Runaway Pastor: Publishing Hopes Growing!!

Well, this is the first substantive news I can share regarding the possibility of publishing The Runaway Pastor. Today, my day off, and late other nights after my duties are on stand-by, I am in the process of editing the book chapter by chapter.

The reason for this is that Mark Gilroy, who until recently was a publisher with Thomas Nelson, has returned to book packaging and literary management. He feels like Runaway "hits the mark on some huge issues for ministers and in the church in general." He is now representing The Runaway Pastor as a two-book proposal!

Mark hasn't formally presented the book yet but there are already two publishers who have requested the manuscript based on casual conversation. So we are doing this round of editing (something about my commas :-0) before presenting the manuscript - but it's encouraging to know there is already significant interest.

I also like the fact that one result of Mark's agent work in the past, was his last fiction client, Nicole Seitz. She is now working on her fourth book of a seven-book contract - and her latest release, Trouble the Water, was listed by Yahoo as a top 50 book of the year in '08.

Obviously, Mr. Gilroy's talents provide me no assurances of this going further. But this entire process has been good. And I'm enjoying an avocation for a change. Maybe Trent needed one!

So, I'm tapping away at my keyboard while sitting next to my warming fire. (Might as well because even my 4WD couldn't make it safely down my driveway today.)

Peace to you, and thanks for looking in now and then.

Part IV: Parable of the Gym

I have made a drastic update to the first paragraph in part four of The Parable of the Gym. Thank you for the comment and collaboration, Rich! The change has to do with the motivation for beginning new church work. The first edition was a bit more cynical than Rich and I have experienced in our own realities.

So give it another read, and see what you think of the changes as well as the overall feel. Click below to tie-in.

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhdr3wvs_14dprvxtcr

I will be posting some updates about hopes for publishing soon.

If you haven't read parts 1-3 of the Parable of the Gym, poke around the site and check them out. They are one piece in the novel.

David

Runaway Pastor: Just for fun--Who is reading?

Just for fun! In the spirit of the NFL Play-Offs and the BCS bowl games, I thought it might be fun, (or at least interesting) to post the current standings on various states visiting this website over the past month. (OK, this is goofy!)

Most visitors are reading the front page, and then chapters 1-7 and The Parable of the Gym entries.

First, for the national standings:
1st place: The United States of America
2nd place: Ukraine
3rd place: Israel

Next, for the state standings:
1st: Indiana
2nd: California
3rd: New York
4th: Michigan
5th: Tennessee
6th: Texas
7th: Utah
8th: Arkansas
9th: Kansas
10th: Georgia

So in the spirit of competition, let's talk it up, and I'll keep you posting on how your state is doing. (There are ten other states close to making the top ten.)

And, since Ukraine is doing such a stellar job (with Zena our most courageous and prolific commentator) and the Eastern Christmas is upon us, С РОЖДЕСТВОМ!!

The Runaway Pastor--An Intro

Following is a brief introduction to The Runaway Pastor, a new novel I'm seeking to publish.

The first seven chapters are available by clicking the hot button at the top right hand side of this page. I need feedback, so let me know what you think. And if you look in here now and then, why not add yourself as a follower. I'm gathering a list of those interested in the book.

Pastor Trent is The Runaway Pastor from the beginning. His job is hollow and empty—a CEO nightmare. He and his wife Natalie play the role of the perfect couple, yet their long drift away from friendship and intimacy leave them cold toward one another. So he plots his escape, and disappears. His plan is so thorough, neither his congregation at Baylor’s Bend, nor his wife has any idea where he has gone.

In his new life, various circumstances provide opportunities for Trent to emerge as a peacemaker, and a man of mercy and grace. Living life outside of “the ministry,” Trent finds the exercise of his ministry gifts to be exhilarating and natural. But trouble waits.

Trent’s betrayal drives Natalie to hire an investigator, and makes her vulnerable to the advances of a church staff member. Kim, a beautiful and single friend of Trent’s new boss, is a spiritual seeker. She and Trent spend long evenings on the beach wondering about the sacred, sharing their tragic stories, and soon they fall for one another.

Jump into the pain behind one pastor who took "career success" a bit too seriously. Is there any hope?


Remember! This story is NOT autobiographical. It is, however the fruit of many conversations with other pastors, and a three year period of burnout I experienced. For any old friends out there, Natalie is not my wife. My wife and I are very happy 29 years and 2 months into our marriage.

Read on!

Beginnings

Silence. Greeting the day with nothing. Ears strain, grasping for some sound out of the morning. No birdsong. Nothing. Only a shishing pulse in my head, counting down toward some next thing.

Be still... But junkie wants to reach for remote, for "On" button, for agitation. Junkie needs sound. Junkie wants entertained. Gulum-like insanity.

Breathe. Take in the silence. Listen beyond it for some better Word.

...and know that... Is there something to find in this nothing? Seeking, stretching, straining for stimulation. But no. All is quiet. Nothing in the emptiness.

Breathe. Be still.

Is there purpose in this new-day vacuum, where no expectations await me? ...i am not god.

The morning wood kicks into flame, ticking the stove and lighting its side of the room. From dark to light. From silence to crackling. From cool, to warming-heat.

O Life-giving mystery, teach me to pray beyond the static of the world. Tame my spirit so it longs for something beyond the inane teasings of this age. Hold me still long enough, that I tire of wiggling.

The Runaway Pastor: Prologue?

It wasn’t as if he didn’t care. Indeed, there were many people and things he loved. And he could remember days when a painful depression cursed his every waking thought. No, it wasn’t that.

A nagging web stretched across his path, more disgusting--intimidating--than limiting. It must be cleared away, lest the fibers smother his existence—the question proving to have no proper answer.

Having lived with fiery passion dictating his actions, his every moment; he feared his life held no more tinder. A widening gulf appeared before him; the expanse between his life, and his purpose, seemed insurmountable. A man may, after all, own loves, yet loose direction.

Perhaps this fearsome abyss was that which drove him out from himself--seeking some resuscitating-bracing breath, something after which to dream--for longing was missing in his living.

"Witnessing"

In my novel, The Runaway Pastor, there is a scene where Trent is asked by a new friend about his faith. Here is the question, and how Trent approaches his answer.

“Talk to me about your faith, Trent.”


She followed his eyes as he looked out over the sea and the moon, and toward the stars. “Love made all of this. Love so intense it reaches out to you and me and says ‘love me back!’ And I do. I love Love back. And Carman—that woman we met today lying on the street—has been so unloved, that Love begged me to love her. So I did.”


“That’s…that’s beautiful. I think. Does this love have a name, or a religious circle where it hangs out?” Kim asked.


“I think Love’s name is Jesus. And I’m not sure where He hangs out anymore.”

So what is your response to this method of Trent sharing his faith?
Will an answer like this ever meet the need expressed by the questioner?
Why didn't Trent use Jesus' name until pushed for the identity of "Love?"
Would you ever use such an indirect approach to answer such a question about your fatih? Why, or why not?

I've been wanting to get some feedback on various sections of the book, so here is an invitation for you to start a conversation.

Are there any other snippets of the novel you'd like to see discussed?

David