Nudges from God
by Susan Joy Clark

I’ve always loved creative writing ever since I was a child.  At Cedarville, I did quite a bit.  Some of my friends might remember my humorous story about the boogie man I shared in Mr. Simons’ creative writing class.  I also wrote stories and poems to honor friends on their birthdays and other occasions.  One time, I completely forgot about a puppet ministry conference for Masters’ Puppets, although I finally showed up in the parking lot considerably late.  As self-inflicted penance, I wrote Brandon Waltz a story about “The Little Girl who Lost her Brain.”  By the way, puppet ministry has continued to be an important part of my life.  I am now in my seventh year with Salt and Light Puppets, a ministry I started at my home church of Chapel on the Hill in Cedar Grove, New Jersey.  Although the juvenile novel I’ve written, And the Violin Cried, has its lighter humorous moments, it is a very poignant story and addresses some serious issues like anti-Semitism. 

Quite a few years ago, I read a non-fiction book filled with testimonies of many well-known Christians, including Bodie Thoene who shared how God had miraculously helped her in her research for one of her books.  By now, I have many such stories myself.  While writing my novel, And the Violin Cried, I experienced many encouraging nudges from God. 

One of my chapters dealt with a young boy’s bar mitzvah, so in preparation for writing it, I read an excellent book by Steve Herzig on Jewish traditions and customs.  While this book gave me many facts and some new terminology, I still couldn’t visualize the ceremony which was so different from my usual experiences.  Without visualizing it, I didn’t know how to create a mental picture in the reader’s mind.  Some time after praying over this dilemma, I was walking out of a grocery store when I noticed a free magazine in the foyer, a Bar/Bat Mitzvah Party Guide.  The book was filled with colorful photographs.  While much of it focused on ideas for the reception, it did include photographs of young people participating in the synagogue ceremony.  With a visual guide, I was able to write effectively. 

Although my bar mitzvah boy, David, and his sister, Annie, lived in modern America, I gave them a heritage through their grandparents which traced back to Hungary.  As background, I wanted to tell the story of how the grandparents escaped wartime Hungary.  I chose Hungary for the setting for three reasons.  I had spent three months in Hungary on a mission trip, and I was familiar with and endeared to the culture.  My Jewish neighbor came from Hungary, and I knew that Hungary was one part of Europe that was hit hard by the Holocaust.  However, at the time when the idea first came to me, I knew nothing about the man named Raoul Wallenberg. 

I went to the public library for some inspiration and searched under the topic, Hungary, in the library’s computer search system.  From this screen, I chose a subcategory, Hungary: history.  This did not narrow the search down by much when you consider how much history Europe has compared to the United States.  I could have found all sorts of unnecessary information from Attila the Hun to the Ottoman Empire.  However, the first listing included the phrase, “a righteous Gentile.”  This little phrase gave me a clue that the book addressed a Jewish issue.  It turned out to be a biography of Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat responsible for saving the lives of 100,000 Hungarian Jews.  I checked it out and was soon enthralled with the intriguing and fearless Wallenberg.   I was able to weave him into the story as the agent by which my family made its escape.  Again, I was amazed at how quickly God led me to the appropriate information when I didn’t know what I was looking for or how to find it. 

But the most amazing and miraculous nudge happened when I wanted some very particular information about a violin.  My character, Annie, played an antique violin which like her and her grandparents traced its heritage back to Hungary.  The violin was developing into an important element in my story and a symbol of the Jewish people and their survival.  I wanted a bullyish group from her school to damage this violin only to have one of its former members, now a believer, have it repaired.  My problem was this: how badly could I damage the violin and still have it repairable?

I worked at a Christian book store at the time of my writing, and I remember dusting the gift section, my mind whirring with ideas, and praying over and over again, “Lord, help me find out something about violin repair.  Lord, help me find out something about violin repair.”  I didn’t know how I would answer my question.  It wasn’t the sort of thing I could enter into an Internet search engine.  Even if I could ask a friend who played violin, how could they possibly know the answer?  Of course, no one would smash a violin in order to find out! 

That evening, I was excited about my idea, and over dinner, I shared my plot idea as well as my puzzling question with my mother.  My mom just said, “You’ve got to look at the Guideposts magazine that just came today.”  I did and read an article about a professional violinist who played an antique Stradivarius.  I enjoyed the article, but I didn’t find an answer to my question until my mom pointed out an update on the writer in another section of the magazine.  The writer had slipped on some ice and broke her violin into eight pieces.  She brought her instrument to a violin shop where it was repaired and now plays as well as it ever did.

I was completely amazed at how God had answered my prayer.  It seemed the woman had published her story just for my sake.  Although I don’t think that is quite true, it is clear to me, at least, that God had foreseen my question long before I asked it and worked out the timing with both writer and publisher so that my answer arrived in my mailbox on the day I prayed about it! 

Remembering these experiences along the way encouraged me as I tried publisher after publisher, believing that God had a purpose for my writing.  And now just this September, I have signed my first book contract with Publish America for And the Violin Cried.    My book should be published within a year, and I will send an update when the book is due to be released. 

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If you're looking for a great read, this book is worth an A+
by S. Steyling "magicgardenfan"

This book was FANTASTIC! It is so well written that I literally hated to put the book down. The author is a personal friend of mine and I always knew she had the talent to write a great book, and "And the Violin Cried" exceeded my expectations to say the least. The characters have wonderful personality and depth, their feelings are real, and the conflicts they face are things that all kids - and adults - go through at one time or another in their lives. I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone who wants to read a "real" book that has topics and lessons that apply to all people, not just kids. 

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