Write Well: A Handbook for Christian Writers

The Association of Christian Writers have just launched a fabulous anthology with a chapter on entering writing competitions by Sophie Neville. The publishers, Instant Apsotle say, 'Everything you could ever want to know about the craft, trade and experience of Christian writing can be found in this book!' It is almost edible.

'A celebratory Jubilee Compendium marking fifty years of the Association of Christian Writers (ACW), Write Well commemorates and continues its incredible work, with fifty reflections from fifty diverse contributors. Industry experts, prominent authors and dedicated members offer encouragement and practical advice, from writing your first words and avoiding distractions, to getting published and marketing your work.'

Complied by Amy Scott Robinson, the anthology was also edited by Jane Brocklehurst, Jane Walters and Rosemary Johnson.

Kindle copies are available from Amazon UK here Paperbacks are available direct from the publisher for £9.99 Contact Instant Apostle here

'Funnily Enough' in the December issue of IBelieve, the Christian Lifestyle Magazine

The last extract in a series that has spanned eleven months,

when I have often been given a line on the front cover:

More stores of Mum and her tame otters

It was another hot summer, 22 years ago - and Mum and the otters were still keeping me entertained during my recovery from CFS ~

You can subscribe to the iBelieve print magazine at www.newlifepublishing.co.uk

This month's cover story features former US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice ~

Memories of my sister's wedding, in the August issue of iBelieve ~

The International Rubery Book Award-winning read, featured in iBelieve magazine, August 2013

The cover of iBelieve magazine, August 2013 - to subscribe or order, click here

'Funnily Enough' - now an Award-winning book by Sophie Neville

iBelieve - a glamorous new magazine for Christians

~ click on the photo to enlarge ~

To buy two issues of iBelieve please click here 

~ Churches can apply for special rates for magazine orders ~ 

iBelieve, the Christian lifestyle magazine full of interesting testimonies

I was dazzelled to find that this month 'Funnily Enough' is being included alongside feature articles on such great Christian authors as Joyce Meyer, Nicky Gumbel and Sarah de Carvahlo

And there is an hilarious cartoon of me, looking GLAMOROUS and organised.

I'm always packing things up for the post but never this neatly.

For two issues of iBelieve please click here

To subscribe to iBelieve please click here.

Gloria Gaynor and me - in iBelieve Magazine

The third installment of excerpts of Funnily Enough in iBelieve ~ the Christian Lifestyle magazine

~ Please click on image to enlarge ~
illustration provided by the publisher

To keep reading, Funnily Enough is available on Kindle and in print.

To subscribe to iBelieve magazine please click here

A Radio Broadcast in the USA ~

On Saturday 23rd March 

at 10.00am

Sophie Neville was interviewed by Dr Diane Dike

on 

Second Chance Radio Show in the USA.

Diane, who also loves dogs, is interested in raising awareness about invisible diseases.

As well as talking about Funnily Enough she told listeners about the sequel Ride the Wings of Morning. Free Kindle copies of the E-book were offered on the show.

~ Click here for the link ~

To get a free Kindle app for your I-phone, Lap-top or other device 

please click here for details

Funnily Enough excerpts in iBelieve ~ the Christian lifestyle magazine

~ More extracts from 'Funnily Enough' in this month's iBelieve magazine ~

For two issues at £5, or to subscribe to the print edition, click here and scroll down to see prices on the left. For other subscription options and a preview of an earlier issue click here.

~ Click on the images for Amazon links ~

Funnily Enough on Premier Christian Radio ~

I really enjoyed being at Premier Christian Radio in London 

where Maria Toth invited me on her morning show 'Woman to Woman'.

You can listen to the programme on this link
only certain browsers will get you there,
You will need to use Internet Explorer or the latest versions of Chrome of Firefox 

Chronicle of a year in the ME zone ~

A review in The Church Times ~ June edition ~ Book's page

Click image to expand:

How I came to write 'Funnily Enough'

I was directing a drama serial for the BBC when I fell ill with ME or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The doctor at work sent me home to my parents’ farm, telling me to keep a diary whilst I recovered. I not only recorded the funny things that happened to me over the course of a year but made sketches, drawing the people and animals around me.

Years later, when I was really much better, I felt urged to type this diary up. Having done so I flew to Kenya with the work on a disc, only to have my bag stolen in the Masai Mara. Our tents had been slashed open while we slept. I decided to search the bush around the camp and by some miracle found my discarded bag with the disc still inside.

My palm top had vanished. I couldn’t afford to buy a lap top, but I finished adapting the diary, into what I hope is a readable, humorous book, on a school computer in South Africa. I sat on one of those tiny plastic chairs made for infants, typing away for all I was worth. Whenever the teachers had a break I gave them tuition on how to use Microsoft Word in exchange for the use of their PC.

I had a watercolour, I'd once painted at my parents' house, that I thought I could use for the cover but Funnily Enough took me much longer to make into a book than I ever imagined. The original diary had great gaps when I had been too ill to write anything. It wasn't very funny.

Just as I was getting rather stiff on a tiny plastic chair, Johanna Mutshudi, the headmistress of the primary school, asked me if I could keep the computer safely in my room over the two month summer holiday, which falls over Christmas in South Africa. I turned down party invitation to keep typing, sending out drafts to be checked by the real characters who appear in the pages.

At one stage I stopped writing and said, 'Lord, this is taking ages. Do you really want me to spend so much time on this?' Immediately a verse from the Old Testament came into my head. I looked it up:   

"Write the vision

And make it plain on tablets,

That he may run who reads it'"

Habakkuk 2:2



This was in 2001. I thought the word tablet rather old fashioned but kept writing. When I finished, I immediately started work on the sequel, Ride the Wings of Morning followed by Makorongo's War.

In 2011 I went to China on a delegation with the Bible Society. We were taken around the vast factory where China's bestseller is printed. There, on the first press, was my verse: Habakkuk 2:2.

I returned to England and started to format Funnily Enough for publication. I now have it on an electronic devise called a tablet. And I run around with this in my back pocket.

I hope that what I've written will bring light, encouragement and laughter to many. It was originally designed as an undemanding holiday read or an illustrated book you can give to anyone stuck in bed with 'flu. I have it on my I-phone now, accessed via a Kindle app. It is great to have book on your phone. It gives you something to dip into on the train or if you get stuck for hours on the motorway.

My palm top computer was eventually returned to me by the son of the Masai who must have stolen it. He had been convicted my writing and sent it back from Alaska where he was at university. Funnily enough someone living in Alaska is currently reading my Blog ~ http://sophieneville.net/

Illustrated with 64 sketches from the original diary Funnily Enough is available from Amazon books, on Kindle, (£1.92) and direct from Lulu.com in hardcover (£12.60) in paperback (£7.99) and  to order from your library or bookshop – ISBN:9781466213487.

‘Funnily Enough’ on Amazon Kindle

The illustrated e-Book of ‘Funnily Enough’ 

£1.92 from Amazon Kindle worldwide

please click here

Recent readers response ~

“I’ve just finished your book. I do congratulate you on a quite splendid achievement. The whole read is such fun, so joyful, so funny and so touching. I found it very lovable… I was quite enraptured by your lovely piece of work. Well done indeed.” Richard Pilbrow, CEO Theatre Projects, Connecticut USA

"I LOVED it... it's beautifully written." Hermione Spencer, Scotland

“Your writing is so delightfully open and funny and full of fun. It’s a breath of fresh air while also giving courage and perspective to others who struggle with long hard trials.”  Wendy Chandler, South Africa

“Hilarious.” Nick Lombard-Scott, London

“I am completely loving ‘Funnily Enough’ in fact I have nearly finished it and cannot wait for the next book. I will take my copy to the Seychelles. I relate so much to everything you are writing about and it really is amazing – such insights into life. Well done. It is just my kind of book.” Sarah Collins, South Africa

"Hilarious." Sarkis Mahseredjian, London

'It looks amazing! I love the way you incorporate your beautiful artwork into your stories, it makes them so rich!' Skye Wieland, Queensland, Australia

Ten years ago I was given this verse:

“ Write the vision 
 And make it plain on tablets, 
 That he may run who reads it.” 

Habakkuk 2:2

                                                                                                  

….I thought the word tablet very old fashioned at the time, never guessing that it would be possible to read it on an electronic gadget. Mine is called ‘a tablet’.

...how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles?

19^th January ~ I’ve learnt that the active bit about trusting God is to seek his will and pray before you start making decisions, rather than afterwards; otherwise you just end up wasting a lot of time. I need to ask that his will should supersede my own right now. And always.

20^th January ~

‘What if you can’t come to any sort of decision?’

‘When you’re doubtful about your course, submit your judgement absolutely to the Spirit of God and ask him to shut against you every door but the right one.’ Who said that?

21^st January ~

‘And if things don’t work out?’

‘If life is not going to plan, look to the Lord for a creative alternative, another strategy, something different. Think again ~ achieve your dream.’ Hank Overeem.

It has been snowing again, but deeply and the whole world looks different. It sounds different too. Solomon the cart horse is wearing his smart green rug and, with his shaggy legs, he looks as if he’s wearing flared trousers underneath. A grit lorry with five men dressed in bright orange boiler-suits came down the valley and Mum got a wolf-whistle. She’s frightfully pleased.

I love walking in the snow but I think I should stay inside. Mind you, if I don’t get out of the house now I never will. ‘Lord, who can I go and stay with?’ It’s a funny time of year to go visiting.

22^nd January ~

‘What if I still don’t have a plan?’ I still don’t know what God wants of me, and where he wants me. I could go to South Africa, the option is open, but what would I do there? I need to be certain it’s the right step. I’ve worked out one thing. When you need direction or confirmation to prayer:

A light shines.

A way opens.

A word is given.

A picture emerges.

An assurance comes.

An inner peace settles.

Sometimes we just have to take one step at a time. It can be difficult when the mist comes down and you can only see one step ahead of you.

23^rd January ~ Cock-a-doodle-doo! My muddled dreams were split in two. My parents have acquired, not one but two cockerels and they’re living in the parrots’ cage right below my window. (The parrots are back in the dining room.) These roosters cry ~ or whatever you call the noise ~ crow, every thirty-three seconds. Cock-a-do-dol-doo! I’ve timed them. It’s driving me demented.

‘But darling, it’s a lovely country noise.’

‘Why’ve you bought them?’

‘We didn’t buy them. We were given them by a sweet man called Trevor who found them wandering around in a wood. He had them at his house but the neighbours complained.’ Cock-a-doodle-doo! One bird is called Albert, and the other Terry, after the local builder.

Gordon comes from South Africa. I keep thinking of the verse he gave me and looked it up:

‘...how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles? How can you say God refuses to hear your case? Have you never heard or understood?’ Cock-a-do-dol-doo! ‘Don’t you know that the Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth? He never grows faint or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to those who are tired and worn out; he offers strength to the weak. Even youths will become exhausted, and young men will give up. But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.’ Isaiah 40 v 27-31 Yes, please.

I decided to ring him in London. ‘What do you reckon, Gordon? I’d love to go to South Africa.’

‘What’s that odd noise?’ he asked.

‘Oh, it’s a rooster.’

‘I’m sure,’ he said, ‘that God wants you to extend your experience and see the world.’

‘I do have the option of staying here and illustrating books.’

‘Yes, but it might be a distraction or an obstacle. If God clearly wants you to go somewhere, attractive propositions that pander to our egos tend to pop up, and later come to nothing.’ Cock-a-do-dol-doo! ‘Have you got a lot of hens?’

‘No just two; two males.’ I asked him if he ever felt unclear about the future despite asking God what to do. ‘Do you ever feel you’re walking in a fog?’

‘All the time,’ he laughed. ‘Sometimes it’s a matter of asking for strength as well as direction.’

‘My problem is I don’t know whether I’ll have the energy to go in any direction at all.’

‘You will. Don’t do it in your own strength. When I worked in the Cape I went climbing on the coastal cliffs once by myself and fell. There was no one around. As I fell through space I resigned my life into God's hands, knowing it was up to him whether I should live or die. I woke after dark on the rocks below with a sense of peace, like after a deep and comfortable sleep. I realised that God had chosen to give me life ~ and therefore had a purpose for me. To avoid hypothermia, I dragged myself to a cave where I spent the night and then staggered slowly back the next morning and got help. My only wounds were cuts on legs and face and hip, which were stitched up. I lost a bit of blood. My teeth required root treatment but this actually straightened them out. I spent four days in the local hospital and then had a beach holiday. I certainly learnt to draw on the Lord’s strength. It was quite a useful lesson.’