Post Theme: How Shadows of Chivalry Originated
There’s this crazy event each year called NaNoWriMo—National Novel Writing Month. NaNoWriMo is a writing challenge in which otherwise sane writers attempt to complete a 50,000 word novel in the 30 days of November. That’s an average of 1667 words per day. Before 2014, I had never participated. After all, November was smack in the middle of the Green Bean Project, and I was a little busy. But 2014 was a terrible year. Not 2020 kind of terrible, 2014 was terrible on the personal front. In that year, my family lost eight family members or friends, including the very unexpected loss of my dad.
Our hearts had been broken over and over. My best friend had been encouraging me to do NaNoWriMo that year, and I really wanted to. Something told me I needed to do it. But, I didn’t have a plan, and you don’t typically set out on a challenge like that without a plan—at least I don’t.
Sudden Inspiration
November 3rd—as I was getting ready to do the dishes—a thought, sparked by the events in my life, ran through my head:
“Is the world completely devoid of knights in shining armor? What has happened to chivalry, to valor, to strength in the face of adversity?”
That was it! That was the starting point I needed. I abandoned the dishes, grabbed my computer, and had the prologue written in a matter of minutes. The pieces fell into place, and, by the end of the week, I had caught up on the word count and passed it. But while completing the challenge was amazing, that isn’t what makes it so personal.
At that time, it looked like life as I knew it was not only greatly altered but about to come to an end. While I didn’t know the future of FTN, it looked rather precarious as well. As I wrote the story, the characters and the lessons they learned were teaching me as well. The revelations they had, were revelations I was having. I started out telling Kelly’s story, but like Matt (the man from the bus), it was her boss’ story that gripped my heart. (So much so that I already have two prequels drafted which focus on him.) Like most of my writing, the story was transforming me long before it ever got to a printing press.
Although Amazon insists on categorizing it as a romance, Shadows of Chivalry is more about “daring rescues” and the battles we fight in daily life, especially in ministry. It’s a life story. It’s villains might sit in our pews or stand in our pulpits—but so might its heroes. More than just a tale, it’s a call to each of us, myself included, to live in a “more excellent way.” (2 Cor. 12:31)
So, I invite you into this world, this story of modern chivalry—you might just find it changes your life as much as it changed mine!
More About Shadows of Chivalry
Will Kelly lose heart in the face of betrayal or cling to the hope that someone will step out of the shadows and into a life of courageous faith?
Best friends Kelly and Kali have worked passionately at the Trevor Street Crisis Center for years. But when the center faces staggering loss, they are left to pick up the pieces alone. In a crisis of heartache and need, even those who proclaim themselves valiant seem to hide scorn and opportunism beneath the cloak of chivalry. Is true chivalry dead?
Matt, a big-hearted businessman, finds joy in anonymously meeting the needs around him. But when Kelly steps onto his bus, the story of the crisis center shakes his world. As the girls struggle to keep the center alive, Matt must choose between anonymity, the security he has known, and helping his new friends. Will he be their knight in shining armor, or will his chivalry be just another shadow?
Straight from the trenches of ministry, comes a story of courage, perseverance, and faith.
