Better Fiction: The Blog

Today, in part five of our (hopefully) six-part series on "The Codebearers" series, we talk to one half of the author / illustrator team of the Miller Brothers, Allan Miller. Together with his brother, Chris, they have authored two pictures books in the "Heroes of Promise" series and their first novel in "The Codebearers" series, Hunter Brown and the Secret of the Shadow.

1) When you were seeking a publisher for your first series, "Heroes of Promise", how did you deal with the initial rejections?

A: Dealing with rejection, or any form of criticism for that matter, is a tough skill to learn for any artist. Chris and I had begun learning some of that skill through our time as students at the Art Institute of Seattle and it was further ingrained over our 11+ years of commercial design for clients. Because art requires you to pour out your creative energy, taking criticism on it becomes very personal - no matter how hard you try to steel yourself against it.

So... sitting in front of a acquisitions editor and having them hold a "piece" of you with a critical eye was(and still is) a bit un-nerving. Our first year pitching "Gid the Kid" (the first book in our "Heroes of Promise" series) we were thrilled to have the extraordinary chance to meet one-on-one with many of the top christian publishing houses. As we made the rounds, we were met with a lot of "We're not doing this type of book," or "Picture books are too hard to publish in this market" kind of answers even though they said they liked our work. It was pleasant enough, but in the end they were still rejections. So, we felt like we had struck gold when one of the publishers finally DID show real interest even advancing us through the acquisitions process until the Sales/Marketing team popped the bubble - they couldn't produce our book. Honestly, while there was certainly a feeling of rejection from the publisher, it mostly felt like a rejection from God. We'd felt like this was a life dream He had given to us and that He had opened this amazing door to all of a sudden slam it shut. It didn't make sense - it just hurt.

In the end, the truth came out that He was actually being gracious to us (Oh the shock!). The truth was that the time was not right yet, but in his gracious way, he was letting us know that our work was good enough to gain interest in this marketplace; giving us just enough taste of success to inspire us to try again. He had a better thing in store for us. The following year, he once again opened the door for us to gain audience with the publishers, but this time Warner Press was waiting. The year before, they were not even in the Children's Book market. Now, they were building a new division and looking for books just like ours. It began a wonderful relationship that has been a blessing to be in for the past years. We couldn't imagine a better situation. God knew what He was doing. Funny how that works, isn't it?

What we gained from this experience was a valuable lesson in trusting God. I think that this simple truth is probably the most practical way to manage rejection: First and foremost, we've got to firmly establish our work as God's. When we can keep the perspective that our work is done for Him, I think it helps take away the devestating sting that rejection can inflict (Remember, He's in control!) and also gives us the proper motivation for responding to criticism (We want our work to be excellent for Him!) There is a great prayer in the bible (Psalm 90:17) that is taped to our computer monitors as a daily encouragement to this end: "May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us, establish the work of our hands for us." If we can keep this perspective in our work, we're well-equipped to handle the next "defeat", or "failure" that will inevitably come our way.

2) Can you compare your two series from a creator's aspect? Each must have had its unique difficulties.

A: Yes. They are quite different... but the same in many ways too.

Both have their roots in our childhood. Heroes of Promise was born out of a simple verse in Judges when it says, "In those days, there was no king and every man did what was right in his own eyes." Chris had read that in devotions and had the funny thought that "those days" must have been a lot like our more modern history of the lawless "Wild West" with no sheriff. Ever since we were kids, we'd been fascinated with the story of Gideon and been toying with the idea that someday we might write a story based on him. So, with cowboys and chili floating in our heads, we soon had the idea for "Gid the Kid". It sort of flowed out in metered rhyme as we began writing it and the rest is history. "Ten-Gallon Sam"s retelling of Samson soon followed (and we hope to add more someday soon). With it's picture-book design this series was naturally geared more towards the pre-school/elementary age group and seemed like a fine place for first-time authors to enter. It was comfortable.

As we were wrapping up the illustrations for "Gid the Kid", another childhood inspiration bubbled up to the surface. We had always loved Pilgrim's Progress growing up and had often thought how cool it would be to tell a modern-day story that could engage today's youth with a similar tale. The idea started simply enough, but soon we realized that this would clearly be an epic story that had to be told in novel form. This idea was NOT so comfortable. After all, we'd only written a 32-page picture book; we were not novelists... were we? But the ideas wouldn't stop coming and, perhaps a bit like "Gid" beating his chili pot as he took his stand against the "Black Bean Bandits", we finally took on our fears and stepped up to be the kind of heroes we were writing about. The result is a book that we felt we were missing when we were entering into the independent reader ages. We're excited to be able to continue that story in two more upcoming novels.

Naturally, by sheer size, the novels have been our biggest endeavor, requiring the most creative effort. There is so much more to develop with the larger scope of the 360+ page story than the shorter 32-page picture books require. However, the unique challenge of our Heroes of Promise stories is fitting it into the relatively small amount of words that they allow for while still telling the whole story. Of the two series, we've found that our Hunter Brown story has been the most rewarding to write - probably because we've poured so much more into it. But, there's something about reading "Gid the Kid" aloud to a first-grade class of kids that still holds a special place in our hearts. In the end, we find great satisfaction in seeing the truth we can communicate through our stories connecting with kids and changing lives.

3) What advice would you give Christian writers who want to see their work used by God?

A: The best advice is to make sure it's truly being done for God. Do it to the best of your abilities as a act of worship. Offer it up to Him and allow Him to take it where He leads (Psalm 90:17!) It's an exciting ride when we get to enter into the creative expression alongside our Creator.

4) Any tips for people considering beginning a collaborative project?

A: Make sure you like the person! Ha! Seriously, Chris and I have a great friendship to build our collaborative work off of. What seems to make our relationship work is having just enough in common, while still having our differences. It allows us to be "inside each other's head" while still bringing unique strengths to compliment the other. Chris tends to excel at the "big ideas" while I have a knack for details. I think in collaboration you need some of that ability - especially when writing a novel together! It also takes a lot of humility mixed with a good measure of grace; there are plenty of opportunities to butt heads over an idea. Ultimately, we've found the process quite enjoyable. We get an instant sounding board, a built-in editor, and encouragement for when things are not going so well in writing. Practically speaking, you'll also want to invest in a good change-tracking software. We haven't found the perfect one to recommend yet, but Word offers some features (There's nothing worse than having one of you save over the top of another's.) Also, another practical tip: work out the outline together and then each take a section to work on individually. Sometimes that means back-to-back chapters, or a particular character (if there are multiple storylines.)

Learn more about the Miller Brothers at their website. Or see what our other bloggers have to say:

Brandon Barr
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