Keep on Reading

Bernadette Pizzey
May 26, 2016
5 min read

Are the characters of a book, just characters and nothing more? Do they not bring new, adventurous dynamics or thought to the minds and hearts of our readers? Do you ever wonder is this as far as they go? Could they have done more? Could they go further?

When writing about Deborah, learning about Pipi, Haulani and Alain, I think of my favorite television series, Star Trek – Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Star Trek Enterprise. You laugh, but I do. Why, you ask? I can only give you one word – The Holodeck – okay that was two words. Anyway, the Holodeck was a way not only to display characters of a book, but the characters could be developed, added to, changed, and grow. This is how I see the novel series Philippa and I are writing.

Yes, it started as dream in 1999 and evolved into a poem. Well, actually, there were/are two poems from that one dream, but right now, the other poem is inconsequential. Last year, spring 2015, due to prayer and my sharing ‘His Train’ with a few people on a spiritual facebook group page, it evolved into the beginnings of a book. ‘His Train’ can be read on our ‘About Us’ page.

It has been really quite interesting how Daddy has put things together in regards to the different gifts and visions Philippa and I have about this book now series. How far can one story go? Follow me, if you will, in a little history, a little of the now and a little of the future. You have read some of the history already, I will have to bring it up again so you can get the full picture

The History:

In 1999 I had a dream of being on a ministry train. The train traveled back and forth across Canada. In a sense the train was like a traveling home or commune (so to speak). Each train car was like a home away from home. I was one of the residents on this train and we were headed for our next stop...

I heard whistling resembling a type of bird, I could also hear the sounds of a shofar as it is being blown. There is excitement in the air.

I was in a newly acquired car, cleaning it. I heard a voice that I recognized as my husband voice, calling for me. The floor was not in very good shape so I had to crawl to get to the door. I reached up and opened the door, stood up in the door opening and moved forward to the door of the next train compartment.

I stepped into the next car and I immediately noticed the car was knee deep in the heavenly cover of mist. About midway down the car a young girl of about 12 was sitting basking in the presence of the Lord. I sit down beside her and put my arm around her. We are sitting in silence and feeling embraced in pure joy as the mist/cloud surrounds us.

The door in front of us opens and I see a man that I immediately recognize as my husband walks in and closes the door behind him. I stand up and walk over to him. He opens his arms and takes me into his arms. I look up into his face and into his eyes and see love for me radiating out of his eyes. I am so engulfed in the look of love and the sheer pleasure of his embrace that it takes me a few moments ot hear the ringing of my phone.

The Present:

The novel – East to West – Deborah, Pipi, Haulani and Alain ‘meet’ in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Is it by chance that they meet? Or is it by design? Devine Design?

We have a group of people traveling together, across Canada, having a series of adventures on a missions train. One book? That was our (Philippa’s and my) thoughts. Daddy (our heavenly Father) has other plans. Also on board (the train) from start to finish are the engineer and his family, but as we travel others will come board and de-board on different stops. Novel 1 is now, which was supposed to have our characters traveling from Nova Scotia to British Columbia has now been broken down into 3 possible 4 parts. Novel 1 Part 1 – An Adventure Begins.

Involvement

Family and friends – involved as characters – creating alter ego characters withnames, habits, behaviorisms they would like to have themselves
Businesses, services and ministries – involvement – sending pictures, descriptions and permission to add them to the book(s)
Authors – co-writing – living in different countries, different time zones, working together, learning together, growing together.Skype is an awesome tool to help write and work together.We have been told two authors, that’s hard.How do we get around two authors and two different writing styles?It’s a train trip, what happens when you have two trains on the same track?Split the tracks so they do not collide.Some readers will want to follow and keep track of Pipi, while others will want to stick with Deborah. On each stop Deborah and her readers can follow along on Track A while Pipi and her readers can follow along on Track B.Each going to a different ministry or event and then come back together to re-board the train headed to the next stop.

The blog – Adventure by Train – Sharing, as we, the authors (Bernadette and Philippa) grow, the characters grow, evolve, develop and become the people Daddy – my God – intends us to be.

Short stories – Getting to know the characters – teaching – evolving, developing, adding to, bringing attention to the main goals of the novel in showing who our Father in heaven is and how much He loves us. The first short story, being edited and will be a free gift offering in exchange for subscription to the blog. The other short stories, published as e-books and for sale on a donation basis.

The Future:

Multiple train trips – East to West, North to South, South to North and West to East and this is just the beginning. Philippa has a series of novels she has been working on that were already set and started for Pipi, Haulani and Alain, but will now also include and involve Deborah. So you can see that as in life, our fiction is also growing, evolving and spreading out to be more and all of them are to bring glory to our Father who art in Heaven.

Have I given our readers reason to keep coming back? Will readers become bored? Will readers want to watch our characters grow? Will readers want to purchase the novels or short stories? Only you, the readers can answer those questions. Comment, share, like, or donate. If you like what you see subscribe, if you don’t, thank you for reading this.