You may already be thinking, ‘Crazy! Why would an author give a first page reveal of one of their books in a blog post? Well this, you see, is not quite like any other first page of a book. Let me explain.
First, the preamble...
When I teach both IG and AS English Language students, I am constantly encouraging them to be familiar with a wide variety of genres.
Not only do my students need to be able to write in a range of genres – magazine articles, blogs, speeches, journal entries, advertisements and more, but they also need to analyse the purpose, form, structure, lexis and so on, of these genres.
For My Literature students, they mostly have to understand the key differences between prose, poetry and drama. They don’t have to be too concerned with the sub-categories of those genres. For example, prose has many sub-categories like Romance, Adventure Mystery, Crime, Horror, etc.
Why am I explaining this? Mainly because it would be difficult for my students, and for my readers, to neatly categorise my book, Mighty Master Plan and Significant Signposts, into a particular genre.
Is it a novel? Certainly not. It consists entirely of dialogue and quotations. And certainly not any sub-category of poetry. It must be a play then, surely. But it doesn’t quite fall into that category either. Google defines a play as “a dramatic composition of piece; a dramatic performance, as on the stage”.
So my unusual book, Mighty Master Plan and Significant Signposts, is not a play then. Nor is its sequel, One Day and Then and Now. Both books are certainly not dramatic compositions, unless you consider the story of the earth from its origins to its final destiny a ‘drama’ – a real life one at that.
Before we consider anything more about genres, I’ll let you into a secret which will explain what inspired me to write these books. I was actually trying to write a tome: a substantial non-fiction Christian book which traced key themes in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. My book would have been extensive. Goodness knows how many chapters there would have been in the end. I even started to write that book. I think I had already written two or three chapters.
When suddenly, in the middle of the night, an exciting idea came to me – all inspired by Charlie Mackesy’s The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse which I’m sure many of you have read. It was quite the rage when it first came out. An animated film was made of the book as well. Everyone was talking about it.
I thought to myself: Why don’t I create four characters who talk to each other, maybe disagree with one another about key issues in the Bible?
I was so stimulated by this idea that the next morning, early, I began to work on this concept. My characters: a pastor, a sceptic, a small girl and an angel. A clear heading on each page revealing the main content. A Biblical quote per page which was the inspiration for the discussion. Dialogue indicating different views on the subject under discussion. Some humour involved as well.
If you are a Christian, you’ll be able to identify very strongly with the ideas swirling around on every page. Some of the thought-provoking dialogue may even equip you to counter negative arguments against your faith. As in Charlie Mackesy’s book, you don’t have to read these books chronologically. One page may be all that is necessary on occasion, for you to meditate on and discuss a particular theme in a group.
And my book isn’t designed for a specific age group. I speak of it, and the sequel, as being suited to all ages: young children, teens, adults … the books can be used in small groups and by individuals. Although they are quite small, they can lie enticingly on coffee tables or in receptionist’s rooms, waiting for someone to pick them up.
So you see, I really do need to give you a First Page Reveal to give you a taste for what this book and its sequel are all about. Here is the first page. I hope it inspires you:
Out of Nothing
Small girl: Look. The moon is smiling. And all the stars are twinkling.
Pastor: What an awesome creator.
Sceptic: Rubbish! The Big Bang caused all that.
Angel: Oh no. God spoke. He stretched out His hand – and there was the universe! All this was created from nothing – by the mighty hand of God.
And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night,
and let them serve as signs to mark seasons, and days and years'.
Genesis 1: 14
Image from One Day Then and Now by Gillian Leggat
