Do you have a writing group of your own?
Good Question! I do not have a critique group that meets weekly, like the Inklings did. However, I do have a wonderful circle of colleagues who collaborate on different projects with me, discussing early ideas, giving feedback on rough drafts, and helping with practicalities like fact-checking, creating an index, or doing final edits. I often gather an ad-hoc group around me when working on a specific project. The ongoing group that sustains me is The Creative Artist’s Prayer Fellowship. We have been meeting twice a month for more than 25 years! Without their faith, encouragement, and support, I could not do what I do.
How did you discover C. S. Lewis & J. R. R. Tolkien?
My high school friends discovered The Lord of the Rings, and everybody was talking about it. I read it in self-defense because I didn’t like feeling left out. I discovered Lewis’s Out of the Silent Planet and The Chronicles of Narnia from there. And Williams’ thriller The Place of the Lion. I was hooked.
Are you ever going to finish that book about Dante?
I’ve written 400 pages of Undaunted by Dante: An Uncomplicated Guide to Reading and Enjoying The Divine Comedy. My test readers tell me it isn’t very good, and so far, I haven’t figured out how to fix it. I’ve put it aside for now, hoping that as I grow as a scholar and a writer, I will improve enough to know what this manuscript needs. For now, it’s under the chicken.
What does "under the chicken" mean?
I’m an intuitive writer. Often, that means I start drafting a book, but then I get stalled. Or I get an idea for a book and spend a really long time gathering information before I feel ready to write. Or I get off to a good start, and then my job or some other task or life event intervenes. I keep these somewhere-in-the-process projects under a ceramic chicken in my art studio—waiting for just the right time.
Why do you use an ampersand (&) as your favicon?
Part of it is simple: I simply love typewriters, old books, and the art of typography. Fonts and symbols are inherently beautiful to me.
But part of it is significant: The ampersand means “and,” and I believe that some of the most exciting and interesting discoveries are to be made at the conjunctions, the intersections, between different disciplines, different nations, different ideas, different people, and different perspectives. It suggests a more capacious view of ordinary things.
I also love to prompt people to think bigger and ask better questions: What am I missing? How is my point of view too small? Who needs to be added to this conversation? What more is there to understand about this issue?
And, finally it circles back to the idea of collaboration.
For me, there is a LOT packed into that small symbol.
I wish I could be part of a group like the Inklings. How do I find a group like that?
Wish you had a writing group of your own? Do what Tolkien did: start small. Begin with a book club. Maybe read Bandersnatch together and begin the conversation about what kind of group you need, what the ethos will be, what schedule works best, and the rest. You might find The Bandersnatch Discussion Guide useful as you talk together and create your own collaborative circle. Several hundred groups have already gotten their start this way!
Subscribe to
the Newsletter
Interested in continuing the conversation? Subscribe to the (occasional) newsletter for insights, updates, and links to upcoming talks and other events. Sign up today!
