{"id":7192,"date":"2020-08-19T17:08:39","date_gmt":"2020-08-20T01:08:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/?p=7192"},"modified":"2020-08-19T17:18:00","modified_gmt":"2020-08-20T01:18:00","slug":"additional-questions-for-davis-bunn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/additional-questions-for-davis-bunn\/","title":{"rendered":"Davis Bunn Interview: Additional Questions & Answers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

During our C.S. Lewis College webinar<\/a> <\/strong>on Saturday, August 15, 2020, we interviewed best-selling author Davis Bunn on his writing, his life, and his thoughts on storytelling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to time constraints, we weren’t able to get to every question, so Davis generously offered to answer the remaining questions through email. We’re pleased to post them below. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ll also be posting the video in the next few weeks. Visit www.cslewiscollege.org\/webinar<\/strong><\/a> for details on future webinars. Visit our YouTube channel to watch past webinars<\/a><\/strong> and conference videos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Do you feel your calling is to spread Christian values to the secular world?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For myself, the writing with its sense of calling and my faith are so intertwined it is hard to separate them out.\u00a0 But that was not actually your question, was it.\u00a0 You asked if I felt we should ‘spread Christian values’.\u00a0 And that to my mind needs to be broken down into some core issues.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, if we are believers, don’t we share the core values in simply living our lives?\u00a0 If that is the case, then your question most likely is, should I be doing this OVERTLY.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have written books both within the evangelical community and without.\u00a0 And working outside the safety zone of church and faith has taught me a lot about living within a community that considers the whole concept of Christian faith to be an opponent.\u00a0 To me, the overt message does not work, particularly in dealing with the world of entertainment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we put out an overt message about faith-based values, and it is in opposition to what a non-believer wants to have as their evening entertainment, they simply turn the channel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the question then becomes one of two: First, how do we create a story structure that is so compelling that even if they disagree with the compass heading, they keep watching?\u00a0 Or, how do we embed a moral, or value, or message, into a story and have it remain somewhat hidden?\u00a0 The answer to that, I find, is by creating either a question that is not answered, or having the hero make a realization in the climax that points in this direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One final thought:\u00a0 The whole issue of faith-based values has sadly become tied up in political direction, especially within the evangelical community.\u00a0 Which I find truly sad.\u00a0 This runs the risk of demonizing strong believers who stand on the other side of the political divide.\u00a0 With respect, I do not think this definition of ‘Christian values’ should be used in today’s hyper-divided world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is your favorite book by yourself and by another author?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Janette was asked that during our first-ever joint interview.\u00a0 She said, All my children are favorites at one point in time or another.\u00a0 And it’s the same for what I read, and what I write.\u00a0 I really like that a lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have just completed the first draft of a new story, book five in the Miramar Bay series, entitled The Cottage on Lighthouse Lane<\/em>.\u00a0 It is quite possibly the best romantic drama I’ve ever written.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently I am reading the autobiography of Madeline Albright, former US representative to the UN and Secretary of State.\u00a0 Hers is an amazing story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you an introvert or extrovert? Writing is solitary but selling is not!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Okay, first of all, we need to have a clear understanding of what introvert and extrovert actually mean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Too often, people think of introverts as someone who dislikes spending time with others.\u00a0 And extroverts as someone who loves company.\u00a0 This is not actually the correct usage of these words.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An introvert is someone who draws energy from being alone, and is drained by being around others.\u00a0 Loving their company is not the issue.\u00a0 An extrovert is someone who is energized in the company of others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am by this definition a true introvert.\u00a0 I am energized by solitude.\u00a0 Doing public events, such as teaching, exhausts me.\u00a0 I can write for five hours and then go do fifty miles on the bike.\u00a0 If I talk publicly for thirty minutes, I can scarcely drag my sorry carcass up to bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Self-control can feel wrong as a Christian, how do you sell yourself but not fall into pride or egoism?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I think the first part of that question did not mean to use ‘self-control’.\u00a0 To answer what I think is the question, how do you sell yourself as a believer…This is actually a great question.\u00a0 Every author has to find a way through this minefield.\u00a0 How do you deal with the readership, with fame, with the publicity machine, and still stay grounded?\u00a0 I only know one answer that works for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pray hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you hope your legacy would be?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You know, I really don’t think that far ahead.\u00a0 This could be an indication of that same ‘small-mindedness’ I mentioned during the interview.\u00a0 I just want to write.\u00a0 To learn.\u00a0 To do it better tomorrow.\u00a0 That’s about as far ahead as I think, especially when it comes to my craft.\u00a0 Maybe tomorrow I’ll get it right.\u00a0 Or at least a little bit right-er.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During our C.S. Lewis College webinar on Saturday, August 15, 2020, we interviewed best-selling author Davis Bunn on his writing, his life, and his thoughts on storytelling. Due to time constraints, we weren’t able to get to every question, so Davis generously offered to answer the remaining questions through email. We’re pleased to post them […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[276,36,657],"tags":[651,667,670,669],"class_list":["post-7192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cs-lewis-college","category-events","category-interviews","tag-cs-lewis-college","tag-the-stories-we-tell","tag-webinar","tag-writing"],"yoast_head":"\nDavis Bunn Interview: Additional Questions & Answers - Living the Legacy of C.S. Lewis<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/additional-questions-for-davis-bunn\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Davis Bunn Interview: Additional Questions & Answers - Living the Legacy of C.S. Lewis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"During our C.S. Lewis College webinar on Saturday, August 15, 2020, we interviewed best-selling author Davis Bunn on his writing, his life, and his thoughts on storytelling. Due to time constraints, we weren’t able to get to every question, so Davis generously offered to answer the remaining questions through email. We’re pleased to post them […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/additional-questions-for-davis-bunn\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Living the Legacy of C.S. Lewis\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-08-20T01:08:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-08-20T01:18:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Bunn-Banner-1-1024x853.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cslewisfoundation\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cslewisfoundation\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/additional-questions-for-davis-bunn\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/additional-questions-for-davis-bunn\/\",\"name\":\"Davis Bunn Interview: Additional Questions & Answers - Living the Legacy of C.S. Lewis\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/additional-questions-for-davis-bunn\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/additional-questions-for-davis-bunn\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Bunn-Banner-1-1024x853.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-20T01:08:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-08-20T01:18:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/19b2ac4d38a13020b05fc09d9d306e99\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/additional-questions-for-davis-bunn\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/additional-questions-for-davis-bunn\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/additional-questions-for-davis-bunn\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Bunn-Banner-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Bunn-Banner-1.jpg\",\"width\":1464,\"height\":1220},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/additional-questions-for-davis-bunn\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Davis Bunn Interview: Additional Questions & Answers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Living the Legacy of C.S. Lewis\",\"description\":\"A Blog of the C.S. Lewis Foundation\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/19b2ac4d38a13020b05fc09d9d306e99\",\"name\":\"cslewisfoundation\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/author\/cslewisfoundation\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Davis Bunn Interview: Additional Questions & Answers - Living the Legacy of C.S. Lewis","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/additional-questions-for-davis-bunn\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Davis Bunn Interview: Additional Questions & Answers - Living the Legacy of C.S. Lewis","og_description":"During our C.S. Lewis College webinar on Saturday, August 15, 2020, we interviewed best-selling author Davis Bunn on his writing, his life, and his thoughts on storytelling. Due to time constraints, we weren’t able to get to every question, so Davis generously offered to answer the remaining questions through email. We’re pleased to post them […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/additional-questions-for-davis-bunn\/","og_site_name":"Living the Legacy of C.S. Lewis","article_published_time":"2020-08-20T01:08:39+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-08-20T01:18:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Bunn-Banner-1-1024x853.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"cslewisfoundation","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cslewisfoundation","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/additional-questions-for-davis-bunn\/","url":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/additional-questions-for-davis-bunn\/","name":"Davis Bunn Interview: Additional Questions & Answers - Living the Legacy of C.S. Lewis","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/additional-questions-for-davis-bunn\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/additional-questions-for-davis-bunn\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Bunn-Banner-1-1024x853.jpg","datePublished":"2020-08-20T01:08:39+00:00","dateModified":"2020-08-20T01:18:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/19b2ac4d38a13020b05fc09d9d306e99"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/additional-questions-for-davis-bunn\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/additional-questions-for-davis-bunn\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/additional-questions-for-davis-bunn\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Bunn-Banner-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Bunn-Banner-1.jpg","width":1464,"height":1220},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/additional-questions-for-davis-bunn\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Davis Bunn Interview: Additional Questions & Answers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/","name":"Living the Legacy of C.S. Lewis","description":"A Blog of the C.S. Lewis Foundation","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/19b2ac4d38a13020b05fc09d9d306e99","name":"cslewisfoundation","url":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/author\/cslewisfoundation\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7192"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7192\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7204,"href":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7192\/revisions\/7204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cslewis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}