Royal Fiction – Or Is It?

“Fiction and reality sometimes come together in a riveting way. Sometimes the imagined work of a novelist, almost in a prescient way, tells the story of life and death. And this is certainly the case with the Dancing Priest novels as the author, Glynn Young, draws us into the future of the British Royal Family in ways that are almost uncanny.”

To continue reading, please see this article by Mark Sutherland at Royal Central.

Mark & Amy Sutherland’s “Being a Blue Angel”

I’m not exactly sure when the Blue Angels first appeared on my radar scope, but I know when I became a fan. From 1960 to 1961, the U.S. Navy’s flight demonstration squadron was the subject of a television drama.

I was 9. I watched it.

Every episode.

And the reruns.

To be a Blue Angel – now there was the almost perfect dream for a 9-year-old boy.

So to find a book on the Blue Angels aimed at children is to go back in time (just a bit) and remember. Being a Blue Angel: Every Kid’s Guide to the Blue Angels by Mark and Amy Sutherland tells the story of the squadron in words, photographs, and short letters from some of the Blue Angels themselves.

The book is not so much a history of the Blue Angels as it is an explanation of what it is to be a squadron member and what they actually do, often day to day. It’s cool flight demonstrations and air shows, yes. But it’s also outreach, communication, lots of travel, and lots of time away from home. And it’s not only those sleek jets they fly in air shows, but also a plane called the Fat Albert, a cargo aircraft that transports support staff and equipment to the shows. And ground crews, and support crews. And fans.

Fans like 9-year-old boys. And 9-year-old girls.

Being a Blue Angel is a delightful children’s book, and even allows a few adults to remember a time when they, too, wanted to perform intricate flying patterns in one of those jets.

An Easter Book for Children

I reviewed it here two years ago, but if you’re looking for a children’s book on Easter, one of the best I’ve found is Why Do We Celebrate Easter? by Mark Sutherland and illustrated by Julie Hammond. It’s aimed at children ages 3 to 7, and it’s a delightful story (with engaging pictures).

It’s available in both paperback and Kindle versions (as well as Nook).

"I Just Had to Publish It"

Today on his blog, my publisher, Mark Sutherland of Dunrobin Publishing, talks about reading and publishing Dancing Priest.

"I just had to publish it," he says.

And, yes, I'm very glad he felt that way. Actually, I'm thrilled he felt that way.

I could probably think of a few more words to describe how I feel: excited, gratified, thankful, blessed, struck dumb, amazed, trying to keep myself from breaking out in gigantic smiles, acting goofy, teary-eyed, and humbled are a few that come to mind.

It's a scary thing for me to put on display for the world to see a part of me that's been private for almost a decade. You write a book, any book, and you know it's part of you, and you're getting ready to expose it. It's similar to the time I first posted a poem on this blog, but about 100 times more accentuated.

The best laid plans

We had a plan for Dancing Priest. We expected the ebook versions to begin going live on Thursday. Instead, Amazon processed everything quickly and the Kindle version went live on Monday.

I had a plan, it had just been bypassed, and I didn’t care. It was an exciting thing to see.

I had planned several posts about creating the book, but the Kindle appearance superseded that idea. But part of the plan was to recognize four people who were intimately involved and helped make the book happen, and I still want to do that.

One was Adam Blumer. To say that Adam edited and proofread the manuscript is accurate, but it understates his contribution. I selected Adam because (a) he was a published writer, (b) he also works as a professional editor and has tackled numerous manuscripts, (c) he is extremely familiar with both the publishing industry and the specific audience I am writing for, and (d) he would give me a critical review, and I mean “critical” in the good sense. You live with a story for as long as I have lived with this one and you come to realize that you’re too close to it to know how it might be received.

Here’s what Adam said: Dancing Priest is “an unusual story, but I mean that in a good sense.” He liked the writing; he stayed engaged with the characters. And he asked very perceptive questions about various scenes and events, which suggested some rewriting or that I was assuming too much. (One example: I had fallen into cycling jargon, and he told me to simplify and explain.) I was more than pleased with the job he did.

The second person was Claire Burge. I knew I wanted a photograph for the cover illustration, and I was scouring web sites all over the internet. I knew Claire from my work with The High Calling; in fact, she and I had been part of a scavenger hunt team in San Antonio last year. As I searched web sites, I found a photo she posted on her blog of a coffee shop in Dublin. As soon as I saw it, I told myself that this, or something like it, could be the cover. I contacted Claire; we emailed back and forth and back and forth; she proposed several different photos.

Enter the cover designer, Jeremiah Langner. I had worked with Jeremiah on an illustration for a post I did for The High Calling – the drawing of a dragon (he likes to draw dragons). He’s the brother of Kelly Sauer, who’s the assistant photo editor for The High Calling. Kelly was the one who told Claire and I that he had done book covers. He got engaged in the project, helped figure out which photo would work best (turns out it was Claire’s favorite), and came up with an outstanding design.

And then there’s the publisher. A year ago, Mark Sutherland heard me talk about the manuscript and asked to read it. He read it and liked it (and even cried at the right part). He said, “You’re going to have let me publish it.” We laughed and went on with life.

Mark has established a small publishing house, Dunrobin Publishing. It’s published two previous books. One a children’s book on Easter and the other a commentary on the book of Malachi. In August, Mark finally said, “Are you going to let me publish your novel or not?” And I said OK, surprising both of us. He’s now read it at least five times – reading, proofing, checking, rereading and formatting. He told me this morning that every time he’s read it, he’s enjoyed it.

Mark was also something of an acid test. A good chunk of the book is set in Scotland. Mark is a native Scot and naturalized American. He grew up in Edinburgh. He turned out to be the ideal publisher for the book.

There’s also an international diversity to this team. Adam lives in upper Michigan. Claire lives in Ireland. Jeremiah is in South Carolina and Mark in Missouri. The idea for the story started on a plane to San Francisco as I listened to a Greek tenor on an in-flight music program. Parts of the story have been written in Chicago, New Orleans, St. Louis, Shreveport, Washington, D.C., Amsterdam and several other places I took my laptop.

But I owe heartfelt thanks to Adam, Claire, Jeremiah and Mark. They took this project on as their own, and the quality shows.

Guest Post: “I Feel Like I Lost a Friend”

Mark Sutherland is a friend and colleague at work, who’s been known to wear kilts (but only on special occasions). A native of Scotland, Mark has lived in the U.S. since the 1980s. He recently wrote a children’s story, Why Do We Celebrate Easter, that I reviewed here back in February. Someone dropped the link to the review in Stumble Upon, and page views took off (more than 500 at last count).

Mark mentioned that he had just finished reading Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas, and sent me what is not so much a review but more of a meditation on how moved he was by the book. Mark said it was OK to share it, and here it is.

I Feel Like I’ve Lost a Friend

On a rare occasion I get so involved in a book that it becomes real to me. The characters come to life. The story envelops me with its mental imagery and emotion. And when you finish, it’s like emerging from another world that existed for only a short while.

And on an even rarer occasion, a book about real people does the same.

Yesterday, I finished reading Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas. Yesterday, I lost a friend who I won’t meet until eternity.

Bonhoeffer was a pastor in Germany, prior to and during World War II. He was an outspoken critic of the Nazis, and his criticism—and ultimately his actions—were driven by his understanding of Scripture and his convictions about God. He saw great evil in Hitler and his crew, even before Hitler came to power. And as Hitler destroyed the Germany Bonhoeffer loved, Bonhoeffer spoke against Hitler. He spoke and acted in defense of the Jews. He spoke and acted in defense of a biblically-based Church. He spoke and acted against the heretical church of the Third Reich.

And you can’t help but ask yourself the question about what would you do.

Are you passionate about God’s Church, to the point of standing against a tyrannical church-state partnership that wishes to redefine what you believe?

Are you so in love with the Word of God that you will stand against the popular, acceptable claims as to what it means, or are you willing to speak against those who twist God’s Word to fulfill their own desires and plans?

And are you so secure in your stand before God, that is based upon faith alone in sovereign plan of God that existed before time began that you would calmly face your execution in a way that impacted those who witnessed it for decades to come?

While you may not agree with everything Bonhoeffer stood for, his life is an example to us all. And his life, and death, should force us to go to Scripture to answer these questions and more.

I look forward to meeting Pastor Bonhoeffer when God calls me home. In the meantime, we have to be satisfied with an incredible biography that grips you like a novel and won’t let you go until you say goodbye to your new friend.

Thank you, Eric Metaxas, for writing this book. And thank you, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, for living it.

Mark Sutherland's "Why Do We Celebrate Easter?"

My reading is nothing if not eclectic. And now I’ve read a simple, delightful telling of the Easter story, designed especially for children. (OK, so I’m a child at heart.)

Why Do We Celebrate Easter? by Mark Sutherland started as the words Sutherland told his own children (then ages 3 to 7) about the reason for Easter. He starts where the real story starts – with Adam and Eve at the creation and fall. The story follows the birth and life of Jesus, including his crucifixion and resurrection, including regular reminders that this was part of God’s overall plan.

Sutherland uses simple language, designed precisely for his 7-and-under audience. The story can be read by older children and easily followed by those younger. The illustrations by artist Julie Hammond match the simplicity of the text (although I think I enjoyed them as much as any young child might).

In about a year or so, I know what I’m going to be reading to my grandson about Easter. Why Do We Celebrate Easter? is a delightful rendering of a serious, important story.