"A Man Inspired"
by Derek Jackson
Author Testimony
"As the son of a church deacon and a Sunday school
teacher, early on I was introduced to the Christian faith
by having to be in church most any time those church doors
opened. Debating the issue of attending so much or trying
to make excuses for not going never worked (although I tried,
let me tell you!) But now I can look back on those wonder
years and give God all the praise for blessing me with that
foundation.
My father, the deacon, was also a Lt. Colonel in the Air
Force, so as such we ended up traveling to a new city every
four years when he would get relocated. Traveling around
like that was a blessing in disguise, because it afforded
me a chance to experience many cultures and places during
my youth. So, though I was born in Fort Worth, Texas, I've
lived in Guam, California, and South Carolina, as well as
having visited most every major city in the United States.
That exposure in witnessing firsthand how people lived and
worked in various parts of the country was a vital part of
my upbringing in addition to being raised in church.
The other critical part of my childhood was having a mother
who was an avid reader, and who passed that love of reading
on to me. As well as being a Sunday School teacher she was
also a first grade teacher. She made her living by teaching
kids how to read, and I have great childhood memories of
her reading to me or listening to me read back to her during
those formative years. As I grew up, I became just like her
in the sense that I devour books and newspapers like they're
going out of style, too. And from that love of reading came
a natural inclination to write.
I accepted Christ into my life at age seven, but as is sometimes
the case when this decision is made in your youth, I wasn't
as sold-out in my walk as I should have been. I don't think
it was so much a matter of not knowing right from wrong or
having examples to pattern my life after as much as I just
didn't realize you could actually be sold-out for Christ
while you were young. I thought it was par for the course
to become serious about your walk with God much later in
your life, after you've had all your "fun" and
there was nothing else better to do.
But when I went off to college at the University of Houston
in the fall of 1996, I was quickly introduced to a group
of radical, sold-out believers during just my third week
there. That was another blessing in disguise. This group
happened to be the gospel choir on campus, and every Friday
night they would hold Bible study and choir rehearsal in
the University Center's student lounge. Now, I wasn't much
of a singer, but this group became the missing ingredient
to my life because they were genuine in their walk - you
didn't even have to look that close to actually see the love
of Jesus radiating through them. For the first time in my
life, I was surrounded by people my age who actually "walked
the walk and talked the talk." Talk about a mind-blowing
experience! The spiritual foundation that had been laid in
my life from years and years of being in church was now infused
with a tangible peer group that strengthened, exhorted, rebuked,
and encouraged me to make sure I was living right.
After graduating with a degree in Media Production five
years later, I entered the "now what?" phase of
my life. I had thoughts of doing something in the television
industry, but I hadn't exactly applied myself in getting
the best internships or making the business connections needed
to succeed in that field during my college experience. I
had other interests, namely in writing and producing material
that could someday make it to the big screen.
So off I went, degree in hand, looking for the best job
I could get. During that period of job searching, I had some
time on my hands, so I decided to do something I'd always
wanted to - write a novel.
It took seven months to write my first novel, Destiny's
Cry. To say that it was challenging would be a huge understatement,
but I enjoyed every minute of the process. By this time,
I'd gotten an 8-5 job to cover those little things like eating
and paying rent, so my writing schedule would entail going
to coffee shops every day after work and putting pen to the
paper for two to three hours. When I finally finished, I
wanted to gain some hands-on experience wearing the different
hats in the publishing industry, so I took the self-published
route to get it in the bookstores. Having to be not only
the writer, but the marketer and distributor and everything
else allowed me to speak with many bookstore owners, authors
and industry people. I gained a clearer picture of all that
is entailed in taking a book from conception to publication
(and I decided to stick to the writing…)
The biggest blessing of meeting so many people during this
time (about a year and a half), however, was indirectly meeting
Denise Stinson through one of those business relationships
I'd formed. Marina Woods, the editor of an online book club
in Chicago, was a friend of Denise's and she gave a positive
referral of the book (to which I'm always thankful to Marina).
Denise contacted me shortly afterwards and during our conversation,
she happened to inquire if I had written anything else. The
writing bug had bitten me bad by this time, as I was just
putting the last touches on the manuscript for A Man Inspired,
and I replied that I had.
A few weeks later when I had finished the novel, I sent
the manuscript off to Walk Worthy Press. Not long after,
a contract was set up, and through working with Frances Jalet-Miller,
a terrific editor at Warner Books, we persevered and were
able to smooth out all the rough edges.
I wrote A Man Inspired because we often place celebrities
and people of influence on pedestals, so to speak, without
knowing who they are behind closed doors. That's not to say
people aren't entitled to their privacy, for everybody certainly
is. But character is who you are. Reputation is who you make
people believe you are, and the difference more than a bit
subtle. |
At their May 2005 meetings, GLORY GIRLS™ will be discussing
A Man Inspired by Derek Jackson
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