“Write a book, they said. It’ll be easy, they said.” – Jeff Goins, Author. The concept of writing a book is a notable and noble-sounding goal. It holds the promise of notoriety, publicity and personal reward, with the act of publication held high as a sort of monumental achievement. But there’s another, less-often discussed side […]
Surviving Singledom
Issues relating to my book and to the broader challenges facing Christian singles
It Takes a Village
It’s funny how people talk to you once you have a book published. Since the launch of Surviving Singledom I’ve had people approach and tell me of the book they want to write, asking for my advice. Suddenly I’m a mentor to a whole bunch of aspiring writers, even though I feel I’ve just begun […]
Close Encounters
I can’t believe it’s happened. One week ago today, I launched my new book Surviving Singledom. Amidst the fairy lights and red balloons, amidst the strumming of acoustic guitar and vocal chatter, the book was launched. It was a wonderful night in many ways. About 40 people attended in the end, a number which pleasantly […]
A Story of Self-Publishing
I was recently asked, “What prompted you to turn your story of prolonged singleness into a book?” I thought this was a good question, as many of us experience lengthy periods of singleness or “late” marriage (relative to Christian early marriage) but not many of us write books about it. The answer is that I […]
Behind the Book
I was asked recently, “What inspired you to write a book about your singleness experience?” In my somewhat descriptive answer I told of how God used a shopping trip to spark the beginning of my writing journey. Today I will share part of that story with you. Come back with me to a time 7 […]
Surviving Contentment
Recently I was asked by a young lady, “What do you say to a single person who is struggling to be content with their singleness?” I have several answers to this, but before I share how I did respond, let’s have a closer look at this challenging and complex question. We struggle with contentment. Even […]
Write Your Passion
Writer Red Smith famously penned, “There’s nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.” Although our modern world has moved on from typewriter times, I believe that the art of writing has not varied in its inherent nature. I used to write a diary. During my emotional […]
Fat chance
I read with horrified gasps Joy Beth Smith’s article, “Fat. Single. Christian. In Church, being overweight and dating feels like a sin.” Not being overweight myself, I was oblivious to the unique issues faced by Christian overweight singles attempting to date. I would like to take the opportunity of this weeks’ blog to highlight some […]
Singles liberation movement
I recently reviewed a wonderful article, “A liberation theology for single people,” by Christena Cleveland. It was refreshing to read such an encouraging blog by a single pastor and professor and I thought it was worth sharing some of my thoughts. Christena started by sharing a story of a distraught student whose worst nightmare was […]
More than a Single Reason
Charlie Grantham’s article “Three reasons singleness should be praised” describes some interesting advantages to the single life. The reasons expounded by Charlie deal with singleness being a calling, a gift, and a provider of unique opportunities. These and other points touched on in Charlie’s article are worth a response. Charlie suggests that marriage has become […]