Don’t You Ever Quit - episode 148
In case you didn’t know, the BA stands for “Beautiful Angelina” a nickname her husband gave her when he said “Angelina” was just a bit too long, looking for a term of endearment. Well, it stuck and good for her because BA Crisp is the name she uses as the bestselling author of Red Bird and X Point. She has lived a lot of lives in this one.
Having been a foster child, BA is quick to point out she is not a victim. She didn’t just survive, she thrives. BA kept to the idea that she would never quit no matter what, (there were lots of those), and that all things were possible. She believed it, it sustained her, and it brought her to where she is today. Wife, mom, author, advocate. And anything else she wants.
Resilient. Caring. Genuine.
— BA Crisp
Thinking Through My Fingers
Thoughts from Don’t You Ever Quit
So BA has written a trilogy: Red Bird, X Point (both out now) and Emergent (coming in March). They are science fiction novels and as she described they have a theme that runs parallel with her own life. Surviving then thriving. As I read the first book’s summary on Amazon I see the main character, Samantha Ryan Blake is very much like BA herself. You know what they say, Write what you know.
As you may have noticed, I too like to write. These blogs are an exercise in expressing thoughts I may not otherwise have had, a riff sparked by something that came out of that week’s conversation. I enjoy the challenge. I guess I would describe myself as an expressive writer if there is such a descriptive. I am keen to contemplate thoughts and feelings, then put them to paper. I don’t think I’d like writing a full-blown story. Plot, conflict, character development, characters speaking, describing things in riveting detail (frankly I usually skim over this in my own personal reading, I must be too impatient), and resolution of some kind. It takes a special skill set, and of course, an interest. I don’t have either.
Usually when I write the thoughts and feelings flow. Sometimes I get stuck and I almost always have thesaurus.com open to try and find new ways to say an overused word like “enjoy." I used to think it was cheating to use a tool like that but now I realize how essential it is to have different resources available to enhance your work.
The other writing I do is something I haven’t done in a long time but recently picked back up again. It’s called response writing or listening prayer. This is how I defined it years back:
I was introduced to response writing in the early ‘90s. A simple way to describe it is, after you have written a letter to someone, include the response you’d like to hear. I have used this technique off and on since then. I have found it helpful in the answers I have been given, and healing in the comfort it provides. Also, on some level I believe there is a strong possibility (maybe even a probability) that the answers originate from the divine. Feel free to form your own opinions.
When I am writing the response I usually can’t keep up with my pen, the words are coming rapidly. Let me give you an example of one I did the other day in case you’d like to give it a try.
Dear God,
Thank you for life. For breath, for my heart beating, my body working (relatively well). I want to sit in what is good, to remember all good things come from you.
And of course there are the problems, or challenges, as I prefer to call them. I will have them. My family will have them. Yet you tell me you will be with me through it all.
I get to trust. It’s a choice.
Love, Rechelle
Dear Rechelle,
There is nowhere you can go that I am not, there is nothing you can do to change my love for you. It’s real, it’s eternal, it’s everlasting. Hold on to the the truth when times get you down. They are fleeting. I am not. You are not. We are forever.
So go have this experience and have it fully. You were designed for this. Love them, love me, love you.
Love, God
When I’m done writing, I feel deeply fulfilled and loved. Whether it’s me or not is the wrong focus. I believe it is an edifying exercise, one that brings me joy and peace. What could possibly be wrong with that?
Writing to me, is simply thinking through my fingers.
— Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov was a fellow science fiction writer - a perfect nod to BA Crisp
