Longing for a Form

and a book title poll

Welcome to my newest readers, fellow bibliophiles, and educators!

I broke from my normal routine two weeks ago with the “birth announcement” of my next nonfiction book. I must have a pile of readers who don’t mind a labor and delivery! I have been astounded by the response in comments and emails.

Thank you, each and every reader, for joining me and for sharing this newsletter with others. If you’re new to my letter, I am honing the idea that our life in Christ is like the tenacity of the sycamore fig tree and how its fruit comes to maturity.

Still Life with Fruit, Figs, and Apricots, Theodule Ribot, 1870 (?)

My foremost question has been, “How do I shape this?” My second question has been, “When do I write this?” Not once have I asked myself if it’s too obscure or too niche of an idea. I know that it needs to be written.

In “Sometimes Fairy Stories May Say Best What’s To Be Said,” C.S. Lewis writes,

In the Author’s mind there bubbles up every now and then the material for a story. For me it inevitably begins with mental pictures. This ferment leads to nothing unless it is accompanied with the longing for a Form: verse or prose, short story, novel, play or what not. When these two things click you have the Author’s impulse complete.

the research stack, mostly

This book is not fiction of course, but the question holds—what form will this book take? What has my two-year ferment shown me?

In spurts and starts, my research has spanned a scholarly world of ancient Mediterranean botany from Israel, Greece, England, and America. (I will plug Thriftbooks any day for the wealth of international books I have found there.) A year ago my middle son even helped me translate Jewish botanical encyclopedia entries from German to English to glean any nuggets I could find from Immanuel Löw and his Die Flora der Juden.

I can’t deny it. The ancient world of botany fascinates me. The convoluted trail of research is not dull, but it has been a long road to filter through the fascination. What parts are relevant? What do I think this book will be? What does God need it to be?

Next time I will share more of the process. Several of you emailed and asked about what to include in book proposals. I’m happy to share parts, from the Introduction, to comparable book titles, potential endorsers to my hardest part—chapter outlines.

For now, join the journey! Take my poll. Vote or add an idea in the comments. I’ll leave the poll open for three days so weekend readers can participate too.

Do comment or feel free to email me. And don't forget that the List Library at my website is always available to you, my readers.

Christine

P.S. For my fellow bibliophiles, I discovered Smidgen Press this summer when they released a centenary edition of Charlotte Mason’s An Essay towards a Philosophy of Education. They hope to breathe life into out-of-print stories and make then accessible through text-to-speech and other assistive technology. I am most intrigued by their edition of The Lost Dragon of Wessex by Gwendolyn Bowers!