Today I'd like to introduce you to Marilynn Dawson and her non-fiction September new release!
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| Becoming the Bride of Christ |
"Becoming the Bride of Christ chronicles my personal journey as I learn to live with God as unseen Husband and Father in the home. It's about learning to appropriate many Scriptural concepts that we've overly spiritualized, and bringing them down to where life is lived every day. This book can be read as an account of the lessons God's actively teaching me, or it can be engaged in as a personal or group Bible study." Marilynn Dawson
Jennifer: What events inspired you to write the bible study, Becoming the Bride of Christ?
Marilynn: As I was journaling/emailing others about what God was teaching me, I began running into people expressing similar things. Some were wanting to get closer to God's heart. Some were going through similar lessons at the time. Others had already passed through these lessons and were encouraging me along the way. Slowly I began to hear hints that I should write a book. I was hesitant at first. But the thought intrigued me to the point that in 2008, I began to gather everything I'd ever journaled or emailed anyone about this journey. The inspiration to actually begin this project wasn't there yet. It wouldn't be till the spring of 2011 that I'd finally start putting all my notes into rough draft round one.
Jennifer: Your series is impressive. How long did it take you to write?
Marilynn: Well. . . That depends on where I begin my answer. Technically, the notes that would forge the bulk of the book were written over time beginning in March of 2007 in prayer journals and emails to my mentor. The gathering of my notes in 2008 took several months to complete. The biggest challenge in the gathering was the organizing into rough overall themes. The actual compiling into book form began in May of 2011, but full steam ahead didn't hit till July 2011. By September of 2011, I had rough draft round two ready for hand-picked reviewers to go through for feedback and constructive criticism. Rough drafts round 3 and 4 would take the rest of 2011 and into July of 2012 before I could get Volume One going through it's paces at Createspace.com.
Jennifer: What are you doing to promote your series online? in person?
Marilynn: Online: I have a "blog" so to speak, on Facebook.com where I occasionally write about something God has spoken to me about. This "blog" is linked via a third-party rss feed app to my author page on Amazon, thebookmarketingnetwork.com, my blog on goodreads.com, etc. I have a goodreads.com author account to promote my book series there. A Christian writer's group on Facebook has an event right now where I can bump my promotional comment to the top twice a day. That's netted me several "likes" on my facebook page this past week alone. I've got a press release out on three PR sites at the moment. A brand new blogger has done an interview with me as of this past weekend, and two other bloggers agreed to review the pdf versions of my series. Haven't heard from them yet. I've also started a pinterest.com account to promote my series there. It's quite new with only two followers as of the time of this response.
In Person: My church gave permission to place a postcard and bookmark in the foyer mail slots. That's resulted in several people coming up to me this past Sunday totally amazed at discovering me in print! They didn't know I could write. Over 500 postcards and bookmarks went into slots on the Labor Day Long Weekend, so we'll see what happens. I'm not a very good people person, so that's the extent of my in-person efforts so far.
Jennifer: Do you have plans to write more books or fiction books in the future?
Marilynn: I don't know. I'm currently encouraging my daughter as she writes an absolutely hilarious fictional story turning everything you've ever understood about fairy tales on it's head! She intends to use the story as a very slapstick way of offering upbeat morals to a teen-age readership often targeted by a culture of death. She's given me fodder for an equestrian devotional, but we haven't begun work on it yet. That would be my next project if she gets me her stories of what God's taught her at the barn.
Jennifer: What do you like to do when you're not writing?
Marilynn: I like to go for walks, be in my Father's House, surf news sites or facebook online, play with html.
Jennifer: How can readers connect with you?
Marilynn: I can be reached or followed at the following links:
author@fa-ct.com - author/book-related inquiries
http://www.amazon.com/author/marilynn.dawson.author Marilynn lives with her two teenagers, cat and gerbils, in Kelowna BC Canada. Her day job sees her fix computers, program cash registers, and engage in multimedia for her church. In the evenings and on weekends she's a soundtech helping with various events through the year from funerals to workshops to concerts and weddings. Marilynn sings in the choir, holding down the tenor section, and sang on her church's praise teams for several years as an alto or tenor substitute.
Great interview! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Erik. Next week I'm featuring a child author--please check it out. He's amazing, like you!
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