The question everyone seems to want to ask

Jo-Anne Berthelsen

I had been invited to speak to a community group about becoming a published author and had reached the end of my input. Now it was time for questions. What would I be asked today? Perhaps someone might want to know how long it takes me to write a novel. Perhaps someone else might wonder which I enjoy writing most—fiction or non-fiction.  Perhaps others might have questions about the book industry as a whole, such as how e-books have affected authors and publishers and bookstores. I waited, hoping I could respond well to whatever queries might surface.

Then I saw him. He was seated towards the back and smiled as he raised his hand. And, before he even opened his mouth, I knew what he was going to ask.

‘So ... have you made much money from your books?

Why is it that it is often a well-dressed, important-looking gentleman up the back who dares to ask such a question? Perhaps it is because he has had a career in business, where the bottom line counts. Perhaps he is simply curious. Or perhaps he hears his wife or others around him whispering this very question and decides to ask it for them! Nowadays, I simply join in the ensuing slightly embarrassed laughter and respond as calmly as I can. But the first time I was confronted with this question, I was a little shocked. After all, I doubt I would ask this gentleman how much he made in his own job—especially in public!

This time, I decided to explain first off how most Australian authors know it is not a good idea to give up one’s day job! Next, I mentioned how even quite well-known authors here in Australia usually need to supplement their income via presenting writing workshops or lecturing in creative writing or such like. I then talked about how smaller publishers in Australia do not have the resources to pay large advances or to fund extensive promotional campaigns and how, in my circles at least, we battle for sales with many books written by well-known overseas authors. Finally, I let this gentleman know that, while I might not have made my millions, I am at least in the ‘black’ and not in the ‘red’! And I am grateful I have always earned enough to buy my next lot of stock, so that I can continue my writing and speaking without any drain on our day-to-day finances.

If I am ever asked this question at a Christian event, I usually add that I regard my speaking and writing as a ministry, which changes the focus for me. I might mention too the many hours that artists of all kinds put into their creative endeavours and how difficult it is to put any monetary value on this. Yet we have the joy of knowing that our loving God sees all the effort that goes into our work and is delighted that we are using our gifts to bless others in this way.

On the other hand ... um ... well ... the worker deserves his (or her) wages, don’t you think (1 Tim 5:18)? Hmm.

So ... over to you. How would you answer my ‘favourite’ question?

Jo-Anne Berthelsen lives in Sydney but grew up in Brisbane. She holds degrees in Arts and Theology and has worked as a high school teacher, editor and secretary, as well as in local church ministry. Jo-Anne is passionate about touching hearts and lives through both the written and spoken word. She is the author of six published novels and one non-fiction work, Soul Friend: the story of a shared spiritual journey. Jo-Anne is married to a retired minister and has three grown-up children and four grandchildren. For more information, please visit www.jo-anneberthelsen.com. 

Watching our babies grow

On 4^th March this year, our fourth grandchild was born—a little girl called Maxine. Of course, she is

gorgeous! She has lots of black hair, big dark eyes and lovely, milk chocolate skin, courtesy of her Ghanaian father. And now she has a beautiful smile that has become wider and wider and appears more often these days. We look forward to the next stages of her development too, which no doubt will include things like noticing her own hands and rolling over onto her tummy. At the moment, we can’t imagine her sitting or crawling or eventually walking and talking, but we trust all that will happen in due course.

I thought of Maxine recently, in the midst of writing my second work of non-fiction. This book was conceived towards the end of last year and is taking some time to develop. It is another memoir, but, unlike Soul Friend, it follows a particular thread of my journey from my earliest years to the present. As well, each chapter contains some teaching on one facet of that journey and some reflection questions for readers. At the moment, I am unsure if it will work—and whether it will even be considered suitable for publication. Some days, I want to forget about the whole idea, because this book is proving quite difficult to bring together in the shape I envisage. But I press on. After all, it’s my baby—it has a name already and I can visualise that cover even now.

I remember a time in 2005 when I was looking for a publisher for my very first novel Heléna. I had almost given up and shared my dilemma with some Christian women leaders at a retreat. As we prayed for one another, one younger woman prayed specifically that I would find a publisher and that Heléna would in fact be birthed safely. I was touched to the point of tears that she understood how this first novel did indeed feel like a real baby to me. It had actually gestated within me for years and years—and I longed for it to see the light of day. Later, she quietly told me she had seen an ad for a new Christian publisher in a magazine at her mother’s place and would send me the details. I knew she was a busy, young mum and doubted she would remember—but she did. Many months later, this was the publisher who released my first novel Heléna.

Yes, sometimes it’s exhausting work, coaxing those books inside us into being, helping them take shape in the way God wants. But I take heart as I watch our little Maxine develop more and more as a little person. As I put time and effort and prayer into this current writing project of mine, it will come together, if God wants it to touch others for the Kingdom. As I nurture it carefully and as God breathes life into it, it will grow and blossom, just as God has reminded me through our little granddaughter.

If you too are in the midst of wrestling with a writing project, may you take heart today and keep going. May God give you great joy as you watch that precious baby grow and develop—and eventually stand on its own two feet!

Jo-Anne Berthelsen lives in Sydney but grew up in Brisbane. She holds degrees in Arts and Theology and has worked as a high school teacher, editor and secretary, as well as in local church ministry. Jo-Anne is passionate about touching hearts and lives through both the written and spoken word. She is the author of six published novels and one non-fiction work, Soul Friend: the story of a shared spiritual journey. Jo-Anne is married to a retired minister and has three grown-up children and three grandchildren. For more information, please visit www.jo-anneberthelsen.com or www.soulfriend.com.au.