No Time to Read - A Guest Post by Author Debra Jeter

Hi! This is Patricia. I am happy to introduce my new writer friend Debra Jeter. She's a Vanderbilt University professor and debut author. Enjoy Debra's guest post.

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In Today’s Shifting Landscape: Why Books Still Matter,

For the Young & Young at Heart

Technology has turned the world upside down. I used to believe that when I got older, I would be wiser and more knowledgeable and the young might even turn to me for guidance. Instead, the older I get, the harder it is to keep up with the advances. I have to look to my children for help. “What is Snapchat?” I ask; or “How do you share a picture from Instagram to Facebook?”

A friend of mine told me that when she got her cable installed for her television, she wanted to block certain channels from viewing by her kids. She couldn’t figure out how to do it, so what did she do? She asked her kids to block the channels from themselves!

But do these technologically savvy youngsters read books for pleasure? Do they know who Louisa May Alcott was or what Robert Lewis Stevenson wrote? Have they read Emily Bronte or Mark Twain? And it is not just kids who bury their (our) noses too often in their computers or smart phones. I am not saying it’s all bad. But we only have so many hours in a lifetime. Whereas we once spent our leisure time reading books, I wonder how many of those hours are now spent scrolling through the latest posts on Facebook or Instagram or some other social medium.

It would be a tremendous shame if our youth ceased to read for entertainment, for enlightenment. I think the best books are not the ones that tell us how to think or behave, but the ones that leave us with questions. I recently read a post from a reader who said that Gone with the Wind disturbed her for a long time because of its ending. I thought back to the first time I read it. I stumbled across the novel on the shelves of our local library and, believe it or not, I had never heard of it. I was engrossed. And, yes, I too was disturbed by the ending. But would we have remembered it as well or as long if Scarlett had fallen into Rhett’s arms in the finale? Instead, we have to wonder if she’s getting what she deserves, and to question what will happen tomorrow. After all, tomorrow is another day.

Books open doors in a way that nothing else can. They allow us to draw our own pictures of the setting and characters, rather than relying on the director or actors as in a movie. They expand our vocabulary, not because we look words up in the dictionary but because we learn from context as we encounter those same words again and again. When you are engaged in the story, you probably don’t want to take time to look words up even on your smart phone. And, honestly, you don’t need to!

Many of my favorite books can be categorized as young adult or even children’s books. But when I was in those age groups, I remember reading and cherishing many adult novels. Don’t limit yourselves to one genre or one reading level, or you might miss some true treasures.

Finally, I still believe we can learn a lot from our elders. Several years ago I had two women in a college class I was teaching who were mother and daughter. Both led busy lives. By the end of the course it became clear that the mother would earn one of the highest grades in the class, while the daughter was likely to fail. The mother confided to me that she had learned to snatch every available moment—while baking something in the oven, while drying a load of laundry, etc.—to read a paragraph or two of her text. I don’t know if her daughter ever learned that lesson, but it has certainly stayed with me over the years. If I have a longish drive or an appointment—hair salon, dentist, doctor’s office, whatever—you’ll rarely catch me without a book or an audio book!

Besides the Bible, can you name a book that has made a difference in your life?

Debra Jeter’s debut novel, The Ticket, is now available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other outlets. Check out the book trailer at: https://vimeo.com/50187275.

A Vanderbilt University professor, Debra worries that by trying to do too much, she doesn’t do anything as well as she could or should. She also worries that she worries too much! The Ticket was a Selah Award and Operation First Novel finalist. She is a co-writer of the screenplay for Jess + Moss, a feature film which premiered in 2011 at the Sundance Film Festival. She loves to travel and plans to use her travel experiences to enhance settings in future work.

Website and Blog: www.debracolemanjeter.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/debra.c.jeter
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DebColemanJeter
Trailer on YouTube: https://youtu.be/FYTKJdd7Gqw Amazon page: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1941103863/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/dashboard
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/njjeter/the-ticket-a-novel/

Creating those treasures

Recently, while at a meeting in someone’s home, one of the women present pointed at a bookshelf nearby and smiled at me. At first, I wondered what she was doing—I couldn’t see anything there that stood out to me.

‘Look, Jo-Anne—there are two of your books! I’ve got them at home too.’

I looked again then and finally saw my first two novels at one end of the shelf. Then someone else chimed in.

‘I have all of your books lined up in my bookcase,’ another commented, much to my embarrassment.

‘I have too, another person added. ‘See—you’re famous!’

I laughed and the conversation soon changed direction. But later, as I reflected on what had been said, I felt so thankful and humbled. How blessed am I to have had seven books published at this stage of my life—and what a privilege to have been able to enrich the lives of others even in some small way through what I have written! No, my books may not have been classics or best sellers or winners of great awards. But at least some people have been blessed through reading them and still treasure my books on their shelves.

Recently, I have been thinking about the treasures books in general are to us, as I have been asked to speak somewhere on that topic later in the year. So far, I have come up with the following ideas—and please feel free to share any of your own with me! Books enlarge our knowledge and understanding of the world around us, giving us insights into the way others live their lives and how the world functions in general. Books enable us to take in the wisdom of past generations and to experience situations way beyond our own space and time. Books give us the opportunity to walk in another’s shoes and hopefully develop greater understanding of and empathy for others. Books may help us understand spiritual things better too and be drawn closer to God in the process. And books may comfort or encourage us as we relate closely to what we read and realise we are not alone. Someone else out there understands where we are at and their voice reaches out to us through those words they have written.

On a somewhat more mundane level, books increase our vocabulary and our ability to communicate well via the written word. Books entertain us, perhaps even providing a way to rest or relax and escape for a while into another whole world. On the other hand, books can keep our minds alert, intriguing us with tricky plot twists or challenging us with new and deep thoughts that cause us to grow and become better people in some way.

Books can contain so many rich treasures, waiting for us to discover—precious and semi-precious gems of infinite variety and value. What a privilege as writers to be able to add our own unique creations to this literary treasure trove and to be given the opportunity to touch someone else’s life through our words, be they many or few. May we never take our writing for granted but stay close to God each day, receiving that true inspiration we all need as we apply ourselves to those works in progress.

Jo-Anne Berthelsen lives in Sydney, Australia. She holds degrees in Arts and Theology and has worked as a high school teacher, editor and secretary, as well as in local church ministry. Jo-Anne is passionate about touching hearts and lives through both the written and spoken word. She is the author of six published novels and one non-fiction work, Soul Friend: the story of a shared spiritual journey. Jo-Anne is married to a retired minister and has three grown-up children and four grandchildren. For more information, please visit www.jo-anneberthelsen.com.