Getting published, inescapable committees, and a grade-school joke

Dear Friends and Family,

There is this grade-school riddle that contains more wisdom than I would have thought when I first heard it: "Why was ten afraid? Because seven eight nine." I think it is an accurate description of our current economic situation. The recession started in 07, and developed into a panic in 08, devouring 09. And, despite the fact it's technically over, 10 is a terrified year, afraid to hire any of us.

Life for Miri and me continues to be full of educational and enlightening experiences, all of which offer inadequate pay and no benefits. But, staying sane is a matter of giving thanks for all things, for example, the time to write a book.

Getting a Book Published

After many months of trying to find a publisher, I have finally entered a contract with Regina Orthodox Press in Massachusetts, which will publish "Heaven Help The Single Christian: Your (Practical) Guide to Navigating Church as You Search for a Godly Mate" It's a humorous advice book that offers both laughs and a broader context of struggle for the single Christian. Much of it is based upon my own experiences of striking out at coffee hours, church conferences and monasteries before I met Miri, as well as the experiences of friends of mine. I've done as much as I can to remove identification from the characters involved, so all I can say if you recognize yourself in there is that you should have been nicer to me.

The book is due out by Christmas, which is light-speed in the publishing world. The director said he really needed something additional to go in the holiday catalog, and he accepted my book as a rush-job. The first printing run should be 1,000 or 2,000 copies, and the price will be $15-$17. At 10 percent royalties, it doesn't add up to much, especially when you consider that hardly anyone pays retail price. On the continuum of what I was getting paid as an author to what J.K. Rowling earns, it's, um, well, it's on the continuum, which is a blessing.

My task for 2011 is learning how to do a book talk, going to conferences and giving it, and selling copies of the book myself directly out of box from the publisher. Other authors have told me when you're starting out, that's how you make most of your money. If any of you knows of events and places with lots of single Christians, let me know, and I can try going and selling the book. And, it would be great if it were near your house so I can sleep there and eat your food. Publication date to come soon.

A challenge to your religion – committees

If I ever write that other book about religious conversion, I'm going to include a section on that point in your spiritual life when you feel an urge to wander because of all the committees you get appointed to. Once you're thought of as a regular, stable churchgoer, when there are events planned that need workers, it is impossible to avoid getting a staff infection.

In this case, the event is the All-American Council of the Orthodox Church in America, due to be held in Bellevue, Wash., in October 2011. Our previous parish council treasurer retired from her position so she could be the lay chairwoman of the event, and then I got elected treasurer to replace her. And now I am on a couple of additional committees for the council, one purposed with getting local media to cover the event, the other to create a city guide for the out-of-towners to check out the Seattle-Bellevue area.

We are renting a large hotel and are expecting 800 people to attend. This council is where all things administrative, financial, legal, spiritual and leadershipish get reported, discussed, voted on and hopefully settled. It happens once every three years and is kind of a big deal. The last one of these was akin to a very nasty marital therapy session, so we're really hoping that this one goes in a somewhat normal manner. It's the first time this event has been held on the West Coast, and we've even gotten Alaska Airlines to be our "official airline." 

One scary thing in sitting on these committees is that I'm the youngest one there. Not that being 31 in a room full of 50-year-olds is scary, but this means that if I continue this habit of sitting on committees, I'll someday have more experience than most people and be more likely to get appointed. This makes me wonder if some of the early Christian martyrs decided to defy the Roman authorities as a means of getting out of chairing committees at church.

Independent Journalism for Important Stories

I'm also continuing my work these days as a news reporter. You may remember my story about the King County 10-year Plan to End Homelessness. Now I've got a story about a problem that's both disturbing, and very interesting because the campaign to help those affected by it is very new, and not fully developed.

The problem is commercial sexual exploitation of children, a long clinical term that basically means forced prostitution of underage girls. The further I delve into the topic, the more upset I get, and the more I'm convinced of the need for a story to get done.

I've been interviewing human-services people, police officers, and I'm going to interview someone who'd been formerly exploited.

The interesting parts of this story are the complexities of laws that both help and prosecute minors involved in prostitution, the comprehensive and expensive services to help them recover, and the fact that this is a demand-driven economy. The disturbing parts are the obscenely abusive things the pimps do to control their girls, the fact that the girls don't tend to live very long after getting in to "The Life," and finally the fact that every girl saved simply acts as an absence in the market, inspiring pimps and customers to try harder to get what they want.

This is a story that's getting funded through spot.us, a web site that puts journalists' story ideas up where people can pledge money for them. The story is about two-thirds funded right now. Another interesting feature is that people can take a survey for a group looking for research information and by doing so, earn $6 to $10 for the story. It gives us a boost whether you pledge or not.

Other notes

That's the news from Ruthfordville right now. Outside of that, life generally goes on – Miri continues her half-time job at the Point Defiance Zoo as a zookeeper and climbing toy for endangered leopards. Right now, we are winding up a mini-vacation to Helena, Mont., where my cousin, Robin, got married to a fellow named Grant. She planned some really cool things into her wedding, including a pre-wedding hike to the top of Mt. Helena. I also got to visit the Montana State Museum here, which had an amazing gallery of paintings by Charlie Russell, a painter who was hired by the Great Northern Railroad around the beginning of the 20^th century to paint scenes that would make people want to take vacations in Montana. Such a wonderful concept – paying an artist to increase your business, and making money for all involved, and getting enduring masterpieces out of it in the end. Sigh, now we raise money through sites such as spot.

There will be a load of lovely pictures both from the wedding and the hikes, but I'm still too much of a luddite to buy a digital camera, so it'll be a while before I get any of those up there for viewing.

Please keep in touch. I'd love to hear from you!

Love,

Thomas Eric Ruthford