books and writing
I was pretty unwell over the summer, and spent a lot of time resting in bed. Not my usual style. But I got into the habit of writing on my laptop in little bursts – more or less alternating between an hour of writing and a couple of hours' sleep through the day.
Most writers talk about having a pattern of writing. Some do it for three or four hours every day without fail, others (like Salley Vickers for instance) write hour upon hour when they are in a project and then don't write at all in between. I tend to gather speed gradually – making sketches, reading, writing, reading, writing, and then the madly obsessive nothing-but-write mood kicks in when the deadline appears on the horizon. Without a deadline I would go on pushing the project round and round forever. Even then in my case that's fitted round the mad schedule of having a full time job and a kid to raise, so 5-8am is my regular writing slot.
My current work is on a book about the Bible. I have accumulated reams and reams of notes over the years – stuff I did for my degrees, lectures I've given, sermons, blog posts, all kinds of bits and pieces. Starting out with a blank page, months ago, I wondered whether I would have anough to say. The first draft was about four times too long. The work of recent month has been editing, condensing, deciding what to keep and rewrite and what to leave out.
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author musician theologian
Maggi has kept a blog since September 2003, writing about theology and faith, the arts and literature, and a little about life and random nonsense...
In an increasingly secularised society few people have a good working knowledge of the Bible. Yet a great deal of our culture is built on stories or ideas that come from the Bible. Literature, art, music, language and even the fabric of our society - such as our justice system - are built on Christian concepts and biblical references. The Writing on the Wall provides a fascinating introduction to the Bible's best-known, and most influential, stories. Each chapter gives some background to the text of the Bible, and shows how the stories have become enmeshed in Western culture. Adam and Eve, the ten plagues of Egypt, The Prodigal Son and Mary Magdalene all feature - along with how the Bible has influenced everyone from Shakespeare to Monty Python, and Caravaggio to Banksy. 
Giving It Up explores the Lenten idea of 'giving up', taking it beyond the traditional idea of simply abstaining from something, and suggesting instead that what we need to give up is our existing ideas about God. With a daily readings for each day of Lent, from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, it follows the heroes of the Bible who had to give up their own too-small ideas about God.
This is Maggi’s bestselling book of daily readings for each day of Advent, Christmas and Epiphany. Advent is the beginning of the Church year, and marks the anticipation of the coming Messiah. These readings explore how beginnings and endings in our own lives are illuminated by the different Gospel narratives of Christ's coming.
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Maggi, Happy Michaelmas! I second your recommendation of Sally Vicker’s book, ‘Miss Garnet’s Angel’ it is a lovely story and one of my favourites.
oh, I seem to remember someone telling me that Gabriel was only an angel, not an archangel… now you’ve told me better I won’t be able to be a smug know it all, when correcting people…
…possibly a turn for the better!
Well, it depends who you ask. Some protestants say that only Michael is an archangel. Some also include Gabriel, on that basis that he appears in the Bible, and not just the Apocrypha. Catholic tradition favours Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel. Gregory the great had a longer list, but the extra names elude me. Then there’s the Islamic Azrael… so many to choose from!
On Mon, Sep 28, 2009 at 7:59 PM, wrote:
Oi. Michaelmas is 29th September, or at least after Evensong on 28th.
I thought it WAS the 29th yesterday! hooray – it’s like being given a whole
extra day of my life….
On Tue, Sep 29, 2009 at 12:26 AM, wrote: