Tim Hughes's Blog
June 3, 2012
The Indie Route. Really?
So there I was. The first draft of my book was finished. I praised God for guiding me through the writing process, and I felt as though a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I know God had to be smiling as he watched. He knew the easy part was done and the journey was just beginning.
It was time to edit, and I was quietly horrified as my wife and I went through six more drafts, dutifully applying stabby love to the unreadable mess that was my first draft. After six months, a book was born.
I was proud and thankful and joyous and celebratory. You get the picture. Now, God’s message was about to be delivered to the whole world. By Tuesday, everyone on the planet would have purchased my book and my wife and I would be relaxing on a sunny beach, preparing to write the next book and repeat the process. Yep, it was time to kick back and watch the sales roll in.
What? It has to be published first? Well, that’s simple. I’ll just call up the local publishing company, let them know it’s ready to go, and in a couple of weeks the world can start reading. Publishing companies take care of everything and usually provide a huge advance to their writers, right? OK, so maybe it will be a little slower than I expected, but the literary promised land is just over the next hill.
What? Publishers have huge backlogs, have little interest in new authors, provide next to no marketing support, and take as much as two years to get the book to market? Gee, that’s not quite as glamorous as it sounds. I didn’t really sign up for this part, God. All you told me was that I’d be writing novels and spreading the message you wanted delivered. You failed to mention the part about getting published. Aren’t You supposed to handle the delivery of the baby after I dutifully went through the gestation period?
How can I possibly do all of this, God? It’s just not fair. How, how, how?
What’s that, Father? I must not have heard you right. It sounded like you said “Slowly.” Slowly would mean that this is going to be another learning process, looking to You for guidance as I go. Haven’t I already learned enough? So, success isn’t going to happen overnight, Father? Sigh. Why do things always have to be so difficult?
That’s when God opened my eyes to the world of indie publishing. If I had gone the standard publishing route, I would have to market the novel anyway. First time authors don’t get much support. This was the best route. This was a route where I could go at my own pace and learn the ins and outs of self-marketing without being prodded and persuaded by a literary agent and a publishing company. This was the route where I would make the most friends and have the biggest impact on others in a personal way (and them on me).
So far, I have no regrets. God is keeping His promise and guiding me through the process. I am learning every day, trying to avoid the land mines and figuring out how to market the book.
Does that mean that I won’t ever go with the standard publishing route? Not at all. In the future, God may lead me to His intended publishing house to provide the correct solution at that time. However, at this stage in my learning process, God made it clear that indie is the best way to disseminate His intended message and have a chance to learn the ropes along the way.
God knew all along, I just had to come around to His way of thinking. Amazing how He waits. And gently prompts. And waits. And finally we see what He saw from the very beginning.
It was time to edit, and I was quietly horrified as my wife and I went through six more drafts, dutifully applying stabby love to the unreadable mess that was my first draft. After six months, a book was born.
I was proud and thankful and joyous and celebratory. You get the picture. Now, God’s message was about to be delivered to the whole world. By Tuesday, everyone on the planet would have purchased my book and my wife and I would be relaxing on a sunny beach, preparing to write the next book and repeat the process. Yep, it was time to kick back and watch the sales roll in.
What? It has to be published first? Well, that’s simple. I’ll just call up the local publishing company, let them know it’s ready to go, and in a couple of weeks the world can start reading. Publishing companies take care of everything and usually provide a huge advance to their writers, right? OK, so maybe it will be a little slower than I expected, but the literary promised land is just over the next hill.
What? Publishers have huge backlogs, have little interest in new authors, provide next to no marketing support, and take as much as two years to get the book to market? Gee, that’s not quite as glamorous as it sounds. I didn’t really sign up for this part, God. All you told me was that I’d be writing novels and spreading the message you wanted delivered. You failed to mention the part about getting published. Aren’t You supposed to handle the delivery of the baby after I dutifully went through the gestation period?
How can I possibly do all of this, God? It’s just not fair. How, how, how?
What’s that, Father? I must not have heard you right. It sounded like you said “Slowly.” Slowly would mean that this is going to be another learning process, looking to You for guidance as I go. Haven’t I already learned enough? So, success isn’t going to happen overnight, Father? Sigh. Why do things always have to be so difficult?
That’s when God opened my eyes to the world of indie publishing. If I had gone the standard publishing route, I would have to market the novel anyway. First time authors don’t get much support. This was the best route. This was a route where I could go at my own pace and learn the ins and outs of self-marketing without being prodded and persuaded by a literary agent and a publishing company. This was the route where I would make the most friends and have the biggest impact on others in a personal way (and them on me).
So far, I have no regrets. God is keeping His promise and guiding me through the process. I am learning every day, trying to avoid the land mines and figuring out how to market the book.
Does that mean that I won’t ever go with the standard publishing route? Not at all. In the future, God may lead me to His intended publishing house to provide the correct solution at that time. However, at this stage in my learning process, God made it clear that indie is the best way to disseminate His intended message and have a chance to learn the ropes along the way.
God knew all along, I just had to come around to His way of thinking. Amazing how He waits. And gently prompts. And waits. And finally we see what He saw from the very beginning.
April 26, 2012
21 Day Daniel Fast
Three weeks ago, I set out to complete a 21 day Daniel Fast. For those of you not familiar with this method of fasting, it’s based off of the Book of Daniel. Daniel was fasting for spiritual purposes, to show his devotion to God and to seek God’s guidance. The following verse gives the best account of what was physically involved in the fast:
I did not eat any rich food or any meat, drink any wine, or comb my hair until the three weeks were past. Daniel 10:3
No rich food or meat or wine. The meat and wine part is pretty clear: no meat or alcohol of any kind. Rich food is really more up for debate. Here are the foods I avoided during this fast: meat, dairy, refined sugar, processed foods, alcohol and caffeine. My diet consisted of vegetables, rice (brown or wild), simple breads with minimum ingredients, fruit, nuts and water. Eating was a means of providing nutrients for my body, not a means of indulgence.
As for the second part of the verse, I did comb my hair during the fast, or what’s left of it anyway. Many years after Daniel’s time, Jesus gave us new instructions for fasting in the Sermon on the Mount. We are to make ourselves presentable during a fast. No one should be aware of our fast simply by looking at us. Going around looking haggard and telling everyone how pious I am because “I’m fasting and they’re not” isn’t exactly the point.
When I thought of fasting before, I always assumed it meant going without food for several days. I had never thought of fasting like the Daniel Fast. It seemed fairly simple and straight forward, though. How hard could it be? The answer: far more difficult that I imagined. We are so far removed from eating for survival purposes that it took this Daniel Fast to really make me appreciate how good we have it here in the land of plenty. The first four days were fraught with withdrawal symptoms: headaches, lethargy, grouchiness, adjusting blood sugar levels, etc. The cravings for sugar during the fast were intense and the desire for the comfort foods I have grown so accustomed to were almost more than I could take.
But that’s the point of the fast: difficulty and struggles that we need help to overcome. The fasting isn’t about the physical world, really. It isn’t about losing weight. It isn’t really about “us” at all. It’s about God. We give up food that our bodies crave and look to God for the support we need to fight through the difficulties. God honors our sacrifice and draws closer to us as we draw closer to Him. As we spend time in his Word during the fast, he opens our eyes and hearts to His instruction. As we bring prayers to Him, we learn to trust Him on a deeper level. He wants us to be close to Him more than anything, and the Daniel Fast is an amazing way for us to learn how to do that.
Like most people entering the fast, I had specific items I was going to bring before God with the intent of seeking His direction. I had read plenty of people’s comments about the miraculous things God had done for them during and after their fast. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, but was confident God would do positive works in my life as a result. I wasn’t disappointed. Surprised, but not disappointed.
So what was God’s main message to me? Here it is in a nutshell: ”I know what you need before you ask. Be close to Me. Don’t spend your time worrying. Follow Me and I will protect you. Trust Me and I will provide for you. Give yourself fully to Me and you will have unimaginable peace and prosperity.” During the fast, His Word came alive for me and he led me to many, many passages of Scripture that drove home that message. As I said, it wasn’t what I was expecting. As is God’s way, the result was much more than I was expecting.
I’ve learned so much. I feel so much closer to God. He knows my needs, and he knows my desires. If I will constantly look to Him, He promises to take care of those things that cause me grief in this world. If will stay focused on Him, even when the skies are dark and the storm clouds gather, the end result will be victory. Victory has already been won, but the Deceiver would have me think otherwise. God has made it clear that I am to ignore the deception and stay focused on Him. The all powerful God of the universe takes time every second of the day to love me. How amazing is that?
It’s a message that I have read a thousand times, but until I drew close to Him and he planted the true meaning in my Spirit, I didn’t really know what it meant. Twenty one days isn’t much in the scheme of a person’s life, but the last twenty one have certainly had a profound impact on mine.
I did not eat any rich food or any meat, drink any wine, or comb my hair until the three weeks were past. Daniel 10:3
No rich food or meat or wine. The meat and wine part is pretty clear: no meat or alcohol of any kind. Rich food is really more up for debate. Here are the foods I avoided during this fast: meat, dairy, refined sugar, processed foods, alcohol and caffeine. My diet consisted of vegetables, rice (brown or wild), simple breads with minimum ingredients, fruit, nuts and water. Eating was a means of providing nutrients for my body, not a means of indulgence.
As for the second part of the verse, I did comb my hair during the fast, or what’s left of it anyway. Many years after Daniel’s time, Jesus gave us new instructions for fasting in the Sermon on the Mount. We are to make ourselves presentable during a fast. No one should be aware of our fast simply by looking at us. Going around looking haggard and telling everyone how pious I am because “I’m fasting and they’re not” isn’t exactly the point.
When I thought of fasting before, I always assumed it meant going without food for several days. I had never thought of fasting like the Daniel Fast. It seemed fairly simple and straight forward, though. How hard could it be? The answer: far more difficult that I imagined. We are so far removed from eating for survival purposes that it took this Daniel Fast to really make me appreciate how good we have it here in the land of plenty. The first four days were fraught with withdrawal symptoms: headaches, lethargy, grouchiness, adjusting blood sugar levels, etc. The cravings for sugar during the fast were intense and the desire for the comfort foods I have grown so accustomed to were almost more than I could take.
But that’s the point of the fast: difficulty and struggles that we need help to overcome. The fasting isn’t about the physical world, really. It isn’t about losing weight. It isn’t really about “us” at all. It’s about God. We give up food that our bodies crave and look to God for the support we need to fight through the difficulties. God honors our sacrifice and draws closer to us as we draw closer to Him. As we spend time in his Word during the fast, he opens our eyes and hearts to His instruction. As we bring prayers to Him, we learn to trust Him on a deeper level. He wants us to be close to Him more than anything, and the Daniel Fast is an amazing way for us to learn how to do that.
Like most people entering the fast, I had specific items I was going to bring before God with the intent of seeking His direction. I had read plenty of people’s comments about the miraculous things God had done for them during and after their fast. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, but was confident God would do positive works in my life as a result. I wasn’t disappointed. Surprised, but not disappointed.
So what was God’s main message to me? Here it is in a nutshell: ”I know what you need before you ask. Be close to Me. Don’t spend your time worrying. Follow Me and I will protect you. Trust Me and I will provide for you. Give yourself fully to Me and you will have unimaginable peace and prosperity.” During the fast, His Word came alive for me and he led me to many, many passages of Scripture that drove home that message. As I said, it wasn’t what I was expecting. As is God’s way, the result was much more than I was expecting.
I’ve learned so much. I feel so much closer to God. He knows my needs, and he knows my desires. If I will constantly look to Him, He promises to take care of those things that cause me grief in this world. If will stay focused on Him, even when the skies are dark and the storm clouds gather, the end result will be victory. Victory has already been won, but the Deceiver would have me think otherwise. God has made it clear that I am to ignore the deception and stay focused on Him. The all powerful God of the universe takes time every second of the day to love me. How amazing is that?
It’s a message that I have read a thousand times, but until I drew close to Him and he planted the true meaning in my Spirit, I didn’t really know what it meant. Twenty one days isn’t much in the scheme of a person’s life, but the last twenty one have certainly had a profound impact on mine.
April 18, 2012
Convicted: Impact Series - Book One
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Convicted, a story of murder, betrayal and corruption.
“But wait,” you say, “isn’t this supposed to be a Christian fiction book? That doesn’t exactly sound uplifting.”
OK, so maybe you didn’t ask that question, but I certainly did as God was leading me through the first draft of Convicted, or as I fondly called it at the time “the book.” How could His uplifting message be delivered via a story with such a sinister plot line? I must have misunderstood his direction and somehow gone off on my own tangent, drastically skewing the original intent of this series.
God calmly took me aside and pointed me to accounts from His Word. The Book of Job isn’t exactly all flowers and puppies, but Job persevered and refused to disavow God. The Book of Jonah isn’t what you would call uplifting in the traditional sense, but it sends a clear an concise message. The parable of the Good Samaritan, the inspiration for Convicted, begins with assault, battery and indifference but finishes with a powerful message on how we should treat each other as children of God.
Point taken. It’s a dark world out there, and only the light of God is powerful enough to illuminate that darkness. Maybe a sinister setting is the perfect backdrop for God’s message in this book. Maybe it is possible to be entertained by the perils of the protagonist and yet find ourselves identifying with his situation on a personal level. Maybe his trials and tribulations will cause us to wax introspective and understand the impact God has on our lives every day, and how He uses us to impact others.
If any of this is possible, then Convicted is a success.
“But wait,” you say, “isn’t this supposed to be a Christian fiction book? That doesn’t exactly sound uplifting.”
OK, so maybe you didn’t ask that question, but I certainly did as God was leading me through the first draft of Convicted, or as I fondly called it at the time “the book.” How could His uplifting message be delivered via a story with such a sinister plot line? I must have misunderstood his direction and somehow gone off on my own tangent, drastically skewing the original intent of this series.
God calmly took me aside and pointed me to accounts from His Word. The Book of Job isn’t exactly all flowers and puppies, but Job persevered and refused to disavow God. The Book of Jonah isn’t what you would call uplifting in the traditional sense, but it sends a clear an concise message. The parable of the Good Samaritan, the inspiration for Convicted, begins with assault, battery and indifference but finishes with a powerful message on how we should treat each other as children of God.
Point taken. It’s a dark world out there, and only the light of God is powerful enough to illuminate that darkness. Maybe a sinister setting is the perfect backdrop for God’s message in this book. Maybe it is possible to be entertained by the perils of the protagonist and yet find ourselves identifying with his situation on a personal level. Maybe his trials and tribulations will cause us to wax introspective and understand the impact God has on our lives every day, and how He uses us to impact others.
If any of this is possible, then Convicted is a success.
