Margaret Kazmierczak
THE GREATEST JOY of running a project such as this is the people I get to meet: people like Margaret Kazmierczak, author of How to make Victoria Sponge from the little-known publisher, Arbentin Books: full bibliographic details below. After compiling her Christian Writers Directoryentry and whilst chatting online via facebook, I asked Margaret what had inspired her to write. This is her reply:
This is how Victoria Sponge came about. When I was a child I wanted to be a grown up, now I am grown up I want to be a child! So I have compromised and am a teenage muddler in oversized clothes that purports to be a responsible middle age lady.
My name is Margaret, experienced in most things and master of very little, apart from having a book published. It is my epiphany. A sudden wakening, that not all is lost when you are in a black hole.
Experiences follow me like a bad smell. No sooner have I climbed one mountain when another one looms ahead bigger and scarier than the last. The best way I have found to deal with the aftermath is to jot things down. Life is funny when you have hindsight.
I am a wife, mother and servant to the cat. I cared for my elderly father-in-law for three years, whose English was as Polish as my cat’s meows. His frequent ‘escapes’ added to the chaos of our household. Not only did I end up searching for him but also for my youngest who used the open front door to do her little absconding too. It was a matter of baby first, lost prisoner of war later.
Daily life has always fascinated me, but when night time comes I want to sleep! Picture then being woken up at 5am in the morning by a voice that said “I want you to write a book.” My response would have been “Clear off I am trying to sleep” if I had not known that this voice was special. Instead the conversation went like this:
“You want me to write a book?!” (At the time this happened I was suffering from chronic fatigue and Complex Post Traumatic Stress – but that is another story. I could hardly get out of bed and do the everyday things without collapsing in a heap.) “Are you serious?”
“Very”
“But I am dyslexic, I have no idea of grammar or how to structure a book. My memory is so bad that I can’t remember character’s names or plots. Are you sure you have the right person?”
“You are forgetting who is asking you to do this. I Am commissioning you to write a book.”
“Forgive me Father for questioning you, but I need a sign, a confirmation as I really don’t think I can do this.”
“When the family have left the house I want you to start writing. I shall tell you what to write. Sleep now in peace.”
As suggested I sat at my laptop when all had left and I said, “I am ready.”
Words started to flow into my mind and I typed and typed. As the days and weeks followed the story unfolded, I had no problems remembering the main characters and my brand of humour and experiences of life poured out into words bringing life to the Sponge Family. I began to feel better in myself and by the time the book was finished (it took about two years as God worked with my fatigue) all symptoms had subsided.
Then I realized that I had not ‘read’ the book myself and so sat down and delved into the life of Victoria Sponge. I laughed, cried and prayed alongside Vicki. God had become a true friend and I learnt how important it was to say ‘Yes’ to His will each day.
Okay so this all sounds a bit whacky, just like me. That is the beauty of it all. God uses us for His purposes if we listen to His voice. Having finished reading the book, I understood that this was not just a message for me but for all struggling Christians, especially women who have to juggle so much in their lives. So often we forget that we have the Greatest Helper and Friend on our side. He is literally in everything. For things to change we need to invite Him into every aspect of our lives. We need to bless the mess and ask God to help with the housework.
This is what Victoria Sponge does and even when things are at their bleakest she turns to God for help. I really enjoyed writing this book and I hope many readers are enriched by it too.
To order a paperback copy (UK only) email: vicki.sponge@aol.co.uk