We’ve got a discussion guide, suggestions for group activities and retreats, and other goodies for book clubs, Sunday School classes, and other folks making their way through Sabbath in the Suburbs. Huzzah!
We’re especially excited about the videos, designed to complement the themes in the book. The written materials include suggested ways to use them, or just show them to your group and have at it. Each video is below, and here’s the whole album.
A big thanks to Lukrative Visual Products for the vision, creativity, and hard work to make these videos a reality.
Order Sabbath in the Suburbs from Chalice Press, Amazon, or the online bookseller of your choice. Or yours truly.
It’s been fun to hear from book group leaders, pastors, and church educators about their plans to use Sabbath in the Suburbs this fall. Still need to order yours? Chalice and Amazon are open for business, or you can order directly from me.
The Sabbath Supplementals should be out late next week, here on this blog and at the Sabbath blog. Just a reminder that these materials will include:
Five short videos (2-4 minutes each) with discussion questions that connect to the themes of the book. I am VERY excited at how these are turning out and grateful to Lukrative Visual Products for producing them, and to my publisher, Chalice Press for supporting the project.
Suggested readings and prayers to use when opening your meeting.
A series of discussion/retreat modules. This will be a mix and match resource that you can adapt to fit your own group’s demographics and interests.
Although I’m happy for you to stalk this blog all week as you wait for the announcement, if you want to be informed as soon as they’re released you can “follow blog via email” (see right sidebar), or subscribe to my email newsletter. The subscription form says “two messages a month” but it’s more like one message every two months. That’s a Sabbathly way to do it, no?
Finally, thank you for your support of me and this book. Sabbath in the Suburbs is a year old this month. I’m grateful for your companionship on this journey!
I got a lot of “likes” and “Amens” on Facebook the other day for sighing, “I need a summer.”
You too?
School gets out very late here in northern Virginia. Like, end-of-June late. I’m always craving summer by the time we limp across the finish line—the morning routine gets later and later; the lunches I pack get more and more half-a**ed. “Eh… why don’t you just buy your lunch, honey. Again.”
The problem is, for a working parent whose kids do swim team, summer isn’t all that different than the school year. Just hotter, and with wet bathing suits draped over all the furniture. Plus, with kids in day camps, we still have to pack lunches each morning. There is no justice!
But some of the non-summer-ness is self-imposed. I took on more than I should. So for the next month or so, my stop-doing list will include blogging. I might still pop in, especially when the Sabbath Supplementals are done. But otherwise, August will be a month of extended tech Sabbath.
See you in September…
~
Photo Credit: Fingal’s Cave, with the isle of Iona in the background. Steffen M. Boelaars via photopin cc
My book and a cuddly kitty… what could be more Sabbathy than that?
Yesterday I did some corresponding with a church that wants to order 25 copies of Sabbath in the Suburbs for a group study this fall. Conversations like those make me very happy indeed!
Friends sometimes ask, “Where should I order your book in order to be most advantageous to you as the author?” That’s a very kind thing to care about. Ultimately, whatever method gets the book into your hands is the method I want you to use.
That said, there are a number of options:
Chalice, my publisher, has the cheapest price online, at $15.99. I make more per book that at other online retailers. But shipping is additional, so you need to factor in that cost when you order.
Many people like Amazon for the Prime shipping, although they just raised the price of my book this week to $17.99. (I can’t make heads or tails of what they do.) I make somewhat less per book through Amazon than through Chalice, but ordering through Amazon increases the book’s rank, which (I think?) raises its visibility on topical searches and such. It’s also possible that for a book as ‘small’ and specialized as mine, rank doesn’t matter.
I also ship directly for orders of 10 or more. I’ll sign them and include an invoice, or you can pay me through PayPal. I can usually do this for about $15 a copy. Email me at [email protected] if you want to pursue this.
As I said, it’s kind for people to ask where they should order the book in order to yield me the maximum profit. But book writing is not a big money-making enterprise for most of us. And that’s OK. My aspiration is to write and to be read. If you visit this blog regularly, then I’ve met my goal. If you buy the book and read it, that’s icing on the cupcake.
Many of you have requested or downloaded the discussion guide for Sabbath in the Suburbs.
First, thank you so very much for your interest and support.
Second, I’d love your feedback on that discussion guide for a new project in the works…
My publisher and I are creating some enhanced materials for groups that will roll out in the fall. These “Sabbath Supplementals” will include a retreat plan or two, some devotional-type material that groups can use to open their meetings, and about half a dozen short videos (2-3 minutes) that expand on some of the themes in the book.
If you used the discussion guide and are willing, please email me with any comments on the experience. What was helpful, and what did you want more of? Were there specific topics that you wanted to see clarified/expanded?
Any suggestions would be much appreciated!
Incidentally, if you’re interested in being notified when these materials become available, please sign up for my email newsletter, sent once a month and usually less often
