Until I have a book published, I’ve decided not to call myself an author. But I am and have been for a long time, a writer. I journal and save them, but don’t know what use they will be. However, Matthew McConaughey recently had a book published, Green Light, and he gleaned from journals he’d kept for years.
[Wish my journals looked like this, classic and neatly tied for storage.]
My professor of journalism at Asbury College recommended me for a temp job at Asbury Theological Seminary when they needed an editor for their publication. That started my career. Then Chuck Keysor hired me at Good News magazine. I held several positions and two articles appeared under my name. Before we left Wilmore, KY, for Bill to pastor World Gospel Church in Terre Haute, IN, Dr. Keysor trusted me with editing Sunday school curriculum. Having written magazine articles and devotions in several publications still didn’t qualify me as an author (in my mind).
Now that Bill’s first book is to be released on Amazon on December 16th, I’ve considered calling myself a co-author. But that is not on-target. I collected, edited, and organized Bill’s sermons, but I did not write them. He preached those messages, and I prepared them for publication. If you’re interested, look soon on amazon.com for Words of Endearment: the Ten Commandments as a Revelation of God’s Love. The paperback book sells at $12.95 and the ebook for $6.50. You can pre-order the ebook, but not the paperback. These contain 12 sermons, 11 on the Ten Commandments, and a closing chapter on Rightly Handling the Word of Truth.
This blog posts did not start out to include a commercial; but there, I’ve done it. I want to express my thanks for all those who have contributed to my craft of writing, beginning with my literature teachers who showed me the value of reading good books. As I wrote book reviews, I honed my skills and learned from the best authors. I’m also grateful for all of you who comment on my blog posts, and I’ve paid attention to what you like best.
I close with a few quotes from my collection on writing:
“A writer is a world trapped in a person.” –Victor Hugo
“I write because I do not know what I think until I read what I say.” –Flannery O’Conner
“The genius of the story is that it’s about ordinary life writ large.” –anonymous
“Writing demands your complete attention.” –Donald Miller
And my favorite from Ernest Hemingway: “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”
Ann Coker 