Sometimes we chaff at how long it takes for things to happen, for God to answer our prayers. In the life of a writer a lot of time is spent waiting. Waiting for characters to be fleshed out. Of course we may still be writing at the same time and getting to know our characters. Waiting for a cooling off period after a draft of a manuscript is written, before going back to edit and revise. Then, when it is finally off to a publisher waiting for their response. Waiting for the postman to come with the good news of a contract, and advance, rather than dreaded rejections.
As a Christian and a writer I have to trust that things will happen in God’s own time which, I have to say, is not always my time.
The life of reader can be one of waiting too. Years ago I read Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson. This book came out in 1980 about the time I was starting to write. I enjoyed it.
It was 23 years before she produced another book of fiction. That book was Gilead, the story of John Ames, a pastor in Gilead- a fictional town. It tells of this pastor’s dying days. The wait was worth it. I loved that book. Others did too. It won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize.
Her new book Home has just been released and I am looking forward to reading it. I suggest you keep your eyes out for it. It picks up two of the minor characters from Gilead and tells their story. It is apparently like a more modern version of the prodigal son and theological concerns are a central feature of the book.
In an interview with Catherine Keenan in October 11-12 Sydney Morning Herald, Marilynne Robinson said that ‘given the omnipresence of religion in American politics , she finds the absence of religion in American Literature puzzling.’ Any one care to comment on that?
I can say a similar situation exists in Australian literature. And often those who do write from a Christian viewpoint find it even harder to get published. But utimately it’s all in God’s hands anyway.
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