More than Writers

Authors Katia Adams, Will van der Hart and Andy Croft. Do you ever feel a little overwhelmed by how many people there are out there writing similar books/poems/devotionals/articles/blogs to you? I have struggled with this from time to time, and, if I’m honest, particularly when I see social media posts that seem to reveal that they are more successful than I am.  And yet I had a reminder just last week that we should celebrate one another rather than be intimidated.  I was at a publisher’s showcase event and, during each of the authors’ talks and again during the Q&A session, the subject of authenticity, particularly being real with each other as Christians, cropped up again and again.  While I am an introvert and so would never have dreamt of actually doing this, in my head there were countless moments when I wanted to jump up and say: ‘That’s my biggest passion. And that’s what  my  book is about!’ But then, within the ongoing conv...

The joy of meeting author Sharon Brown (left). Last week I had the enormous pleasure of meeting Sharon Brown for the first time. She is the author of a series of fictional books that have had a huge spiritual impact on me – as well as thousands of others. The Sensible Shoes series is about four women from very different backgrounds who meet at a retreat. Readers learn spiritual disciplines as they do and also read how their lives intertwine and they work out how to use the disciplines in the ups and downs of their own lives.  During the evening, Sharon focused on us knowing that we are God’s beloved, and how that needs to be foundational in our lives. As we rest and receive that love we are able to respond – but only then. There were different spiritual exercises that Sharon got us to engage with and, as I reflected on them afterwards, I realised how much they involved our imaginations – and writing.  So much of our writing is done for the benefit of other...