November newsletter

Welcome to the November Dernier Publishing

newsletter!

 

Are children becoming animals?

Many people are at risk of giving up on children altogether, a shocking new poll commissioned by Barnardo’s has found. It shows that nearly half the UK population (49 per cent) agree that children today are beginning to behave like animals. ICM Research reveals that the public holds a negative view of all children, despite the majority being well behaved, attending school, taking part in activities and a significant number contributing to their communities and volunteering.

Read more of the research findings here:

http://www.barnardos.org.uk/news_and_events/current_news.htm?ref=74120

So it seems that our children are facing discrimination. How sad. We all need to feel cared for and appreciated; our young people are not exempt, with perhaps more pressures on them than many of us had to face at their age. There are more family break-ups than ever before, an increasingly immoral society, pressure at school to conform/not conform, more families with financial problems, job uncertainties, job losses . . . It's tempting to wonder what we can do, but if we all go out of our way to encourage our young people whenever we can, and make them feel appreciated, we can make a difference. If you don't know any children yourself, why not buy a Christian book or two for a school library? You could be the means of great blessing!

Books for Christmas!

Books make wonderful presents! Our books make excellent, non-threatening gifts for all the 8-16 year-old children you love. Those of you who have known us for a while will know all about our books; if you would like a catalogue please let us know, or if you would like help in choosing a suitable book for a particular child (or group), do not hesitate to contact me on info@dernierpublishing.com.

You can buy all our books from your local Christian Bookshop, internet store, or direct from us: www.dernierpublishing.com/youthf.php

 

With thanks to all who pray

Often we don't see the results of our prayers, but occasionally we receive good news! Here's an extract from an email I received recently, a wonderful encouragement that the Lord is at work through our books:

“I just want you to know how amazing your books are! 

1. One girl aged 8 from a very difficult background, came to me on Sunday. It was her birthday last Thursday. She was thrilled to bits when she got 3 birthday cards. One from Grandma, one from Kidz Klub, and one from the lady who sponsored her book! [Church members sponsored books to give to Sunday School children last term.] The only thing she asked for for her birthday was another book like 'I Want To Be an Airline Pilot'. Grandma bought her 'The Birthday Shoes'. Result: one very happy little girl.
2. One lady who lives 17 miles away from church, came on Sunday. She came because she had read her son's book, one of the Treasure Mystery ones. Her son loves coming to Kidz Klub, and she wanted to see why. At the end of the service she stayed behind to talk to the preacher, and after a long chat with him, she was born again! Wow, wow, and wow again!!”

Poster Offer

Do scroll back to a previous post with a special offer on our posters, by way of saying thank you to all of you who support us in so many different ways . . .

In a nutshell, you could make savings of up to £18, so do take a look – we hope our posters will be a blessing to all the children in your life. Offer expires 24th December, but we recommend you order them well before then! Why not take a look now - there's no time like the present, excuse the pun :-)

May the Lord bless you all as you prepare for Christmas, when we will celebrate that most amazing of events, when the only Son of God, our Saviour, came down to us.

 

Kindest regards to you all,

Janet  

PS Don't forget to find us on Facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dernier-Publishing/173040439575

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author profile - Denise Hayward

I hope you enjoy reading about our authors - today, with no further ado, I am delighted to introduce you to Denise Hayward, author of 'Deepest Darkness'!

"As a child I loved reading, and I read all the children’s classics – The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Alice in Wonderland, Heidi, Little Women etc. I also enjoyed Enid Blyton – she gets a bad press now but she drew me into books. Two books that really impacted me were Helen Keller’s autobiography and The Diary of Anne Frank. Probably more than any other book The Diary of Anne Frank inspired me to start writing. For my 13^th birthday I bought a note book with some money I’d had and began to keep a diary. I think I began by trying to record the boring intricacies of my day but quite soon it became a place to write what I thought and felt, how I processed the world. Those early diaries read rather embarrassingly now! I have never been faithful to writing my journal every day but I have more or less kept it up ever since. I still have days when I write reams and occasionally let several days, even weeks, lapse.

I don’t remember when I first wanted to write children’s stories, probably some time in my early twenties. I just know that for a long while I wanted to and then eventually began to put some of the ideas I had in my head onto paper. From the time I was a young teenager I wanted to be an actress, and from the age of 16 acting was a total obsession for me. It was all I wanted to do. I did eventually go to drama school and then had a summer season in the children’s theatre in Butlins. It’s a long story but I learned a lot about myself I didn’t like during that summer. I had been reading Christian books such as Jackie Pullinger’s ‘Chasing the Dragon,’ and Joni Eareckson’s autobiography. I may, at times, have called myself a Christian up to that point but I was not a follower of Jesus and these books brought that home to me. Anyway God sought me out, thankfully, and aged 23 I became a follower of Jesus. And he very clearly led me out of the acting world. It seemed hard at the time but I am glad He did. I wouldn’t have survived as a Christian in that world. That’s not the case for everyone but it certainly was for me.

I think it was probably around that time that the possibility of being a writer began to take hold of me. I certainly began writing more seriously then. I think my first completed work was probably a one woman play about Eleanor Roosevelt. I hoped to tour it around schools but didn’t get much interest – they kept telling me what women they would like a show about. I’ve never been very good at writing on demand. It has to mean something to me. However it began, somewhere in me I knew I wanted to write children’s stories. Of course I discovered writing them is far easier than getting them published! It always seemed like I was playing a game that I didn’t know the rules of.

The inspiration for Deepest Darkness came when my husband, Frederick, and I had a holiday in Canada. We caught the train from Toronto that crosses Canada to Vancouver, on the west coast. We stopped off at the Rockies on the way over then continued on to Vancouver. From there we hired a car and drove around Vancouver Island. We walked in the Rockies, went whale watching, stayed in an old loggers cabin and took boats out to see Grizzly bears along the coast. Throughout the journey the thing that struck us was the wildness and the unpredictability of it. The reality that as we walked we could very possibly stumble across a bear was exciting and scary! All the while, as we faced a wildness that doesn’t exist anymore in Britain, I felt God stirring things in me, facing fears. Not just the fear of stumbling across a bear but a certain fearfulness that gripped me. My fear was not as raw and controlling as Abi’s [from Deepest Darkness] but certainly controlled aspects of my life. God had long been dealing with fear in me. But there is simply something about walking in wilderness that touches something deep. Not just about me, but about the reality that God is not a tame God, and actually, in the depths of who I am, I don’t want Him to be anyway.

But it was in a small place on the west coast of Vancouver Island that the story began to stir in me. Our hotel was virtually on the beach, we had a room looking out to the sea. The beach was beautiful, to me it was paradise. The dark rocks in the sea, the long sandy beach. Behind were mountains and forests. All that part of Canada used to be temperate rainforest but most of it has been logged and there is very little original forest left. But there is some and from the road there was a boardwalk into the edge of the forest. As we walked I wept, the colours, the variety of green and the ancientness of this forest, deeply touched my heart, deeply spoke to me of the One who is the Ancient of Days.

One morning on the beach, the line ‘When I was a child of 9 or 10 I came to this island full of fear,’ popped into my head. And it stayed there. It became a matter of discovering who this person was and what had happened to her. In many ways Dave, Abi’s father, contains strands of my story as much as Abi herself. For me, Deepest Darkness is as much about discovering God is far bigger and wild and real and good than we ever imagine, as it is about one young girl facing her fears and finding God cares. He is enough. He made this wild, incredible planet that He cares deeply about. And yet He knows me and He cares. He intends life to be fully lived and embraced, He doesn’t want us cowering or making a life for ourselves that we can manage. He is too wild for us to tame and life is too huge for us to control but He holds us and lights our way."

Deepest Darkness really is a beautiful book; thoughtful, exciting, inspiring and equally suitable for Christian children or those with no church background. If you would like to read the first chapter, you can do so online:  http://dernierpublishing.com/deepestdarkness.php

Here is a little bit about the book, with some reviews:

 

Ten-year old Abi suffers from terrible nightmares and her life is ruled by fear. On holiday in Canada, she makes a new friend who shows her that true light shines, even in the deepest darkness. Facing her fears one by one, Abi opens up her life to the light and finds a freedom that she never thought possible.

“This is a brilliant story all about a girl called Abi. She's got a fear of everything, but a trip to Canada brings a new friend and some important answers. This is one of the best books I've read – EVER!” - Maddie

“It is a fantastic adventure and God is really real.” - Natalie 

 

“I enjoyed the story very much. I felt for Abi and all the characters, and was really excited while reading the book.” - Polina 

 

"Deepest Darkness' has deeply touched my daughters. There is something about it which has  struck a chord with them." - Jo

Deepest Darkness is available from all good bookshops everywhere (shop locally if you can!) or direct from our website. It costs £5.99 - if you need to order it, here is the ISBN: 9780953696352

Inspirational Posters

A few years ago, when we only had two books (well everyone has to start somewhere!), we produced a couple of posters, so that the exhibition stand we had booked didn't look too ridiculously empty.

Now we have eleven books, by the grace of God, and four posters - all with the aim of encouraging and inspiring young people in their faith and showing non-church kids what they are missing.

Our aim right from the beginning was to set up a publishing company for youth fiction, and as time has gone on our books have taken over just about all our time and energy. We are still proud of our posters though, and it's a shame they have been a bit neglected, because they are such wonderfully unique pictures with a great message. A few words can sometimes speak volumes; who doesn't need to be reminded on a regular basis that the Lord keeps his promises, that heaven is a wonderful place (this is popular with older folk too), that we can overcome evil with good and should keep rejoicing? . . . um, this is speaking to me right now . . .!

Our children (grandchildren, pupils, neighbours, nephews and nieces and friends' children) need to hear these things, just as much as we do - the writer to the Hebrews urges us to encourage one another daily - well here's a great way to do that, even if we can't be there in person.

Our posters sell for £3.99 each on our website www.dernierpublishing.com/posters.php . . . so, here's a special offer to raise their profile and to thank you for your interest in what we do:

First poster £3.99, every poster after that HALF PRICE (£1.99), up to another nine more posters! That's 10 posters for £21.90, a saving of £18!!! Of course you can order fewer if  you don't need ten.
Postage and packing free (UK only, sorry).

Offer limited to ten posters per household, not for resale, offer expires on 24th December, usual terms and conditions apply - see our website www.dernierpublishing.com for details.

Just email me: info@dernierpublishing.com how many of each you would like (mix and match is fine) and I will send them to you with an invoice, in a poster tube/s. They are 130gsm, gloss finish, 16" x 20" in size and look great on walls everywhere - where could you post yours? :-)

• Sunday School rooms
• Toddler groups
• Children's bedrooms
• Your office :-) (penguins?)
• Pre-schools and nurseries
• Creche rooms
• Classrooms
• House of Commons (I was thinking of the bats!)
• Buckingham Palace - well why not :-)

At this price, perhaps you could afford to buy them for your Sunday School children for Christmas - imagine what a blessing these could be, not just to the children but to their families too! :-)