Where to from here? - Jo-Anne Berthelsen

I wonder how you feel as you look back over this past year. Have you managed to achieve those goals you might have set for yourself at the beginning of 2014? And how do you feel as you look towards 2015? For those of you out there who are writers, are there more book ideas and plots already beginning to take shape in your imagination?

This past year was a strange writing year for me. It was the first year since 2007 that I did not have another new book released. I began my journey of being published with my second book almost complete before the first was released, so, over these past seven years, I have had the luxury of always having something else ready ahead of time for my publisher to consider. This year, however, things caught up with me at last.

On top of that, I began the year in hospital, having a back operation, and also injured my ankle a few months later. Yet, by God’s grace, I still managed to fulfil around twenty-seven speaking engagements and book promotion events. We acquired a beautiful new granddaughter as well and now spend many hours minding said granddaughter, plus our three other beautiful grandchildren. In the midst of all this, I nevertheless managed to complete my second memoir and plan to submit it to my publisher after Christmas.

Next year, I hope to start writing another novel. I have three or four different ideas outlined on my computer—which one should I choose? Should it be the one inspired by memories of my artist grandmother and set in Queensland, my home state? Should I explore what happened to Grace, the child of the two main characters in my last novel, The Inheritance? Should I pursue the idea of writing a novel about a Turkish girl, set both here in Australia and in Turkey, a country I have visited several times and where I have had many adventures with a friend who lives there? Or should I go with a novel already begun, entitled Maddie, a story inspired purely by a photo that captured my imagination during a wonderful creative writing course I undertook several years ago?

As I think about each of these ideas, I feel excited about the possibilities. But, since this will be my ninth book, I well know the challenges I am likely to encounter. Am I ready to commit so much time and effort to another novel? More to the point, is it where God wants me to put my energies in the coming year? If it is not, then I am wasting my time. So, over the Christmas break, I plan to put time aside to pray and reflect and, as best I can, make sure this is the direction my writing should take. Then I can move forward with confidence, knowing that, even if I strike difficulties with this particular project, God is right there with me in the midst of it all.

As you look back over 2014, I hope you can see how God has strengthened and sustained you, however challenging your year might have been. And as you look towards 2015, may you know God’s clear guidance and enabling  in whatever projects you undertake, whether writing or otherwise.

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.

One book too many?

The moment had come. I had finally arrived at that very last chapter of my current work in progress—another memoir entitled Coming Home to Myself. One would think I would fly through it at this point. But no ... it was a slow, hard journey, with many stops and starts and much use of the cut and paste function on my laptop, as well as that delete button.

There are several possible reasons for this, I believe. One is that some physical pain has intervened. In January, I had a back operation, which helped greatly. But of course that does not solve all the problems. I need to walk and exercise—and I need to remember to get up off this office chair at my desk at regular intervals and do something else.

Another is much more pleasurable and that is the arrival of our new grandchild in March. There is nothing like sitting at my laptop, cuddling our cute little granddaughter in one arm, while typing with the other! However, it has not been all that conducive to thinking clearly about how to round off that final chapter of my book.

A third factor that has come into play is one I should have known to guard against by now, having written seven other books. In this current manuscript, I have referred to several excellent books on related topics and quoted from some, probably reading and enjoying much more of them than I should have at this point. But then I made the mistake of leaving them piled up around me on my desk, within my line of vision. As a result, when the time came to write my own final chapter, those huge doubts began assailing me. What am I doing, writing this little book of mine when I see these great classics around me here? Surely these other wonderful authors have said all that is necessary—and said it so much better than I ever could? Is my book one too many?

But I believe there is a fourth reason for the depth of confusion I experienced in finishing that final chapter—and one that must not be overlooked by any of us. I believe the enemy does not like to see us putting our heart and soul into writing those books that say something significant about faith in God and that have the potential to make a difference for God in this world. So, at one particular point in my struggle to complete this book, I got to my feet and prayed out loud, taking a literal stand against what I sensed was happening. To my amazement, things changed dramatically. Almost at once, I knew what I had to write in those last few paragraphs. And writing them was sheer joy, as I sensed God’s Spirit filling me and freeing me up so that those words flowed again.

One book too many? Hopefully not! As God enables, I will keep writing—and praying. And I encourage you all to do the same.

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 or www.soulfriend.com.au.

Building that bowerbird’s nest

In these early weeks of a new writing year, I am usually well into planning speaking engagements for the months ahead and preparing input. But this year has begun very differently. At the moment, I am still recovering from a recent back operation and thus needing to rest far more than usual. Right now, I’m typing this lying sideways, with my laptop perched on a chair beside the bed.

Yet this past month of relative writing inactivity has hardly been wasted. I have been exercising that very necessary skill for all authors—the fine art of observation. By this I mean noticing all sorts of things about all sorts of people and situations, as well as what is happening inside myself, then storing these details away in that big, mental writer's file, if not in a literal computer file. In short, I have been building my own unique bowerbird’s nest—just like the male bowerbird collects an interesting array of colourful items, from leaves, flowers and berries to shiny metal objects, pieces of glass and discarded plastic items, then spends hours arranging them in a way that will hopefully attract a potential wife to his nest!

My stay in hospital provided me with ample opportunity to observe people. I noticed with interest the different manner and tone of voice employed by various medical personnel, from the bright, breezy words of the young, upbeat anaesthetist to the soothing reassurances of my almost as young neurosurgeon as I waited for him to operate, to the respectful, concerned responses of my gentle, Asian post-op care nurse. And how could I not notice the lilting, laughing voices of those two Irish nurses or the deep, resonant voice of the older Indian male nurse, with his occasional interesting word pronunciations?  In my mind’s eye too, I can still see those beautiful, almond-shaped eyes of the young Zimbabwean nurse who chatted about her homeland and the stern face of the head nurse with an aura of experience and battle-weariness about her who nevertheless farewelled me with kindness and courtesy. Who knows in what future novel these will make an appearance? For now, they are among my treasures, waiting to be displayed at the right moment to attract potential readers or publishers!

Then there is that collection of my own responses to contemplate, such as a definite aversion to being a nuisance, unwilling to ask for and receive help. Where did that come from? How does it affect those offering help? How has it affected me? Or I could ponder upon that frustration within me that I am unable to forge ahead with all my writing and speaking plans right now. Why is it so hard at times to rest and be at peace about it all? Why can I not trust God with the year ahead, who has promised over and over in the Psalms to be my shield, my protector, my refuge, my healer, my provider—my God? Surely, as a future novel or even non-fiction work unfolds, these experiences will help me delve deeper into my characters, understanding and revealing their motives better.

May God enable you too to build your own wonderful, bowerbird-like writer’s nest in the year ahead.  And may you know God’s amazing grace and deep peace, wherever your writing journey takes you in 2014.

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.