A Little Ugly Truth About My Book and Blog

I started blogging over two years ago and, until this past week, haven't missed a week. It's been two weeks since I posted a blog and that one a guest blog. The week before was a republished article.

The truth is, I'm just not feeling it these days. I finished my book a year ago and haven't touched it since. So, it's not exactly finished-finished. It was finished enough to pass as an MFA thesis. It was approved by much better writers than me. It went through professional edits. But, it isn't in the condition I want it to be.

And all that kind-of stinks because I have an agent waiting to read my book - and I don't want to hand it over. I want to fix dozens of things (yes, I have a list) and add several scenes. But, without the 30 pages/month requirements I once had, writing tends to fall to the bottom of my to-do list.

I'm letting my dreams slip away. It's depressing and overwhelming and even embarrassing.

Most people have long since stopped asking me about my book. So, in case anyone out there is wondering: my book hasn't changed in a year. It's sort-of finished. Good enough to earn a terminal degree and qualify me to teach undergraduates. But not good enough to show the world.

And that ties in with this blog - I won't publish excerpts of my book here because that's a rip off to anyone who eventually reads the book. 

And I'm a bit weary of writing about the Followers. Honestly, they bore me. What's left to say? I'm tired of hearing from community members (and current members) about them sneaking their children (and themselves) to medical clinics. Good for them for doing the right thing. Bad for them for being too chicken to admit it. We're all hypocrites in some way, I suppose.

I'll write something next Sunday. Probably.

Write Fearlessly

“If you wish to be loved, show more of your faults than your virtues.”

Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton

When I started writing my book, I wanted to write it as a fictional novel to avoid making enemies, to say the least. But I received some advice that impacted my writing and thinking about my writing: if you’re going to write nonfiction, write fearlessly.

A family member had been asking to read my memoir for more than a year. Knowing it would upset the person, I made excuses. But last month, I gave in. And the person hated it.  Among many of the complaints were some scenes/chapters that depict me in a bad light.

“How could you let everyone in church read that?”

“What church?” I said.

“Your church!”

“My church?” I said.

“The Followers!”

“Oh, you mean those people who’ve been shunning me for the past nineteen years? I don’t care what they think about me.”

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God

Ephesians 2:8

Review: The Devil in Pew Number Seven

The Devil in Pew Number Seven, by Rebecca Nichols Alonzo, is a memoir about growing up as the young daughter of a small town minister. In the tiny little congregation, a man (who always occupied pew number seven) decided that he hated her father and wanted him out. Not just out of the church, but out of town. And he would stop at nothing to see it happen: "Dead or alive, crawling or walking." The family lived for years under constant attacks, threats, and fear from this man, their neighbor.

 

Rebecca’s father modeled forgiveness and praying for his enemies throughout the entire ordeal which included bombings of their home and surrounding property, threatening phone calls, and eventually a shooting which took the life of Rebecca’s mother. In the wake of her mother’s death, the widowed preacher spiraled downhill and soon died, leaving Rebecca and her younger brother as orphans.

The author’s descriptions of the fear she experienced and lived with as a very young girl built throughout the story, but the ending was the most unexpected event of all: forgiveness. She offered forgiveness to the man who had terrorized her family and caused the deaths of her parents. After he was released from prison, she allowed him into her life (she was, by then, an adult) and the two made amends. The “Devil” even arranged, while incarcerated, to pay for her and her younger brother’s college education.

I highly recommend this book to any who have experienced injustice. Because you simply cannot read this book and feel all the empathy and sympathy for this family and not be completely affected by the reconciliation that occurs. I was blown away by this woman’s story and by her depth of faith, love, and compassion.