What to do with my book series?

  • Thread starter Thread starter SeekingAnswers2
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
S

SeekingAnswers2

Guest
Hello,
This is my first post and I hope I’m doing this properly.

I’m an author and write a very popular romantic suspense series. However, I’ve recently returned to my Catholic faith and am now ashamed of my books. They are well written, solid plots, characters people love and often have some kind of social theme or lesson (prejudice, over coming your past etc.) but I now realize there is way too much sex especially in the earlier books.

I’ve confessed to God, did a penance at home until I can get to confession (darn pandemic has all our churches locked down) but I feel I need to do something about the books. I started to edit them thinking I’d get rid of the offensive scenes (e.g., they looked at each other longingly…he kissed her and then carried her to the bedroom… then cut to the next morning or have the phone ring and interrupt them before they get to the bedroom) but is that enough? (BTW I write much better than that, lol!)

In some of the plots, pre-marital sex is key (in one the female lead gets pregnant but keeps her baby- that was my anti-abortion plug - and sometimes it establishes character) so I can’t make the books completely free of sex though I can keep it mostly off the page. But even still I’m promoting a non-catholic value. Ugh.

I’ve thought about unpublishing the whole series however I do earn quite a bit from them and a large percentage of that goes to charity. It’s actually one of the things I’m known for and why the books took off in the first place. Of course, even if the money goes to charity, if it is earned from something that is wrong, that’s not good either.

And then I worry about the books that are out there and I can never get back and what if they are leading others to have impure thoughts. I’ve started praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet daily in the hope that will help both me and those readers.

My editor thinks I’m crazy. She says there are lots of books out there way more graphic than mine and I know she’s correct but I still want to try to fix this. I’ve tried asking Jesus what to do. One day I had a strong feeling that editing was the right thing and it was such a relief. I sat down and got to work but then a few days later it felt like removing the books from the market was right.

I’m getting knots in my stomach over this. What do you think?
 
Last edited:
So what is your objection to editing or revising the wording?
 
Hi Irishmom2!

Thank you so much for replying! I’ve no objection at all with the revising/rewording. It’s my preferred solution but as I said, there will still have to be some pre-marital sex or the plot falls apart. But if I’m even implying pre-marital sex, isnt’ that promoting non-catholic values?

When I started to re-edit, I felt so good about my plan but then it faded and the idea of deleting the series came to mind. So I wondered if editing them wasn’t a good enough solution. If the editing idea came to me because it’s what I want and not what God wanted.

Or maybe I’m trying to be too scrupulous? I’ve always struggled with second guessing myself. I do something and then I wonder if I’ve done it well enough or for the right reasons.

I’m so upset over this and mad at myself for being so stupid and not seeing the error of my ways sooner.
 
SeekingAnswers2 said:
Or maybe I’m trying to be too scrupulous? I’ve always struggled with second guessing myself. I do something and then I wonder if I’ve done it well enough or for the right reasons.
Click to expand...
I got the impression from your post. That is why I suggested you talk to your priest. People who struggle with scrupulosity or second-guessing themselves should seek spiritual counsel from their priest. ONE priest. Not get a whole lot of varying opinions on the Internet, which will likely just add to your confusion.

Also, it seems like this change of heart has been relatively recent on your part. I understand the rush to do something right NOW, but this can sit a bit until you get a chance to talk to a priest.
 
You could just edit as best you can not changing the plots, and then vow to not write those types of stories again if you don’t want to any longer.

As long as your stories are not glorifying pre-marital sex, it is not always a terrible storyline to include. It can serve as a lesson or a warning. But sometimes it is necessary to drive the story from one point to another.

As Tis_Bearself said, talk to a priest when you are able. Tell him your concerns and see what he suggests you do.
 
Thank you, Tis-Bearself. I will add discussing this to my list for when I can finally see a priest. I guess the rush feeling I have is that the longer the books are out there, the more people who are being impacted. I found an old ‘how to prepare for confession’ booklet from waaay back and it mentioned leading others in to sin and that’s when it really hit me, how far this problem has spread.

I suppose in the meantime, I’ll work on editing the books and if I can get a cleaned up version out there while i’m waiting, at least that will be a slight improvement, right?
 
TY, Irishmom2.
Irishmom2 said:
As long as your stories are not glorifying pre-marital sex, it is not always a terrible storyline to include. It can serve as a lesson or a warning. But sometimes it is necessary to drive the story from one point to another.
Click to expand...
You’ve made a good point and it does ease my mind a bit. I can even rework the story a bit to ensure that point is clear.

(((HUGS))) to you and Tis_Bearself. I feel a bit better about the situation.
 
Last edited:
I think most people are able to read a book where the characters don’t all make squeaky-clean moral choices without going out and emulating all the stuff the characters do, which often includes murder and other crimes as well as premarital sex. Unless the books are pornographic, which it sounds like (based on your conversation with your editor) they are not, then I wouldn’t worry too much about a short delay to see the priest.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
I think most people are able to read a book where the characters don’t all make squeaky-clean moral choices without going out and emulating all the stuff the characters do, which often includes murder and other crimes
Click to expand...
Good point!
I’m so glad I found this forum and was able to talk this out with other Catholics!
 
Lots of books read and loved by Catholics have scenes where sin is committed (illicit sex, murder, rape, theft, deception, etc.).

That’s the human condition in real-life. In real life, the vast majority of people have pre-marital sex. It’s not right. It’s sin. But it’s reality.

Good stories have a conflict–something the main character must face and overcome. The best stories put the main character through a lot of scary, painful, suspenseful, violent, or shameful situations before he/she overcomes all the challenges and wins out over everything that is working against him/her.

One of the most popular conflicts in stories is the main character’s own weakness(es) E.g., in the early Sherlock Holmes stories, along with having a lot of anti-social traits, Holmes is a cocaine addict. In later stories, he has overcome his addiction (how he does it is the plot of many extra-canonical stories about Holmes; e.g., The Seven-Percent Solution).

I suggest that if you want to edit your stories, fine, but don’t take the sin out of the stories if your character overcomes it in the end. Fictional characters need to be real and need to struggle with human failings and sins.

You would do well to re-write the sex scenes so they are not graphic. I’ve read some of the romances where the sex scenes are written in such a way that is lurid and detailed, like pornography.

This isn’t necessary. There are classic novels written that have the characters indulging in sinful sex, but it’s not described. It’s obvious, but it’s not described. For example, Poe’s most famous story, “The Fall of the House of Usher” is about incest–but it’s never described or even specifically named. We all know it (except for maybe children or young teens who read the story). But no lurid descriptions of acts of incest.
 
Last edited:
If there’s a heroine or hero in the story, and they are Christian, and they commit a serious sin, it seems they should face their fault later in the book, otherwise be a character who’s inner conflict or flaw is clear to the reader. Even if the scene(s) are not graphic.
 
I would be wary of asking other people their opinion…you are the author…you say you have recently returned to your Catholic faith which is good to hear…what do you think God is telling you…are you perhaps trying to compensate with your new found faith by being…as you say…“too scrupulous”…look at books like Lord of the Rings…the Narnia novels…many Christians throughout the world love them and say that they have an underlying theme of Christian values…even Catholic values…even though they are filled with violence and killing…as long as you’re not writing in your face sex scenes…you say in one of your plots premarital sex is the key and the female lead gets pregnant but keeps the baby…no abortion…isn’t that in itself an underlying Christian value…I’m sure you’ve heard of Dean Koontz…yet he is a Catholic and a strong believer in his faith and he says he weaves his belief in his novels…so it can be done without purging all you have written…everyday life can still be woven into your books if they have a positive outcome…they don’t have to be overtly Catholic as you’re not writing religious fiction…maybe go on a retreat and listen to what God is asking of you…God bless.
 
Last edited:
Are you a member of the Catholic Writers Guild? They are your fellow authors and will be a wonderful source of info and support.
 
Peeps said:
I suggest that if you want to edit your stories, fine, but don’t take the sin out of the stories if your character overcomes it in the end. Fictional characters need to be real and need to struggle with human failings and sins.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your (name removed by moderator)ut, @Peeps. My editor and a few readers were saying something similar.
 
TheLittleLady said:
Are you a member of the Catholic Writers Guild? They are your fellow authors and will be a wonderful source of info and support.
Click to expand...
@TheLittleLady , I hadn’t heard of this Guild and will definitely check it out! Thank you!
 
Buks said:
If there’s a heroine or hero in the story, and they are Christian, and they commit a serious sin, it seems they should face their fault later in the book, otherwise be a character who’s inner conflict or flaw is clear to the reader. Even if the scene(s) are not graphic.
Click to expand...
@Buks yes, the main characters always reform but I can add in some kind of dialogue (inner or actual) to bring the point home.
Thank you for your (name removed by moderator)ut!
 
right. Can’t make things too obvious. No one likes being preached at and it would interrupt the flow of the story.
 
I second the suggestion about joining the Catholic Writers Guild or at least checking their website for guidelines https://catholicwritersguild.org/ (I’ve been a member for almost ten years and three books in my series have been awarded the CWG Seal of Approval).

We are all sinners and having characters without flaws makes for very boring stories. That being said if you can edit your stories in such a way that the sin is not glorified without preaching to your readers, then go for it. Or, if there really is no way to change them significantly, you may consider publishing future work under a slightly different name to differentiate from that series (the quickest example I can come up with is author Amanda Flower who also writes under the pen name Isabella Alan… her books are all clean, but there is a distinct difference in her writing style for different series). Of course, your earlier books will still be out there and generating income, so you may want to discuss this with a priest to see what he suggests you do.

Good luck and write on!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top