An Afterthought re GCB

Carlene is one of those love-to-hate characters.  Yet . . . you know, each episode is showing us additional layers to these ribald characters and giving them more heart.  I definitely see Cricket in a new light knowing about her "white marriage"--which meaning I would not be privy to without having watched GCB.  Ha!

Of course, we all feel sorry for Amanda from the get-go with her husband's twofold treachery so blantant at first viewing in the initial seconds of the show's Pilot.

And Amanda's growth is evident.  She is no longer the mean girl from High School.  Plus we see her addressing directly her problems with her mother.  And in a very adult manner.  You gotta love her for speaking the truth.  For standing tall amid the rubble of her life.  For telling her son, Will, that we will remember Bill for being a good father and forget the other horrible things he did.

Wow.

For me, there are degrees of sin.  In a way, the Bible confirms that.  For there is the one unforgivable sin and then all the others.  So God has two groups.

NOTE:  The one unforgivable sin, IMO, is to not claim Jesus as Lord.  And we have until death to do so.  God put no time limit on us to become believers, as long as we are still breathing . . . there is hope.

DISCLAIMER:  I am a lay student of the Bible.  No initials after my name.  Consult the Bible itself and your mentors, authority figures.  Make your own decisions and conclusions.  As I have done.

As for sin levels, I have more tiers to my construction than God does.  There are those sins that you break away from people forever, whether family, friend or employer.  Like a spouse committing adultery or a parent not believing in you or an employer always thinking the worst, walking off, closing any discussion window for actual two-way communication.

You forgive them to give you the peace of mind to shelve that bad experience, learn what you can from it and move on.

But you sure don't give them another opportunity for a repeat performance.  Once, shame on them.  Twice, shame on you.

Now, I am one of those people who thinks the best of others.  Therefore, I put up with more than I should because it takes multiple "bad events" before I deem them "bad people to stay away from."

However, I would rather be dubbed a Pollyanna and keep my hopeful heart than to become a Cruella De Vil with possibly no beating organ in her chest.  So I'm okay with this.

The Bible speaks about living on a house's roof corner is better than being inside with a contentious woman.  Substitute "beating husband" or "mentally cruel boss" as befits your circumstances.

The Bible also says we are to be the peacekeepers, as much as we can do, but to beware of wolves in sheep's clothing.  We are called to be the "better person" but not to endure the meanness of others.  Just read all the red-print text in your Bible and you'll see multiple examples of Jesus "telling someone off."

We are to hate the sin not the person.

I guess that is the thought that I'm reacquainting myself with as I watch GCB.  Yes, there are those acts by supposed friends and family that you need to distance yourself from--both the people and their deeds.  Then there are those things that you forgive the past event and give the forgiven person another chance.

The wonderful cast of characters on GCB are evolving.  I'm loving them all more and hating each less.

Isn't that a grand way to live?

And to write novels . . .

Target Audience / Reader Demographic

As a follow-up to my previous post regarding how my age does not determine what I read, I would like to further discuss the anomalies of “target audience” and “reader demographic.”  I happen to enjoy teen paranormal books/movies, and I am neither teen nor paranormal (much).  Yet if my age and human status are limiting factors, then booksellers would never realize they have a market in fifty-something females of the non-vampire, non-werewolf variety.

Anyway, I don’t believe the old writer’s adage to “write to your audience” as if only people of the same approximate age of my main characters will read that book.  My personal reading habits alone defy that model.  It is too much like "write what you know."  Which sounds logical, until you apply it to the fantasy writers out there, or the SciFi genre or the paranormal crowd.

I recently read in the Kindle Direct Publishing newsletter about the top twenty most well-read cities in America.  It’s an interesting collection of not only cities, but what was the bestselling genre sold for some of them (nonfiction, cooking, children’s books, etc.).  Now this is information an author can use.

To begin with, you could choose a city you know and love from that list of topmost-book-reading devotees and make that place a central theme to your next book, a character of its own.  Think of Tara Plantation in Gone with the Wind.  Or for a more timely example, Lisa Turner’s Memphis in A Little Death in Dixie.

Follow your genre and market heavily (local newspaper articles, TV station spots, radio ads, billboards) in those cities which devour your kind of books.  Amazon’s Author Center states “Nielsen BookScan does not aggregate sales data for Kindle or ebooks, or for books available only through third party sellers.”  HOWEVER, Amazon compiled these figures and included Kindle e-book sales.

I predict Nielsen BookScan and the like will incorporate e-books sales.  Just like Bestseller Lists will incorporate e-books.  And contests will allow e-book submissions.  All that will have to change to accommodate the jinormous elephant in the room.  Because e-books are big sellers.  

In the meantime, write what moves you.