GUEST POST BY LAURA DAVIS: Interview of Lorilyn Roberts

Lion of the tribe of Judah

Several months ago, Laura Davis featured me on her blog when I began working on Seventh Dimension - The Castle, Book 3. Now that The Castle is finished, I decided to repost it here as it shares a lot of my writing journey for the Seventh Dimension Series. Enjoy.

LAURA DAVIS:  For those who aren’t familiar with your work, can you tell us a little about yourself.

LORILYN ROBERTS: My early childhood would make good fodder for a Hollywood movie. My father walked out on my mother when I was a baby and I did not meet him again until I was thirty. Any writing talent I received from God came through him. My mother is the least talented person I have ever met—but her business mind is uncanny.

I suppose you could say I’m the epitome of a frustrated writer without the frustration. I believe God has given me an ordinary beginning, one common to most writers so that His grace will be revealed despite my imperfections. We are all geniuses in disguise waiting for God’s perfection to be manifested. In the meantime, I believe the “becoming” is more important than the end. In the becoming, we learn how to work out our salvation, our struggles, and our writing dreams.

LAURA DAVIS:  How long have you been writing?

LORILYN ROBERTS:  I’ve been writing since I could hold a pencil. I would write stories imitating cursive writing and ask my mother to read them. She would gently say, “Would you like to read that to me?” And I would read her my illegible handwriting. I’ve kept one of the first stories I wrote in a box underneath my bed. Every few years, I’ll pull it out and read it. Then I’ll dubiously wonder if my writing has improved after forty years of court reporting, captioning, publishing seven books, and receiving my Masters in Creative Writing.

I love writing more than reading, cooking, or anything else—except perhaps lying on the beach with a good book or scuba diving. Sometimes I wonder if God has put me in a position where my writing hours are limited so I must balance my life with the mundaneness of everyday living. Otherwise, I might become a hermit and never leave my writing corner. I love losing myself in stories, the creative process of building an imaginative world, and then figuring out how to share that with others.

Writing for me is magical. Sometimes we forget that God is magnificently creative. He longs for us to embrace that magical part of ourselves. Jesus said, “If you don’t believe in me, believe in the works I do.” I see that as a call to use our talents to glorify God and to reveal to readers God’s creativity through our words.

I feel closest to God when I am writing. Sometimes I will hear God say to me, “That’s boring. You can do better than that.” I remind myself, don’t compromise for the sake of expediency. Give the reader every last ounce of creativity I have so God will know it’s my best—for His glory, His honor, His kingdom.

LAURA DAVIS: What is the hardest thing about writing for you?

LORILYN ROBERTS: The hardest thing about writing is finding the time. I’m a single parent, although my youngest is almost grown, but everyday living takes up a sizable chunk of time. Writing in the middle of the night works best. The only thing that might disturb me is a cockroach looking for a free meal, and as long as I can spray him with a half a can of poison and make sure his wiggly legs stop moving, I can go back to finishing my scene. 

Otherwise, my mind will be on roaches and other disturbing thoughts that shouldn’t be in my book. I had hoped our three cats and dog from the humane society who spend ninety percent of their time sleeping could earn their keeps by disposing of them for me. Occasionally, I’ll find an abandoned roach leg on the floor and wonder who the murderer was. When you live in Florida, you adjust or move to colder climates.

LAURA DAVIS:  Can you tell us about your new book?

LORILYN ROBERTS: I am writing a YA fantasy series called The Seventh Dimension. The second book in the series The King was published in August. The third book The Castle was published in 2016. Since then The City and The Prescience have been published. I'm now working on book 6, The Howling. 

The Seventh Dimension is a spiritual reality. The premise behind the series is that everyone who has accepted Yeshua into their hearts has traveled to first-century Israel and met Yeshua at the cross.

In The Seventh Dimension, which is a parallel spiritual universe, we must make choices that affect where we will spend eternity. When we meet Yeshua, we must surrender our past so that He can redeem it. Every soul has been bought and paid for by Yeshua. However, Satan doesn’t know the outcome, so to win a soul to his camp is a prized possession. God can’t give us His gift unless we accept it. Because Satan is a deceiver—he has nothing to lose. The battle is far deeper and more complex than we can imagine. Most of the battle is fought on a spiritual level, so in The Seventh Dimension, we see the spiritual side of the war—with demons, angels, and Yeshua.

The Seventh Dimension embraces the mystery of God and is a reality outside of time not limited by human understanding. Time exists for our benefit and makes it convenient to trace the events of history and give us a sense of reference. The Seventh Dimension embraces the past, the present, and the future. I hope as I write, God gives me insights into this spiritual reality. Hopefully, the concept will come alive in the reader’s heart and touch those who have yet to embrace our Savior.

I remind myself, to give my Audience of One my book, and He will make it a hundred times more powerful than I could do in my limited human ability. I hope I have been able to achieve that in The Seventh Dimension Series.

LAURA DAVIS: What inspired you to write this book?

LORILYN ROBERTS: The first book in The Seventh Dimension Series is actually a children’s picture book, The Donkey and the King. I was in Israel in 1991 at the beginning of the Gulf War and this book was inspired by that experience. Later, when I was working on my Master in Creative Writing, I wanted to continue with the theme in a YA series addressing different issues.

So I wrote the first book The Door that in many ways is a reflection of my own life. In The Door, a young girl, Shale Snyder, is bullied and rejected by significant others. A dog finds Shale and coaxes her to follow her to a different world. There she meets the King and many other people from her past, only this time it’s in the spiritual world of The Seventh Dimension.

In the second book, The King, the protagonist, Daniel Sperling, is a 17-year-old Israeli boy who was introduced in The Door. Forced to enter a treatment center following a mental breakdown, he is angry with God and has abandoned his Jewish faith. When a devastating earthquake rocks Israel, he is transported to The Seventh Dimension. There he is confronted with conflicting “truths” in a parallel universe that challenges everything he has ever believed. His dreams of medical school are threatened when romantic interests touch his heart and a strange demon tempts him to make poor choices.

The Seventh Dimension Series shows readers that the path to God for each believer is unique and fascinating. God’s plan may take years to understand because our earthly understanding is limited. I would encourage sojourners to embrace the hard things and ask God to redeem them. All of my books have that element of redemption.

You never know what blessings may come if you look for the “good” everywhere. My hope is that Jewish skeptics will read my book and ask questions, more specifically, could Jesus be the long-awaited Messiah?

As an aside. I recently learned that I have Jewish blood in me through DNA testing with 23 And Me. I am thankful to know that my love for the Jewishness of the Bible is not quirky or imagined. God used my Jewish friends to draw me to Him. Experiencing God’s love firsthand and reading the “proof texts” in the Old Testament were too compelling to ignore.

LAURA DAVIS:  What books do you enjoy reading?

LORILYN ROBERTS:  I enjoy reading books that are creative, well-written, and unpredictable. After I finish a good story, I want to ponder its meaning. I want a book to reveal a nugget of truth I have never seen. I want to read books that will encourage me to write and stir my own creative juices, leaving me to admire the gift of writing in others. I want a book that resonates with spiritual truth and becomes a part of who I am.

Books that have done this for me include the Narnia Series by C.S. Lewis, Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan, The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis, Crime and Punishment by Feodor Dostoyevsky, and JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.

I believe readers want books written with a Christian worldview even if they don’t know it. God’s image is imprinted on human hearts which creates a deep longing for Him. Too many have replaced that longing with counterfeits because they haven’t discovered the truth.

I hope readers will read The Seventh Dimension Series and share my books with their friends and family. I am also always looking for reviewers. 

You may order The Castle now on Amazon by clicking here.

The Seventh Dimension Award-Winning Series continues in "The Castle." 

Haunted by a recurring dream of his missing father in a mysterious castle, 17-year-old Daniel is captured by the Romans and finds asylum in the Temple. There he discovers a scroll that reveals his future concerning a wager between good and evil. But the stakes are raised when he witnesses the trial and crucifixion of Yeshua. The convergence of time with supernatural events creates a suspenseful ending and leads to the fourth book in the Seventh Dimension Series, The City.

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Lorilyn Roberts has won multiple awards for the Seventh Dimension Series, including The King: 2014 USA Best Book Awards Finalist and a 2014 Gold Winner for Faith-Based YA Fiction in the Literary Classics Awards, among other awards.

For special offers, follow Lorilyn on twitter @LorilynRoberts and visit her Facebook fan page here. You can read more of her blogposts at LorilynRoberts.com

Lorilyn graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Alabama in 1991. Her studies included spending two weeks in Israel at the start of the Gulf War and touring England, Australia, New Zealand, and several countries in Europe. She later attended the Institute of Children's Literature and earned her Master of Arts in Creative Writing from Perelandra College.

STOP THE PUSH TO ALLOW BEAR HUNTING IN FLORIDA: Christian Blogger Lorilyn Roberts

Recently, I was getting the pump fixed on my pool and I met a gentleman, Karl Ambrose, at the store. While there, he gave me some disturbing information—that Florida is on the verge of opening up the state to bear hunts.

I can't think of many things more upsetting than hunting species for pure sport. In my opinion, it's barbaric, inhumane, and cruel. We don't eat bears, and worse yet, much of the scientific information about their numbers has not been validated.

Oftentimes these special interest groups push their agendas through the legal channels before the general public is even aware of what happened.

My goal here is to alert the public via social media—see Karl’s email below. Be sure to click on the link to let your voice be heard. Do you really want to allow bear hunts in Florida? A pubic that does nothing has spoken. The deadline looms. Please act now!

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From Karl Ambrose

“Florida Bears may soon be hunted in their homes to supposedly reduced human/bear interactions.

“If bears are hunted in the only place that is their designated home, it actually may increase their likelihood of  increasing bear/human interactions.

“A source of problem behavior seems to be overlooked.  Most of the forests are surrounded by private hunt clubs.  The feeders that the hunters leave for deer, some of which may be illegal, are a likely source of emboldening bear that no one is mentioning.  A proposed hunt would also leave abandoned cubs.

“Why should the Florida Wildlife Commission propose a hunt that is likely to increase the number of human/bear interactions and not address the feeders that are actually luring the bears to the problem areas?

“It is my impression, from talking with FWC, that they have no intention of doing their job.  It seems that their real goal is to pander to deer hunters instead of getting to the source of the problem behavior.   

“Anyone who wishes to chime in on this subject can go to Myfwc.com and express your opinion.  The final meeting to approve the hunt is being held in Sarasota, Fl, on June 24.”

BOOK REVIEW: “Seventh Dimension - The King: A Young Adult Fantasy,” Five Stars from Readers’ Favorite Book Reviewer Jennifer Hansen

Seventh Dimension - The King is simply put, one of the best, most creative books I have ever read in any genre of literature. I read from cover to cover in one sitting..that is how spectacular and all-encompassing this book is!! I simply could not put it down!

There are so many elements of the story that I loved that I am not sure where to begin! The character development was extraordinary! I felt like I knew both Shale and Daniel and I saw myself in their struggles and their achievements! I LOVED the animals as well and how intertwined they became throughout the story.

I also was so impressed by the vivid imagery that Roberts created! I could see everything so clearly as I read through the story which just added another layer of excellence and depth to the tale. 

While I loved all of the aforementioned aspects of The King, what was most important to me was the development of their individual spiritual journeys. This is what makes this so much more than a great story...there is something that everyone will find that they can relate to in their own relationship with God. 

I am sure I am not the only one who would like to have met Jesus 2000 years ago...the mastery and God-given talent that has been written in these pages has allowed me to do that....I absolutely loved this book and I hope that everyone who reads it will be blessed by the story as I have been! This is not just a story ....it's an adventure and experience I won't soon forget!

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The next book in the Seventh Dimension Series will be published on July 24. Here is the back cover blurb: 

The Seventh Dimension Award-Winning Series continues in Seventh Dimension - The Castle. Daniel is haunted by a recurring dream of his missing father in a mysterious castle. When he is captured by the Romans and finds asylum in the Temple, he discovers a sealed scroll that reveals his future concerning a wager between good and evil. But the stakes are raised when the 17-year-old witnesses the trial and crucifixion of Yeshua. The convergence of time with supernatural events creates a suspenseful ending and the prelude to the fourth book in the Seventh Dimension Series, The City. 

 You can order your copy and have it automatically delivered to your Kindle 

HOMESCHOOOLING: “Public High School after Homeschooling – How Hard Is It To Make the Transition?” by Lorilyn Roberts

Mission Trip to Nepal, Joy, October 2014

My daughter, Joy, is finishing her junior year of high school. Yes—just one more year and I’ll be done. I laugh because, as parents, we know we are never done. We just accompany our daughter to the next fork in the road—college, or some sort of vocational training where she can learn a skill that will help her to—well, pay bills.

While I can’t say it’s been an easy transition from homeschooling to public high school, it was the right decision for my family.

To give a bit of background, my oldest daughter is twenty-four and my youngest, Joy, is sixteen. I adopted both of them from Asia as a single mother by choice. My oldest one arrived from Nepal when she was three and I adopted Joy from Vietnam when she was fourteen months. I homeschooled my oldest one from third grade all the way through two years of high school when she then enrolled at a community college as a high school junior. She graduated from college with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and now has a well-paying job in a related field.

I homeschooled Joy beginning with kindergarten. At the end of that year, she scored in the top ten percent of all kindergarteners around the country, but she was a reluctant learner—at least when it came to me being her teacher. She loved me as a mom but not as her favorite teacher. After one year, I didn’t have the emotional energy to continue homeschooling her, so I put her in private school for three years.

2005 art, Joy's favorite subject

By the end of the third grade, she was testing at the fiftieth percentile and I was $15,000 poorer. Joy was a gifted learner and had been at the top of the charts after I homeschooled her in kindergarten. I pulled her out of private school and homeschooled her from fourth grade through ninth grade, although the eighth and ninth grades were a homeschool-private school combination. In other words, she was homeschooled two days a week and in private school three days a week.

When Joy entered the tenth grade, I enrolled her in a large public high school with over 2,000 students—quite a change from homeschooling. Even at the private school, she went to three days a week, she only had about ten kids in her classes.

I experienced much trepidation putting Joy into public high school. I thought about all the things she would encounter. I worried about the students she would meet, if she could make friends, if she would be able to succeed, and if the change would be overwhelming. She had never been in public school and I agonized over it her entire ninth-grade year before finally making the decision to enroll her in public high school.

To be transparent, I never felt as if I was that successful homeschooling Joy, at least not like I was with my oldest one. While both of them scored in the top seventieth percentile or higher every year, Joy didn’t like being homeschooled. She didn’t want to do the work for me, and I didn’t have the time to supervise her, as I needed to, especially when she hit middle school.

God showed me she needed to be accountable to someone else. I was too soft. I valued our relationship more than constantly fighting over unfinished work or the occasional issue of “cheating.”

When we went to the homeschool-private school environment, even though teachers expected more, they were also too lax. It was a Christian school, and while I appreciated the Christian influence and grace, I knew it wasn’t what Joy needed. She needed to learn the importance of accountability—the real world is tough. In public high school, teachers expect your assignments to be turned in on time. If you don’t do them, they don't listen to your excuses. In college, you need to study hard even if you don’t attend a class every day. As an adult, your boss expects you to do your job. One season of life builds upon another.

If you get the picture I am painting, you can imagine what that first semester was like when Joy entered tenth grade. On the positive side, she immediately made good choices in friends. I am thankful for God’s protection in that area. She stuck to the straight and narrow path and navigated through the social waters unscathed. I pray that will continue through her senior year.

As an aside, Joy was a competitive gymnast for over ten years and switched to competitive cheer when she entered eleventh grade—so she was busy. In her first year in public high school, she did not participate in a sport. I wanted her to focus on getting good grades

Joy’s grades that first semester were—well, not good. I will spare you the details, but the only “A’s” she received were in P.E. and art.

As painful as this was to me, my philosophy was this: Sometimes kids need to fail before they realize they want to succeed. Most kids, if given the choice, would rather succeed than fail. As parents, we need to make sure they have the choice. We don’t want to set them up for failure, but neither should we ensure success if they haven’t earned it.

Kids and teens need to learn the value of hard work Once Joy failed a class, she realized that failure was an option, and it wasn’t an option she wanted. She didn’t like it. That first year in public high school was hard—but she never complained and I never made excuses for her.

Eleventh grade has been much better. She is making A’s and B’s in all her classes, even taking AP classes, and doing well. She has learned how to study. Sometimes we have to make the tough choices we don’t want to make to teach our children life lessons they won't learn any other way. In Joy’s case, public school was the best choice.

Joy in her cheerleading outfit with a good friend

Our public high school isn’t perfect, but I know Joy is receiving an excellent education. I did insist she be enrolled in honors, pre-AP or AP classes. I wouldn’t allow her to be placed in classes with students who didn’t want to learn. As a parent, you have more input than you might realize on what classes your child takes. You know what is best for your child, particularly if you have been a homeschooling parent.

I also insisted that Joy take electives she would enjoy. She took art in tenth grade, photography this year, and will take pottery her senior year. High school is one of the last opportunities to indulge in cultured learning. The arts in my opinion are underrated. If you look at the richest civilizations in history, their culture has touched our society—what nation would we be if it were not for the amazing influence of Egypt, Greece, and Rome on our language, music, and arts? In college, classes tend to focus on career goals, unless you major in art, and most parents prefer educational pursuits that will ensure a well-paying job when their child graduates.

If you are debating whether to put your child in public school after homeschooling, particularly high school, ask yourself these questions: Do I trust that my child can make wise choices? Can my child handle peer pressure and bullying? Can my child deal with alternative lifestyles and kids who embrace different values? Will my child hold on to the morals I have spent years instilling in her, and can she shoulder the responsibility that comes with being in public school? Is my child able to make friends? Is she insecure or confident in her abilities?

If you feel like your teen can navigate the social waters of public high school, then I would ask, can my child receive a better education in public high school than if I homeschool her?

This is a tough question, but it’s an important one. High school is the stepping stone to college. If your child does not master the core subjects in high school, college will be difficult. Knowing Joy’s poor study habits, I knew she would not succeed in college unless someone toughened her up, and I knew it wouldn’t be me.

If your child is doing well homeschooled, working hard, and making good grades, I wouldn’t pull her out to enroll her in public high school. If something is working, don’t fix it. Many teens, including my first one, are able to go from homeschooling directly into college. It can be done and many homeschooling students do it successfully every year.

11th grade Joy's art, anatomy

Assess your child’s strengths and weaknesses. Ask your teen what he or she wants to do. A happy teen is easier to live with than a discontented teen. If you discover after a couple of months, public high school isn’t working or vice versa, it doesn’t mean you failed. You simply make the adjustment. Life goes on. In the end, it will be only a small blip in the educational journey of your child.

I used to say, “The worst day homeschooling is better than the best day in public school.” Mostly I remember the good days and there were many of them. One year may be great and the next, not so much. Life happens. Children change as they mature, and despite other things that may become a distraction, parents need to continue to provide an environment conducive to learning at home. It’s good to reassess each year where you stand on these important issues.

As a Christian, I found myself in bed many nights, exhausted, asking God for wisdom and guidance. Homeschooling was one of the hardest things I ever did but also one of the most rewarding, but there came a time when God clearly said to me, “It’s time to let go. Joy needs to go to public school so she can learn things you can’t teach her. You can trust me.”

If you would like more information, I would encourage you to check out Kids in the House. I homeschooled before the invention of the internet and sites like this one would have been very helpful when I was seeking answers to these difficult questions. Read and learn as much as you can, whether you are new to homeschooling or a seasoned homeschooling family. When it comes to high school, check out all of your options and ask God for wisdom. He will guide you to make the right decision for you and your family.

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