Welcome to Treasure the Quiet Moments; A quest to ponder the simple blessings in the midst of the holiday chaos. Today, my guest is Kathy Ide. She has compiled a wonderful fiction devotional called,
21 Days of Christmas: Stories That Celebrate God’s Greatest Gift
I’ll let her tell you all about it…and be sure to scroll down to find out how you can Win A Copy.
Q&A with Kathy Ide
21 Days of Christmas
Tell us about your newest book.
21 Days of Christmas: Stories that Celebrate God’s Greatest Gift is the second in a series of Fiction Lover’s Devotionals, published by BroadStreet Publishing. It’s a collection of short fiction stories, all written by different authors. Each story is followed by a brief Life Application, written by the author of the story, that suggests how the messages in the tale can be applied to daily life.
What’s unique about this series?
A lot of readers today love Christian fiction. But in their quiet times with the Lord, they want something with a little more depth. There are lots of compilations with short true stories out there. The Fiction Lover’s Devotionals are for readers who enjoy fiction.
Do you have a chapter in 21 Days of Christmas too?
I do. It’s a story of what might have gone through Joseph’s mind in the moments after Mary gave birth to Jesus. I loved imagining what it must have been like to realize that you’ve been called to teach God’s Son about God. Based on what Joseph was raised to believe about the Messiah, that experience must have been mind-blowing!
What’s one of your most cherished Christmas memories?
When I was maybe ten years old, my mom asked my dad to build dollhouses for me and my two younger sisters for Christmas. He collected scrap lumber, carpet samples, strips of wallpaper, paint, and miniature furniture pieces. After working all day, then waiting for his daughters to go to bed, he stayed up late several nights in the garage, constructing a two-story house with five rooms, glued to a board that was painted green and had little trees and bushes in the wooden yard. The night before Christmas Eve, the dollhouse was finally finished. And my mom asked, “Where are the other two?” What? “You have three daughters, Wayne. You can’t expect them to all share one dollhouse.” After a last-minute shopping trip, Dad stayed up all night and built two more houses—identical in size, shape, and floor plan, but each with different wallpaper and paint and furnishings. When my sisters and I woke up on Christmas morning to three beautiful dollhouses, mine was the only one we could play with right away because the paint hadn’t yet dried on the other two! I still have a picture of those houses, with me and my sisters grinning from ear to ear, on my china cabinet.
How do you see people using these devotionals?
The books are being published as beautiful hardcover gift books—small enough to take with you, and with chapters short enough to read anywhere. You can enjoy these stories over breakfast, at lunch break, before bed, or curled up in your favorite chair with a cup of coffee or tea. These books could also be used in group settings—for your book club, Bible study, life group, Sunday school class, or just getting together with friends. They make terrific gifts too—especially 21 Days of Christmas! A Study Guide is available for free at www.FictionDevo.com or as a 99-cent e-book at Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
Where can people purchase the book?
The print version of 21 Days of Christmas can be ordered online at Amazon, BN.com, ChristianBook.com, Cokesbury.com, and GoHastings.com. The e-book is available from Amazon, BN.com, iBooks, and Google Play.
What can readers do after they read the books?
There’s a forum on FictionDevo.com where people can post responses to the books and the stories in them. They can also do that on Facebook.com/FictionDevo. I’m very excited to read about how God is using these stories in people’s lives.
Kathy Ide, author of Proofreading Secrets of Best-Selling Authors and editor/compiler of the Fiction Lover’s Devotional series, is a full-time freelance editor/proofreader/mentor, working with new writers, established authors, and book publishers. She writes columns of writing and editing tips for blogs and newsletters, and speaks at writers’ conferences across the country. For more about Kathy, visit www.KathyIde.com.
Kathy is also the founder and director of the Christian Editor Connection, a service that links authors and editors, and The Christian PEN: Proofreaders and Editors Network, which provides training, encouragement, and networking for Christian editors.
To win a copy of 21 Days of Christmas, leave a comment for Kathy Ide. Do you have a favorite Christmas memory? We will choose a winner next week.
Your comments also count toward our Christmas sign giveaway. For more information about entering, check my previous post.
One way to ponder the moments of Christmas is by making a cup of coffee or tea and enjoying a good story. 21 Days of Christmas will give you the added bonus of a spiritual application to treasure.
Many blessings as you Treasure the Quiet Moments,
Jeanne
Tweetables:
What’s your favorite Christmas memory? [Click to Tweet]
Win a copy of 21 Days of Christmas [Click to Tweet]
Fiction Lover’s Devotionals are for readers who enjoy fiction [Click to Tweet]
Order a copy of 21 Days of Christmas, or other books in the series at Amazon:
Where did you come up with the idea to write this book?
That’s a great question for Kathy, Linda. Thanks for asking and I am looking forward to her answer too. And, this is a whole series of 21 Days titles. Is there a significance to the 21 day length?
My publisher and I came up with the 21-day length in a brainstorming session. Most devotionals are 30 days–one for every day in a month, give or take. But other devos contain true stories. With fictional stories, it takes longer to develop the characters and the setting, and to really get the reader involved. A 30-day devotional with chapters long enough to tell the fictional stories well would’ve been a pretty big book. We wanted to make this devo short enough to appeal to today’s busy readers.
Actually, this project has been on my heart for like 16 years! I love fiction, but reading a novel during my quiet times with the Lord didn’t feel right. Combining short fictional stories with life applications seemed like a great solution. Since I’ve been in the writing business for a long time, and have attended and taught at numerous writers’ conferences, I had connections with many fantastic authors. When I told them about the idea of a Fiction Lover’s Devotional, several of them submitted fantastic stories that I just knew would bless readers’ hearts.
I am really looking forward to reading this, Kathy. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Kathy, I was so moved by the story of your Dad………I could picture him in your garage, with his head bent to the task of making the doll houses for such a sweet surprise! Father’s who sacrificed without a word……what a blessing. I am 76 years old, but still remember my Dad with my sister and I on each side of him reading the “Christmas Story”……..on Christmas Eve. The smell of apples, cider, ginger bread still bring tears to my eyes. Thank you for sharing your gift.
Jan
Janice, I’m so glad the story about my dad brought you such special memories of your own father. I have so many fond recollections from my childhood … and I feel extremely blessed. Especially since so many people today are struggling to deal with abuse, neglect, abandonment, etc. from their past. Christmas is an extra-special time for me because of all the happy, wonderful Christmases I’ve been able to celebrate over the years.
Thank you Kathy! What a precious memory. I don’t know that my husband would have been as obedient as your Dad.
Will definitely have a look at your site. And thank you Jeanne.
Well, my dad was (and still is) pretty special. Glad you enjoyed my story.
Congratulations to Linda Costa – you have won a copy of Kathy Ide’s book, 21 Days of Christmas! Contact me with your mailing address and we will get a copy right out to you!
Thanks to all who shared their thoughts about this unique devotional book. Fiction stories with a spiritual application. Love it!
Congratulations, Linda! Hope you enjoy the book. If you’d like to go deeper with this devotional, you can get a FREE companion study guide as a PDF download from http://www.FictionDevo.com. (It’s also available as a 99-cent e-book from Amazon or Barnes & Noble.)
Merry (early) Christmas, Linda!
Thank you so much! Will definitely be getting the study guide!!