Publishing a book involves so much more than simply writing a story. I know this now. Historians, authors, and librarians have been incredibly helpful as I’ve researched Lottie Moon. But not everyone is thrilled about this book and willing to help me.

Over the past several weeks, I’ve hired experts to help me bring my manuscript to life and to you!

• An illustrator to create the image for the book’s front cover
• A graphic designer to typeset the book and design the cover
• An editor to make your reading experience smooth and engaging

On the research side, you know from other posts that I’ve also reached out for help.

• I interviewed a historian about Lottie’s family.
• I interviewed another author about Lottie’s childhood schools and how to honorably write about the enslaved people in Lottie’s life.
• Librarians helped me search through 200-year old papers in the Archives and Special Collections Research Rooms at the Library of Virginia. These people have all generously helped me and encouraged me as I work to tell Lottie’s story.

I recently encountered the first person who didn’t want me to write this book.

I recently reached out to an expert on Lottie Moon and asked some questions based on their decades of research. I asked to see some of their sources for my own research. Unfortunately, the Scholar responded with anger that I was writing fiction about Lottie instead of a just-the-facts biography. They did not wish to help me or share their research. That experience was surprising and disappointing. It also confused me. Wouldn’t the Scholar want to share with me all the resources they had so that my novel is as accurate as possible? I didn’t understand the Scholar’s fear that a fictional novel about Lottie would dilute and distort the facts of her life’s testimony.

Then God kindly encouraged me to keep moving forward with this novel.

Weeks after that happened, I visited the Virginia Baptist Historical Society Library (VBHSL) at the University of Richmond. I got lost a couple of times, wandering around collegiate gothic style buildings, searching for the VBHSL. One student kindly walked me to an ancient-looking door tucked into the side of the school’s main library. I awed at the stunning campus, and the student told me she feels like she goes to school in a castle.

 

A VBHSL librarian met me at the door and showed me past Baptist portraits and artifacts to a round table in the reading room, where she bought me a stack of folders, stuffed with everything they had about Lottie Moon. I had so much fun digging into that collection.

I was surprised and delighted to find many pieces of fiction about Lottie’s life.

• Scripts from Lottie Moon plays in Baptist churches
• Poems
• A comic

It wasn’t such an odd thing I was doing after all — writing historical fiction about Lottie’s life. People throughout the years have been inspired by her story and wanted to share it through different artistic mediums. The fiction I found in those folders would have been enough encouragement, but that wasn’t all God had in store for my visit to VBHSL.

When I made the appointment to visit VBHSL, I didn’t really have an agenda. I just wanted to meet them and see any records they had about Lottie Moon. I also asked to see copies of The Religious Herald (RH) from the 1850s – not any issue in particular. I just wanted to see what they looked like so that I could describe them in my book.

After I returned the stack of folders to the librarian, she took me to their book elevator, which is one of the coolest inventions I have ever seen. It acted like a dumbwaiter, lifting books from the archives down below up to researchers like me in the reading room.

The librarian lifted the door and pulled out a book about 2.5 feet long and 1.5 feet wide. The book she chose for me held blown up copies of Religious Herald issues. I flipped to a random issue that happened to have had an article on the front page all about how fiction was detrimental to a young person’s mind. Fiction was, at best, a waste of time. I chuckled and smiled ear to ear.

This RH article reminded me of when I found a list of rules from Hollins Institute, where Lottie had gone to school as a girl. It said that fiction books were explicitly banned. This RH article and that list of rules confirmed for me that a distrust of fiction was common in Lottie’s day and even now, as evidenced by the Scholar’s response.

That experience at VBHSL not only made me feel seen and loved by God, but it also filled me with understanding and grace for the Scholar. God had given them a good work to do in preserving the facts of Lottie’s life. He has also given me a good work to do in sharing her story through fiction.

Why fiction?

Biographies are wonderful. (I’ve relied on them for my research!) I’m just convinced my book needs to be fiction – something to capture the heart and imagination of readers. I’ve read quite a bit of nonfiction accounts and biographies about Lottie. And I keep having to go back and check the details because I forget. It’s easier to remember a story than a list of facts, isn’t it?

Fiction has a different super power than nonfiction. It puts you in the story and immerses you into the experience. After you read my book, when you remember Lottie and all that God did in her life, you’ll remember more than facts. You’ll relive a breeze cooling her face, the smell of a delicious wedding breakfast and all of the stomach dropping, face flushing, and throat tightening moments.

Even though the Scholar wasn’t willing to work with me, the Library of Virginia helped me get the resources and information I was looking for. I lament the missed opportunity for a relationship with another person so invested in Lottie’s story. I’m grateful to God for encouraging me to keep going.

Bonus!

I found some really cool historical photos from my research trip to VBHSL about the road marker at Lottie Moon’s gravesite in Crewe, VA. I added those to the blog post about that road trip out to Crewe. Check out the updated blog post here!