au·thor/ˈôTHər/ : A. The writer of a book, article, or other text. b. One who practices writing as a profession.

Author: A Video by Jennifer Lyn King

One day about six years ago, I was deep in the process of writing my first book, and the UPS man pulled up at my house. He brought a package to the front door, from my publisher, Tyndale House. After holding my Boxer back from tackling her favorite Man from the Big Brown Truck, my three boys helped me tear into the package. I’ll never forget what waited for me inside the box.

I had recently received news that Tyndale had contracted with me for the book, and the package was a congratulations follow-up. Inside the box, I found a hefty white coffee mug and a textured white book. The word “Author” had been printed in simple black typewriter font on both the mug and the book. As soon as I saw them, my eyes misted over.

It made it real. I was an Author.

Since that day, I’ve kept my pencils and pens in the mug, at the corner of my desk. And, every so often, I flip through the wonderful book Tyndale sent, the book about being an author.

Author, a screen shot from the video: I Begin.

For those of you who are not writers, the process of writing a book may seem different or mysterious. And for those of us who are writers, we know the tremendous amount of life and love and effort that goes into creating a book or a novel. It’s all-consuming at times.

I’m steeped in research for my next novel, and have been thinking about what goes into writing a book. So, in the midst of this past cold and rainy Prague weekend, I worked with my oldest son to create a video that is inspired by the Author book. I’ve titled it Author: A Video. It’s five minutes long and is filled with color photographs and simple I-statements, about the life an author lives while writing a book.

I hope you enjoy it!

Click HERE to access Author: A Video (5 mins) hosted on Vimeo.

PS. A big thanks to the great 13-year-old at King’s Might Productions for his computer savvy! And thanks to Microsoft Office ClipArt photos for the free-use images.