ne where I know I will get an honest and fair
review, and even a little pocket change?

The simplest answer to the above question is to just ... write for both.
True and simple indeed, but there is the problem of cash flow that seems to rise it's head and makes itself pronouncement. The Christians I deal with
here locally in the Kansas City Metro area are probably like those in any community around the world -- if they can get it for free, then heck yeah,
by all means, let's use it. I've written two books that are out for the Christian public ("Skits For 2nd Hand Puppets Volume 1: The Ten
Commandments" and "Skits For 2nd Hand Puppets Volume 2: Adventures In Courage") with a third book sitting on a flash drive waiting for the
outcome of the first two books on sales (working title: "Skits For 2nd
Hand Puppets Volume 3: Twisted Parables"). I don't mind doing things for
free once in a while, but when Mr. Bill Collector comes knocking at your soon-to-be-foreclosed front door demanding payment on a debt, with a line
of creditors behind him that flows well into the street and around the
corner, you begin to wonder if all these "freebies" are making a difference
in your world. I've received a lot of "Lenard, you do such a good job," or "Lenard, the kids love it," which is fine. I do the same thing for my cats when they decided to use the litter box instead of my living room carpet
for a toilet; lots of prestige, but no payback that helps in the daily
living expenditures of the Roach Center For BASIC Commodore Studies. No
wonder I work three jobs and still try to have a writing career. That's
one reason why I don't like doing both.

"But Lenard, aren't you giving freebies with Commodore writing, too?"

I did that for many moons until the idea of "Run/Stop-Restore: 10th Anniversary Edition" came to light. That's where I took a large collection
of Commodore article writings and combined them into a short, easy to read volume and got them published under a bigger name publisher than just me.
Also, I've been given plenty of commentary, reviews, and blurbs throughout
the Commodore universe (like this magazine) that opened up sales and gave
me a little pocket change to where I could afford a Hamburger Helper once
in a while instead of Tuna Helper all the time. Can I get the same from
the Christian world? Only if I start flashing them some greenbacks at
them. Nobody seems to do things for Jesus anymore unless they can get a
buck or two out of it for themselves. This does not speak for ALL
Christian ministries, of course, but just listen sometime to either a TV or radio preacher and see if they don't ask the listeners for a
"contribution."

Now let's look at Commodore users (and I'll use the example of the
preparation of my latest program, "The Envelope Addressor," to illustrate.) When I came up with an idea to write a program for the Commodore 64 and
laid down the BASIC code for it, I received an instant response for the Commodore community. Sure, I got a lot of "Good jobs" and "Can't wait to
see the full blown version," but there were also those who came up with suggestions on what they think I should add to the program, like a
directory reader or other subroutine. To tell the truth, most, if not all,
of my later works after 1992 for programming involved the Commodore
community at large, in some capacity or another. Those who helped me the
most were mentioned in the credits at the end of the programs. The club or institution that helped me the most were added to the start up screen, so anyone using the product would have to read that at each boot up. That
could be YOU, Commodore reader, if I ever get another inspiration to sit
back and BASIC program again. Sadly, it seems like such epiphanies only
come about once every three or four years, and my next one is overdue by
about two years.

When it came to Commodore, the people were enthusiastic and helpful, rarely critical (except during extreme cases where a programming blunder would be inevitable), but always excited to see something new come out for the Commodore. Sometimes some users just didn't care if the application I was working on was something they would never use personally; they were just excited to see something new for the Commodore.

The Christian community was different. They rarely gave feedback on work I
was doing, except to tell me that my material was "unfit for their
criteria." When I asked them what they were looking for, they would respond with something to the effect of "Never mind. We have decided to go a
different avenue. Your services are no longer required." I decided that
with all these unused skits and plays with a Christian theme sitting around
the house, I would do with them as I did with Commodore and compile them
into a book and try and sell them. Do you want to know my total sales of volumes for the working year 2013 for my Christian books? One -- and that
one I had to practically beg them to purchase, just so I could have a sale
on the records. I have given away dozens of copies of my Christian play
books hoping that word of mouth would generate sales, but all people are
doing is taking the free book and copying the contents (not all the
content; just the parts they want to use) and leaving my book on the
shelves to rot.

The Commodore community stepped right up when I had chances to advertise
(in many cases, for free) in magazines and online book stores and didn't
beg or ask for a "free" copy, but dug right into their wallets and paid me
for my efforts on Commodore writing. Even as I write this article, I'm glancing at my latest royalties check from the book publisher that came in
the mail. "Run/Stop-Restore: 10th Anniversary Edition" has been on the
market now for a while and I'm still getting residuals from it today. This
is all thanks to the Commodore community (readers like you) and those
Commodore enthusiasts who display my material at their conventions, even
though I can't be there personally to sign autographs or talk to the
readers. I hate to say this about God's church, but it seems like there is more unity and camaraderie within Commodore, as spaced apart as the users
group might be these days, than there is in the walls of a church
sanctuary.

So I'm back to the question of what to do with my writing career. I get
sick of working late hours on my computer's word processor wondering if my latest work will meet the criteria of what readers are looking for today, whether it be Commodore or Christian or whatever. Still, I can "walk" into
a Commodore magazine, interview, program demonstration, or book signing and
be greeted with open arms, a smile, a handshake, and even a pat on the back
for a work done. I try my best not to claim mastery over anything I do in either realm as a "final authority," but it sure is bad that only Commodore enthusiasts are willing to shell out comments -- and cash -- for the things that I have done.

Maybe the church needs to get off their "blessed assurance," march out into
a Commodore convention, and see how things can be done just a little bit
better in the way people are treated. My ex-wife gave Robert Bernardo, president of the Fresno Commodore Users Group, some static a few years ago
when it came to my first appearance at one of the club's CommVEx
conventions because it was in Las Vegas, Nevada, better know to the public
as "Sin City." Robert, in his wisdom, simply answered her query with one of
his own: "And Kansas City is much better how?" She was quiet after that
and retreated back into the santity of her quiet church pew. Well after
our divorce, I found out that she never enjoyed our family trip to Las
Vegas that year because of all the explicit activity, and she would never
go back to the city again.

Commodore has been, and always shall be, a venue wherein a person can
always be met with consideration and compassion when it comes to computers.
It was Commodore users that taught me to always be understanding of other formats that were being used out there and to be helpful when they ran into

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