jason boyett writes about saints, afterlife, & the bible

Stay tuned (after the interview with Jason) for a GIVEAWAY announcement…

Lots of things. First of all, they fit the Pocket Guide template, which requires them to have a deep, historical well of obscure religious trivia. Plus, some of that trivia has to be really weird. The topics of Sainthood and the Afterlife fit those criteria perfectly. Plus, they’re of interest to me personally. When it comes to the saints, we hear their names all the time in connection with cities, hospitals, schools, etc. But who were these people? What made them so holy? Once I started looking into it, I realized that it wasn’t just important to tell their stories so we’d know who they were. It was important to tell their stories because they involved turning sheep into grasshoppers (St. Barbara), delivering a sermon while holding your decapitated head in your hands (St. Denis), and sailing across the Irish Sea on a tiny leaf (St. Ia). Seriously, there are some crazily unbelievable legends surrounding the saints. That’s funny stuff, even without the snarky commentary.

As for the Afterlife, well, don’t we all want to know what awaits us after we die? Almost every culture has some idea about what’s beyond this life, and some of those ideas can be outright horrifying and weird. And horrifyingly weird. There’s also the question of the Christian ideas of heaven and hell. How much of our beliefs about those come from the Bible? How much come from culture and art and literature? Is that MercyMe song correct when it says I’ll dance before Jesus? Because seriously, that would feel really awkward to me. I only know the two-step and the backspin. And ethereal harp music is a horrible accompaniment for either of those. Anyway, our Christian afterlife beliefs have been shaped by a lot of different forces, and only one of those was the Bible. I thought it would be fun to explore that, along with all the fascinating afterlife mythology of other world religions.

Both Sainthood and Afterlife were big, entertaining ideas that I thought I’d attempt to explain in a small, entertaining book. So they got the Pocket Guide treatment.

MPT: These books are hilarious: How do you know when what your writing is really funny?

Thank you. Am I now supposed to say that your books are funny, too? Because they are. Did you say that just so I’d return the praise? I think you did, you sly dog. Anyway. “How do I know when it’s funny?” is a difficult question. I don’t always know. Mostly I’m guessing at the humor quality of a joke or sentence or whatever. Something I find funny doesn’t always hit other people the same way. (Occasionally it offends them.) Rarely do I laugh at my own jokes — that’s sorta obnoxious anyway — but occasionally in reading over a previous draft I would laugh or at least smile at something I’d written and forgotten about. When that happens, I know it’s funny. And when my wife reads it and laughs at it, that’s another giveaway, because we don’t always share a sense of humor. So I wouldn’t say I always know something is funny. Mostly I’m hoping it’s funny. Humor writing requires a lot of faith, I guess.

@k75swartz: I would ask a blog writer who is a parent, when do you find the time to write?

Good news, k75, because I am in fact a parent, and have been throughout my book-writing career. When this thing started, I promised my wife that I wouldn’t let my writing pursuits cut into our family time. So I’ve remained committed to writing books at night after the kids go to bed and in the early morning before they get up. I don’t write books full-time yet — I supplement it with other writing and graphic design to pay the bills. So the book thing is still a glorified side gig at this point, but it’s still something I do on my own time — not on my family’s time. It means a tough schedule (see @JakeCOlson’s question below), but one I’m committed to until I can do this full-time.

But I wouldn’t say I “find” the time to write. That seems too passive an attitude. If you want to be disciplined about writing, you can’t be passive about it. I have to make the time.

@dubdynomite: When and how did you realize that you were a writer?

I knew I could write by the time I reached high school. Creative writing was always pretty easy for me — I didn’t struggle to write papers or essays like many of my friends in school. That kind of skill/talent/voodoo just came naturally to me. But the ability to write and “being a writer” aren’t necessarily the same thing. I guess I realized I was a Writer, with a capital W, when people started paying me to write stuff. When the corporate copywriting gigs turned into magazine articles, and when the magazine articles turned into books. That makes me a Writer, I suppose. That and the business card I have that says “Jason Boyett: Writer.” It’s awesome.

@deppisch: How does it feel to live in the shadow of Matthew Paul Turner?

It’s a bit like Disneyland, only with life-sized illustrations of Jesus instead of Mickey Mouse. And there’s lots of Kelly Clarkson music playing somewhere in the distance. And everyone keeps talking very frankly about sex. Sort of an embarrassing place, to be honest. I wouldn’t recommend living here in Matthew Paul Turner’s shadow, but it’s OK for a quick visit.

@JakeCOlson: What do your days look like? Tell me about a typ week.

On a typical weekday I get up at 6 am, pour a cup of coffee, and go to work (on a book project, or magazine assignment, or blog post) until 6:45 am. Then I clean up and get dressed before my kids get up, then we all eat breakfast together and they head to school around 7:45 am. From then until 5 pm, I’m working my “real job” as a freelance copywriter and designer. Doing client work. The kids go to bed during the school year around 8:30 pm, at which point I exercise for 45 minutes, then come home and spend the rest of the evening either working on a book (if I’m under contract) or article or, if I have no pressing assignments, hanging out with my very understanding wife. I go to bed around midnight. That’s the standard weekday for me. I also write on Saturday mornings, and I take Sundays off.

@dtatusko: how did you get your work published?

My first book was published during the first couple years of Relevant’s existence. I had been writing for Relevant’s brand-new website during its early months, and we figured out that we liked each other and my writing style was well-suited for Relevant’s growing audience. Cameron Strang was getting his feet wet in the book publishing world — this was before the magazine launched — and he and Cara Davis asked me if I had any book ideas. I said yes, of course — and sent them a list of ideas. Things You Should Know by Now was on that list and ended up being my first published book. Pocket Guide to the Apocalypse was also on that list. It became my third book.

@tejas_grande: Teenage vampires… Really?!?

Really. Do you have a problem with teenage vampires? I don’t. I love ’em. I wish I’d thought of them. In fact, one publisher asked me to write a Pocket Guide-ish book about vampires so we both could ride the long, black coattails of the vampire publishing phenomenon. I ultimately said no, but in the process of thinking about it I read the complete Twilight series and enjoyed every chapter of it. So did my wife. Anyway, at this point, you just don’t question a multimillion-dollar industry. Really.

@tomlinsondaniel: I’d ask how he or she keeps writing when they are not inspired to do so.

Well, I’d answer by saying a manuscript deadline is a pretty good inspirational tool. There’s nothing like big, fat date on the calendar to keep you busy. But I should confess: I am a freak not only about staying on schedule, but about staying ahead of schedule. Most of my books have been delivered a week or two prior to my deadline, and I can only think of a couple of instances where I’ve not met the assigned deadline for a magazine article. Am I telling you this because I want you to think I am awesome? Yes, of course. (Please love me.) But also to let you know that, as a professional writer, staying on deadline is important. Writing is my job. Which means I have to be able to write even if I don’t “feel like it,” or even if the inspiration isn’t there. I doubt mechanics or carpenters or plumbers ever allow themselves a day off from work because they “don’t feel inspired,” so I don’t let myself use that excuse either. Even if I write an hour or a day’s worth of crap, I still write.

Okay, I’m giving away TWO SETS of Jason’s NEW Pocket Guide Books–THAT’S THREE BOOKS–All you have to do is leave a comment that finishes the following sentence…