It is my joy and privilege today to have a guest post by my friend and fellow author, Susan Barnett Braun. Susan and I "met" awhile back through one of the social media networks, although I honestly don't remember which one. Since then, we've followed each other's writing, exchanged reviews and stayed in touch via the multitudes of social media networks. In fact, you can read my reviews of two of Susan's books right here on this blog: Sophie, Pay Attention and A Dog Called Namaan. Susan has a new book out, but I'll let her tell you a little more about that, as well as a little more about herself. Take it away, Susan!
Hi, Dana! It’s a privilege to visithere with you and your readers today! We have several things incommon: we’re both Christians, pianists, authors, teachers, anddevoted pet owners.
After college, I taught elementaryschool for eight years. I totally loved teaching, but after having myown kids, I just didn’t feel right devoting most of my days tosomeone else’s children. So, I stayed home with my kids. Forseveral years, taking care of them was a full-time proposition. Butas the kids started school, I had more free time. I have always lovedto write. After dinner each evening, I read an entry for that datefrom one of the many diaries I kept when I was younger. About a weekago, I read an entry for that same day in 1978. I’d written: “Iwrote a few pages on my book. Being an author is hard work!”
So you can see that writing was natural for me to pursue. I had some devotionals published, as wellas several tips and ideas in teaching magazines. On my blog,
Girlsin White Dresses, I began writing about a childhoodmemory each Friday. Eventually, I wanted to write up many of these inbook form, and I did that with my first book, “I Love to Tell theStory.”
I attended a Christian writer’sconference and was excited to meet with agents and editors. But thereal world set in as I was told there was not a sufficient audiencefor my memoir, since I wasn’t a celebrity. I brought a children’schapter book along as well, and although an editor expressedinterest, she failed to respond to my emails in subsequent months.
Based on those experiences, I would saythat my biggest frustration with writing has been the obstaclesagents and editors seem to put up to prevent authors from actuallymaking it to press. But I feel extremely blessed to live in this era,when the advent of Amazon and e-readers have made it possible formore authors to be published, without spending their own money to doso.
My latest venture is called “NotSo Happily Ever After: The Tale of King Ludwig II.”In high school German class, I was introduced to “Mad King Ludwig.”He’s one of those historical characters who is just too eccentricand bigger-than-life to be real – and yet he was. He designedwhat’s probably the world’s most famous castle, Neuschwanstein.Yet it was never finished and he was only able to spend about 170days there. Government officials ragged him unmercifully about themoney he spent on his castles, even though today they’re one ofGermany’s biggest money-making attractions.
Ludwig wasn’t overtly Christian (tobe fair, there weren’t many evangelicals in mid-1800s Bavaria), buthis Catholic faith was important to him throughout his life. Heplanned a huge chapel inside the courtyard at Neuschwanstein,although it was never actually built (along with many other plannedportions of the castle). On the day he died, Ludwig requestedpermission to attend mass, but his keepers denied him the freedom todo this. Disillusioned with life and with most of the people heencountered, Ludwig once said, "I must bear being laughed at,scorned, and slandered. I am called a fool. Will God call me a foolwhen I am summoned before him?"
I read many books about Ludwig, butthey were all geared towards adults, and many were quite scholarly. Isaw a need for a book that teens and tweens would enjoy. They wouldlove his character, even if they didn’t want to read a 300-pagebook on him! That’s the niche this book fills.