William Paul Young

Earlier this month, I got to interview William Paul Young, author of "The Shack." While the opportunity to interview him was exciting, the time that I had to do it was... a challenge to say the least.

Young came to San Angelo for the annual "National Prayer Breakfast" event. I have actually wanted to go for several years now. Great event. Great speakers. Huge community involvement. One problem though- it STARTS at 6 am. That means, as someone who hopes to speak to people as they arrive, I would need to arrive there BEFORE 6:00. In the morning. Yuck.

So, I woke up at 4:45, and, as they say, "put on my big girl panties" and went.

I really wasn't sure how this story was going to go... I was supposed to interview Mr. Young (Paul, as he said to call him) the day before. I was so excited about that one- I had read on his bio that he enjoyed chai tea lattes, so I emailed his publicist and offered to buy him one in exchange for an interview at Starbucks the day before. He accepted my offer!

Unfortunately, though, Texas had the coldest weather it had seen in years that day. Not only was school canceled, but all flights in and out of Dallas were canceled as well. Since all flights to San Angelo originate in Dallas, there was no flight for him. Luckily, one of San Angelo's well-to-do families chartered a jet for him, so he was able to arrive here at midnight (Not lucky for him, I'm sure- I'm thinking he maybe got 5 hours of sleep?)

Young was so gracious though, and even though I didn't bring a chai tea latte with me to the breakfast, he offered to do an interview with me after it was over.

As sometimes happens in the newspaper world, it turned out that there wasn't space that day for the separate interview story I had prepared. But, thanks to this blog :) I have someplace to put the questions/answers for anyone who cares to read them.

I realized as I looked over his answers later that he didn't exactly answer everything I asked him. I definitely sensed that he had boundaries to his comfort zone. Even though his book is very personal, he didn't get too personal in the interview. Some of what he told me, I remembered reading in other places online. 

Either way, he was a very nice man; very pleasant. (And spoke slowly enough for me to write down his answers :) ) 

Here is my interview with him:

Me: "The Shack was a book that you originally wrote as a story for your children, which has now  sold millions of copies worldwide. Is it a little unnerving to know that your story is "out there"  for everyone to read, and then to speak about it to large groups like this one?

WPY: No, it's not unnerving. At this point in my life, I have no expectations. Every day is a gift. 

Me: Were there any changes made to the original story you wrote?

WPY: The editor knocked out about 40% of the dialogue. Chapter 15 is the only chapter not edited at all. It is exactly the way I wrote it.

Me: Being that it was a story written for your four children, what did they think of it?

WPY: Every kid was affected differently. But every one was in a powerfully, strong way. 

They were identify themselves in the story. My daughter, who buries stuff inside, said, "Dad, I'm Kate, aren't I?"  She has since learned not to do that. 

Me: Have any charities benefited from sales of "The Shack?"

WPY: Yes. We've created a foundation to help several different charities. We've helped an orphanage in Honduras, a house set up for young men trying to finish high school, a school in Uganda, and some others.

Me: Something in your childhood was the basis for the plot in the story. What made you wait so long to write about it, why did you wait until your kids were so old? (Speaking at the breakfast, he said his wife asked him to "put his thoughts all in one place.")

WPY: Missy represents something that was murdered in me as a child. I had a difficult relationship with my father. When my wife asked me to write down my thoughts for the kids, it all came out in the story.

Me: Did you ever consider following in your parents' footsteps? (They were both missionaries; his father was a preacher.)

WPY:  I like the idea of cross-cultural communication. I don't like the relationship side of things. I've never found my comfort zone. . The book has done what I wanted it to do- cross cultural communication all over the world. 

Me:  What personal changes have you gone through since this book became so big?

WPY:  None that matter. All changes that matter took place before the book. The charities the foundation helps are one thing that I can do that I could not have done before. 

Me: You could have sold hundreds of books here today. Why did you not want to sell them here?

WPY: It's never been about the sale of the books. This is not anything that I asked for. I don't want to  become a  money changer. There's enough association between religion and the community.

Me: Of all the visits and places you have been, what is the one thought you want people to take away?

WPY: I've never had one thought; I don't know who's there. I want them to know the distinction between the relationship (Father/Son/Holy Spirit) and religion.  You as a human being matter. The choices you make are important to the entire universe-  You don't  have a clue how big that is. 

Here is a link to the story about Young's visit to San Angelo: 
http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2011/feb/03/wings-come-through-for-san-angelo-prayer/

Filipino Christmas

Just before Christmas, I went to St. Ambrose Church in Wall to write a story about the first Filipino Christmas mass (8 days-worth) they were having this year. Although the service was beautiful, I was stressing at the end of the service, because aside from the songs being sung in Tagalog, it was not much different than other Christmas services I have been to...

When the group invited me to join them in the fellowship hall after the service, I was elated. First, because I never give up an opportunity to try new, delicious foods, but also because I knew I would have more opportunity to talk to people for the story.

The people were very gracious, and made sure they filled my plate with all different kinds of foods, brought me a drink, and two people brought me bowls of soup! They were so excited that someone from the Standard-Times was there to write a story, they kept me talking for several minutes after my plate was put in front of me.

One of the ladies was telling me that the hospitality I was being shown is common in Filipino tradition.

"No matter how poor the family is," she said, guests are always given the best of the best."

She continued talking as I was taking notes.

"And no Filipino will ever eat before their guests eat first."

I wrote that down, then realized what she said. I looked up, and the other 5-6 people at the table were all looking at me, smiling.

I realized then, that they were waiting for me to eat, before they did! I quickly obliged. I was so glad that I did, too- the food was delicious!

Luckily for me, once they started eating, they continued talking. They were so welcoming, and very willing to give me plenty of information for the story. After some concern in the beginning, it ended up being one of my favorite stories of the month!

"Radical" need to reorganize

Several months ago, the Faith editor asked me if I would be interested in writing a story about a new book called "Radical." Since I love to write the Faith stories, of course I said yes.

Typically, stories come to fruition anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks after the idea is proposed, but a few take longer. The "Radical" story was one of those. The story about the book that has quickly become a movement of sorts in churches throughout the US was to have local interviews, about churches in San Angelo who have read the book.  By the time I was given the book to read, call churches throughout San Angelo to see which ones have read the book already, and contact the author of the book, in addition to my already hectic life with a husband, four kids, and a couple of college classes, several weeks had passed since the first interviews.

So, the week that the story was due, I started collecting my story notes. I typically do all story interviews in the same notebook, but since more time had passed on this one, I ended up finishing up the steno pad and starting another.

I had three of my interviews, and started on the story, thinking that I would locate the other interview later in the day. The day before the story deadline, I started seriously looking for the interview notes I was missing. It was, after all, one of the key interviews of the story, so I could not finish the story without it.

At midnight the night before it was due, I finally found the notes (not that I had time to look continuously throughout the day; it was Christmas Break and I had to entertain my kids too- In fact, it was during a game of Balderdash that I remembered where they might be).

The next day, I had promised to take the kids to Paint Rock, to see the Indian pictographs. We left at 9:30, and my plan was to be back by 1:00. Since we didn't leave Paint Rock until 1:00, and were 30 minutes from home, THAT wasn't happening! Missing the turn back to San Angelo didn't help either.

After getting the kids lunch in Eden, about 40 miles away from San Angelo, we headed back home. At 3:15, I got the kids home, got everyone settled, and settled down at my laptop to finish the story. An hour later, the story was done and emailed the editor. 

Here's the copy from gosanangelo.com:  Radical story

There's more to every story

I have been a freelance reporter for the San Angelo Standard-Times for more than three years now. It is a job that is perfect for me:
In addition to being able to be creative and have a job that fits around my schedule, freelance writing gives me an opportunity to speak to people I might not normally have a chance to meet. Also, it satisfies my desire to ask questions (If I don't ask enough questions, I'm not doing my job, right?).

I have been thinking about starting this blog for about six months now. In June, while working on a story about the San Angelo drag boat races, there was a boating accident. Amazingly, both drivers survived. But I will never forget, as I was waiting for a golf cart to pick me up and take me back to my car, when the accident happened.

The lady in charge commandeered the golf cart I was getting into, and said, "Get in the back; you have another story to write!"

My first "breaking news" experience,  my immediate thought was, "The editor is going to kill me for getting the story in late."

The commandeered golf cart was an experience in itself; I found out on the much slower ride back that the man driving it was an emergency vehicle driver in the military. Wish I knew that on the ride to the exit dock-Holding on for dear life (in the rain) on the back of the golf cart, I was thinking "This man is crazy!" and, "If I get killed on this ride, that story will never get in!"

I got home (eventually) wrote the story about the accident on an adrenaline rush, then somehow managed to get the original story in before deadline that night (Dinner, however, did not get served on time- I think my husband gave up and ordered pizza).

After that story, I realized that many stories I write have more to them. Not every quote fits in the story, and not every experience can be printed. So hopefully, I can get "the rest of the story" on here!