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Interview with Barbara Curtis

MaryAnn:
Today I am delighted to introduce to you teacher, columnist, and mother of twelve, Barbara Curtis. Welcome, Barbara! It's great to have you on Musings
That Matter! :-)

Barbara:
Thanks, MaryAnn!

MaryAnn:
Barbara, you and I go way back to the AMY Foundation and its syndicated column, Real Answers, to which we both were contributors. Writing about "real" issues in a "real" voice is your trademark. Tell us a little about why "real" means to much to you and how you live out being real in everyday life.

Barbara:
As someone without a church background who leaned VERY left politically, I had a very low opinion of Christians. I was 38 years old when I finally put my life in Jesus’ hands and 46 when I started writing. One thing I retained a sensitivity to is Christian jargon - which I knew from my own background was very off-putting to nonbelievers. Living in Marin County, California - where only 4% of the population attends church - and eventually writing for the local newspaper, I knew from the get-go that in order to be an effective communicator, I would have to be completely authentic and open about myself as a flawed human being who'd somehow stumbled on the Truth. I also knew there was no room for hypocrisy and that I couldn't just talk the talk, but must walk the walk.

MaryAnn:
That last sentence is something we all need to keep at the forefront of our minds as Christians. Barbara, you came out of the radical culture of the sixties and, in your own words, you "judged Christians harshly". What series of events brought you to Christ?

Barbara:
It's a long and beautiful story which you can read here: http://www.wwcmagazine.org/1996/peace.html

MaryAnn:
When and how did you start writing?

Barbara:
In 1994, after the birth of my ninth child, I'd been homeschooling for four years and people were curious about how I could handle homeschooling so many children at different levels while dealing with babies and toddlers. Part of my background - which included a lot of negative but some positive stuff - was that I had been trained as a Montessori teacher so I understood early childhood development and the potentials for independence, concentration, and self-control. I knew how to prepare an environment to meet those needs. I began offering workshops to other moms to teach them what I knew. When I noticed that Mount Hermon - the place where we went to Family Camp in the summer - offered a Writers Conference, something clicked, and with my husband's support, I attended for the first time in 1995.

It was so much more than I expected! I was surprised there was much to learn, but I was motivated and very teachable. It took me two years to sell my first book proposal, but in the meantime I followed everyone's advice and began writing magazine articles. My second year, I sold 47 articles and everyone wanted to know how. I'd simply gone home and done what I'd been taught. I also had 125 rejection letters!

MaryAnn:
Barbara, you've written over 700 articles in more than 50 publications. With twelve children to take care of, you leave us with no room for excuses. When do you make time to write?

Barbara:
Agatha Christie once said "The best time for planning a novel is when you're doing the dishes." I agree. Being a mom means that your hands are often busy, but your mind is always free. I find that a lot of the creative process takes place before I sit down to the computer.

From the beginning I prayed that God would help me not to waste time. I learned to focus in quickly and to be able to let go quickly too when my family needed me. I kept my office open to may family and learned to write while they talked to me. (Right now my 16-year-old daughter is sitting next to me telling me about her Les Miz rehearsal this afternoon. I'm carrying two threads of conversation at the same time)

Since we moved to Virginia four years ago, my children have all been in public school (except last year when one stayed home), and so I do have a solid block of time at my disposal, unless my day gets hijacked by doctors' appointments or other pressing concerns.

Family always comes first.

MaryAnn:
Your mission statement is to "unburden, enlighten and encourage believers, as well as to communicate effectively with those who have yet to believe." Your background makes you uniquely qualified to accomplish both aspects of this mission statement. Would you elaborate a little on why this is so?

Barbara:
I've seen a lot of believers who carry heavy burdens which originate with religious teaching or are self-imposed. I know this isn't the way it's supposed to be - Jesus said his yoke is easy and his burden is light. Mothers are especially prone to be harsh on themselves and often when we read parenting "experts" we feel worse than we did before we started. If I thought that something I wrote would ever add to an already overtaxed mother's burden, I would never write another word. The key is to help readers reach a place where their ideals lift them up rather than weigh them down.

As far as communicating effectively with nonbelievers, I try to do that by being authentic and approachable. Why preach to the choir when you can reach everyone?

MaryAnn:
What advice would you give writers aspiring to write for the secular market?

Barbara:
Take off your church lady hat! Drop all Christian jargon. Find common ground. Be transparent about any part of your past that gives you a platform to speak with authority. For example, I try to publish a piece each year to mark the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Since I want to address those who consider themselves pro-choice, I refer to my own pro-abortion past - and even my own abortion. This makes my pro-life position stronger by far.

MaryAnn:
The media has become increasingly biased against Christians, with the result that more and more editors are refusing to publish articles with a Christian worldview. How can followers of Christ who write help to change this response without compromising their faith?

Barbara:
Actually, you'd be surprised how much you can get away with if you only try! Sometimes we muzzle ourselves unnecessarily. I published several articles in The Marin Independent Journal which contained Bible verses - and everything I wrote for them had a Christian worldview - that's just part of who I am!

What matters is that you have to be the best possible writer you can be so that your writing is absolutely irresistible - even to those who don't agree with you.

One way Christian writers can have more freedom in newspaper articles is to get a standing column in their local paper. Write weekly or biweekly for a year or so and build up a readership. Become a trusted voice in your community. Then you will be surprised at how Christian you can be - as long as you are sensitive and NEVER use Christian jargon, just authentic writing.

MaryAnn:
You've had several books published with a couple more to be released soon. Please tell us a little about your books.

Barbara:
My first two books, Small Beginnings: First Steps to Prepare Your Child for Lifelong Learning and Ready, Set, Read: A Start-to-Finish Reading Program Any Parent Can Use were published by Broadman and Holman in 1996 and 1997, then discontinued in 1998 when B&H decided to change its course editorially. This was a terrible disappointment and I threw myself into magazine articles for the next five years - something which I now realize has helped me become a much, much better writer (Mark Twain once wrote, "I would have written you a shorter letter, but I didn't have the time." Also see Eccl. 6:11).

When we moved from California to Virginia in 2002, my writing seemed to dry up completely as I settled my kids in school and our family into the community. I thought perhaps my writing was over and was ready to let it go. The next spring I went to Mt. Hermon in my usual capacity as teacher/critique team member and for the first time went with no proposal of my own. I was just there to serve others. Within six months I'd signed three book contracts for books I wrote over the next two years:

Lord, Please Meet Me in the Laundry Room: Heavenly Help for Earthly Moms - a very reader-friendly inspirational book with a lot of my own story woven in (Beacon Hill Press)

The Mommy Manual - Planting Roots to Give Your Child Wings (Revell) - a thorough plan for raising kids with the capacity to love learning, strong character and compassion, plus ideas on building your family legacy through family traditions and holidays.

Reaching the Left from the Right: Talking About Social Issues with People Who Don't Think Like You (Beacon Hill) - out of my niche, but dear to my heart because it's all about helping Christians develop compassion and communication with people like I used to be.

Two other books I've published with Beacon Hill are:

Dirty Dancing at the Prom and Other Challenges Christian Teens Face: How Parents Can Help - a close look at the secret life of Christian teens and how parents can maintain a close and vital relationship with them during these turbulent years.

The Mommy Survival Guide: Making the Most of the Mommy Years - an almost blog-like book with little snippets of thoughts - some heavy, some light - on all stages of motherhood from dealing with the first sleep-deprived days to letting go of a prodigal.

MaryAnn:
Any new book projects in the works? If so, would you be willing to give us a
preview? :-)

Barbara:
Last year Broadman and Holman - remember them? The ones who dumped my first two books? - came back to me and asked me to expand the first two books I'd done for them to publish as new books aimed at moms caught in the pressure to put kids in preschool. The two resulting books - Mommy, Teach Me and Mommy, Teach Me to Read will be published next June. They contain about 50% new material and are far better than the first two. What a happy ending!

MaryAnn:
Any parting words of advice?

Barbara:
Writing is just like any other part of the Christian life. To be successful - and I don't mean as measured by the world - you must be teachable and your writing "career" must be completely submitted to God.

MaryAnn:
Barbara, thanks so much for giving of your time to be with us today. You hhave been a joy and a blessing.

Barbara:
Thanks, MaryAnn for the opportunity to share this part of my journey!

MaryAnn:
I invite all of you to visit Barbara's website at www.BarbaraCurtis.com - and her blog which attracts 2000+ visits per day: www.MommyLife.net. You
may reach Barbara at megamommy12@aol.com

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Copyright 2006. All rights reserved.

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