staci’s stories run the gamut from young adult to adult, from motivational and inspirational to full-out Christian and back again. Every title is a new adventure! That’s what keeps Staci writing and you reading. Although she lives in Amarillo, Texas and her main career right now is her family, Staci touches the lives of people across the globe with her various Internet and writing endeavors.

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