Two weeks ago I finished writing my very first novel: a children’s book aimed at 8-12 year olds, and perhaps a bit beyond.  How did I come to this?  Well, the story begins with my love of writing from as early as a first grader playing with small print outs of single words, forming sentences and making up stories.  It matures with my love of books, reading stories, writing creative pieces and yet more playing with words.  But, that’s the very long story.   Here’s the shorter version….

Before becoming a home schooling momma of 4 kiddies, I was a high school history and English teacher and a youth leader in our church’s youth group. 

During my years of teaching, I learnt a few things, including:

1. stories have incredible power to teach just about anything
2. kids are brighter than they’re given credit for

In the late 90s, My husband and I were a part of a pioneering group of youth leaders started by my brother, our youth pastor.  On Friday nights, we held bible study.  No Friday night party games.  It was revolutionary for our time.  Parents rebelled.  Kids moved on.  But a large majority stayed.  They had fun.  They deepened friendships in small groups.  And they grew.  They were hungry for the Bible and so were we.  Growing up in Sunday school, I learned bible stories in isolation.  But now, for the first time, I was able to connect the dots.  For the first time, I understood God’s message throughout the Bible – Old Testament and New.  And for the first time, I began to understand terms like ‘sanctification’ and ‘justification’.  And so did the kids.

Fast forward a few years: my bible teaching switched from youth bible studies to young adults and then adults.  The school classroom dominated my first years of being a qualified teacher.  Years that were rich in amazing literature read aloud in class.  Nowadays the stories I read aloud are not to a class full of high school kids.  But the same delight, the same depth of learning, the same enjoyment reflects from the eyes of the four wriggly kids I get to call my own.  Thanks largely to our excellent curriculum, Sonlight, the kids and I have travelled through ancient Egypt, medieval England, the Americas, China and more.  Cuddled on our couch, we’ve learned number place values with a story about a house.  We’ve learned about weather systems and the human body, travelling on a Magic School Bus.  It was learning through literature.  Living books.  And we were hooked. 

I was hooked.

Home schooling was supposed to be about the kids learning and me teaching.  But I was learning, even while I was teaching.  And the best method?  Stories.  Lots and lots of amazing stories.

Somewhere along the line, it all got me thinking.  I was teaching the kids bible stories, songs, and even a bit of theology, using excellent resources.  But, aside from our beloved Patricia St John books, I had yet to find compelling stories outside of the bible that effectively explored theology.  I wanted to have my kids’ love for the Word to grow by being in the Word and by reading about its core teachings and basic doctrines through excellent living stories.  But, where were these books?

By this stage, I was writing regularly here at on our blog.  It rekindled an old love – writing.  My thoughts?  Why not write the stories that I couldn’t find? 

The idea stewed for some years.  Whenever I revisited it, it grew.  Before long, a series had developed in my mind – about a home schooled family discovering fascinating history and grappling with theology while experiencing amazing adventures.   Home schooled, because there are so few books written about us strange creatures: it was an opportunity to give all types of education a fair rap and home schooling a little light.  Family, because books I grew up on usually had absent parents in body or heart: I wanted an opportunity to paint real families working together.  While the focus is on the kids and their discoveries, the parents are a positive influence.  History, because the best stories have already been written in the pages of history. Theology, because kids are smarter than we give them credit for. 

I wanted my kids to read these kind of books.  So, why not try my hand at creating them myself?  In my braver moments, I felt confident that I could do it.  In my saner moments, I was convinced it was but a pipe dream; a tall task that I could never fulfil.

But, the idea continued to take shape, until a first story filled my mind and spilled out onto my keyboard one wintery evening last year.  A few weeks’ work last year fanned the flames of an old passion.  But then life and self-doubt interfered.  Eventually, I picked it up again.  And, finished my first novel.

All 160-pages, 23 chapters and 1 epilogue worth.  Unpublished.  Un(officially)edited.  But complete.

Set in Cape Town, South Africa, The Joseph Project, as it is tentatively titled, is an adventure that brings a middle class white family, with four home schooled children, face-to-face with the atrocities of their apartheid past. The story begins on a stormy beach one winter’s morning when 12-year old Simon Ward discovers an old bottle in a tangled clump of seaweed. On a whim, he tucks it into his coat before heading home. But, his plans for his latest treasure are dashed when his beloved dog, Purdy, knocks him over in one over-excited bound, smashing his bottle to the ground. Simon’s dismay soon turns to excited intrigue, for in the ancient bottle is an envelope.  It contains a letter written 30 years prior by a 12-year old Cape Flats school boy as part of a multi-disciplinary school project.  The letter is brief and contains one question, “Who is God and does he care about me?”

The letter fascinates the Ward family, so they embark on an exciting and revealing journey of discovery. Through clues left in the letter, the children, together with their mother, find themselves revisiting their country’s apartheid past as they search for their mystery letter-writer.

So far a few friends and family have read / are reading the story with (so far!) positive feedback.  I plan to read it to our Lunch Bunch kids.  And, I hope to get it published.  In fact, I was really excited to learn, soon after I first started praying about publishing it, about the Re:Write conference contest – a $15k advance in royalties and a book contract with Tyndale to the winner.  I was all set to enter with a completed proposal and everything, when the organisers changed the parameters to be non-fiction only.  I was disappointed.  Very disappointed  But, at the same time, intrigued.  Where was God taking this?  Because, my ultimate prayer is that while I do want this book published, I don’t want it to supersede my role as wife, mom and primary home schooling parent.

So, now I wait.  The Fedd Agency, who are affiliated with the Re:Write conference, have offered to read all the fiction proposals and offer advice or even take on a worthwhile project as an agent.  There are a few other avenues I could pursue.  My dream is that Zondervan Kids will pick it up!  But I know too little about the publishing world to really know what’s best and what’s wise.  So, even while I read up on it all, and probe another avenue here and there, I’m still trusting in His wisdom.  And praying.  Please pray with me. 

updated: a sneak peak of chapter one in the next post: chapter one.