Christmas Love Letters from God is the newest release from bestselling children’s author Glenys Nellist. Her rapid success has produced six books in just over two years:
Published by Zonderkidz, October 2016
- Love Letters from God: Bible Stories – August 26, 2014 (Click here for my Love Letters interview.)
- Little Love Letters from God: Bible Stories Board book – December 29, 2015
- Snuggle Time Prayers Board book – February 2, 2016
- Snuggle Time Psalms Board book – August 9, 2016
- NIrV Love Letters from God Holy Bible – October 4, 2016
- Christmas Love Letters from God: Bible Stories – October 4, 2016
A Michigander originally from northern England, Nellist desires to bring “the Bible to life for young children.” Christmas Love Letters accomplishes her aspiration. Starting with Isaiah’s prophecy and ending with “Wise Men’s Wonder,” the book contains seven stories of Christ’s birth. Each story is coupled with a corresponding poem and lift-the-flap “Love Letter from God.” Kid-friendly stories, the ability to personalize each letter with a child’s name, engaging illustrations, and quality paper make this a meaningful, beautiful, and purposeful gift for children ages 4-8.
My favorite portion of Christmas Love Letters is the last page. Correlated with the story of the wise men bringing gifts to Jesus, Nellist encourages children to write a love letter to Jesus as a Christmas gift. I hope this interview helps you learn more about Glenys and her heart for sharing Christ through her books. Also, take a minute to enter the giveaway of Christmas Love Letters at the bottom of this post.
First, let’s get to know more about you. If you could have tea with any author, whom would you choose?
Ooh….that is a hard choice! Can I cheat and have tea with a family of authors? If so, it would have to be the Bronte sisters—Charlotte, Emily and Ann. My favorite novels of all time are Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre! (Did you know they had to pretend to be men before they could get their work published?) Two years ago, I had the privilege of visiting their humble home in Haworth, England, and saw for myself the dining table around which they walked together as they shared ideas for stories. I would love to have tea with them and find out what other books they would have written, had they not died so young.
What excites you most about Christmas Love Letters from God: Bible Stories?
What excites me most about this book is really what excites me about all the Love Letters from God books… that little children will open those lift-the-flap letters and feel, as they hear their very own name, just how much God loves them. Including love letters from God to the child is just such a precious and personal way to plant God’s Word into young hearts and minds.
When writing your first book, Love Letters from God, you selected eighteen stories spanning the entire Bible. All seven stories in Christmas Love Letters from God are a facet of Christ’s birth. Did this make the writing process easier or harder?
I think in a way, it made the writing process easier. I knew that I wanted to begin with the prophecy in Isaiah, and end with the visit of the magi. Once I had those two ’book-ends’ in place, I then had a framework within which to work. After that, it was simply a matter of deciding how to section off parts of this familiar story, in a way that might be new and interesting.
Describe the joys and challenges of six books published in 26 months.
This journey certainly has been a joy to be part of! I sometimes feel like God is the real author, and I’m just along for the ride! In a sense, one writing project just naturally led to another, and before I knew where I was, there were six books that somehow, incredulously, bore my name. Ephesians 3:20 is always at the back of my mind: God is able to do immeasurably more that all we could ask or imagine. The challenge has been to try and keep up with marketing the different titles, and not get so caught up in that that I lose my creative flow.
What marketing strategies have worked best for you?
I think that with each subsequent book, my marketing skills have improved, but it’s still something that, for me at least, is very time consuming. I also never quite know how effective one marketing strategy is over another. Hosting book giveaways, both on Goodreads and via my website, have attracted a lot of attention, especially since I have been using the Facebook ads to help boost traffic. But the best piece of marketing advice I ever heard was to keep writing! Another well-written book will do far more to attract attention to your prior works than any blog post or marketing campaign. So that’s what I have tried to do.
What is the most rewarding feedback you have received about one of your stories?
Time after time, I have been moved and surprised to hear stories of how adults have been impacted through my books. One mom shared:
This morning my 7-year old read the Samuel anointing David story to me and she inserted my name into the letter. Can I just say that I felt God speaking directly to me through that letter .Awesome!!
My target audience for Love Letters from God is children. But I guess this just proves to me that God’s target audience is the world!
What Glenys Nellist projects are brewing?
I’m excited to announce that Girls’ Love Letters from God will be published in the spring of 2017, followed by ‘Twas the Evening of Christmas in October of the same year. I also have additional titles coming out in my Snuggle Time series, and more projects beyond that. It truly is the principle of Ephesians 3: 20 at work in my life and I’m so thankful to God for all of it.
For a chance to win a copy of Christmas Love Letters from God, please use the Facebook connect button or enter your email address, using the form below. (Any personal information I receive is confidential and for the sole purpose of contacting the winner.) If you do not win, you have six more opportunities as Glenys continues on her blog tour. Her next stop is with Christina Embree on October 31.
You can find Christmas Love Letters from God extension and advent activities on Glenys’ blog.
I’ve always enjoyed reading Nicholas Sparks’ books, so I would invite him.
Thank you so much, Denette, for interviewing me, and for your encouraging words about my books. I so appreciate that.
What a great interview. I am excited about this book. The cover looks amazing!
This looks like a perfectly beautiful book!
There are so many authors I would love to sit down with. Wayne Dyer has changed me a lot. So has Carol Tuttle.