Facebook Interview with Vicky Stankus

Today on my authors facebook page I interviewed fellow Gabby Mom Vicky Stankus. She is the author of What is Communion? For more information about Vicky or her book visit her website. Here for my review. 

Mukkove Johnson - Christian Author   Welcome Vicky. Please introduce yourself.

Vicky Stankus   Hi, Mukkove! Thankyou for having me here! Let's see... I met my husband, David, while attending college in Chicago, where I received an Associates degree in Biblical Studies. We have been married for 19+ years now, and have 2 children. I have been homeschooling them for the past 7 years. Our daughter is 13, and our son is 9. I enjoy writing, listening to music, reading, watching movies, and organizing.

MJ   I'm so glad to have you here. I homeschool my three also.

Vicky   Great!

MJ  Tell us what led you to write your book?

Top of Form

Vicky  This book idea came about when my young son began asking questions after watching my husband and I take Communion one Sunday. He saw what we were doing and wanted to know what it was about. So, I tried to find an easy book with illustrations that would help to explain things better to him, as well as to our daughter with special learning needs. I wasn’t able to find anything, aside from the Catholic views of a child’s first communion. This was not the way my husband and I wanted to explain things to our children, so I decided to write a book myself, using an Evangelical Protestant view.

MJ Filling your need will meet the need of other families, too.

Vicky Yes! I am so glad the book has been helpful to others!

MJ For anyone visiting with us for Vicky's interview feel free to ask questions or leave comments. You can just pop in and say "Hi", too.

Top of Form

Mary Just wanted to say we have Vicky's book and enjoyed reading it to our kids. I appreciate the attention to detail on both the theological points, as well as the needs of her audience (children) to be able to understand a rather abstract concept.

MJ Thank you Mary! My children are older, but we enjoyed it, also.

Vicky Hi, Mary! Thanks for joining in!

MJ How do you see this book being used?

Top of Form

Vicky That one's easy. The book is intended for parents or teachers to read to their children (approximately 6-12 years of age) and to discuss it as they read it. The book includes a simple, yet detailed, explanation of what Communion is. It also explains who Jesus is, why He came to Earth, why He sacrificed Himself for our sins, and has simple steps for trusting in Jesus as Savior.

MJ You did a great job of keeping a sometimes complicated subject simple and clear.

Vicky Thank you! I did it with the help of my husband, my dad, and my former pastor. They all had some input into it. My friend, Mary, also previewed it before publishing.

MJ Support and input is so valuable.

Vicky Yes, it is! I consider my husband my "editor" on some levels. :-)

MJ You wrote and published What is Communion? with young children. How did you manage? How does marketing fit with being a mom? (I often wonder myself)

Top of Form

Vicky Yes, I wrote the book, and self-published it through a print-on-demand company called Lulu.com. The bulk of the writing and editing was done over our Summer break in 2009, so it didn’t take away too much from our schooling. My children were ages 6 and 10 at the time, and they played together very well for a good part of the day, so that really helped. 

To be honest, I am still learning about the whole marketing process and am taking things one step at a time. But, no matter what I end up doing, I know I don’t want to neglect the needs of my children. It is important that they always come before any outside ministries.

MJ Where can parents get your book?

Top of Form

Vicky It is available in several locations, including Lulu.com and Amazon.com. You can go to my website to find out more: What is Communion?

MJ Great! Was it hard to get on Amazon?

Vicky No, not at all. Actually, the company I used (Lulu.com) is the one who did that for me.

MJ My publisher did that for me also, so I have no idea :)

MJ Are there more books in your future?

Top of Form

Vicky I hope so. I have several ideas I have been working on, and one is now ready to be submitted to various publishers. So, we will see what happens.

MJ What types of books do you hope to write? What is the one you are pursuing publishing?

Vicky I am concentrating on children's books for the time being. It is my desire to help other parents and teachers to teach their children about the Lord, and help them to grow in their relationship with Him. The book I am currently pursuing is about why we go to church.

MJ Where can we learn more about you and read more of your writing?

Top of Form

Vicky I have 2 blogs I write on. One is about encouragement for Christians and helping each other grow in the Lord. He Holds My Right Hand

The other blog is our homeschool blog.

MJ I've thought about doing a homeschool blog, but I don't post consistently enough or have time, I guess :)

Vicky I also started a new adventure this year of writing articles for Eternal Encouragement Magazine.

MJ Congratulations! I met you through their Gabby Moms blog program, I didn't realize you were writing for the magazine as well.

Vicky Yes. I am writing under the masthead of "God Blesses This House but He Doesn't Clean It."

MJ Very fun! I'll look for your articles.

Vicky I believe the first one will be in the printed magazine in February.

MJ Who did the illustrations for your book?

Top of Form

Vicky My dad, Dr. James McIntosh, drew most of the illustrations for the book. He is currently an Instructor, and the Academic Dean, at Brookes Bible Institute in St. Louis, MO. The illustrations are simple, black and white line drawings, which can be less distracting for some children.

MJ How neat to be able to work with your dad! Did he make coloring pages of the illustrations?

Vicky No. But, I suppose the pictures could be photo-copied and kids could color them that way.

MJ Families and Sunday school classes could use them that way.

Vicky Yes!

MJ I have coloring pages with my Christmas devotion and am working on ones for Easter. They make great giveaways and easy activities.

Vicky Sounds fun! I enjoy your book.

MJ Who wrote the foreword for What is Communion?

Top of Form

Vicky The Foreword for the book was written by Rev. Gary E. Gilley, a pastor and author friend of ours from Southern View Chapel in Springfield, IL. Gary has written several of his own books, including This Little Church Went To Market and Is That You, Lord? You can visit Gary’s website here: http://www.svchapel.org/about-svc/staff

MJ Those sound fun, hmm, more books to look at :)

MJ Vicky Stankus author of What is Communion? Thank you so much for hanging out here today! It was fun to learn about your book and a little more about you as well.

Top of Form

Vicky It was fun to be here. Thank you for taking your time to do this!

Judith I enjoyed learning more about you and the book.

Vicky Thank you!