Vonda Skelton - Christian Speaker, Author, and Funny Lady

Guess what…It’s the 5th Thursday, which means I get to do anything I want on the blog! And even though I’m at the Christian Communicators Conference right now, I don’t want to miss the opportunity to let you hear from my friend, Marcia Moston, author of the new book from Thomas Nelson, Call of a Coward: The God of Moses and the Middle Class Housewife. (Don’t you just love that title?) You can read her bio below, but I’ll just brag here a little and say Marcia’s in our local writers group. What an honor for us to have her!

Marcia is an award-winning writer who has lived in tepees, adobe houses, and classy colonials along her life journey, and has done everything from delivering Yellowbooks to delivering speeches. But today we’re going to talk about her journey to publication with her first book, Call of a Coward. It’s the compelling story of how God took Marcia, a middle class housewife, from her middle class life to a Mayan village to work with orphans. Let me tell you, I couldn’t put this book down!

Readers, be sure to leave a comment for Marcia and you’ll be in the drawing for a free copy of her book!

Okay Marcia, to get us started, would you tell a little about your writing background?

One thing I’ve learned about walking with the Lord is that He doesn’t care the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. He can take all the seemingly unrelated detours of our lives and make something surprisingly good.

Before I wrote Call of a Coward, I had never read a how-to-write book. What I had done was teach English/lit in small Christian school that found itself without an English teacher the weekend before school started. Although my degrees were in sociology and Christian education, my name kept popping up in the Board meeting, so I became the English teacher. During my seven years there, I had the opportunity to re-read great works of literature and to refresh my grammar skills.

When we moved to the South a few years ago, I felt the time had come to give birth to the story the Lord had let me live and had prepared me to write. I took advantage of writers’ workshops and local critique groups. Then I parked myself by the side of my pool and wrote the book. P.S. I’ve since read and studied LOTS of writing books. Still hope I can write.

You say you hadn’t studied any how-to books before you wrote, but were there any authors who influenced your writing?

The instructor of the first writing workshop I attended recommended Rick Bragg, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist whose ability to drop down into a scene, capture the heart of the moment and liken it to breath-taking metaphor lit up my grey matter like a marble in a pinball machine. He wrote nonfiction that made me weep. I wanted to write like him. (Somebody Told Me, Vintage Books)

The first agent you showed your manuscript to told you memoir was a hard sell for a “no name.” The second agent who asked for the first few chapters never got back to you.  Who or what encouraged you to keep going with this story?

My encouragement expanded like ripples in a pond. The response from my local critique groups gave me the confidence to enter the Blue Ridge Mountain Writers Conference contest. Although my manuscript won several awards there, I didn’t secure an agent or editor. Nevertheless, I had a deep-seated conviction to hang onto it, rework it, and wait. When I saw the Women of Faith writing contest (on your web site!) I knew that was my opportunity.

Wow, Marcia, I don’t think I knew that you found the Women of Faith writing contest here. That’s an awesome encouragement to me! Now, although I am sure you’re thrilled to have a contract with a major publisher, as a newcomer to the writing community and world of publication, do you have any fears or concerns?

Lots. A short time after I submitted my book to the Women of Faith contest, I was overcome with fear. I had hung my naked thoughts out there for all to see and couldn’t reel them back in. My insecurities hounded me for days. One morning during devotions, I came across this passage: The sons of Ephraim were archers equipped with bows, {yet} they turned back in the day of battle. Psalm 78:9

In an instant, I knew the Lord was telling me He had equipped me, and that if I turned back out of fear, I did not trust Him to accomplish that which He had started. Now when insecurity taunts me, I remind myself my job is to do the best I can with what the Lord has given me. It’s  the Lord’s job to do with it as He pleases.

What do you hope folks will gain from reading your book?

A fresh confidence in the Living One Who Sees Them.  And a willingness to dare believe whether they travel a thousand miles or a thousand feet, they can be a messenger of God—even if they lack both the courage and the credentials. As Oswald Chambers puts it: “All of God’s people are ordinary people who have been made extraordinary by the purpose He has given them.”

Is there something you’ve learned along this journey you’d like to share with others?

I’m told this can be a testy business. But the writing community I’ve been involved with, whether here on my home front, at conferences, or in online groups, has modeled generous, supportive, encouraging, and instructive behavior. In turn, I look for ways to be an encouragement to someone else.

What an encouragement you are to us today, Marcia!

Bio: Although she holds degrees from the University of Vermont and Trinity Theological seminary, most of what Marcia’s learned has been by the proverbial seat of her pants. She’s taught English in a Christian high school, worked with orphans in a Mayan village in Guatemala, led mission teams throughout Central America, delivered Yellowbooks, stuffed vending machines, and lived in everything from tepees to parsonages.

Marcia loves to share the stories of what a very real God can do with the smallest of our offerings. Her debut nonfiction, Call of a Coward: The God of Moses and the Middle-Class Housewife, is the winner of the 2010 Women of Faith writing contest.

Thank you for joining us today, Marcia, and sharing your heart for writing and God’s Word. And readers, remember to leave a comment for Marcia and you could win a copy of her book. Be sure to check back next week to see if you’re the winner!

Write on!

Vonda

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