Meet the Author(s)

It’s Monday and time for another full week of writings from your faithful Kingdom Bloggers.  Tony is taking a sabbatical, and Joyce (that’s me) has rejoined us.  Joyce is taking the lead each week with the Monday postings.  

This week, we return to a topic we’ve done before: if you were to write a book (or are writing a book) what would you write, what would the title be, would it be adult or children’s, etc?  We might surprise you, there might be some changes AND we have some new voices on Kingdom Bloggers, so you are sure to enjoy this week’s writings.  

We write for the glory of God and hope you’ll add us to your regular reading and tell your friends about Kingdom Bloggers.

I’ve been talking about writing a book for FOREVER.  When I was in High School, I read an essay in our textbook.  I have no idea what the essay was, or who wrote it.  What I do remember was writing a reflection on it.  In that reflection, I said that I liked the essay because it was about a writer and that was what I wanted to be when I grew up.

Well, I guess I haven’t grown up yet.  That’s good because I hate the thought of being old.  Recently, I had to write something for graduation about what I learned in the doctoral program.  I said that I learned that age was a number, it didn’t define me, or limit me.  That means there is still time to write and be an author.

Once upon a long time ago, I was very much involved in children’s ministry.  One summer, our theme was Psalm 150.  It’s a great Psalm that serves as the finale crescendo to the book of Psalms.  It sums up all the praises and laments of Psalms with three words:

PRAISE THE LORD!

To help with teaching the children about praising God and the book of Psalms I had a little finger puppet – he was a field mouse named Selah.  I told the children that there was a funny word in the book of Psalms.   No one knew for sure what it meant – I told them it was a secret.  The word really was the name of a field mouse that King David found when he was a shepherd boy.  When David was praising God, he’d call Selah.  David carried Selah with him everywhere.

What a great children’s storybook series I thought.  Selah, the mouse in King David’s pocket would tell the story of the life of David from the eyes of a field mouse.  That was my book.  A children’s book!  Somewhere, I might still have the beginning manuscript for that book.  Someday, maybe I’ll still try to write it.

Since then, I’ve developed several deeper theological type books in my mind.  One was on a fresh look at those verses most women love to hate – or at least wonder about – The Virtuous Woman of Proverbs 31.  I did a paper on this and developed the idea that this could also be interpreted as a look at the mature “wife” or church.  That was my next idea for a ground breaking book.  A book quickly followed this on the difficult passages in Genesis surrounding Hagar and Ishmael.  I preached a sermon series shortly after 911 on the Intercession of Hagar.  I thought it would make a great book and later did a lot of theological work and even translations of Genesis 16 from Hebrew to English.

There have been lots of books; all in my head.  I recently finished my dissertation, soon I’ll get a bound copy of that and I guess then I can say I really wrote a book.  But the book that is yet to be written is a book about my life. 

I have had several working titles and none I really like – but my story is one of being a high school dropout who every one saw as a loser – of being a welfare mom living in a trailer – of being a single mother after being beaten and abandoned by her husband – of being a child bride and so much more who through the grace of God has had a marriage of 35 years to a wonderful husband, bore and raised 8 beautiful children, had several successful careers and now is getting her doctoral degree. 

That’s the story I am compelled to tell and will.  The day will come when I will be an author.

Great Books for Thinking About Faith

This week on Kingdom Bloggers, we are talking about contemporary authors. I decided to recommend some authors who stimulate thinking about issues of faith, theology, and our unique journeys of belief. We need to think more and react less! For a scriptural reference on this, read The Epistle of James, chapter 3. I am also a great believer in humor and the healing power of laughter! 

Carolyn Custis James, Half the Church, When Life and Beliefs Collide, Book of Ruth, Lost Women of the Bible. 

I have been a fan of Carolyn's since I heard her speak at a conference in 2005 encouraging the crowd to encourage women to step up to the plate in ministry and careers.  In Half the Church, she offers a healthy discussion of why men and women should be partnering in ministry, in marriage, in life, in business, etc., instead of...well, dwelling on much of the division we have known for years. The other main issue in this book is the call to rescue our global sisters from sexual trafficking, prostitution, and abuse--and giving them a reason to trust and to live: Jesus Christ, and the fellowship of believers who care enough to do something about this crisis. I wrote a six-week study based on Half the Church for my 2012 summertime “Stories on the Porch” I host for women (no offense to men; my porch can only fit so many J), and it stimulated great discussion and challenged our thinking.  Carolyn's other books are excellent as well, and highly recommended.

 Philip Yancey, Soul Survivor: How My Faith Survived the Church.

    This is one of the most important books on faith I have read, and I wish I had known about it ten years ago when it was first published. Back then, I had an aversion to reading contemporary Christian authors for a few reasons, including the relentless marketing of the “same-old same-old” stuff, a growing unsettling about authors of a certain gender, type and age telling me how to think, what to believe, etc., and zero free time raising three young children.

       The funny thing is, Yancey is exactly one of those authors I avoided, certain he had nothing original or pertinent to say to me. So, my own stubbornness and assumptions got in the way of “listening” to him.

     The book is comprised of 13 chapters, each focusing on a person who profoundly impacted Yancey’s faith (usually in times of doubt and struggle) through personal engagement, research or studying the writings and life of past authors/thinkers (persons like Martin Luther King, G. K. Chesterton, Ghandi, Annie Dillard, Dr. Paul Brand). Soul Survivor will challenge and convict believers about their understanding of some prominent Christians, and will hopefully remind us that truly authentic Christians can love and serve Christ while also living flawed lives--because we all are flawed and broken, and in need of redemption. Yancey received a lot of hate mail over his early essays on Martin Luther King, C. Everett Koop, and Ghandi--most of it from evangelical Christians.

     Yancey survived a fundamentalist, racist, hypocritical church as he grew up, but his faith would have withered and died if not for the authentic, loving, sacrificial people God put in his path to challenge his own assumptions about the Church.

      The book also spoke to me because of its support of the power of art and literature (novels, poems, stories) to draw people to Christ.

Rhoda Janzen, Does This Church Make Me Look Fat?

No doubt some of the content of this honest memoir will bug (read: offend) some people, but this book is not about theology. It is about the personal journey of a woman raised as a Mennonite who left faith behind for 25 years, but who could not escape God’s whisper of love to her. Janzen is an English professor, and her spot-on storytelling and wit are treasures.   Her previous memoir, Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, should probably be read first (which I have not done yet!).  A friend gave the second one to me as a gift, so I plunged ahead--no regrets! J

LISTEN, FOR I HAVE WORTHY THINGS TO SAY

My title is taken from Proverbs 8:6a. This would have to be the intention of anyone who writes. The reader reserves the right to disagree but putting wings on words is the thrill of writing.

When I was about 10 years old, I wrote my first book. Oh, I should be more honest and say, when I started to write my first book.

It was a mystery, probably an idea that was spurred on by the popular Nancy Drew Series. What I distinctly remember was the passion of crafting scenarios that would bring me into made up places. The characters reverberated with memorable roles. I was the main character who was definitely a heroine. She was wise beyond her years and an accomplished sleuth. And she was clever and likable.

From as long as I can remember, I loved writing as much as I loved reading. That fact remains today.

The three times that I attended Writer’s Conferences, along with a Writing Course, were times that I learned invaluable information about writing.

I remember walking into the Writing Class late. The Teacher had already asked the students a question. He wanted me to answer it as well. While walking to my seat, he asked “What was the last thing that you read?” I swear I was not trying to be funny, but I just took the question literally and said “A yogurt container”

I mean, I had just started Weight Watchers and you can understand how food takes the forefront when you start a diet. Nevertheless , the teacher and the class found it pretty funny.

I also remember from the class, the teacher holding up a freezer baggie, filled with a pile of papers. He explained that they were rejection slips that he had received over the years. He had sent a good amount of book proposals to publishers before his books were accepted. He did it so that we would realize that it is a real part of the book proposal process.

I heard that same information at the Writer’s Conferences as well. I have even read that the book The Help, that was on the New York Time’s Best Seller list for many weeks, was rejected a fair amount of times, before being accepted.

I have written and had published some magazine articles. It was kind of thrilling to see my name in print and to have “what I had to say” of value to the people who made the decision to print them.

I  now have 2 books in the works.

One is a Children’s Book about a little girl Walrus named Cindi and her friends. It is not a Christian Book per se, but one that portrays good morals.

The idea for the book came to me when I was reflecting on a group people that the Lord had put in my life, when I was in a dark and depressing period. Some of these people, who supported me , were professionals and others were friends. As a tribute to each of them, I have used either their name or a portion of their name for my characters.

Whether my book is accepted by a Publisher or not, I have purposed that I am going to, at the very least, have some printed and distribute them to these special people.  I would think it would be a blessing for them to see that I accomplished some things that I dreamed of.

One thing I learned about children’s books is that if the author doesn’t do the art…the publisher will likely pick the illustrator.. I think that could be a little tricky, as I surmise that the author might feel somewhat guarded about their story. I have often wondered how the author would feel if they truly disliked the art.

The second book, I would say is in the category of Inspirational Christian Women’s Issues.

The title would be “You Can Know a Lot about a Woman by What She Carries in Her Purse”.

The idea first came to me, as a line in the eulogy, that I wrote for my mom. My mom always carried a large purse. I talked about the contents of her purse as a way to tell her story and to let others know more about her.

In addition, I recently did a display for our local library. It had various purses ,along with the contents visible and spilling over near each purse.

There are 4 Christian Women Book Authors that I follow on the Internet, on their Websites. It has helped me to see that they are real, down to earth people and I have gleaned encouragement and ideas from them.

They are Karen Kingsbury, Angela Hunt, Ann Tatlock and Mary Demuth. I have contacted them personally with comments and or questions and all have responded. I realized that authors do like to hear feedback and I found them willing to help.

 Mary Demuth is very generous in offering her expertise and encouragement for writers. She is an Author, Speaker and Book Mentor.

With mentioning these authors, I would encourage anyone to contact their favorite authors. When you think of it yourself, wouldn’t it feel great to get positive feedback or questions about your writing?

At the very least, you would know that there is someone:”out there” reading what you wrote.

So my friends,

Happy Writing!

Don’t lose heart if you are rejected a few times.

Keep persevering!

Linda Maynard