Kevin Johnson Books

Crazy | A Range of Writing

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.

 

The Writing Process | SeaWorld Penguin Cam

As part of my neverending quest to stay alert for hours of writing, I've found lately that the SeaWorld Penguin Webcam can't be beat. Tucked in the corner of my monitor, it throws off a perfect level of visual distraction and noise, and the random antics and group screams are more than a little amusing. At times the video fades to black as the habitat mimics Antarctic darkness. I can't say what current project requires this kind of adrenalin bump, but honestly, this is how books happen.

 

Back to College

Last Friday I ran into my two favorite college professors. Accidentally. Twenty-six years after graduation. On their last day of teaching. Just as they were retiring.

My wife and I were back at the University of Wisconsin--River Falls for the second or third time since we graduated, touring the campus with our youngest daughter. On the last day of the semester we expected empty halls in the English department. But we stumbled on two treasured professors. Dr. Larry Harred was my boss in the campus writing lab. For two years Larry coached me as I worked with struggling writers. I can't imagine how many papers were rescued or even how many students stayed in school because of his lab. I had Dr. Jane Harred for a full year of freshman composition, a class I didn’t think I needed. Jane pushed me to express myself clearly and schooled me in the art of sentence combining. My experience in her class convinced me to major in English, and without that redirection, I wouldn't be writing now.

I appreciate many other professors at UWRF: Dr. Connie TerMaat, who allowed me to take a 400-level linguistics class as a freshman; Dr. Nicholas Karolides, who treated me kindly even when I dropped my teaching degree; Lois Michaelson, who wisely advised me throughout my major; Dr. Margaret Odegard, the English department chair who pushed me forward when I wondered if my writing was any good and literally unlocked a door to using computers to write; and journalism professors Neal Gendler and George Crist, who heckled this English major word-by-word until I could write tight and to the point.

But the Harreds? They were the best. Of all the professors I ever had anywhere. I appreciate them not only as teachers but as human beings. I could not be more honored to have been their student or to have shared fresh moments with them.

 

Are young people stupid or what?

One of the favorite questions I've ever been asked about my youth books is "How long does it take you to write one of those little books?"

What the nose?

At the time I was writing junior high devotional books, and I explained that I spent more time on each of the 45 one-page readings than many pastors spend on a Sunday sermon. I have also figured that if I never get to write a systematic theology--which I won't--it's there in my books.

Under-18 brains contain all of the same questions that should wrench older hearts and minds, even if the questions pop out in different words. I want young people to think for themselves, no matter whose books adults toss at them. I want under-18 brains to voice every question. I want my books to help.

 

My books I still like

My first book, Can I Be a Christian Without Being Weird?, came out centuries ago in youth publishing years. Since 1992 I have written more than forty additional books that have appeared in half a dozen languages. If I've written a book my name shows up on the cover, except for projects like study Bibles or pieces for ministries or other non-profits. Then my name is tucked on the copyright page or in the acknowledgments with a clear statement of my role. While those projects don't splash my name, they are some of the most significant, life-altering, and fun books I've done. One reason for kevinjohnsonbooks.com is I want readers to be able to find and make the most of all my work.

I truly despise one book with my name on it. Won't say which. Two or three more I would radically gut today or not do at all. Won't say which. So I still like most of my books. But when they age and go out of print, it's not that sad to put 'em down. Sometimes good books get a second chance to be better. A few years ago I combined and reworked all of my old devotionals into one book, Total Devotion. Lately I've whacked, hacked, and completely rewritten my early teen discipleship books (ETD) into two new series for Youth Specialties, DEEPER (for middle schoolers) and HIGHER (for high schoolers).