A few weeks back the romantic comedy Summers’ Love released as a Kindle eBook on Amazon and in print (available through Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and Goodreads.com). The author, Stu Summers, is a recluse. He lives on an island
in the Caribbean, doesn’t have Internet or a cell phone, and apparently could
care less what reviewers think of his book. His indie-publisher
has a different take on this, since reviews can affect a book’s sales. Those of us here at Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas have been
pushing for Stu to address the issue.
This week, I finally received a response from Stu regarding comments and reviews from readers that we copied and pasted into a Word document, printed out, and mailed to him, along with these questions:
Q. Stu, it’s been a
few weeks since your book Summers’ Love
released. Any thoughts on how your book is doing?
A. First, I’d
like to thank everyone who supported my book launch. I wish I could have been
there to help but it’s probably best I remain down here helping in the medical
clinic. Granted, I’m not much help, but any pair of extra hands is appreciated.
Speaking of appreciated, I really do appreciate the people
who take the time to read my book. I take to heart the reader’s comments: both positive and negative. To be honest, I’m surprised Summers’
Love turned out as well as it did. Especially since this is my first
real attempt at writing a novel. As readers know, my previous novels were ghost
written. I’m not proud of that and make that clear in Summers’ Love.
I did the best I could, wrote from my heart, bled on the
page, and followed my editor’s instructions. Well, tried to follow my editor’s instructions. Some like the story, some
don’t. If your goal is to please everyone, you become a slave to all. So in general I’d say I’m pleased and will accept the criticism for what it is: helpful
advice.
Q. There was some
pushback among some readers suggesting your book wasn’t Christian. Did that
surprise you?
A. Absolutely. Summers’ Love isn’t a Christian book.
I’m not sure how a book can be Christian. It’s a book, not a person with a
spirit and soul. I suppose given the other books my publisher releases, readers may have expected the book to maybe be a sermon or at least have a
strong spiritual message. But that was never my intent. I’m just trying to tell
a funny, romantic story about two people who are deceiving themselves and each
other and happen to fall in love along the way. I think most people lead secret lives – even some Christians.
Q. Hate to bring this
up, but there was a particular word in the story that offended certain readers.
Care to address that?
A. You mean the word “breast”? Yes, I struggled with whether
to include that word in the story. I mean, we all have them, but with guys it’s
not as big a deal. Oops, that didn’t come out right. What I mean is, hardly
anybody gets excited if a guy shows his breasts in public. Not that anybody
shows any skin in Summers’ Love. Oh wow, this is
so not coming out the way I’d planned. Let me try again.
Women refer to their upper body area as breast. Guys call
this area our chest. So I used a word that I thought most women might use when
describing the top half of the front portion of their body. And I do know that
women will sometimes experience excitement in that region. I only mention that
a few times in order to show emotion. My editor kept telling me to add more
emotion. That might not have been exactly what she had in mind, though. Like I said, this was my first time writing a real novel.
But if I’m reading my publisher's letter correctly, the senior editor performed a
mastectomy on my novel and removed five “breasts.” I suppose I should thank
him. Hopefully this will make the book less offensive.
Q. Last question, Stu...
the title of the book. Weren’t you concerned readers might think you smug and
arrogant by writing about yourself?
A. Yes! I told
my editor calling the book Summers’ Love written by Stu Summers
was too much, but she insisted that readers would catch the irony and find it
humorous. She said that is part of the romantic comedy genre. But I guess it doesn’t work for every reader. Humor is
hard to write. That’s why they say you need a sense of humor. Not everyone
shares my “sense” and “none sense” but then, I’m not writing serious
literature. I’m writing romantic comedy. We have more than enough serious and
depressing issues to deal with at the clinic. I subscribe to the notion that if
you can’t laugh at yourself, you can bet someone else will.
Not sure I answered all your questions the way you liked,
but I appreciate you giving me the opportunity. In the end, I’m a flawed author
who does his best and hopes readers will find a few laughs along the way. And,
God knows, we need more laughter.
I'd like to write more but it is time to grab dinner and first I have to catch it. Sea ya!
