 Today I am honored to have Karen Appleby as my guest.
Rev. Appleby is a retired Ordained Deacon in the Desert Southwest conference of the United Methodist Church. Over the years Karen has lived and ministered in the Florida, Missouri West, West Ohio, and North Georgia conferences. She has over 30 years experience in Christian Education, pastoral care and counseling, and church consulting. She also co-authored with Delia Halverson the book “Creating Holy Spaces: Worship Visuals for the Revised Common Lectionary”. Karen retired with her husband Larry to the mountains of western North Carolina in 2013. In retirement she has found new and exciting ministry settings as a volunteer. Tell us a little more about yourself. I consider myself as a very regular person with unusual interests. I am a wife, mom, and grandmother who considers family everything. So I enjoy traveling to see my extended family like many do. But when I have free time I love to walk labyrinths, journal and write poetry, take photographs and videos making them into mini meditations and read anything about quantum physics. Those interests are always surprising to others. How and when did you begin to write? I started writing 3 years ago when a friend of mine asked me to co-author a book with her. It was her 24th book, but my first. It was a wonderful experience, but I didn’t think I would ever publish a book again. Can you give our readers a short description of your latest book? “Places People Pray ~ a contemplative journal” is a short book based on prayer. I wrote it as a collection of meditations and spring boards for readers to contemplate and then write down their own discoveries on prayer themes. I often say I loved writing this little book because it was something I started and the reader gets to finish. I hope it is a spiritual formation exercise that leads to growth and a closer relationship to God. What led you to write it? I was inspired to write the book after a trip to Italy. My time there opened my heart to new understanding of prayer in new forms and experiences. What are you working on now? At the current time I am busy writing lessons plans for myself as I start to teach classes and workshops at my church. Do you have any advice for beginning writers? I believe that a author needs to write from the heart and always remember that the reader is actually as much a part of the book as they read and gleam their own insights, lessons and discoveries. How can my readers find out more about you and your work? My book is available on amazon.com, bn.com and authorhouse.com. Note: Even though Karen's book is available as an ebook, the print format would lend itself more easily to journaling.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |