So I found several beta readers after all for Hurricane Baby. One has finished reading and reported in that she does not like Mike and Holly’s storyline–the guy that has a huge crisis of faith. She said it reminded her too much of the Fireproof movie, where all they needed was Jesus and everything turned out fine.
I countered that I had wanted at least one story to turn out to have a happy ending. She wasn’t convinced. So depending on what other readers say, I may be back to the drawing board on that.
This sort of feedback is why you want beta readers. You need people who will be honest with you about how stories come off to them. Beta readers are not necessarily editors–their role is to tell you if the story hangs together or not. For this reader, who I’ve known since I was eight years old, it didn’t. It’s just one opinion. She loved the Wendy and Ray Magnum story and the James and Lori King story. But that other one just stuck in her craw; she couldn’t swallow it. It means more work may need to be done on it, or to maybe ditch it altogether. We will see what others say.
Julie Liddell Whitehead 