I spent much of my childhood, and lots of my adulthood, wishing I had an “e” at the end of my name. After reading Anne of Green Gables, it seemed like I needed an “e” that I could add with a certain flourish after the predictable double “n.” Yet my no-nonsense parents deemed an “e”-less Ann to be the name of their oldest child and so I lived without.
Then I married Ray Byle and got an “e.” In West Michigan there are lots of variations on the Dutch name Byle, including “Byl.” So now I’m Ann without an “e” and Byle with one. Ray is a high school science teacher who is famous for riding his recumbent bike to school as often as possible. He likes to point out that he took Honors English in high school, while I did not. I took lots of science classes.
I attended Bryan College in Dayton, TN, a marvelous and under-known Christian liberal-arts college where I majored in English. From there I moved to Chicago to work at Moody Publishers (then Moody Press) as a writer of book jacket copy. After a couple of years in the big city, I moved back home to Grand Rapids where I got a job as a copyeditor and the book review editor at The Grand Rapids Press. My years at The Press taught me a lot about good and bad writing. And the fact that truth is always stranger than fiction. And to get along with a wide variety of hooligans, reprobates and half-wacked people (I include myself in this bunch). After two more years as a copywriter and editor at RBC Ministries, I began freelancing. It’s now been 10 years that I’ve been holed up in my office at home.
When I’m not writing, I’m riding herd on four kids, one dog, one cat, two birds, fish, and a bunch of neighborhood kids who like to play at our house. My oldest children are daughters Bree, 17, and Abby, 15. The youngest two are boys: Jay, 10, and Jared, 7. All have now broken a bone. They attend public school, and we attend West Cannon Baptist Church. I’m part of the Women’s Ministry Team and play the oboe in the church orchestra. When I’m not writing and being the mom, I love to buy other people’s junk at garage sales and second-hand stores, read, walk and ride bikes with my family.
It’s interesting, rewarding and a bit unnerving to look back and see how God worked throughout the years. I see his hand in all of it: from being raised in a family of faith with a dad who is a writer, to attending college, to the skills learned at a number of jobs that coalesce into what I’m doing today. It can only be God, and for that I’m thankful.
Favorite Books
I read a lot. My kids read a lot. My husband reads a lot. So we’re a bunch of reading freaks. What follows is a list of some of my favorite books divided into categories. I’ll probably throw in some of my kids’ favorites too, just for fun. Look for new favorites as they come along.
Writing/Publishing:
1.
On Writing by Stephen King. He’s earthy, honest, funny, and knows more about writing than just about anybody. Definitely a must for your bookshelf.
2.
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. She’s also earthy, honest, funny and knows a lot about writing and God. For those of you with strong feelings about strong language, be prepared to be offended by both King and Lamott. But you’ll learn about writing and you’ll laugh. What more can you want?
3.
Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss. I’ve never laughed, ever, about punctuation and grammar until reading this book. Then I got to interview her and laughed more, then heard her speak, and laughed even more. Her second book, Talk to the Hand, is great as well.
4.
The Little Red Writing Book by Brandon Royal. Its subtitle says it all: “20 Powerful Principles of Structure, Style & Readability.” It’s short, sweet and useful because we all need a little refresher sometimes.
5.
The Right to Write by Julia Cameron. This gave me the right to write at a time I was questioning whether I should or not. I was thinking that I should clean house and raise kids and freeze garden vegetables all day. One out of three isn’t bad.
6.
Too Lazy to Work, Too Nervous to Steal: How to Have a Great Life as a Freelance Writer by John Clausen. I read this on a cruise. I laughed and learned and snorkeled and swam and ate. Great.
7.
Christian Writers’ Market Guide put out each year by Sally Stuart. Best market information on publishers and magazines, plus helpful advice. Get one every year.
On My List To Read:
1. Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith by Kathleen Norris
2. Conversations with American Writers by Dale Brown
3. Unchristian by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons
4. Sin Boldly by Cathleen Falsani
Fiction Favorites:
1.
Madman by Tracy Groot. This book received a starred review in Publisher’s Weekly, then won the 2007 Christy Award in historical fiction. I’m stunned by her rendition of the story.
2.
Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons. Amazing and stunning.
3.
Beloved by Toni Morrison. Ditto.
4.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Her writing floors me. Also check out a new biography titled Mockingbird by Charles J. Shields.
5.
Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns.
6.
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. Delicious in book or audio format.
Non-Fiction Favorites:
1.
He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not by Trish Ryan. She searches for a husband through all sort of spiritual stuff, but ends up finding Jesus and a happy ending. Funny and true (as in True) story of one woman’s search for the perfect man.
2.
Cold Tangerines by Shauna Niequist. Lovely, funny, soul-searched essays about life and God and her son and her search for understanding.
3.
Girl Meets God, Second Calling, Firstlight, Blue Like Jazz
Guilty Pleasures:
1.
John Grisham, Sophie Kinsella, Rosamunde Pilcher
What My Kids Are Reading and Loving:
Boys:
1.
Jay is reading Harry Potter, The Grey Griffens series, The Wormling “The Book of the King” by Jerry Jenkins, and the Michigan and American Chillers books by Jonathan Rand.
2.
Jared is reading every Easy Reader book he can find because he (proudly) has learned to read this year. He leans toward nonfiction titles.
3.
Anything to do with the grossest, most poisonous, deadliest, or ugliest creatures in the animal and plant kingdoms, plus dinosaurs, dragons and weaponry.
4.
Scooby-Doo, Captain Underpants, Power Rangers, comic books, Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon, birds, rocks, and weather.
Girls:
1.
Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
2.
Beyond the Reflection’s Edge by Bryan Davis (first in his new series)
3.
DragonSpell, DragonQuest, DragonKnight, DragonFire by Donita K. Paul
4.
Required reading this school year included To Kill a Mockingbird, 1984, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Brave New World, King Leopold’s Ghost, Heart of Darkness.
5.
This summer’s school reading list includes Life of Pi, A Lesson Before Dying and How to Read Literature Like a Professor.
