A Little Help from My Friends

Greetings,

I am writing to ask for your help.

As it may be clear by now, Community of Promise is not being marketed and sold in traditional ways. Much of its potential will be realized as the word spreads. Even in the self-promotion world, I am attempting to market my book without using Amazon or the other "big box" companies. I am passionate about supporting local bookstores and I love meeting the people who are buying my novel about Moses.

There is no doubt that I cannot do this alone. So, if you are considering purchasing a book, please do it. If you know of a book group in your community or religious organization, please tell them about Community of Promise.

And, once you have read the book, if you find it useful, interesting, and/or informative, help spread the word. A mention (with a link, too) on your Facebook, LinkedIn, or other social media page helps reach so many more potential readers.

It may be evident to you that I believe in the value of this book. I think it deals with important issues, and, to my mind, our world, with all its hatred, mistrust, and violence, can benefit from the values and models for community found in the novel.

Your willingness to spread the word helps in another way, too. I am working on a second novel, but I need the time to do it. The more copies of Community of Promise I can sell, the more time I will have to write.

Pleasem help me share this theologically progressive perspective with the world.

Thanks,
Wayne Gustafson
"The Promised Land is within and among us."

Writing a Second Novel - Not Like the First

Greetings Friends,

The muse is kicking me in the butt again, so it's time to be working on the second novel. Somehow I keep thinking about an infant going to the doctor for a second set of shots. "Oh, I remember this place. This is not fun."

Actually, I remember many times while writing Community of Promise when it was fun - actually a lot of fun. But that's not the point of this post. The point is that I can't stop myself from comparing the experience now to the experience the first time - what I am writing now with the final version of what I wrote before. The truth is that the first time I truly didn't know what I was doing. I had never written anything like a novel before. I just sat down and wrote the story.

I also find myself thinking about Anne Lamott's comment in "Bird by Bird." Paraphrasing her: "All first drafts are crap." I need to let myself relax and enjoy the process. I have to let the story grab me. There will be some good sentences, but I have to keep writing to settle into my yet-to-be-discovered voice. I'm not sure I really know what it is yet, but I think I get occasional glimpses.

I am awed by the amount of work that full time writers put into their work to make it wonderful. I just finished reading John Irving's "Last Night in Twisted River." He does great things with language and tells an intriguing story besides.

Given where my life is at this point, I don't see full-time writing in the cards, but who knows what the future holds. You can help by buying your copy(ies) of Community of Promise. And, if you like it, tell your friends, your family, your neighbors, your co-workers, your colleagues, your church, your facebook family... Well, you get the point.

'Til next time.

Wayne Gustafson
"The Promised Land is within and among us."

A "Chautauqua" Event

Greetings,
I had a wonderful experience this week at a "Chautauqua" Event in Homer, NY.
A Chautauqua event is based on the model of the Summer institute programs at Chautauqua, NY (www.ciweb.org). It includes classes, speakers, ecumenical worship, and music/arts. The Cortland (NY) Council of Churches has been holding this one-week event for many years. This year one of the class offerings each evening was a talk by a local author. I was privileged to be one of the presenters. The attendees were interested in hearing about how the book came into being, how it was published, and how fiction can be a powerful tool for theological reflection. I even sold a few books that I was happy to autograph.

From a personal perspective, I find that talking about "Community of Promise" and its process of coming into being helps me remember how exciting this whole experience really is for me. The story took on a life of its own a long time ago, but it keeps teaching me in deeper and deeper ways. In addition, it is touching to hear people describe their experiences of reading the book. One person told me how reading then novel creates a holy space for her. That echoes my own sentiment. While it is a playful exercise that looks at an old story from a somewhat eccentric perspective, it also illuminates some of the ways that people can relate to the divine. In some traditions, people try to restrict that relationship to very narrow terms, but I find that stories like this create a healthy expanded awareness of the rich diversity of relationships that people have with the "God of their understanding."

If you haven't read it yet, I invite you into the experience. If you have read it and enjoyed it, please pass the word along to others. Posts to Facebook and other social media about your experiences help immensely. Finally, if you wish to share your experience of the story, please comment here on this blog.
(Click below if you want to share it on one or more of your networks.)

Thanks for joining me on this journey.

Wayne Gustafson
"The Promised Land is within and among us."