JLB Creatives: March 17, 2013

Monday, March 18, 2013

Meet Author Andrew Marr

Welcome fans of JLB Creatives.

We're so glad you stopped by this week.

We've got tons in store for 2013!

JLBC, AIP (Authors In The Park Event Series), and Lit Wits Schedule:

AIP Event

Spring Into Art ~ The Gallery Walk

Renaissance Bldg in Mt. Dora, Florida

April 13

2:30p - 4:00p and 6:00p-8:00p

JLBC Executive Team Exhibit Booth

Books, Lit Wit Session Sign-Ups, Autographs, Paraphernalia, and more!

UCF Book Festival

April 13 - UCF Orlando, Florida

10:00a - 4:00p

JLBC Executive Team Exhibit Booth

Learn about Lit Wit Sessions and AIP from our experts

Silver Springs Green Festival

Silver Springs Amusement Park

April 18 - 19

9:00a - 5:00p

AIP Event

Picnic with the Authors

Gilbert Park

Mount Dora, Florida

July 6

11:00a - 1:00p

Lit Wits Sessions
Typically the last Saturday of the month starting with
Saturday April 27, 2013

That should be enough to keep you going for a bit - but wanted to get these dates to you so you can mark your calendar and invite your friends to these outstanding appearances.

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Now, on with the show. This week we are featuring the wonderful author

Andrew Marr.

"A Benedictine monk in the Episcopal Church who writes fantasy fiction? How did that happen?"

We certain you're gonna love his story, and will want to snap up his books after reading this feature.

St. Benedict in Fairy Land

by Andrew Marr

A Benedictine monk in the Episcopal Church who writes fantasy fiction? How did that happen? The short answer is: God knows. As for myself, all I can say is that the fantastical has always fascinated me and matters of faith have always been a consuming interest. The first two books to have my name written in them were that tales of Hans Christian Andersen and Grimm’s fairy tales. I started writing fantasy stories as a child and I haven’t stopped since. My religious journey took many twists and turns during my youth, including detours in Hinduism and Buddhism, although I consistently believed that religion dealt with the most important things in life. This journey led me back to the Episcopal Church in which I was raised and then to St. Gregory’s Abbey in Three Rivers, Michigan.

Another interest that caught me and has never let me go is music. Singing in a high quality church choir as a boy introduced me to great choral masterpieces and music has been woven into my religious interests ever since. These days, I sing plainsong in the monastic church and listen to music of all kinds in my spare time. Along with my religious convictions, music is a major strand in many of my stories.

Another swirl running through all of these major interests is a concern for peace and for alternatives to violence. In my stories and other writings, seeking peace within oneself and, more important, within social relationships, has become one of the major themes I deal with. Tools for Peace engages in a dialogue between the Rule of St. Benedict and the thought inspired by René Girard, a thinker preoccupied with the social dimensions of violence while my stories take the reader through enchanted but sometimes troubling pathways in search of visions of peace.

I suppose I could sum up my outlook in life as: Saint Benedict in Fairyland. In their various ways, St. Benedict and fairy tales combine an earnest moral and spiritual drive with a delight in God’s goodness. For me, monastic discipline and the freedom of the fantastical imagination reinforce each other. Both my religious writings and my stories witness to my conviction that, contrary to the violence humans perpetrate, God has created a friendly universe grounded in God’s love for all of us.