Ask the Author: Patty Houser
Answered Questions (6)
Patty Houser
Honestly, I've never had writer's block. My problem has never been not knowing what to say. My problem has always been not being able to shut up. This is why writing and I get along so well. Writing is my best friend. It's a friend I tell everything to, uncensored. I would say, however, that if you are experiencing writer's block, just start writing and let the words flow. Don't edit them. Don't judge them. Don't use them as vehicles to please. Just write. And if you don't know what to write, then start with, "I don't know what to write." Who knows? Perhaps that question will unlock the block. Perhaps you will find that your motivation for writing is misguided and needs to be realigned. Listen to your words. They are where your answer lies.
Patty Houser
Being able to process life. And helping others do the same. And working strange hours like 4:00 a.m.
Patty Houser
Never stop writing and do it because you love it, not because you get paid for it or become a published author. Those things will follow in God's timing if you are doing what you love and focus on honing your craft.
Also, pick a time of the day to write and violently protect it. Don't let anyone squeeze it out of your day. As I said in a post above, I get up at 4:00 a.m. and write. Why? Because I'm a morning person and the wheels in my mind work most efficiently then. But also, because there is not one single person who will call me or bother me at 4:00 a.m. Not my husband. Not my son. Not my mother. It is the only time of the day when I'm positive I can lose myself in my writing without being disturbed. So my advice is, find your best writing time and guard it with your life.
Also, find your own voice. Don't try to be someone else. We are the best when we are who we were created to be. Us. Only you can fill the writing hole that's meant for you. Nobody else can. If you don't do it, then it will be left empty. Never forget that.
God created you to be you. So be you. Never forget that God gave you your personality, temperament, birth order, family of origin, SES, dreams, desires, and problems to overcome
Also, pick a time of the day to write and violently protect it. Don't let anyone squeeze it out of your day. As I said in a post above, I get up at 4:00 a.m. and write. Why? Because I'm a morning person and the wheels in my mind work most efficiently then. But also, because there is not one single person who will call me or bother me at 4:00 a.m. Not my husband. Not my son. Not my mother. It is the only time of the day when I'm positive I can lose myself in my writing without being disturbed. So my advice is, find your best writing time and guard it with your life.
Also, find your own voice. Don't try to be someone else. We are the best when we are who we were created to be. Us. Only you can fill the writing hole that's meant for you. Nobody else can. If you don't do it, then it will be left empty. Never forget that.
God created you to be you. So be you. Never forget that God gave you your personality, temperament, birth order, family of origin, SES, dreams, desires, and problems to overcome
Patty Houser
I'm currently working on my next book in the "A Woman's Guide to Knowing What You Believe" series. I'm thinking of calling it "A Woman's Guide to Knowing What You Believe Too: Loving God with Your Heart and Your Mind on Other Issues" or something like that. My first book was meant to be a set-up book. My first book teaches women the basics of apologetics. For this reason, seasoned female apologists may be frustrated with my book. But it's not meant for them. It's mean for women who have really never been exposed to apologetics at all. In it, I discuss what apologetics is, why it's important, and why I believe it should be incorporated into every woman's life as a spiritual discipline. Next, I teach women the basic rules that govern rational thought and then discuss what happens when those laws are violated. Next, I equip women to defend the two most important issues central to Christianity. Namely, the reliability of the Bible and how to defend the Resurrection using Gary Habermas' "Minimal Facts Approach." After that, I talk about worldview, what it is, what different worldviews are, and how they influence our behavior and how we should engage in the culture in a way that is most Biblical.
In my next book, I will address all the other issues I didn't address in my first book. For instance, the following issues will be included in my next book: Why God Allows Evil and Suffering, How to Respond to Moral Relativism, How to Defend the Historicity of Jesus, etc. In addition, in this book, I also plan to include only issues specific to women such as how to respond to the abortion debate and how women specifically are to understand the witch hunts (a crime perpetrated by the church on women) and how they can best respond to accusations made to them about the church's role in the witch hunts. And if any of you out there would like some specific issue addressed, please let me know so I can include it.
In my next book, I will address all the other issues I didn't address in my first book. For instance, the following issues will be included in my next book: Why God Allows Evil and Suffering, How to Respond to Moral Relativism, How to Defend the Historicity of Jesus, etc. In addition, in this book, I also plan to include only issues specific to women such as how to respond to the abortion debate and how women specifically are to understand the witch hunts (a crime perpetrated by the church on women) and how they can best respond to accusations made to them about the church's role in the witch hunts. And if any of you out there would like some specific issue addressed, please let me know so I can include it.
Patty Houser
How do I get inspired to write? Life and God inspires me. I'm an ardent observer of people and life. I almost can't stop myself from discovering what makes people tic, why some people function better than others, and why some have faith while others do not. Everyday, I watch people live life. Then I get up the next morning at 4:00 a.m. and write, and write, and write. I find that I can't stop writing. I don't publish or even blog most of what I write. The truth is, I have hundreds of journals that are filled with my thoughts, observations, and grievances. I hope to one day turn them into a book. But for now, I'm content writing apologetics books for women because women also inspire me. I think women are God's containers of strength, fortitude, empathy, and compassion. How could such creatures not inspire me?
Patty Houser
I got the idea for this book by seeing a need while working with women in women's ministry for the past 14 years. When speaking with Christian women, I found that many women grounded their faith soely in their emotions or hearts. As a result, when hard times hit, or when books like the "Da Vinci Code" came out, their faith was deeply shaken. So much so, in fact, that many told me that "they didn't know what they believed anymore." For a long time, this was perplexing to me because I came to Christ through a 10 year journey through the world of Christian Apologetics and therefore grounded my faith in my head or intellect. How? By methodically examining the truth claims of Christianity and finding an overwhelming amount of evidence that supported the idea that it was more reasonable to believe that God existed and that He came to earth as the person of Jesus Christ to reveal Himself to mankind and that He gave the Bible to mankind to reveal this truth to humans than to disbelieve it. As a result, when hard times hit or when I read books like the "Da Vinci Code," my faith wasn't shaken because my faith was based on facts, not feelings. Recognizing this, I started asking women why they didn't ground their faith more solidly in their minds by reading apologetics books so that they could know first hand how much scientific, philosophical, and historical evidence there was to support the truth claims of Christianity and found that most women didn't because they found most of the books written on apologetics to be boring, hard to understand, and hard to relate to (as most to date have been written by men for men). In fact, Many women asked me if I would read the book for them and then explain it to them. For a while I did this, but then realized that perhaps it would be better if there was book exclusively for women. So I decided to write one. I wanted the book to be simple to understand and relatable to women. To achieve this goal, I ditched the competitive business language and sports analogies most apologetics books use, and only included stories from my own life, stories about being a wife and a mother. I also learned through my speaking ministry which questions women most grappled with, and made sure that those questions were addressed in my book. For instance, at virtually every conference I speak at, somebody asks me what the difference is between the different variations of the Bible. The reason they do is because it is a question that is almost never addressed in an apologetics book. The same is true for how the Canon was decided or for what the Apocrypha is, and why it's included in the Catholic Bible, but not the Protestant Bible. To answer these questions, I wrote a chapter called "Got Issues" that not only answers these questions, but also addresses other questions that arise from these questions. I also made it one stop shopping and only gave women what they wanted to know, no more, no less. Most women are busy and don't have time to read a 600 page book on an introduction to the Bible. But they do have time to read 20 pages. So that's what I give them in my book: A simple survey of the material, so that they have a firm command of the basics, no more, no less. This also makes the book a great book for seekers. And it is my hope that after Christian women read it, they will pass it on to the people in their lives who are seeking after God and Christ, but still have many unanswered questions they need answered. I'm hoping my book will do just that.
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