I remember agonizing on the couch about a dozen years ago. Right after seminary I had pastored a group of several hundred middle schoolers, a rare and amazing privilege. I started writing books during that time. After five years I left to oversee the adult nonfiction line at a major publishing house, another stretching opportunity. By day I signed, developed, and edited überserious adult books, and by night I continued to write thoughtful and occasionally funny books for youth. After five years as senior editor of adult nonfiction I so badly missed working with youth that I took a position as an executive at a non-profit serving at-risk teens.
A few months later when that job didn't unfold so well I sat wondering what I was supposed to do with my life. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to expend myself working with adults... or students... and I hated being torn between the two. In the end I decided I was done trying to make that decision. I was crafted to work with both adults and youth, and I was going to keep living in both worlds as long as I could.
My work includes projects for adults, students, and kids. After twenty years of writing and more than fifty books published I've done contemplative prayer Bibles and practical books aimed at adults... youth books that gently jab at minds, hearts, and hormones... children's products splashed with color, cartoons, and computer generated art... and multimedia intergenerational projects mixed in too. I work hard at all of it. I love all of it. Whatever the target audience, I don't take any chance to write for granted. And I hope to never stop doing any of it, even if the crazy assortment doesn't make sense to anyone else.
