It’s easy to get all wrapped around your axle when you’re a writer who’s got things going in the correct direction. Other issues, other people, other writers become landscape whizzing by the windows as the train picks up speed. I fall into that group in spite of my best efforts, and took some time to slow down and see what other people are doing this week.
Many of the young authors are from my church. It is part of The Cookie Movement.
The book contains a collection of simple statements, poems, vignettes, and philosophical maunderings by children from throughout the nation. Many of these youngsters attend my church, Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, in Saint Paul, MN. Last Sunday they were asked to stand and be recognized for their contributions.
“Bah. So what?” is the response from some of you. I can hear it echoing down the halls as I write this and you haven’t even said it yet. While the book contains considerable white space, and some concepts that come from other notables with a little spin on them, some of the words are pretty cool. They show a level of thought that most of us don’t attribute to children.
More importantly, these kids come from an inner-city culture that scorns intellectual prowess. Being smart isn’t part of the culture, and it costs these kids to come out as writers. I’m proud of them for doing this work. It’s a huge leap into an intellectual world where I welcome them as future superstars. If I’d been in an anthology at age 6 who knows what would have happened in my life. I went out of my way to collect as many autographs as possible before I left the church that morning.
We, all adults, need to encourage children to stretch not just their muscles, but their minds. That young writer in your house might just do a paragraph or a short story, but that’s huge in today’s video culture. Spend the time to build them up – before society tries to knock them down.
My hat is off to the children who worked on this book, and to Trina Dawkins Patterson who collected their work. Good job!
Now, to get them all to buy my book when it’s published…
It’s 0514 and I’m at the computer. I had to get a few blog posts ready before I could settle in and work on the novels. I have made a commitment to get them done in time for a conference in September, and to have at least one of them ready to submit to a contest in 2 weeks time.
It is quite likely that sleep deprivation will set in sometime around next Saturday. My schedule this week is brutal. Fun stuff that was scheduled long before I got an agent and long before I decided to enter the contest. But that means that I have to fit in the writing in the crevices that remain.
This morning I made a crevice by taking 3 hours of vacation time at work. I hate taking vacation time during the summer. Especially when I’ll be spending it inside working on the computer. Hopefully this morning will dawn bright and sunny so that I can take the laptop outside and work on the patio.
Stormy was glad to see me when I ambled through the door, but her joy didn’t last all that long when I plunked down at the computer and started bashing keys.
The good part of the whole treadmill is that I have several really great story ideas churning around in my head. And now that I’m scheduling time to work on them I’ll make it happen. There’s no rush, no urgency to finish a work without a deadline and some sort of consequence. You can convince yourself that you’re “writing in my head” when what you’re really doing is staring at the wall and trying to remember if you have any Oreo’s left on the shelf in the pantry. (The answer is no.)
I’m a little daunted by what I’ve undertaken with this course in my life. I’m also thrilled to have the opportunities presented to me.
I’ll keep you posted. Maybe even a picture or two of me toiling over a hot keyboard. Then again, I’m told I have a face more suited for radio.
What lies in your future that draws you forward and holds you back at the same time? Is there a task that you’ll never finish until someone sets a line down and demands your completion?
Amazing. I was looking at the Healing Haiti website this week and really pleased with the amount of help they’re getting from the public. The readers of this blog are a significant part of the effort – my thanks to you and a prayer that it only grows from here.
Bylove has a heart for God. When asked his favorite activity he will tell you it’s playing, singing and dancing for God. Bylove is one to encourage other kids and he will be the first to help out when needed. Bylove wants to be an engineer when he grows up and he likes studying French. You will most often find Bylove on the playground and playing soccer or basketball. Bylove’s prayer request is that he will be able to finish school.
Bylove came to Healing Haiti in June, 2010. Bylove is a true orphan, his mother is deceased and his father is unknown.
Birth Info
Birthdate: December 26, 1998
Place of Birth: Cite Soleil, Haiti
It is my hope that one of you will find your heart touched by this child and take up a bit of Christ’s work by sponsoring them for an extended period. My wife and I are sponsoring a pair of sisters and we took on the commitment based on having to only gave up a fast-food dinner each day to change the life of a child. God came through with a very lucrative bit of voice over work for me that covered the bill that same day, but it really is as easy as skipping a value meal. Healing Haiti will do the right things for these children and I have full confidence in their work. I am not affiliated with them, they don’t endorse this blog, nothing like that at all. I just love kids (can’t be Santa and not love children) and know that Grace Village is the difference between life and death for many of these children. Please open your heart and prayerfully reflect on the opportunity God’s giving us to sponsor these children. Some of them have come out of slavery and have some of the toughest lives you could imagine prior to Grace Village.
Just click the link and it will take you directly to the page where you can sponsor this week’s child. And if God is particularly good and that child is sponsored when you get there, please grab another smiling face and change their life instead. My goal is to put Sponsorship Sunday out of business as quickly as possible and take that day off each week. Thank you. God bless you for your generosity.
Some of the finest people you’ll ever meet. The hands and feet of Christ.
I finished up a little bit of time with Stormy in the yard this morning laughing my way back to the computer. My dog is a raster scanner.
For those of you not familiar with military radars there are two kinds you most commonly deal with: search and targeting. (Yeah, I know – lots more kinds, but let’s keep it simple. I don’t have to turn in my geek card yet, just trying to make a point.)
Search radars are the ones you see in the movies that spin around slowly and take in the big picture. Targeting radars move much more quickly and scan a small area where the search radar has indicated a target.
Stormy is a raster scanner most of the time. This morning she found several targets of interest (mainly squirrels) and then stood on the sidewalk raster scanning them. Honest, if she had weapons to go with that look of hers there would be no life further than 8 feet above the ground. Squirrels, airplanes, birds, even power lines all annoy the snot out of her. She’d vaporize all of them if she had a chance. I think it might look something like this video if you put a gun barrel on her and let her load up with ammo:
She’s practicing her annoyed breathing right now – I guess I better wrap this up and head back out with her. Probably some evil sparrow that needs watching.
Christian authors have a hard time getting the press they need to promote their books. I recently joined a number of other authors in pledging support in this realm. This offer means that we “cross blog” and exchange interviews when book releases come around. I get to inflict myself on Karla’s readers down the road when I get published.
I met Karla at the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference this past year. I’ve been saving this interview since then because I wanted to kick it out when her book was released. That takes place tomorrow. If you’d like to purchase The Pastor’s Wife Wears Biker Boots it’s available now on Amazon.com. Head on over and get a copy today.
The Pastor’s Wife Wears Biker Boots
Where do you write?
I’d like to say I write in a neatly organized office, and I may do that someday, but right now my office is filled with hundreds of books from my teaching years. Now that I’m sure I like reading digitally on my iPad, I’m arranging to give many of them away. For now, I usually write from my comfy chair in the living room in the middle of the chaos. I’m pretty good at tuning noise out or I use my headphones.
What is your process?
I usually start with an idea that has to do with a unique or unsuspecting character in an unusual situation. And I may write a little synopsis or just start writing and then brainstorm on paper. I always keep a notebook with me so I can write down ideas or work on chapters. I have limited time to write, so I do it every chance I get.
Describe your book.
A pastor’s wife decides to learn to ride a motorcycle and when she does, she creates all kinds of hilarious drama between the women she recruits to ride with her and the church board.
Why should readers pick it up?
If they’ve ever been involved in church leadership or like a good laugh about women aged 40+ doing crazy things, I think they’ll enjoy the adventure. Kirstie, the pastor’s wife, also has an autistic son, and two boys who are just regular kids with their own dramas. Kirstie is a homeschool Mom, too. Homeschooling and autism are two causes dear to my heart.
How did your book come to life?
I learned to ride a motorcycle at the tender age of 47. And so many funny things happened to me, I thought the same concept would make a good book. I also wanted to give a little insight into what it’s like being a pastor’s family, what it’s like to live with autism, and how it feels to go through some of the things Kirstie goes through.
Who is your favorite character in the book and why?
This is a tough one! There are many quirky characters in the book. Of course Kirstie is my first favorite because she’s a pastor’s wife like me. I guess my second favorites would be Opal and Atticus. Opal is someone in her 60s who’s never married and scared of her own shadow. You’ll have to read the book to find out who Atticus is.
Karla Akins
How did you name your characters?
I did web searches for popular names of the year they were born on baby name sites.
Are the characters based on people you know?
There may be some character qualities that are like people I know, but I didn’t base the character on an individual but more on a single type of person.
Why will readers enjoy your book?
If they like reading about how people relate to one another in hilarious and unexpected ways, they’ll love it.
Is anything in the book based on your own life?
The fact that I’m a pastor’s wife who rides a motorcycle, of course, is something like me, but Kirstie isn’t like me at all. She has a lot more energy! Ironically, when I wrote the book, a couple of things that are in the book did happen to me later. I write about Alzheimer’s and had no idea at the time that my mother-in-law with Alzheimer’s would come to live with us. I write about the preacher’s son’s trouble with the law, and had no idea we, too, would be experiencing some of the same heartbreak. You can read about that on my Prison Ministry page on my website. It’s almost as if the Lord was preparing me well for what we were to go through. Sort of a foreshadowing. God is so good that way.
What is your favorite scene in the book?
Oh my goodness, that’s so hard because there are so many that I love. I love the scene with the pastor’s family’s pet bull mastiff when he interrupts a church meeting after a swim in the pond. I also love the part where the women get locked in a Harley Davidson dealership after hours. But perhaps the best part is when they all go to jail. Then again there is that love scene…
Why Christian fiction?
I was a voracious reader as a child. I read anything I could get my hands on and I was blessed to have a mother and father who loved to read. From the time I was small my mother read to us out of the classics. By the time I was in 5th grade I’d read classics such as David Copperfield, Treasure Island, and The Yearling. I also read all those Reader’s Digest condensed books my parents got every month. Every one of them. But in Jr. High or High School, I read the book, Christy, by Catherine Marshall. That book impressed me so much that I felt the call into what our little church called “full time Christian service.” I knew I would serve Jesus with my life and that included my writing. I could never compare myself to Catherine Marshall, but I do hope that my books will touch people’s hearts and draw them closer to God the way that book and other Christian books did and still do. I write hoping that someone will draw closer to God.
