Making Eve into a Book

The Short History 

Writing The Second Eve

  In April 1992, I dared to write the Gender Question* in my journal, beginning my official quest for truth about God’s heart toward women.

*The Gender Question: What is God’s heart toward women in the church and in the Kingdom of God? How do our traditions, teachings, prejudices, attitudes, and practices reflect or differ from God’s heart toward women?

In 1993 I took a job for a large local church and ran headlong into gender barriers. Meanwhile, my understanding of gender issues grew, and God was faithful to grant the wisdom I had asked of him.

In 1996, I filled my journals with new understandings and observations about the equality of men and women. At some point in this year came the idea to turn my quest into a book.

The transition from 1998 to 1999 brought the crisis of change. My job for the church ended, my nest became suddenly empty, and I hit the magic age of 50. In a spiritual crisis, I threw off old beliefs and ideas, and asked God to restore to me only that which was true. A challenge from close friends about our new belief in equality made Hank and I decide to quickly finish a first draft/outline of The Second Eve. We printed a few saddle-stitched booklets of our draft and shared it with a few close friends.

Going public with our beliefs this way, however, caused a sudden rift and a separation between us and our community of believers. We found ourselves isolated and alone. My prayer became, “Who are my people, Lord?

In a quest to find my people, and to celebrate turning 50, I responded to an invitation to attend a conference in New Mexico, the Glen Workshop (festival of faith and art) at Ghost Ranch, former home and inspiration for artist, Georgia O’Keefe.  This marked the beginning, for me, of finding my new community of faith. This could be the subject of a larger essay, perhaps another day.

The Second Eve, meanwhile, has undergone many changes, revisions, additions, and complete rewrites. She has hibernated for long periods, waiting for the winters of my discontent to pass. She has borne the scrutiny of editors, the exhilaration of positive feedback from a major publisher, and finally the pain of rejection from the same. Once or twice she was prematurely laid to rest.

In 2004, I raised her up again. I began adding memoir, or bits of my own story to each point I tried to make. And thus began the final rewrite. I had to work to overcome personal obstacles in order to complete the task. At one point I even rented office space away from home in order to focus my attention where it was needed. But it worked. By November I had completed the manuscript.

Publishing The Second Eve

  In November and December I researched markets, publishers, and the possibility of self-publishing. In January 2005, I played around with text layouts and produced a mock-up of the book. In Florida I did a complete read through and editing of the text. Then Hank and I went to a copy shop and made 20 book-like copies to distribute to readers and friends for feedback etc.

In February I attended the University of South Florida writer’s conference and met with two key people. One was a self-publishing expert who told me I should definitely pursue this on my own and gave me some pointers. The other was a New York agent who told me I should find an agent who could help me seek a publisher. He also suggested I could approach the small presses on my own.

I began to follow all three suggestions. I traveled to the closest large town in Florida whose library housed resources for finding agents. Honestly, it was like reading the phone book—for hours. I researched small publishing houses on the web through Writers Market. Very few seemed even close to matching Eve. This avenue seemed more like using a dating service. I also requested quotes from a number of book printers/manufacturers.

In the latter quest, I was thrilled to find a local company, Color Graphics, who could produce a relatively small number of books for a reasonable cost, and since they reside in Grand Rapids, I won’t even have to pay to have the books shipped to me.

Last week I visited Color Graphics and made a tentative agreement with them to print 1,000 copies of Eve. I have a few things to accomplish before the printing can begin. I am working with my nephew, Eric Schafer, (husband of Sue Boersma, daughter of Jim and Sharon) hoping he can apply his expertise to some design issues for the book and cover. I am seeking marketing blurbs for the cover from some of my preliminary readers. (It’s not too late to volunteer for this. I have a few pre-publication review copies still available. Contact me if you are interested! I am also seeking a published author to write a forward for the book. I have a couple of leads on this. From now on, I will post periodic updates here.

Note: Today, this is all history! 

Publishing Updates

May 2, 2005

Foreword: My quest for a foreword (note correct spelling when used as the “before-word” in a book) writer has been successful beyond my dreams. Gladys Hunt author of MS Means Myself and more recently Honey for a Woman’s Heart, will be writing the foreword!

New Cover Art: (as you saw on the Home Page) I have acquired permission to use this embroidered painting by artist Elizabeth (Liz) DeBraber from her series of work titled Celebrating Women in Ministry. This piece is called Justice and features Rev. Charlotte Ellison. The iron gate stands on the campus of Western Theological Seminary in Holland, MI.

Editing: A friend from the local chapter of CBE, Ruth Morrison, finished making proofreader marks on the entire book. I am mid-way through the process of making corrections on the manuscript. I am also incorporating valuable suggestions from author Gladys Hunt.

New material: I am working on an additional chapter or appendix aimed at pastors. I am meeting with my pastor, Howard Matthews, this week. I plan to cover topics like: modeling equality for your congregation, how to handle objections to women in leadership, etc. I am open to suggestions.