Ask the Author: Diane Stephenson
Answered Questions (5)
Diane Stephenson
One of the most recent books I have been working on, The Lives of God's Poor and Obscure, started out as one short story. And that came about when I began to think about the story of how the Apostle Peter cut off the ear of Malchus, servant of Caiaphas, in the Garden of Gethsemane. I began to wonder how Malchus felt when that sword came so close as to chop his ear off. Pain, blood, surprise, shock would all have been part of his experience. But then when Jesus, the man they had come to arrest, healed him on the spot, what must his reaction have been? And so A Life Transformed was written. Eventually I decided there were other people in the Bible who must have made an impact on their personal world, and I set out to find them and create stories around them. And so the book is now nearly finished and will hopefully be published in the next few months.
Diane Stephenson
I think the best thing about being a writer is that you have the power to teach, entertain, inform, amuse, encourage people you would otherwise never even come into contact with. Yes, writing can be hard work, but it is also fun. I love to be able to share with others lessons I have learned through my nearly three-quarters of a century of living, whether it be in the form of fiction or non-fiction.
Diane Stephenson
Don't give up! If you have a burning desire to write and have a story to tell, or something to teach, just start writing. Don't get discouraged when you find you need to rewrite and revise, cut out parts and add in parts, rearrange what you thought was already in the right order. Don't fall into the trap of thinking your book is finished when you complete the first draft. I have heard it said that it is 20% writing and 80% revising. But when you finish, you will have something worthwhile to share with the world.
Diane Stephenson
Don't give up! If you have a burning desire to write and have a story to tell, or something to teach, just start writing. Don't get discouraged when you find you need to rewrite and revise, cut out parts and add in parts, rearrange what you thought was already in the right order. Don't fall into the trap of thinking your book is finished when you complete the first draft. I have heard it said that it is 20% writing and 80% revising. But when you finish, you will have something worthwhile to share with the world.
Diane Stephenson
I am actually currently working on two books which I hope to publish in the next few months. One, The Lives of God's Poor and Obscure is a collection of short stories I have written about a dozen people in the Bible who we know little about. Some have not even been named. I have given them names and lives and they each teach a life principle. The other, It Is Written: My Prayer Journey into the Heart of God, includes teaching on different types of prayer mentioned in the Bible, some personal stories, and actual prayers based on the Word of God. I wrote this especially for people who do not understand how to take the Scriptures and turn them into a prayer, and for those who wish to increase their prayer life and are not quite sure how to go about it. Anyone can benefit from the teaching and prayers.
Diane Stephenson
This is an interesting question. Except for a small children's book written as a project in an art course I took and a few poems as a teenager, I had never been inspired to write. That is, until a 3-year-old girl moved in across the hall with her mom. I used to spend a lot of time with Jessica, and as she got a little older she would "write" her own stories. She would dictate to me and tell me when to change colors. I would watch Sesame Street and other TV programs with her, and I suppose I assimilated a bit of a child's mindset. I eventually wrote a couple of children's books and had them printed at a local printing company, but never had them professionally published.
Then I challenged myself to write a novel. I wrote and rewrote, but in the end I only had a novella, if it was even long enough to call it that. In the years since, I have worked on that book and I published it in November 2018. Look for the Rainbows: A Journey of Spirit & Heart is now available on Amazon.
In the intervening years I have also written a number of other books, one of which is also now published--Shadows in my Valley. Others will be published as I finish them. So you see how a rather inauspicious beginning has turned into something much bigger that I would ever have thought.
Then I challenged myself to write a novel. I wrote and rewrote, but in the end I only had a novella, if it was even long enough to call it that. In the years since, I have worked on that book and I published it in November 2018. Look for the Rainbows: A Journey of Spirit & Heart is now available on Amazon.
In the intervening years I have also written a number of other books, one of which is also now published--Shadows in my Valley. Others will be published as I finish them. So you see how a rather inauspicious beginning has turned into something much bigger that I would ever have thought.
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