Sean’s inspirational, coming-of-age tale of first faith
and first love and how the two became almost fatally
intertwined in his life. It is a poignant and
insightful meditation on surviving in the gray area between
God’s sovereignty and our individual free will.
“Unless you’re a big name celebrity or other well-known
personality, selling your memoir is more than just
difficult; it’s often impossible. After all, everyone has
a story to tell, don’t they? When we received Sean’s
pitch, we weren’t certain it would be one we’d
pursue—even with his clear accomplishments in the
film/movie industry. But a few pages in and I was hooked.”
Publisher, Sheri Williams adds, “Sean’s author voice is
crisp and inviting. It’s like having a conversation with a
close friend and sharing the struggles and revelations
he’s encountered. And, best of all, he’s down-right
entertaining!”
While Sean wrote this book with the Christian reader in mind, the
audience for the book is definitely not limited to
born-again Christians. It was written in casual,
easy-to-understand, non-theological style to make it
accessible to spiritual seekers of all varieties. Human
beings naturally seek to find the transcendent and eternal.
This book reveals it is possible.
The Interview
1.
Where were you
when the idea for this book came to you?
I
felt strongly compelled to write this book after dying on the operating table
after routine surgery. That experience
made me realize that, although I was a storyteller by profession, I have never
told my own story, which I felt some people would find valuable.
2. What makes your book unique?
“The
Promise, or the Pros and Cons of Talking with God” is my own story. No one could tell it but me. In fact, many aspects of my life came as a
complete surprise to even my closest friends.
Still, although the book is very personal, I have discovered that many
people relate to it very deeply.
2.
Who is your primary
audience?
The book is a spiritual memoir, and since I am
a Christian, I suppose the primary audience would be Christians. However, I didn’t write the book specifically
for that market. This is not a
theological book. It is a very human
tale that is both unique and universal in its appeal. As a teenager I underwent a surprising and
extraordinary spiritual conversion that falls well outside commonplace
experience. However, the awkward
parallel story of first love, which my faith journey ultimately plays out
against, should be aching familiar to anyone who has loved and needlessly
lost. Both stories are well worth
telling, but combined I believe they possess a special value.
Aside from love and spirituality, the book also deals all
too knowingly with the subject of suicide.
My love story ends with a suicide attempt on my part. Fortunately, my life was spared by divine
intervention. My sister would not be so
lucky. Her tragic death allowed me to
experience firsthand the suffering I nearly inflicted on my family and
friends. In a final strange irony, the
death of my sister resulted in a brief reunion with my lost love that gave me
peaceful closure to our relationship, and my relationship with God Himself.
3.
What draws you to
this genre?
I’m a
screenwriter. To date I have written
fourteen produced feature films. I never
imagined I would write a memoir. I have
always been a very private person and I was completely satisfied drawing
oblique references to my formative life experiences through the framework of myfilms.
However, after suffering a near death experience and battling a
potentially fatal illness, I felt a very strong need to tell my own tale and
give my testimony.
4.
What kind of
research did you have to do?
Fortunately,
I value the written word and I have saved almost every personal letter anyone
has ever written me. That correspondence
provided the backbone of my story. Also,
when I began writing I downloaded a hundred or so songs from each of the years
featured in my book. I would randomly
play the music of the years I sought to recreate as I wrote about them. It’s amazing the memories the songs brought
back. It was a very useful tool.
5.
What challenged or
surprised you about writing this story?
The
biggest challenge I faced was balancing my need to tell my story truthfully
against my desire to protect the privacy of the people who played major parts
in my life. This was particularly true
in the case of my former girlfriend, whom I call Kathy Gardiner. “The Promise, or the Pros and Cons of Talking
with God” is about my relationship with God, but that relationship plays out
mainly against the backdrop of my relationship with Kathy. She is a very private person so I did
everything within my power to obscure her identity by changing practically
every traceable detail concerning her life.
This was also true of other
individuals I discuss, including an old friend I essentially accuse of murder. On the other hand, I was genuinely surprised
how many people wanted me to use their real names in the book.
6.
What did you enjoy
most about writing this story?
I can’t
say I enjoyed writing it. It was an
emotional rollercoaster for me. I felt
bad for my wife, who had to endure my moodiness at the time. Although most of the memories were sweet and
charming, others were extremely painful for me to confront. I find the first half of the book easy to
read, but there are a number of chapters in the second half that I still avoid.
What surprises me most is that people
often talk about how much humor there is in the book. I’m glad.
I never intended it to be gloomy – despite some of the serious subject
matter. Overall, I am happy I wrote it,
if only for the impact it is having on the people who read it.
7.
What do you want
your audience to come away with after reading your book?
I
want people to realize that it is possible to have a true personal,
relationship with the living God. I want
people to know you can reach beyond the world and touch the eternal and
transcendent. However, there’s a reason
I called it the pros and cons of talking with God. There are cons. With knowledge comes responsibility, and
there is often a temporal price to pay when you ignore God’s will in your life. Faith might be all you need to be saved, but
you must learn obedience to experience all of the riches God has in store for
you.
9. What are your
plans for the future?
Ideally,
I would prefer to move away from movies to books. I have started a follow-up to my memoir
called “Unconditional, or the Pros and Cons of Missionary Dating,” which will
prove how little I learned about love during the events of the first book. I have also started a novel. However, film work, both as a writer and an
editor, keeps getting in the way.
produced feature film credits including the faith-based
favorites “Hidden Secrets,” “Sarah’s Choice,” and
“The Encounter.” Sean lives in Baltimore, Maryland. He is happily married
with three step-daughters, and he can be found every Sunday morning playing guitar at his church.
For media appearances, interviews, or to schedule signings contact info@touchpointpress.com .
Here are the links:
Amazon: http://amzn.com/0692200533
Touchpoint: http://touchpointpress.com/bookstore/
Personal:
My webpage: http://seanpaulmurphyville.blogspot.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SeanPaulMurphy
No comments:
Post a Comment