Author of Dying to Live: The 21st Century Church
and I Felt God… I Think
by Trisha Bleau Smith
T4JYM: What prompted you to write a new book?
TH: I discovered that “eperience” or “emotion” was becoming the underlying theme of the twenty-first century. All the trends–postmodernism; the new paradigm church; the New Millennium youth; and the new multisensory, virtual reality future–point to a greatly increased role for emotion. But it’s an emotion without definition . . . without guidelines . . . without caution. We don’t know whether we have “felt God” or last night’s bean burritos. This contradiction poses a grave threat to the future church.
T4JYM: How has your previous work been accepted?
TH: Thank God! Just great! The reception of my previous book, Dying to Live: The 21st Century Church, has amazed me. Bill Easum, of Easum, Bandy, and Associates, selected the book as one of the “top ten books of this decade.” And Rowland Croucher, considered the “most influential Christian in Australia,” named the book among his “top 100 books” of all time. Zondervan (Vida), by the way, will publish Dying to Live in Spanish this fall.
T4JYM: What kind of feedback have you recieved on the newest book?
TH: The book is just out, so I’m waiting to hear the response. One prominent pastor who reviewed a pre-publication copy said that the book “finally restores emotion to its rightful place in the church.”
T4JYM: What is your target audience for writing?
TH: Of course, I want to reach church leaders. But I also want to reach those who are on a spiritual journeys… those who need validity to what’s happening to them.
T4JYM: What training do you have in writing? Do you consider yourself to be a good writer with a God given talent? Or did you have to work to get to where you are now, taking classes on writing and such?
TH: The Lord is my only teacher. Of course, I’ve studied the basics of writing, and I love to read other writers. But, in my case, that’s not enough. So I fall back on my experience as a musician. As a result, writing is a form of music for me–rhythms, cadences, thematic development, answering phrases… Finally, however, if the Lord isn’t in it, nothing happens. That’s the reason I’m so humbly grateful when the Lord writes “through me.” I go back now and discover passages that I didn’t even know were there. God is awesome!
T4JYM: How do you prepare for writing? What is your method for research? Your books include a lot of tidbits on the original language. How do you find all of this information to use?
TH: I do a lot of research. And I have forced myself to read Scripture in the original language. Then the way I organize the research is a little unusual. I don’t take any one idea literally–with only one meaning. In my filing system, I allow an idea to overlap into a multiplicity of meanings. The cross-fertilization that comes from this approach is truly transcendent–not a mere “synthesis.”
T4JYM: How do you decide when you are finished with a book? Are you tapped out of ideas? Or do you just stop and have people read over it and comment? What determines the end?
TH: My books never end. They just walk into the sunset while another rises from the other horizon. I’ve got many books in my heart, just waiting for their incarnations.
T4JYM: Do you have any new plans for writing? Another book in the works?
TH: My next book will probably be called: “The Language of the Future: Speaking Truth in a Postmodern World.” I’ve finished the research and the opening chapter. This is a big one!
T4JYM: What is in the future for your publishing company? Do you plan on expanding Damah Media to include other writers? Or will you remain solo in your publishing?
TH: At present, Damah Media will remain my own publishing company. That alone is plenty of responsibility.
T4JYM: What advice do you have to offer to people interested in publishing their own works?
TH: Use the latest technology in printing, and use the Internet. It’s possible to print just a few copies of a book for almost the same price per book as printing 10,000 copies. All you need is an ISBN number and a name for your publishing company to sell your works on Amazon.com. Just that simple.
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