Interview with Award-Winning Author Paul Ellis

Can you share a little about your recent book?

The Silent Queen captures my passion for men and women to discover the gifts and talents God has hidden within them. Historically, society has determined that men and women should act a certain way, but look at what God said to us in the beginning and you will see that we are called to rule and reign in partnership. Women have been told they are subordinate and men have been told they must bear the burden of ruling alone, but that’s not what our Father said.

Jesus is the proof. In a world that treated women like property, he valued them. He listened to them, encouraged them, and befriended them. Before Jesus, women hardly figured in historical accounts. Even in the Old Testament, women hardly speak and many who do go unnamed. But after Jesus, women began to speak and men began to listen. At least for a while.

In our lifetimes, we’ve come a long way towards reaching equality. But there is still a long way to go, especially when it comes to the church.

Why do you write? Do you have a theme, message, or goal for your books?

I write for fun and because if I didn’t write I might burst. Writing is how I engage with my own thoughts and the world around me.

My message is to tell people that there’s no bad news in the good news. Your heavenly Father loves you as you are and he wants nothing more than for you to enjoy his love.

How long have you been writing?

As a university professor, my primary outlet was writing for academic journals. I did not publish my first book until I reached my late thirties.

And how long did it take you to get your first major book contract? Or are you published non-traditionally? How did that come about?

I have only sent out one proposal to a traditional publisher, and it was accepted. That was for my first book and although the publisher did a fine job, they picked a book cover that I did not like. I spent two years writing the book, yet someone in their marketing department had the final say on how my book would appear. That bugged me, and I resolved to never again give up creative control of my titles. All my subsequent books have been self-published with covers picked by me. One of those covers even won a design award.

Which of your books is your favorite?

It’s a cliché, but my favorite book is always the next one.

Tell us about an award you won that was particularly meaningful.

I was delighted when Stuff Jesus Never Said won a couple of awards because it is a sort of art-book and I’m not an artist. I was way outside my comfort zone on that one. Not only did we have the thorny issue of dealing with licensed artworks, but it was also the first book we printed in China.

How long does it take you to write a book?

It varies. I wrote the meat of The Hyper-Grace Gospel in about two weeks, but I also have a half-written children’s book that has been simmering for ten years. On average, a book takes about eighteen months of intermittent activity. I’ll knock out a complete draft in four to five weeks, put it aside for a couple of months, then repeat four or five times until it’s done.

What’s your writing work schedule like?

I’m creative in the evenings, ruthless in the morning, and next-to-useless in the afternoon.

Do you have an interesting writing quirk? If so, what is it?

My handwriting is so bad it’s illegible even to me. I’ll scribble down some notes then later have no idea what I wrote.

What has been your greatest joy(s) in your writing career?

When my daughter was eight years old, her school had a Book Parade where every student came dressed as their favorite fictional character. My daughter went as one of the children from my children’s book The Big House. Of course, nobody had a clue who she was, but this daddy was pretty chuffed.

Could you tell us about a dark moment in your writing career?

Half-way through the writing of The Silent Queen, I experienced every authors’ worst nightmare. I discovered that my book, or one very much like it, had been published several years ago. I was reinventing the wheel. Dismayed, I was ready to can the whole project. However, my wife convinced me that the topic was sufficiently important and my audience sufficiently unique, that there was room for both books. I left the book to simmer for a few weeks then came back with a fresh approach. The final book was completely different and much better than the earlier draft

How many times in your career have you experienced rejection? How did they shape you?

The beautiful thing about being self-published is you get no rejection letters. Kindle never says no!

Where do you get your ideas?

I get a lot of ideas while walking. I use the recorder app on my phone constantly. I’m also blessed to be in a position where I hear a lot of stories from readers.

Who is your favorite author to read?

Tough, tough question. No one has shaped my understanding of God like the Apostle Paul; few people have fired my imagination like C.S. Lewis; and no one writes more propulsive prose than Lee Child.

What advice can you give aspiring writers that you wished you had gotten, or that you wished you would have heeded?

The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt. Give yourself permission to write a stinky first draft.

What are common mistakes you see aspiring writer’s make?

A common mistake is finishing the first draft and thinking you’ve finished the book. Well done for finishing an entire draft. Not everyone can do that. But now it’s time to swing the butcher’s knife.

Where/How do you recommend writers try to break into the market?

I am a big fan of self- or independent publishing. The rules of the game have changed. The power has shifted from the middleman to the author and the reader, and this is a good thing. Resist the temptation to hand over thousands to a vanity press; figure out how to upload a book to Kindle (it’s not hard); and go for it! There has never been a better time to be an author.

Bio

A scientist, scholar, and Bible smuggler, Dr. Paul Ellis is the author of books such as Letters from Jesus and The Silent Queen. Paul pastored a multicultural church in Hong Kong for ten years and was a professor at a leading business school. Ranked as one of the world’s most prolific scholars in the field of international business, Paul writes regularly about the good news of God’s grace at escapetoreality.org. Paul lives with his wife and their four children in Auckland, New Zealand. 

Connect with Paul on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Goodreads. 

For more information on his new book, click here.