Abstract

In November  the Psychology, Culture and Religion Unit (PCR) of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) sponsored a programme session entitled “From Idea to Book.” In the session we invited three authors, who also have strong ties to the Society for Pastoral Theology (SPT), to reflect on the journeys of moving their ideas and insights into published books. This process is long and winding for many academic authors. Seeing it telescoped into a single conversation allows colleagues to witness the particular process as narrated by three authors at different stages of their professional development. The narrative accounts have the power to spark imaginations and provoke more expansive ways to see potential pathways for bringing ideas to life through writing and publishing. The three authors wrote three very different books with three different intended audiences, three different publishers, and three different processes of writing and publishing. Authors introduce their books in some detail, and then we turn to questions about the intertwined processes of writing and publishing. The interview concludes with practical wisdom for writing well. Gregory C. Ellison, II is the Associate Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, Georgia. Ellison’s second book Fearless Dialogues: A New Movement for Justice was published with Westminister/John Knox Press in . Duane Bidwell is Professor of Practical Theology, Spiritual Care and Counseling and Senior Staff Clinician and Supervisor at the Clinebell Institute for Pastoral Counseling and Psychotherapy at Claremont School of Theology in California. His book, When One Religion Isn’t Enough: The Lives of Spiritually Fluid People, was published with Beacon Press