Only two blogposts this year. But my excuse isn’t the normal one of parish busyness and personal incompetence, although those things are obviously a factor in the emptiness of this site so far in 2013. But the main reason, I think, for bloglessness is some other writing I’ve been doing. And so far nearly 4,000 words of writing (of approximately 40,000 I’ve agreed to) for the BOOK I’ve just signed a contract for!
After my three minutes of fame talking about blogging in a seminar at the Midlands Women’s Convention last October, I was approached by an editor from IVP who asked me if I’d consider writing for them. So I thought about it, put a few ideas together, and suddenly I have a deadline at the end of March and a very tidy kitchen. Of course, housework becomes much more attractive when I have something more pressing and important to do…
The working title of the book is Messy Ministry – mess being just about my top specialist subject, though ministry rather less so. So do please pray for me as I write to my deadline. Pray for my kind editor who will have to wrestle with the words I write and make them coherent (I’m already discovering that writing chapters is not entirely the same as a whole bunch of random blogposts strung together). And pray that I’ll be able to encourage everyone who wants to do ministry but finds that mess keeps on getting in the way. It’s a scary but exciting project and is proving a challenge for all of us in the Vicarage.
And if anyone would like to suggest helpful ideas for the book I’d be extra specially keen on that too…
The Vicar's Wife 
How exciting!
How exciting! I’d like to read about what happens when it all goes wrong, when things don’t turn out the way you had thought God was leading – especially when you’ve entrusted all to Him. People need to know how to handle the negative stuff as well as the positive, remaining faithful and without blaming themselves. Does that fit in with your ideas or is this the basis for my own book lol?
I’m super excited by this news and will pre-order a copy now as I’m sure it’s going to be fantastic.
Sounds like a great opportunity and real ministry is certainly messy! I’ve really appreciated your writings about Gone and the challenges he’s brought to your doorstep – would be good to read more about how to cope with/minister to the particularly needy people inside/outside/on the edges of our church communities? Hope the writing goes well.
Very excited for you. The step up from blogging to writing a book is a big one. You’re very brave, but I’m sure it will be worth it. Looking forward to hearing more!
Awesomey awesomeness!! Delighted for you (and terrified for you!)
Would love your thoughts on the process of book-writing – blog about it, perhaps??
Brilliant! Well done. Really looking forward to hearing more about the project. And if you are looking for an editor… ;D
Thank you everyone. I’m finding life as an author fun so far, but the deadline seems quite a way off at the moment!
Tanya – I will try and blog a bit about the writing and will certainly be tweeting some of it…
Christa – I’m sure that some of Gone’s story will feature – I have a chapter on Messy Community planned.
Sandy – you’ve pretty much nailed the subject of the book – the themes of God’s grace and his providence will be woven throughout as I think about the mess we (and others) make of nearly everything.
Claire – Very kind of you to offer! IVP have an editor who is holding my hand through the whole process. Would love to hear your top tips though!
Sounds exciting. A book I would read for sure! May the words flow freely and coherently from your mind to the page.
Please make sure your book has a detailed index, a good publisher should have details of indexers, or be able to find one through the Society of Indexers. I no longer index books, but remember the first published one I did was a popular history of Westminster Cathedral.