It is finished.
My upcoming novel, that is. Well, not really finished exactly, but a complete draft goes to beta readers this week.
Since It is finished are purportedly Christ’s final words while hanging from the cross, here’s a brief explanation of what I’ve been writing.
Started in Portugal. Beta draft completed on Saba.
I am the most co-dependent person I know. Sosososososo much baggage. And guilt. Dear Sweet Jesus, the guilt.
In over a decade of writing for public consumption, I have shared very little about my evangelical upbringing.
I grew up in one of the founding churches of the Moral Majority. Spent thirteen years in its parochial school. Attended Liberty University my freshman year of college.
I let fear suppress my story about this experience. Fear of my family. Fear of people I grew up with. Fear of trolls on the internet. I allowed twenty-first-century totalitarianism to stifle my voice for too long.
My upcoming book is a novel drawn from my evangelical upbringing.
It isn’t a memoir. The characters are composites, the situations adapted to fit my needs as a fiction writer. But everything in the book is drawn from life.
How I picketed a strip club almost forty years ago.
The propagandist who spent an entire chapel service graphically demonstrating how Russian communists killed Christians with sabers.
But they are not interfering in our elections. Sigh.
A painful dissection of how the evangelical movement has been primed for this moment via the Cult of Personality.
A look under the skirt of discussions that happen in evangelical churches regarding hot topics like abortion, gun control, LGBTQ rights, Muslims and much, much more.
They will say I’m a backslidden Christian (or judge me not a Christian at all) and brand me with the big fat S for, in their words, doing Satan’s work. Whenever someone disagrees with them, they are doing Satan’s work. That’s how things roll in cult-like thinking. But if you know anyone who truly wants to understand why evangelicals support authoritarian leaders, encourage them to connect with me.
I won’t claim to be writing the next Becoming, but I have nuanced insight that is not being shared in the public realm. Yeah, I know I don’t have the platform.
Share my work. You can help with that.
Encourage your friends to sign up for my newsletter HERE.
If you’re new to this Saba adventure, go to THIS POST and read forward for context. Maybe you’ll discover a hidden part of the world to enjoy someday.
8 Comments
My chapeau is doffed; my bow is deep.
Thank you. Still lots to do.
Congratulations! Really looking forward to this one.
I’m glad to hear it. Thank you.
Andra, I am sososososo looking forward to this book. Yes, I want to know why Evangelicals support authoritarian leaders and I want to hear all you have to say on the subject. Because the unbridaled support is making this Christian a tad crazy. I need to understand the reasons rather than be depressed by it.
It’s an ambitious project. There’s really not a novel like it. But to tell this story, I have to include a combination of elements that are not necessarily marketable together on the surface. We’ll see how my pitches are received.
Sounds fascinating! I look forward to reading it.
Thank you. Still lots to do, as you know.
Comments are closed.