1. Days of Elijah
Podcast Transcript:
“There have been people predicting the end of the world since the beginning of the world. That’s just how people are. Always looking for the worst, seeing their own death around every corner, thinking it makes them more important somehow if their mortality was louder than their living.”
I am Alanna and this is Racing Home, the podcast where I unpack the journey of writing the first book in a series about the end of the world. Welcome.
So that quote at the beginning was taken right out of my manuscript and I think I will do that with every episode as long as I can find an appropriate quote or something that actually makes me sound cool. So that was a fun one that I pulled out. It seemed very appropriate for a place to start because the series is about the end of the world. It’s about this major event that is going going to wipe out most of humanity. Book one is going to be the story of the people who are preparing for this big ending and the people who are going to be left behind.
Since I launched into business through Chicken House Press full-time at the beginning of 2022, what I have found is that I have very little time or energy or space for my own creative projects and this hurts me on a deep level. But it hadn't gotten to a point where I've made real change to address it and I'm at the point now where I feel like I need this. I've spent almost two years serving others and their projects (which is amazing and rewarding and wonderful and I wouldn't change it) but I'm starting to feel neglected and I need to start taking care of myself. And part of that care is giving myself space to tell my story.
Now I started this book I think in 2021, though I'm unclear of when it started because I feel like I've started and stopped and started and stopped so many times. I'll get little bursts and then it sits for months and months and that is no way to write a book. That is not how I'm designed to tell a story. I'm sure it works for some people. I know there are people that take years and years and years and years and years—like a whole lifetime—to write one book. Great! I love that for you! Wonderful! I don't want that. I want the magic of expediency. So when you make space and you show up, what I have discovered is that the story almost writes itself. I know that sounds really woo woo and stupid and ridiculous and really you won't understand it unless you've actually experienced it, but I can tell you that I have experienced it and I want it; so that's what I'm doing. I'm carving space. I am forcing my own hand by building a schedule—building a system that's going to allow me to do that.
I wrote my first book because I had a firm goal set in front of me. I participated in Nanowrimo which is National Novel Writing Month in November which means you are to draft a whole novel from November 1st to 30th, writing every day or binging certain days. You're supposed to write 50,000 words within a month and at the end of that you have a rough first draft. And I did it. And as I was saying before, the magic that happens when you show up for your work… it's just real. I sat down with that book convinced that I was writing a thriller. I already knew my title. I knew my title was The Church in the Wildwood and it was going to be about this person who kept people trapped in their “church” in the woods, but by the end of the first day it was become already becoming something completely different and I love that. I love that writing can surprise the writer.I think that that's incredible.
If you haven't read Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert I would highly recommend it. It's a brilliant book. I want to read it again because there's just so much gold in there—so much inspiring stuff. One of the things that she says over and over is that an idea is a gift from the universe, from God, whatever you choose to believe, and it's presented to you. It is up to you to take it and run with it. If you don't the universe is going to give that idea to someone else. That's terrifying. And as a multi-passionate person and someone who is often overflowing with ideas—especially when I'm in a really deep creative space—I'm afraid of what I'm letting go, but right now I'm going to focus on what I'm going to keep and that is this book because I'm having so much fun writing it when I do write it. And I just think the story is so fun. I love a disaster movie. I love the terror of the end of the world and the uncertainty and I want to unpack what that would be like for various characters from various backgrounds and cultures and so I'm having a lot of fun with that. And I'm really excited to dive in with a lot more force.
So, where am I at? The first book in the series—When the Trees All Burned—is the one that I am pouring into right now. It is the story that is focusing on the big event so it is all the things leading up to this great moment that is going to change the world and it's fun to write because there's a lot of interesting emotions that go into a situation like that. I have 52,433 words written so far in my first draft. I have set a loose goal for myself—loose but firm—loose in the matter that we could go over, that's fine, but I'm telling myself that I have to reach 70,000 words by the end of 2023, so that means that if I wrote every day I only have to write 197 words a day. that is not too overwhelming, and I feel like it's super attainable, which is exciting because when you think of 70,000 words that can get pretty overwhelming. But because I've already done all this work over the last couple years as I've kind of picked away at it, I have a great base to launch from right now.
I'm almost looking at it as I'm as starting again because I'm actually giving it the attention that I really want to give it. So we're looking at this almost like a new project. That's not really fair, but whatever, this is my journey. So my hope is that by January 1st I have a complete first draft. Now a 70,000 word book isn't that long. That's about the length of my first novel The Church in the Wildwood so I'd be happy with that length. I expect through the editing process I'll find places I need to add more so probably by the end I'll be looking at between 70 and 80 ,000 words. I like to keep a story concise I don't want to put filler in there. I want to only tell the story that needs to be told. I don't need a whole lot of extra even though that can be a lot of fun. So that's my goal. I'm telling you. I'm making a commitment to you right now that I am going to reach 70,000 words by the beginning of January. So what I'm going to do with this podcast is I'm going to be accountable to you. I'm going to give you regular weekly updates of where I'm at with the writing, if I'm actually showing up, and I'm going to tell you if I'm not because that's horrifying and embarrassing. So I want you to be keeping me accountable, and each time I'm going to think of something else to share. I'll talk about different moments in the book that I want to unpack a little bit for for you. I’ll talk about some of my process, some of my research, some of the structure, some of my hopes and dreams. I have a really aggressive and fun marketing plan that's forming really fully in my mind right now and I actually built it already so that it's kind of ready to go. I have a great foundation laid out and I'm really excited about it because it's interactive. It is my deep deep hope that you'll get excited about it too. So thanks for being here. I hope that through this journey you get as excited about the story as I am so that when the time comes you will want this book in your hands. And I really really hope you do because I think it's going to be special one.
A little word about the timeline. I am recording this episode on October 4th which means my word count hopefully is much different by the time this launches on November 7th but we're just going to carry on as if it's in real time and I hope that you'll just accommodate that with me and understand the need to do work ahead.
Now, what changes am I going to make in my daily life to allow time for writing? Here's the thing: I love trash TV. I'm not ashamed of that (well… maybe I am a little bit… shoot) but whatever, I can give some of that up if I chose to watch one episode of Love is Blind instead of two in the space of that episode I gave up I can definitely write 197 words so just that alone will help me. I'm also going to commit to sitting down on the evenings that my husband is away at his own activities or if he's picked up an evening shift. I'm going to take that time and work. We do like to spend our evenings together but there obviously are one or two a week where we don't get to so that's a perfect opportunity for me to lean into my writing without stepping on our relationship.
So I think I will just close off and by reading another little excerpt. I might do that every time—I don't know, we'll see how it goes and see what the response is like, but we'll try it this time and I think there might be a little bit of power in just sharing an excerpt without context, you know? It's like if you walk into the living room and a show's already on the television and it’s halfway through and you don't know what's going on but you're still sucked in. I think that that would be interesting. I'd love to know… will you actually tell me what you think about any of this? I don't even know how podcasts work. Can you comment on podcast? Huh.
So before I share this excerpt, let me tell you that the motivation behind this is super selfish because I need a way to keep accountable and I thought this is a fun new way to try a new venue, but also, in checking my site analytics, the place that I'm finding the most audience on the Chicken House Press site is podcasts. My bookstore page and blog pages and news releases and stuff are they're getting hits, but the podcast is getting thousands of hits. I don't know if that's translating into actual listeners, so if you are an actual listener let me know somehow because I don't know. I just know that somehow people are stumbling upon this. They might be listening to one second, they might be listening to the whole thing. I don't know and I don't know how to figure it out, but it doesn't matter. What matters matters is that you are here, you are listening, so thank you. I appreciate you.
Let me share this little unedited excerpt from When the Trees All Burned. I remember writing this scene and feeling very pleased with myself that I worked in the phrase “days of Elijah” into it. If you were brought up in the Evangelical Church you will know like early 2000 era there was a song “Days of Elijah” that got overplayed. It got to a point where I just hated it because we were hearing it constantly and now it's just kind of become a point of mockery. We just make fun of it. It's a silly song. So I wrote this scene and I texted my sister and said, “I just worked ‘Days of Elijah’ into a scene in my book” and she was like “Yes! Good job!” because she's my greatest cheerleader and sometimes I just need to hear that from her. So you're going to hear that. I tend to use a lot of religious imagery in my writing and I think it's because I do a lot of unpacking of my own faith and my own journey through the understanding of who and what God is, and it tends to reveal itself to me through my writing. So that will come up a lot I think maybe I'm going to speak about that and try to unpack it a little more in the next episode. There's so much rich imagery that can add so much colour to a story. And I just love the poetry of it. I love the challenge of flipping something on its head and giving it a new life and new meaning and even a new visual or apply a new image to something. I don't know what I'm trying to say. We're going to talk about it next week. For now though, listen for that little phrase and just enjoy wherever this little excerpt takes you…
Jude parked the RV beside the gates and approached the man standing just inside them with his arms spread wide, her camera lens trained on his grin and the strange world spread out behind him.
“I can’t drive inside?” she asked.
His teeth were as white as his hair and his smile seemed warm though his eyes observed her with the tilt of one who felt pity for another. “There are no vehicles in Eden,” he said. “Did you ever notice that there are no vehicles used for good in the Bible? Certainly not in Eden.”
“Are you a follower of the Christian faith, Mr. Noah?”
“Rajiv,” he said, reaching out a hand. “Please call me Rajiv. Yes… and no, to your question. I hold to no one creed but believe there is good to be gleaned from most traditions. I have yet to find one that reveres a vintage motor home.”
Jude laughed and switched her camera to her left shoulder so she could shake his hand. “What if I called it my chariot?” she asked.
“Ah, yes. The chariots. Do you think it was a gift that Elijah was taken up in a chariot of fire?”
“I’m afraid my Sunday school lessons are a long way behind me,” Jude said, though she vaguely remembered the story of the prophet.
“Ripped from the earth and carried off inside a flaming box of wood and iron—all this after standing witness to so many others being burned alive. His fate was the very same as those he cursed. So no, bright eyes. No chariots here. And no curses. I mean only to warn and save those I can—and though within these walls we will bear witness to horrors yet unseen by man since the days of Elijah, no flame will touch us.” He still held her hand, now cupping it with both of his in earnest.
“You are a modern prophet then?”
“No,” he said, eyes squinting in a playful manner. “All the prophets died.”
“Everybody dies.”
“Yes, but the lucky ones die at the end of their life, not when it is taken from them. Come. Let me show you what lies beyond the veil.”
Chin up, Bright Eyes. We'll chat again next week.
Racing Home is a Chicken House Press production; theme music by Alex Grohl and Alanna Rusnak
any excerpt or content shared here is the exclusive property of Alanna Rusnak and may not be copied or reproduced in any capacity without expressed written permission from the author.
