Angela Beach Silverthorne

Novelist

             Wife, Mom, Nana, Novelist: Living Life Through Faith.

            I’ve tried to cover the bases on what’s important to me, although not in order. First and foremost is my faith, then family, and next others. If you were a Girl Scout it was your motto: God, others, and self. I’m an old Girl Scout leader. I believe the words and follow them.

            Novelist.

            I’m not as comfortable with this as I am my other roles. Don’t get me wrong, I love to write. I write everything from short poems to short stories to novels to Bible studies. I’ve written plays for Scouts. I’ve penned countless essay papers in college. Then there’s blogs, newspapers and magazine articles. I once wrote an author, raving over her book on menopause, and she put my letter up on her website. Okay, I’d rather not be a spokesperson for menopause, but it is what it is!

            Writing is easy for me. Telling people I am a writer seems like I’m violating my own character. It’s like I’m confessing. Writing can often be personal and intimate, daring to unevenly slice you to the marrow and expose you. It’s uncomfortable. The only time I’m completely in my soul’s writing zone is when I’m writing about my hero, Jesus Christ.

            For over two years, I’ve felt the Holy Spirit’s prompting to write a book about some things that were cutting me to the quick. Looking around, I didn’t find many people that seemed overly concerned about what I was seeing. And until I wrote the book, it plagued me night and day. I’d see a scene completely play out in front of me as I was stopped at a red light. Scripture would scroll across my mind when I wrote, causing me to halt and pray about the next scene.

            In all my years of writing, I’ve never wanted to talk much about my writing career. I’m timid and shy. I’m insecure and doubt whether others would even want to read what I write. My next book is hard. After the release date, I will begin a series of discussions about the topics in the book. I won’t give away the ending or pivotal areas, but just delve into a world most of us pretend doesn't exist. It is not a world of vampires, werewolves, black magic, or wiccans. There’s no hokey-pokey. It’s real, complex, and to me, more terrifying.

            Well, I’ll stop there. I write.

            Are you a writer?

            I’ve often wondered what Jesus stooped to write on the ground when the Pharisees brought him the adulterous woman.

            What do you think Jesus wrote?