Blog Relay Day!

Today I'm participating in a blog tour via my friend, Donn Taylor (http://donntaylor.blogspot.com and www.donntaylor.com), via Preslaysa Williams at www.preslaysa.com. I hope the questions below and my answers to them will give you a clearer idea of who I am as a writer, what I'm working on now, and how and why I do it. Here goes:

What am I working on now?

At the moment, I'm working on the first book of what I hope will become a series. I won't reveal much more than that, except that it's darker than my Road's End series and deals with the eternal consequences of sin and how the devil and his demons work day and night to keep us from being the Christians God wants us to be and to keep non-believers from coming to Christ. It's a departure from my other series, but I feel led by God to write this particular book.

How does my work differ from others in its genre?

Although my work is inspirational and Christian in scope and context, I also use a lot of humor in my stories. I think God gave us a sense of humor to help us deal with one another and with life, as well as to forgive our own foibles. Being able to laugh at ourselves and see the absurdity of our actions (as well as in the actions of others) helps us to realize we are bur mere humans and as such, are going to mess up on occasion. My characters, although larger than life in some instances, will remind readers of a neighbor, friend, relative, classmate, co-worker, or maybe even themselves. Sometimes it's good to just sit back and laugh at the human condition.

That said, the series I'm working on now flies in the face of what I just told you about humor in my writing. Although there is a lighthearted aspect of this series in some parts, it's of such a serious nature, and I believe so strongly in its intended message, that too much humor would water down the eternal consequences of ignoring God (and the devil, for that matter).

Why do I write what I do?

I believe my assignment while I’m on this earth is to use my God-given skills (and every last one of us has our own set of skills) to write novels and hopefully bring others to Him. One of those skills is my sense of humor. Mixing laughter with the Good News of Jesus Christ might bring a reader to salvation who would otherwise turn his or her back on the message an author is trying to get across. It comes naturally to me to write what I do (and to write it the way I do), and fortunately, I love doing it.

How does my writing process work?

Pretty much hit and miss, to be honest. I’d like to say I sit down at 8:00 a.m. and write until I’ve completed 10,000 words, but that would be a big, fat lie. Yes, I’ve been known to write through the night when a deadline looms after I’ve let it creep up on me, always thinking “I’ll tackle it tomorrow,” but that’s rare. I’d also like to say I’m continually energized, inspired, and feeling particularly creative. That, too, would be a lie. What I can say (without lying) is that the more I write, the more energized, inspired, and creative I become. Energy begets energy, being inspired begets more inspiration... you get the picture. It’s a matter of sitting down and hitting the keys no matter how drained or uninspired I feel.

The fact is, writing is the hardest work I’ve ever done. Nothing has messed with my self-esteem more than writing, yet nothing has made me feel closer to God than using the skills He gave me to glorify Him. God has given me the time, ability, equipment, and desire to write, and I can’t ignore those blessings. The fact is, I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

Until the next time...