The Tall People, Sub Rosa, and Me

Be sure to read fellow author Charis Joy Jackson's previous installment in this blog tour promoting The Tall People and Other Collected Stories.

About My Experience
This post can also be titled, "That Time I Finally Got Published."

I have followed Ethan Renoe's written ministry for the last several years, and am always blessed and challenged by his thoughtfulness and his warm heart for people and our Lord. So when I received an email from him (I subscribe to his blog) about a publishing opportunity, I was intrigued.

He needed short stories to fill out an anthology he'd published in the past. The length requirements alone made most of my stories ineligible (I am nothing if not verbose, as all two readers of this blog will affirm). But I managed to find two that fit, sent them to Ethan, and waited.

A few days later I got the email from Ethan saying he picked--and loved--one of them, and that if it was okay by me he would include it in the book. And so here we are. 

Part of me never thought this day would come--or at least it would come differently: after I graduated from seminary, after I began pastoring, after I had more credentials, more credibility, more experience. Something.

I did not think a very viable opportunity for visibility and experience would come when I least expected it. I am thankful for God's providence!

About the Book
The Tall People and Other Collected Stories was initially released as an anthology by my new friend Ethan Renoe, comprised of multiple short fiction pieces he'd penned over the years. This time, it has been rereleased with contributions from me and fourteen other people, whose stories run the gamut from the supernatural to the mysterious to the fantastic. In their own way, each contribution makes a vital point about human nature and our need for grace.

About My Story
"Sub Rosa" concerns a woman who must deal with the aftermath of the betrayal and fallenness exposed in her husband's infidelity. Inspired by William Blake's tremendous poem "The Sick Red Rose," I intended for the imagery to communicate something of the depravity and heart-sickness of one man as a foil representing all of our sinfulness and need for divine rescue. I would say more, but then you wouldn't read it on your own, would you? :-) By the way, sub rosa is Latin for "beneath the rose," a euphemism denoting that which is hidden secret, or concealed (whether for legitimate or nefarious purposes). 

Beauty can cover a world of mess, making it that much harder to detect, repent of, and recover from. Only God can expose the sinfulness that lurks within each heart, and only He has the complete cure.

I look forward to seeing how our Lord uses my small story to teach His people to look inward at their own hidden depravity, which manifests itself in sometimes shocking or unbidden ways, and rely ever more fully on His grace and power to part with their sin and live fully for His glory.

Ethan's blog has a list of all of the contributors and more information about the book, and be sure to click over to Hannah Thomas's blog for the next installment of the tour!

Most importantly: GO HERE to buy your own copy, in both print and digital formats (or both, if you really want to do us all a favor).

A post you should read (that isn't mine)

I have had the privilege of being friends with Stephen Altrogge for many years. Besides helping me wade through the waters of my freelance writing business (a lot happens when you don't update your blog in three years, eh?), he has made me laugh, encouraged me, and taught me how to love well and be a loyal friend.

I am regularly encouraged and challenged by his and his father's written ministry. While we disagree on a few theological issues (over which we poke fun at each other regularly, even though he knows I'm right), I never fail to be pointed to Christ or strengthened in my walk with Him by Stephen and Mark's insightful, battle-tested, Spirit-led posts.

This one is no exception. As we partner with our sovereign God in fulfilling His program and furthering His Kingdom before His imminent return, we will face desperate spiritual need and lack in many areas. Prayer is God's means of connecting His provision with our need for our blessing and for the fulfillment of His purposes. But does prayer work? What do we do with unanswered prayer? How do we follow the Lord in conflicting desires, seeing through a glass darkly, wrestling to know the application of His will in all things?

Stephen would not put forth his post as the definitive answer to these questions. But it is a thoughtful, biblical, and comforting examination of truth that will renew your mind and put steel in your spirit.

Let's go to the throne -- together!