Rachel Runnalls's Blog

A peek at TeylorA.Art's desk...she's bringing all the colors of the rainbow to the bird for WAKE's cover illustration. Can't wait to share it with you!If you haven't been following my Patreon page, here's the news: WAKE release date is pushed to 2020. Here's what's been happening behind the scenes: I completed WAKE's manuscript in August and wrapped up this Patreon project - no more monthly posts, everyone's payments on hold. In September and October, I was re-working the last 10 chapters and my editor was hard at work editing the first 2/3 of the manuscript. Here's some of her numbers:33 Chapters75,000 words354 pages8.5 months pregnantLet's just say... a beautiful baby girl came into the world before our novel did!Turns out I'm grateful for the time to craft and nuance Jon White's story arc. In a lot of ways, Jon White's conflict is more complex than Cary's. Pete and Mel White are loving, godly people, and they did their best as parents--but they're not perfect, and Jon got hurt in ways that are spilling out self-destructively in his adolescent years. I'm treating this speed bump in our publishing timeline as an opportunity to bring Jon's story to life more carefully and authentically. If you want the inside scoop on WAKE's characters, my creative process, or a read through of 40 chapters of WAKE posted as I wrote it, you could still sign up as a patron atmy Patreon page. It won't cost you anything until I start a new novel project. Seems like a good deal :) Wishing you many good reads over the holiday season,Rachel

Here's my humble desk, buried in writing notebooks as I move towards the completion of my third novel, WAKE. Super excited to share the ending of Jon and Cary's story with you, reader friends! Anticipating an October release, providing all the editing and cover design pieces come together smoothly.You can get more glimpses into my process on my patreon page, which has been going strong over the past two years: www.patreon.com/rachelrunnalls.

My next novel, Lay Me Down, will be available in trade paperback September 14! The cover design will feature this beautiful illustration by Teylor Prestie, based on one of Cary's drawings in the book. The story picks up 2 weeks after the end of HIDING, and is about the same length as that novel. You can get your copy signed at the upcoming Makers Market event Seotember 15 in Moose Jaw, SK, or purchase online through Amazon or Kindle.BUT here's the even bigger news! This series is going to be a trilogy! If you've been following me on Patreon, you already have access to the entire rough draft of the second novel PLUS the first chapters of the third novel! My $10/mo patrons are also getting their signed copies of 'Lay Me Down' hot off the press.Are you a reader?Do you like getting a behind the scenes peek at someone's creative process?Do you want access to the HIDING sequels ASAP?It's not too late to get in on all of that at my Patreon project! In the upcoming weeks patrons will get to see the cover design before anyone else, give their feedback on the story and have a behind the scenes look at the completion of a novel PLUS exclusive access to the third novel slated to release Fall 2019.Over the next year I will continue to post 5000 words/month with commentary on how the story developed in my head. There's different levels of support - for as little as $2/mo you could join that reader community.I"m so grateful for my patrons - Patreon makes it possible for me to give more time to making these stories for you!Please check out my project at www.patreon.com/rachelrunnalls. Can't wait to share it with you!

Just posted an extended version of a scene from my latest novel project, 'Lay Me Down' the HIDING sequel over at my Patreon page. The time stamp tells me that I wrote the first draft of this scene in September 2013, while I was still working on the ending of HIDING. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised—in the last year of writing that novel I realized there was a lot more material about Cary that I wanted to explore—far more than one novel could hold. So this is a peek into one of the scenes that prompted me to go on to write the HIDING sequel!Your Body Remembers - extended scene{Cary}                                                                                                          It was barely daybreak, the sky outside the living room windows was just pinking with sunrise.  Pete was already up, sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee steaming at his elbow and his Bible open in front of him.  He glanced up when Cary padded in."Morning," Pete said, soft so they wouldn't wake the rest of the sleeping family.Cary silently took down his mug and poured his coffee.  He sat at the table, wrapping his hands around its warmth."How did you sleep?"  Pete said.  He was looking right at Cary's face and saw the shadows chase across his expression before he ducked his head, slurping his coffee up black."Nightmares again, huh."  Pete said.  He rubbed the side of his beard, his forehead wrinkling.  "Why are they back?"Cary lifted his shoulders.  He didn't want to think about it, just shove it in a room and hold the door shut.Pete said, "I know you don't -- want to see a counsellor."  Cary's eyes snapped to Pete's face.  Please no.  "But I'm wondering ...  Sometimes when you get someplace safe, stuff comes up from the inside you couldn't think about before.  Stuff you need to sort through and put in the right place."Cary held still, looking at him sideways.  He thought about the dream he'd had, holding it at a distance just to catch a look at it again.  He had been crying, that meant he was just six or seven.  His father was holding him; Conall was so big Cary couldn’t reach his arms around his chest. He had felt so safe; his father was a rock he could hang onto when everything was loss and confusion.The physical memory of that moment hit him and he couldn't breathe.  He didn’t want to remember any more of it. He got up, slopping his coffee on the tabletop.  He shook his scalded hand and closed it into a fist. Pete sat, sipping his coffee while Cary got a cloth and cleaned up the spill.  When he dropped back into his chair, Pete said, "The stuff we bury always comes back up.  As long as you're running scared he still owns you." ... the rest of this scene and more are available to anyone at www.patreon.com/rachelrunnalls!

May is planting time on the prairies! Writing has been on pause for a few weeks while I planted hundreds of tomatoes and peppers, and thousands of strawberries, plus flowers and melons and squash and carrots and potatoes and beets and onions... I picked up part time work at a fruit and veggie U-pick close by our little town and am grateful for the additional income. Above is a pic of me in my little garden carved out of a backyard full of dandelions haha.I am so grateful for everyone who has come on board as a patron of my writing at patreon.com/rachelrunnalls! We're almost at $100/mo on the Patreon page, and every little bit makes a real difference to our family. It costs a lot of energy for me to juggle two jobs, plus a family, plus writing like I do, and I am hoping for the day that writing and youth pastoring become my full time work. If my writing has impacted you, please check out that Patreon page and share with others! I am posting chapters of the HIDING sequel as I write it, plus amazing illustrations by a young woman who serves in my youth ministry.Here's a little inside scoop on the HIDING sequel!The backbone of this novel is Cary's inward journey. The big question for me at the end of HIDING was, how does Cary pick himself up and move on after the things that have happened to him? What does the healing journey of an abuse survivor look like, up close and over an extended period of time? So I enlisted the help of a friend of mine who has a Masters in counselling and works as a counselor for at-risk youth. There's a few scenes throughout the novel of Cary in the counselling office, and my friend and I basically play these scenes out live over the phone. I give her Cary's line and describe the scene and she gives a couple options of things she might say to try and open up a conversation with Cary. I write the scenes based on these collaborative conversations, and it is very satisfying to include the work of another ordinary person who is showing up day in and day out to help young people heal and grow.I'm posting the first of these scenes as a free teaser next week, along with the next chapter of the sequel for subscribers - watch for that!Thanks to each one of you who have encouraged me in this writing project along the way. The HIDING story is reaching people to plant new hope that love and healing are possible, and you are a part of that. Grace to each of you, Rachel

{Pete}When Pete got up and padded to the kitchen to make his first pot of coffee, he had to back up a step to take a second look into the family room. His girls were there, absorbed in their ‘toons like they usually were before he got up to make breakfast. What was different was the way they were nestled around Cary on the couch. The boy was curled on his side with his hand over his face.Bea was leaning against his bare stomach with her elbow propped on his hip. Tabby was crowded against the couch arm at his feet.“Is Cary asleep?” Pete asked.Tabitha frowned over at Cary’s face. “Yeah. He’s taking up the whole couch.”Bea patted Cary’s hair gently, like he was a particularly large dog she had adopted. “Cary had bad dreams.”Released Chapter 3 of the HIDING sequel on Patreon today: https://www.patreon.com/rachelrunnall... can check out the rest of the scene there, along with a audio/video reading of the HIDING ending in case you wanted a refresher of what happened in the story 2 weeks before. Enjoy :)

{Cary}They had closed his chest with thick staples, each precisely the same distance apart. Cary ran his fingers over the bumps making a ‘Y’ across his chest and down his torso, watching the door of the red room out of the corner of his eye. It had been some time since they buried him in this room and he didn’t know if they were coming back. He wasn’t hungry or thirsty—there was something cold pumped into the hollow space inside his ribs. He tasted it, sour on his breath. He could think and move and hear and see as if he were alive, but he was afraid he wasn’t quite human anymore.He was cold.A‘tap-tap-tap’made him startle, his head jerking to find the sound. He got to his feet, dizzy with emptiness for a moment, then staggered over the concrete floor to the other room. There was a window in there—the brightness of its light made his eyes blink and water.‘tap-tap-creeaak’The window swung open, one brown hand shoving it inwards.“Hey!” There was a man kneeling in the gravel outside, turning his head to the side to see in the narrow window. “Cary, come out!”Cary leaned against the doorjamb, trying to understand the light and the man and the open window.“Take my hand and come out!” The man stretched his arm down into the room, thrusting his shoulders against the window frame. Cary’s feet had carried him closer and he tipped his head back to look at the outstretched hand. He thought he could fit through that frame, but the stuff they had put inside him was as heavy as it was cold.The man had his cheek against the ground, one brown eye finding Cary’s upturned gaze. “They’re going to bury this window like they did the door.” The man’s voice was muffled and urgent. “I can lift you out if you give me your hand.”Get the rest of this scene, plus the first 2 chapters of the HIDING sequel at my Patreon page:www.patreon.com/rachelrunnallsI will be releasing more amazing illustrations and new chapters of the sequel every month in this year leading up to publication. Your support with $1,$2, or $5 monthly amounts at Patreon makes it possible for me to make more time to write and minister to youth. Thanks so much for heading on over to check that out!

Statistically, most youth ministers burn out and move on in under two years. How can inadequate, ordinary people like us buck the trend and go the long haul in youth ministry, reaping the reward of a long-term investment in youth, siblings and parents?Jesus declares: "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." (John 7:37-38, cf. Ezekiel 47:1-12) When you said yes to Jesus, He dug a well inside of you where the water of His life springs up new each day.For better or worse, our personal well-being - spiritually, emotionally, mentally and physically - is the channel through which God's Spirit pours into the lives of others.Our job is to keep the well clear so that this Living Water can flow freely, filling us and overflowing into others. There's a handful of practices that have kept me alive and well in youth ministry, including: physical fitness, clean eating, disciplined sleep habits, daily journaling and prayer, Christian friendships and life-giving hobbies - but the number one habit is one day off. Here's the seven key parts of my favorite day of the week!1. One whole day for rest - really.This is not a day for running errands or doing chores - you can squeeze those into your working days, or an additional day off. This day is set apart for activities that keep your inner life clean and bright. This day is for you to drink deeply from the well of living water for yourself. The Biblical word for this day off is Sabbath, and our creator God designed one day of rest in seven because He knows we need it to live.2. Sleep.On this day you have permission to leave the alarm off and sleep in until you are refreshed. If you're still tired, afternoons are made for napping.3. Quiet the media noise.On this day your phone takes a break from being boss of your life! Set it to 'Do not disturb' and pretend it is a landline - leave it plugged into the wall. I check my phone at noon and just before dinner, but I love that it will not interrupt my day at random. Avoid your social media feeds and limit your screen media consumption - call it a weekly fast if that's your thing. AbsoLUTely avoid your work email. On this day you want to clear mental space for God to refill you with his peace and love, and there is a degree of quiet that is required to hear and receive from him.4. Physical activity.Our physical well-being is intricately connected to our emotional, mental and spiritual well-being. While mental and emotional health are internal and complex, for most people physical health is a pretty simple equation of eat clean + get sweaty a couple times a week + hydrate + sleep! On this day do the physical activity that leaves you feeling flexible, loose and refreshed. It's the quickest way I know to feel better!5. Creative pursuits.On this day I feed my creative side by getting into my garden or going on a walk in the local river valley, by visiting an art gallery or a special coffee shop, or by making time for writing and creating that is not ministry-related. For some of you feeding your creative side might mean listening to music, puttering under the hood of your car, cooking a spicy meal, or baking with your kids.6. Life-giving friendships.Some days off I need the rest of quiet and solitude, and perhaps you are the same way, but over the course of a month I try to mix in times with family or friends who pour life into me. These are the people you don't feel you need to be 'on' for, people who take a load off your shoulders by listening to you, laughing with you and praying for you.7. Right-size yourself.The truth is we are not Jesus Christ. On this day I entrust all the people in my ministry world into Jesus' care. Those disillusioned parents are right - we can't transform the hearts of their children. That’s the work of God’s Spirit, and He is secretly, powerfully, constantly at work in my life and the lives of everyone around me. On this day, entrust all the people in your ministry world into Jesus' care. Your job is to keep the well of your inner life clean and clear so that God’s Spirit can pour life into you and through you into the lives of the young people in your care, six days a week. On the seventh day, your job is to rest by the well and drink.Grace to you, Rachel.

  Making time in my everyday routine to be creative is the single most life-giving practice I have. When I'm writing I'm a better mom, a better pastor, and a better person. Whatever your thing is - writing, drawing, dancing, making music - we are designed to be creators, not consumers! Making creative time a daily priority will enliven your spiritual life and connect you with the source of that life, our splendidly creative God who made us in His image and takes delight in the things He makes,

Bandits, a beating, a man of suspicious ethnicity, labels, and the throne of Judgement. This past Sunday I had the privilege of speaking with my church about what a neighbor looks like in this message: 'Mercy along the way: Luke 10:25-37.'    Washington Post news story about Ahmed and his family grouping fleeing along the Black Route, published June 26, 2015. By Anthony Faiola, Photos by Charles Ommanney.