Tag Archive | encourage

Author Confessions: Faith in Focus

Dec2
Reading Time: 4 minutes

Author Confessions: Faith in Focus

When I was a young girl, I discovered that I was nearsighted. I had no clue that the world I was looking at wasn’t accurate. It was around Christmastime when I was coming home from the eye doctor with my first pair of glasses. Wow. It was amazing. The Christmas lights were on as we drove through town. I slid my glasses down and took in the sight and then put them back on. In some ways I preferred the Christmas trees with blurry lights. Maybe it was because that was what I’d been accostumed to.

It’s getting closer to Christmas again and you’ve already seen book reviews on this blog for various Christmas novellas. I’ll include the complete list at of my own Christmas novellas the bottom of this post.

But why all this hullabaloo over Christmas?

It’s kind of like me and my glasses. Sometimes we need a different set of lenses to see things more clearly. Every Christmas story gives us a different perspective on a season that could be caught up in the lights, parties, gift buying and giving, and miss the deeper significance of the holiday. Holiday. Holy day. It truly is that and so much more because Christmas happens in the shadow of the cross. It’s not a moment that stands in isolation, although many would like to think it does, or isn’t worth celebrating at all.

Yes, there can be fun, warm memories made, gifts, and decorations. For some this is a hard season, depressing, lonely, or filled with grief. There is nothing inherently wrong in any of that. But if that is all it is, then we’re going through the holiday without our faith in focus on what is important.

So what is that? God promised a Messiah and those prophesies were fulfilled in the infant, Jesus, Immanuel, God with us. He would grow up, sinless in a sinful world, suffering all the evil that there is to the point of dying on the cross to rescue us. Killed by the very people He created and loved. His death was even for their salvation.

Why do we need salvation? The reality is there is a heaven where believer gather someday in the presense of a holy God, and we can’t get there with our sinful rags. Jesus offers us His holiness and perfection which allows us access to this wonderful future if we submit our lives to Him. The other option is an eternity without God, known as hell. Agony awaits there, mostly the agony of realizing that by not choosing Jesus, the person instead chose satan. There are only two options. Everyone in their heart realizes this truth as Romans 1:18-22a states:

For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth, since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse. For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools…

Of course, as a Christian, my first source of hope is found in the Bible, God’s Word. It has been my anchor to the truth for forty-four years. But sometimes people need a nudge and fiction can be that when they might not pick up a Bible. Christmas stories put out by Christian authors such as myself, hope to draw people closer to the truth of Jesus and all that His miraculous birth promises. Many might be more fun than evangelical, but all hope to at least point a light to Him who is the One who enables and calls us to write.

Salvation through Jesus Christ is the invaluable gift that is offered to each of us. Have you accepted that gift, received it, opened it up, and walked in the wonder of new life with Him? If not, why not? What is stopping you? He can handle all your questions and fears.

If you have opened that preciou gift, how is your faith this Christmas season? Where is your focus? I know it’s early yet in many ways although I can guarantee my lights are on and I’m already at work on another Christmas novella for next year because there’s nothing like the season to inspire hope and joy because of the promises fulfilled by the newborn King of kings and Lord of lords. I hope you find your joy in Him Whose birth we celebrate.

Susan M. Baganz Christmas novellas (all ebooks unless noted):

Fragile Blessings and I’ll be be Gnome for Christmas are only available in print if you buy them from me directly.

Author Confession: Listen more than You Speak

Jul22
Reading Time: 3 minutes

Author Confession: Listen more than You Speak

This is a difficult thing for many of us to do, me included. My husband and I were at an anniversary event and many there were deaf and using sign language to communicate. My husband is pretty good at signing his conversations, but admitted to one hearing interpreter that he can speak sign better than read it. I quipped that he has a hard time with that when it comes to talking and listening as well. Me? Well, I could only watch unless someone translated any of it for me.

My husband was surprised but the woman responded: “Preach it.” My husband is quite a talker. Maybe it’s the yougest son, clown aspect of his extraverted personality. He processes everything out loud. It’s the way he solves problems, by talking them out. I never have to wonder what he’s thinking! He is getting better at listening as well.

Most psychology theorists would say that personality is fairly stable, but I used to to be much more like my sweet hubby. I would talk a lot. I could relate anything you said into a story of my own. Perhaps not the best social practice, however, but I think I had a desperate need to be heard and understood. Years of verbal/emotional and other abuses, however, tempered that part of my personality. I became an author and more introverted. My training in Counseling Psychology also trained me how to listen, and ask questions to help others.

There is an axiom out there: God gave us two ears to listen and one mouth to speak so use your ears more than your mouth.

This could also be applied to our converstations with God. We often want to fill up that time with our thoughts, wishes, prayer requests, praises but how often are we good at just sitting and listening to Him? It’s harder in many ways than to do that with another person. I struggle to do this. My brain is pretty easily distracted.

I think there is a depth of comfort that must exist between two people, of trust and love, when the spaces between words can be long. Where silence hangs there not in a threatening way, but in comfort and peace. When my husband and I take long car rides we don’t often listen to music. Some of that is because it intereferes with attending to conversation, but also we have some distinctively different preferences in musical styles, with mine being far broader. It is not uncommon for us to sit for miles and miles in silence. I’ve managed to do writing on trips like this and he’s managed (when I’m driving) to make out notes and phone calls for projects he’s working on. Sometimes when I’m writing on my laptop, he will be driving and silently praying as he is a faithful intercessor for many.

Maybe being an author has made the listening a little easier. Don’t get me wrong. In the right situation and some of my favorite topics I can become a chatty Cathy. Given that I prefer more in-depth conversations with those in my inner circle, it can be more challenging for me to step out of my comfort zone to talk to people I don’t know in a more superficial setting. I almost have to psych myself into that, but when I do I try to find a way in to the conversation and make it about the other person. I’ve heard many wonderful stories that way and have been able to encourage others. As much as my husband or I want to be seen and known, so do  most other people, and they are also waiting for someone to care enough to listen to them.

As an author, that is a gold mine of ideas and concepts and story lines. It helps me explore heartbreak and joys or challenges that I’d never understood before.

Proverbs 1:5 says: “A wise man will listen and increase his learning, and a discerning man will obtain guidance.” Listening, being fully present with someone, takes effort and work. In our rushed, social media society, that is a hard discipline to learn and practice. Maybe getting older, and a little trauma, has made that easier for me, but to be honest, sometimes I’m too self-centered or lazy to make that effort with someone I’m not well acquainted with. Any time I make that effort, I’m rewarded with knowing I showed kindness to someone and I always learn something new and who knows when or where that will show up in one of my stories.

So this is a reminder to me and maybe to you as well if you struggle with this. Today, try to listen more than you speak and see what happens. You might be surprised at the treasures you’ll unearth in the process and the impact you might have on someone’s life.

How to Help an Author

Aug5
Reading Time: 3 minutes

For those of you who read, be kind. Authors work hard for little to no pay compared to the amount of time they invest in the story you hold in your hands. If you have an author you love, do them a favor:

  1. Friend them or like their fan page on facebook. Subscribe to their blog.  Let them know you appreciate their hard work. They struggle with real life challenges just like you do. Follow them on twitter.  Help them get the word out when you know they have a book coming out and let people know you like them!
  2. Write a review on amazon, B&N, Goodreads, CBD. Be kind but also be honest. If you didn’t like something, it’s okay to say so. Just don’t be mean. And don’t pan them just because you didn’t like the book at all. If that’s the case, chalk it up to personal preference and walk away and do nothing. If they do a book signing, go meet them! They love to hear how you’ve enjoyed their books.
  3. Buy their books. Join their “book release parties” and be part of the fun and get to know them as people. (They really are flesh and blood humans!)
  4. If you see an unkind review that is just nasty – click the “unhelpful” button on that reviewer. The more we do that, the sooner some of them won’t be able to post things like that.
  5. I’m not saying every book deserves a five-star review, but unless I have to, I will rarely review if I have to rate low. Unless i have an excellent reason to do so. For instance I had to give a 1 star to a Regency that violated all the well-known facts of inheritance in the aristocracy. Not a hard thing to research but it ended up a key plot point. If the author had billed it a fantasy I would have let it slide , but come on! Basics should be right. Authors are human and errors happen so be kind when you can. Philippians 4:8 rings true here: “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” (NASB). Another way to put it: If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.
  6. If you find an error in an ebook- instead of panning it – privately contact the author and let them know so they can correct it! You’ll be doing them a favor. They will most likely be horrified, but grateful.
  7. Pray for your favorite authors. There is an enemy that is trying to keep God-glorifying excellence in fiction from being written much less published. The fact is, if you like an author, their future ability to write and sell books lies more with you, the audience, than it does with their ability to write a book. Poor sales and reviews can keep a publisher from being willing to invest the time and energy in printing their books. If you really connect with an author, offer to be a beta-reader or to be a prayer warrior for them. It’s not about hero-worship, but about supporting and encouraging a fellow brother or sister in Christ as they pursue their calling.  When that book comes out you can smile and know that in some way, you got to be part of that. Hearts will be touched and doors to the gospel could be opened and you can be a part of that.

If we as a body of believers universal support each other, whether a reader or a writer, we can can help change the world, one heart at a time. One great story at a time (remember, Jesus used stories too!).  Thanks in advance for helping us all reach the world with hope.