Someone recently asked me an interesting question. Was my contemporary romance novel, The Reunion a Christian-oriented contemporary romance novel? I told her no, it was not. I want readers of all faiths and beliefs to enjoy my books. There are, however, other authors out there who write novels geared toward readers of their faith. For example, last year I met Mormon author at a book signing. She informed me, quite matter-of-factly, that her books were LDS romance books. She included the words, “LDS Romance,” in all the her subtitles.
I’m pleased she has a faith that she believes strongly in, and if her religion enhances her life for the better then I’m all for it. However, from a marketing standpoint, she was limiting the scope of her readership to a very small percentage.
As someone who believes in a higher power, my characters are also believers, but none are churchgoers. I don’t want to endorse one religion over another. Any references made to God are generalized. Therefore, they are stated with phrases such as, “then we’ll all say a prayer that he’ll be be found soon, safe and sound.”
I admit to being more spiritual than religious. This means that while I believe in God, I don’t necessarily follow the dogma of any particular church. My parents weren’t churchgoers, so I didn’t attend Sunday school as a child. As an adult, I’ve found that whenever I joined a church, regardless of the denomination, I never stayed long because of the inevitable back-biting and politicking amongst the various members.
So there you have it. I have my own set of spiritual beliefs. However, I don’t use my books to proselytize or endorse any particular religion. I leave that to the theologians.
Marina Martindale