THE ALABAMA BAPTIST May 25, 2006
FBC RED BAY MEMBER WRITES CHRISTIAN NOVEL
By Linda Lyle
Correspondent, The Alabama Baptist
"I literally grew up with ministry all around me...and I stayed right in the middle of it," said Daphne Murrell, whose father served as a pastor for 15 years before going into prison chaplaincy.
According to Larry Hill, pastor of First Baptist Church, Red Bay, in Franklin Baptist Association, where Murrell is a member, "Daphne is a committed Christian and a multitalented individual, who is an asset to the church. She is a speaker and pianist for a lay renewal team as well as doing solo engagements."
She takes any opportunity that she can get to share what Christ has done for her, Hill said.
Recently Murrell, whose husband is the youth minister at First, Red Bay, added a new aspect to her ministry - writing Christian fiction. Her first novel, "Autumn Sunset," was released by Tate Publishing in February.
"Autumn Sunset" is the story of Annie, the youngest daughter of a Southern Baptist preacher, who finds herself living back at home with her parents in Alabama.
As she struggles to fulfill her dreams of being a songwriter, she is offered the chance of a lifetime by her teen idol, Stephen Williams, who penned the song "Autumn Sunset."
Amid personal conflict, family struggles and just a little bit of mystery, she tries to choose the things in life that will make her happy and fulfilled.
A songwriter herself, Murrell said "Autumn Sunset," the song mentioned in the book and its title, is a real song that she wrote, and is the title song to a custom album with 14 original songs. "Autumn Sunset" is the first of a four-book series, including "Spring Dawn," "Winter Midnight," and "Summer Sunrise."
Each book has a song idea, which will be released as the sequels are published.
"I wrote my first book in second grade," Murrell said. "I used to write all through high school, passing around chapters to my friends. I worked on a novel during my college years."
She then traded her writing skills to more immediate needs, writing skits, dramas and Bible studies for her church.
"It was hard to find children's musicals with enough girl parts," Murrell said.
"In August of 2004, I had this great idea for a book, but I began to think what was the point?" she said. "If I were going to keep writing this stuff but never try to publish anything, it would look like I was wasting a whole lot of time. So I did the only thing I knew to do: contact a literary agent and let them try to pitch my work."
Murrell got a lot of great feedback, but nobody wanted to publish a new author.
So she pulled her manuscript and pitched it herself.
"The first place I sent 'Autumn Sunset' was Tate, and within three weeks, they contacted me with the promise of a contract," she said.
Murrell's husband and three children, Melody, Josh and Charis, are thrilled because publication was validation for all the time spent writing instead of cleaning the house, she said with a laugh.
Her book and CD's, as well as contact information, are available on her website, www.daphnemurrell.com.
NEWS-SUN SEBRING, FLORIDA Friday, May 5, 2006
FORMER RESIDENT RELEASES BOOK, CD
By Elaine Sedlock
Writing and publishing just one novel in a lifetime is a rare feat - but Daphne Wall Murrell is currently working on the fourth in a series.
"My mind constantly creates plots and ideas," the former Avon Park resident said. "I have so many things running through it all the time that it can be overwhelming - and depressing because I don't have the time to follow up on them."
She did, however, find the time to follow up on "Autumn Sunset," a Christian / fiction / romance / mystery novel published by Tate Publishing, LLC. The work hooks readers early on, keeping them guessing what will happen in the lives of the characters that readers come to feel a part of.
Moreover - voted Most Talented during her junior and senior years at Avon Park High School, where she graduated in 1980 - the multi-talented Murrell's novel, "Autumn Sunset," has been released along with an original music CD by the same title.
It had been awhile since she'd released an album of orginal songs, so having already written the song, she decided to "let the release of the book be the release of the original album."
The story's basic plot line was simple.
"A stubborn but talented girl finally gets a chance for her own Cinderella story," she said. "However, can she actually move beyond her fears and personality flaws to let it happen?"
One of the many challenges in writing the story was making it unpredictable.
Murrell hates reading a book that pans out predictably.
"I wanted to throw in as many twists and turns as I could," she said.
According to feedback from readers of "Autumn Sunset," that goal was attained.
"It's been a lot of fun hearing other people's reactions to some of the twists," she said. "I've even had some of them tell me things they thought were going to happen, and the relief or shock they felt when the truth was actually revealed."
Murrell brings her characters to life through dialogue.
"I try to avoid a lot of descriptive narratives of how things look and how people feel - and just try to reveal the story through the relationships and discussions," she said.
Although she didn't begin writing the book with any intent to drive home some particular message, she noticed that one had been developing in the mix.
"As I got more into writing the book, the idea of how important our relationships truly are began to surface. God is totally about relationships, and anything in our lives that pulls us away from them or diminishes them is something that is destructive and is stealing the biggest blessings God has given us," she said.
Her books are not "preachy," however, like many Christian books.
Instead, the well-defined characters, their individual strengths and weaknesses, the choices they make in the face of personal struggles and circumstances, the way they relate to others, and the impact of those choices in their lives says it all.
"So many Christian books will have these "preachy" sections where the author presents some major doctrinal stuff. A lot of times it seems to me that the writer is trying to justify the 'Christian' label or something," she said. "I want my books to show Christianity as just a normal part of these people's lives. They are moral people who try to make right decisions based on their relationships with the Lord, but they are far from perfect."
Murrell said that you won't find a series of pages in any of her books with someone trying to "convert" or "change" another with a dissertation of the Scriptures.
Before she was halfway through the writing of "Autumn Sunset," Murrell had already been struck with the idea for the second, "Spring Dawn." In the same way, halfway through writing "Spring Dawn," the third, "Winter Midnight," began to evolve in her mind.
Murrell, who reads Christian fiction "for some good escapism without explicit sexual details, profanity, methods of evil, perversion and greed winning the prize in the end," said that her favorite Christian author is Francine Rivers, with Dee Henderson following close behind.
She doesn't know when her sequels will be released, but is planning to be coming to the area some time this summer to do some book signing for "Autumn Sunset."
"Autumn Sunset" can be purchased at Walmart.com, Amazon.com, tatepublishing.com, or by ordering from any bookstore.
The book and other materials are available at her website, www.daphnemurrell.com. More materials are expected to be made available in the near future.