Next week is Inklings Week! 

I honestly cannot express the profound influence two Inklings have had on my life and my writing — J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. If you are unfamiliar with the Inklings — they were a group of writers, readers and friends who gathered for discussions at the Eagle and Child pub in Oxford England. Notable members include the two luminaries I mentioned above along with —- and lots of others. Next week, on both Facebook and Instagram you can learn a lot more about their lives and writings. I’ve shared a little of their influences on me in my post, which will publish next week, so I won’t go into it here.

What I would like to do here is introduce you to Jamie Lapeyrolerie and the inspiration behind Inklings Week!  

Katherine:  When and why did you start Inklings Week?

Jamie:  I first thought the Inklings should be celebrated in some fun way after reading Tolkien and C. S. Lewis: The Gift of a Friendship by Colin Duriez in early spring 2014. I read the book for the then monthly Inklings series I hosted and Duriez pointed out that they first met on May 11, 1926. In my discussion post, I wrote "First off, I think there should be an official holiday on May 11th (1926). This was the day Tolkien and Lewis first met...If these two weren’t a part of each other's lives, we wouldn’t have LOTR or Narnia. What a dark and dreary world that would be." It wasn't until 2015 though that I decided to make a week-long celebration of it. I love their works deeply and I wanted to take some time every year to celebrate that.

Katherine: I’m beyond delighted you did. Their works mean the world to me and I can’t imagine my faith, my love-for-reading, or my writing to be what they are without these two.  You and I are devotees, but do you feel the Inklings hold relevance to readers today? Readers just meeting them now? 

Absolutely! Their continued popularity shows that their stories and books carry timeless truths of human nature and resonate so deeply. I wrote this during my first Inklings Week and I still believe this wholeheartedly: "Their books have shown me what it means to be brave, what it means to be a true and loyal friend until the very end, what it means to love, what it means to fight for good against all odds, and what it means to embrace what you were meant to do. Their books have also helped me realize it’s okay to wrestle with faith, to understand God’s character in ways I didn’t see before, how to hope in the most dire of circumstances and that there’s always a chance to turn back. They wrote more than just books. They left a legacy (of their lives and their stories) that will continue to impact generations to come.”

Katherine: Well said, then and now. I completely agree! Lewis, in fact, recently reminded me that turning back is often the best approach. If you’re going in the wrong direction, progressing forward won’t fix things. 

You and I clearly have two favorite Inklings — and justifiably so 😉 — can you talk about some of your favorite of their books? 

Jamie: Does it work to say whichever one I just read? ha! Of J.R.R. Tolkien's work, definitely The Lord of the Rings. With Lewis, of course there's Narnia, but I really enjoy The Screwtape Letters and The Great Divorce because both force you to look at human nature in such different and creative ways. Both are such literary geniuses - I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall during just one of their Inklings meetings!

Me too… And you picked a few my favorites too. Thanks for chatting with me today!

And dear readers, please find all the live links within this post for next week and follow all the Inkling fun. 

Additionally, there is a Monday Night FaceBook Panel at 6:30 MT/7:30 CT. Please stop by! 

See you soon!

Katherine  

December 2020: Welcome to the Sixth Day of Christmas.

A few friends and I got together to create a fun Christmas Giveaway. It's huge and there are so many fun books -- and 12 winners! For the grand prize there is also a $100 Amazon Gift Card!

Join the Giveaway by Clicking Here and check out all the authors involved. If you are visiting here on December 6th, the winner of today's drawing will not only receive a copy of my book, Of Literature and Lattes, but a copy of all the books that came before my day... That means Liz Johnson, Jill Kemerer, Sarah Sundin, Sarah Ladd and Tari Faris all have beautiful books for today's winner. Isn't that fun? The prizes build just like the Christmas song.

And, while I have you here, I am thrilled to announce that I have a new book coming out next fall! It doesn't have a title or a cover yet, but all that is coming soon. Even though, I don't know those details, I can tell you this -- I love this story and hope you will too.

Merry Christmas!

 Here are the authors involved, the dates of their postings, and their websites...

12/1      Liz Johnson – www.lizjohnsonbooks.com/giveaways

12/2      Jill Kemerer - http://jillkemerer.com/blog/

12/3      Sarah Sundin - http://www.sarahsundin.com/blog/

12/4      Sarah Ladd - https://sarahladd.com/giveaway/

12/5      Tari Faris - https://www.tarifaris.com/blog

12/6      Katherine Reay - https://katherinereay.com/kreay2018/events-and-promotion/

12/7      Lindsay Harrel - https://www.lindsayharrel.com/blog/

12/8      Jessica R. Patch - www.jessicarpatch.com

12/9      Sara Ella - https://saraella.com/

12/10    Kristy Cambron - https://www.instagram.com/kristycambron/

12/11    Jennifer Deibel – https://thisgalsjourney.com/

12/12    Liz Johnson – www.lizjohnsonbooks.com/giveaways

Books and Coffee Parings:

What's a good book without a delicious drink to enjoy with it??