The Story Behind ‘One Holy Night’ by J.M. Hochstetler

One Holy Night started out as a short story back in the late 1980s. I was working with another author to develop a book of short stories that revolved around Christmas, each with a different theme, and all within a larger story that tied them together. I was assigned to write a miracle story, and what greater miracle is there than the birth of Jesus? After we each wrote several stories, however, the project was shelved and never completed. But although I forgot about the story, a seed had been planted.

Over the years I’ve done a lot of thinking about the gritty issues that impact our lives—intergenerational and interracial conflict, addictions, war, illness, death, divorce. Brokenness of one kind or another affects every family and individual. And the more I thought about it, the more I questioned how we can make sense of our lives and find reconciliation in our relationships. How can we find purpose, strength, and healing when we go through painful experiences?

I continued to think about these issues, and when the Gulf War came along in the mid 1990s, it shaped my thinking some more. Around 1999 or 2000, I was looking for a new project, so I got this story back out, reset it during the Vietnam War, and played around with it off and on. Then 9-11 happened, and right around that time a young woman in our church was diagnosed with intestinal cancer and died within a year. In the fall of 2002 my parents both died as the result of a car accident. Afterward the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were in all the headlines, and opposition was growing along with the casualty count. Commentators began to compare the war in Iraq with the quagmire of Vietnam—a conflict I was well acquainted with since I was in high school and college during those years.

So all these things started to find their way into this story set during 1967 about a family in a small town in Minnesota that is faced with these issues while the son is away, serving in Vietnam. The conclusion I came up with is pretty well summed up in the little blurb for the book: As on that holy night so long ago . . . in a world torn by sin and strife . . . to a family that has suffered heart-wrenching loss . . . there will be born a baby . . .

For a long time I didn’t think this story would ever be published and find its way to readers, but the Lord hadn’t forgotten it. One Holy Night was published in April 2008 and won the Christian Small Publishers Book of the Year in 2009. It continues to touch readers’ hearts and to receive excellent reviews, all to God’s glory.

J. M. Hochstetler writes stories that always involve some element of the past and of finding home. Born in central Indiana, the daughter of Mennonite farmers, she graduated from Indiana University with a degree in Germanic languages. She was an editor with Abingdon Press for twelve years and has published four novels. Daughter of Liberty (2004), Native Son (2005), and Wind of the Spirit (March 2009), the first three books of the critically acclaimed American Patriot Series, are set during the American Revolution. One Holy Night, a retelling of the Christmas story set in modern times, is the 2009 Christian Small Publishers Fiction Book of the Year and a finalist for the 2009 American Christian Fiction Writers Long Contemporary Book of the Year.

Hochstetler is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, Christian Authors Network, Middle Tennessee Christian Writers, Nashville Christian Writers Association, and Historical Novels Society. She and her husband live near Nashville, Tennessee.

You can find Joan online at www.jmhochstetler.com or at this book’s blog http://oneholynight.blogspot.com.

The Story Behind My Son, John by Kathi Macias

The story behind My Son, John is an amazing one, and I tell it quite often. 

It began nearly twenty years ago, when AIDS was just becoming known in America as a killer disease. We knew little about it, but most of us weren’t too concerned since we figured it would never touch us because we weren’t involved in the high-risk lifestyles associated with contracting the disease. 

I was busy working on a writing project and quite happy doing it—until I noticed that God was tapping me on the shoulder, trying to get my attention. Because I was perfectly content with my life as it was, I ignored Him, at least for a while. But the tapping became more insistent, until I finally had to respond or admit that I was disobeying God. 

“All right, Lord,” I said at last, “what are You trying to tell me?” 

In that moment I knew God wanted me to write a book about AIDS, which made absolutely no sense to me whatsoever. Surely I had misunderstood Him! But the more I listened to that still, small voice, the more I was certain of His marching orders. 

I sighed in resignation. “I don’t even know where to start, Father,” I said. “You’ll have to give me some direction here.” 

By the next morning it had become clear to me that I was supposed to write a novel about a middle-aged Christian woman (much like myself at the time) who discovers her 23-year-old son, John, has AIDS. It is her first revelation of his homosexual lifestyle. 

Wow. I knew this wasn’t going to be an easy assignment, so the next thing I did was ask God to bring someone to me who could help me understand how someone like John might feel in his situation. That night I noticed a letter to the editor in the newspaper, written by a young homosexual activist named Mark, who had AIDS and who was mad at the whole world. 

Oh, no, I thought. Please, God, don’t make me work with him! 

But of course Mark was just the one God had chosen. In fact, when I called him and told him about the book, his immediate response was, “Yes, I want to work with you on this because I want to make sure you get it right.” 

We scheduled an initial lunch meeting, and from the moment we sat down at the table, Mark began to tell me exactly how he felt. 

“I hate people like you,” he declared. “It’s because of you Christians that I have AIDS.” 

I did my best not to show my surprise, allowing him to continue to rant while I prayed silently, hoping God might show me that I had misunderstood and Mark was not the person I was to work with on this project. But even as I prayed, Mark stopped speaking for a moment and glanced out the window. When he looked back, there was a hint of tears in his eyes, and he said, “Sometimes I wonder if people like you are right.” 

Before I could respond, he returned to his previous mode of blaming everyone but himself for his condition, but in that brief instant, God had allowed me to see the chink in Mark’s armor. 

And so we began to work together on the book, though Mark made me promise never to “preach at him.” I kept my promise, but Mark read everything I wrote, chapter by chapter. And though we didn’t have a meeting of the minds, we did have a meeting of the hearts. Mark and I became friends; we learned to care for one another, even as we acknowledged the differences between us. 

Finally, just after Mark had read the last chapter and returned it to me with his comments and suggestions, he called me. His voice was weak, as he spoke from a hospital bed at his mother’s home. 

“Do you really believe all that Jesus stuff you wrote about in the book?” he wheezed. 

“Yes, Mark, I do,” I assured him. 

“Then you have five minutes to convince me not to kill myself right now.” 

It took longer than five minutes, but before we hung up I had the privilege of leading Mark to Christ. He died a few days later. 

And the book? I couldn’t sell it anywhere. Though every publisher who saw it agreed that it was a wonderfully written story, no one was willing to offer a contract—until nearly twenty years later, when I learned that my friend Joan had launched Sheaf House and was looking for “Christian fiction with an edge.” Sounded like My Son, John to me! 

Joan agreed, though after we talked about it for a while, we decided to change the storyline from a young man who has AIDS to a young man who murders a family member. The theme of unconditional love and forgiveness would remain the same. 

The rest, as they say, is history. But oh, what I learned between the time I started writing this book and the time it finally saw the light of publication! Before I began writing My Son, John I always thought the mark of a successful book was that it got published and sold lots of copies. (And hey, that’s not a bad thing!) But I now know that My Son, John was a success long before I ever found a publisher willing to take a chance with it. And if I hadn’t found a publisher at all, it would still have been a success because I now have a dear friend named Mark waiting for me in heaven. For that reason, I consider My Son, John the most successful of all my books, regardless of the ultimate sales figures. For after all, isn’t knowing that our work has made an eternal difference in someone’s life what this “Christian writing ministry” is all about?

Kathi Macias is a multi-award winning writer who has authored nearly 30 books and ghostwritten several others. A former newspaper columnist and string reporter, Kathi has taught creative and business writing in various venues and has been a guest on many radio and television programs. Kathi is a popular speaker at churches, women’s clubs and retreats, and writers’ conferences, and recently won the prestigious 2008 member of the year award from AWSA (Advanced Writers and Speakers Association) at the annual Golden Scrolls award banquet. Kathi “Easy Writer” Macias lives in Homeland, CA, with her husband, Al, where the two of them spend their free time riding their Harley. 

Visit Kathi’s website at www.kathimacias.com and her blog at http://kathieasywritermacias.blogspot.com/.  Beginning October 15, 2009, listen to Kathi as she hosts “Write the Vision” every Thursday from 6—7 p.m. (Pacific Time) via THE International Christian Network (www.theicn.com).

KEYS TO LIVING JOYFULLY by Sheri Kaye Hoff

I envisioned writing a book for nearly twenty years. As I approached my 4oth birthday, I realized that I needed to move forward with my goal, so I quit my full time job and took a part time teaching position at a college so I could focus on building my life coaching practice and write my dream book. In the past, I started several books—which were mostly romance novels and I would stall out after the first few chapters.

Throughout my life, I was always interested in why some people were very successful and other people with the same or more potential were not successful. I read hundreds of books on leadership, motivation, and inspiration. I also experienced tragedy in my family at a young age which left me dealing with post traumatic stress disorder for years afterwards. Though I tried very hard to create a successful, normal life-I had recurring problems with depression. I experienced remarkable positive change over the last four years in my life and felt very deeply in my heart that I wanted to reach out to other people who were trying to find happiness. I write from a Christian faith perspective, however, I also, encompass some of the concepts of positive thinking and the law of attraction. Though I am working on my PhD and writing scholarly academic works, I wanted to write a synthesis of everything that helped me get better and truly experience joy—and I wanted it to be simple, workable, and easy to read. So I wrote from the heart. From the time I started writing seriously for the book, Keys to Living Joyfully: I finished in five weeks. I decided to self-publish through createspace in order to have my book available quickly. I hired a graphic designer to create a beautiful cover and found the perfect person, Michele Caron, creator of mylifecoach.com to write the Foreword. From start to finish, the whole process took five and a half months. I have accomplished one of my life dreams and am still in awe when I wake up each morning.

I have some thoughts for future authors. I learned that writing is the easy part. I also learned so much about publishing—I actually did the book formatting myself (I will never do that again). It turned out great—but next time I will pay someone to do the formatting. For future books, I will do more promoting prior to the publication date and take preorders. The most important piece of learning for me is that the most successful promoting occurs when I am giving something of value that is separate from just promoting my book. For example—information, tips, etc. I make sure to reach out to my clients and readers regularly with thoughts and inspirations through my blog and weekly inspiration tips. I do this because I know that habits are hard to change and reinforcement is needed to really experience progress. My true passion is inspiring people daily. If I feel like I inspired one person in a day—my day is a wonderful success.

My book, Keys to Living Joyfully, is geared towards anyone who is too busy, gives of themselves tirelessly, and often forgets about their own needs. It is for those who have struggled with sadness and felt that this sadness has eclipsed their potential. It is also geared toward people who feel that true joy is just barely out of reach. It is about faith, thoughts, and actions. I want people to feel loved and worthy as they read.

My wish is for people to have truly inspired, joy filled days.

Sheri Kaye Hoff resides in Parker, CO with her husband and three children. She is a Life Coach and owner of the Sheri K Hoff International Coaching Company. She teaches college classes as an adjunct faculty member and has earned her Master of Arts in Organizational Management. Her new book, Keys to Living Joyfully,offers a way of living a meaningful, successful and joy filled life.

Ms. Hoff is a personal and executive life coach. Spirituality is a vital part of her life’s work. Prayer and meditation are integral pieces of her daily ritual, which enables her to pursue her life’s passions and live a truly joyful life.

Her words on faith are derived from her own Christian walk and spiritual self-discoveries. Her action steps mix faith and years of leadership training, mentoring, and management. Sheri Kaye Hoff suffered the tragic death of her younger brother when she was a teenager and struggled for years to rediscover the capacity to feel joy and to enjoy her successes. She has a heart felt desire to pass on her knowledge and discoveries that have led to a truly transformational life. Ms. Hoff publishes a free weekly inspiration newsletter, Coach Sheri’s Weekly Inspiration Tips. The Sheri K Hoff International Coaching Company also offers:

* Teleclasses.
* Webinars
* In person small and large group Coaching
* Corporate Training
* Keynote speaking
* Seminars
* Individual Career and Life Coaching (For a limited time- receive a free introductory one hour life coaching session)

You can visit her website at www.lifeisjoyful.org.