Author Interview: Toni Sorenson

Writing… It is the only think she ever wanted to do.And write she has."I wrote my first play when I was eight," Toni Sorenson said. Her first published book - an almanac for country music. While in college she was asked to write a biography of all the country music artist at the time."That was my fist main endeavor," Since then Sorenson has written over 13 books, and continues to write, with three more projects in the works. "I can't not write," she said to me as we talk about her new endeavor, Master.It is nothing new when an author takes a historical time period and creates their own interpretation of events.But when it is done with the story of Jesus Christ and his ministry, it is something no one has ever done before. "I never thought I shouldn't do it, this was out of a desire to understand the life of Christ," Sorenson said of writing Master.Master tells the story of Jesus of Nazareth through the eyes of a fictional servant Almon. On the brink if death Almon woke up under the loving gaze of Joseph, Mary, and the child Jesus. With a promise by Joseph that he would be cared for until he is well, Almon ended up vowing servitude to Joseph and to be a companion for Jesus throughout His ministry until His death upon the cross. "This is just my testimony of Jesus Christ, my resounding testimony that Jesus Christ loves and knows the individual soul, and how lucky am I that I can do that, share that," Sorenson said.Formerly Toni Sorenson Brown, Sorenson felt she was guided to write this book as a way to survive her divorce after 24 years of marriage. She questioned how she was going to make it."It had been a very very difficult time, and in order to survive through that, I believe I was guided to take my focus off my problems and concentrate instead on our Savior," she said. "As I focused on Him, I was given the concept for this book, and I couldn't wait to share it."Master continues with Almon telling his story as he grows up in Joseph and Mary's household with Almon's main focus being that of Jesus and his unwavering desire to "follow Jesus." It is easy to get lost in Almon's story. The book starts out with Almon and his Father being attacked by father and son bandits while traveling in the Sinai desert. The end result being the death of his father and the rescue by Joseph and Mary. But, it is not easy to loose the reality of what is really being related in Sorenson's story telling."That's what is great about having the story told from Almon's perspective, because you are able to see and feel that you are the one walking along beside them," Rachel Langlois of Covenant Book said. Langlois hopes this book will open reader's eyes to the fact that Jesus did get picked on at school, He did have problems with His brothers and sisters, He did have those same emotions and problems that we have, she said. "It shows his human side without taking away from the divine," Langlois said.How does one take on a story about Christ, his family and friends, home and followers?She studied."I have studied Christ life for the past 21 years," she said. Which had just prepared her more to take on the task of writing Master.She also sent the manuscript to Brigham Young University Professor of Ancient Scripture, Robert L. Millet to check for doctrinal accuracy. "But a lot of it - honestly - is imagination," Sorenson said. One of the things, she said you will notice as you read this, is that she does not attempt to fabricate Jesus' words for him. There is no dialogue for Christ except what comes directly from the King James Version of the bible."I fabricated other dialogue and made it plausible, because these are the things we know He had to have done because of the society at the time, the culture," she said. The writing is very simple in its story telling and easy to read. Yet the story plot in very profound when read in this novel form. Despite coming from Sorenson's imagination, I can not deny the truth behind the ingenuity. I tend to get lost in the books I read and see the images the words produce as though I am watching it as it happened, as though I am there. I can not imagine having this knowledge. Jesus, the son of God, the Messiah, is this same man sitting next to me, as he did with Peter and John. Did Judas truly know the role he was playing in God's plan when his greed sets up the most important double-crosses of all time? "By the time you finish this book, you will never read the scriptures the same," Sorenson said, "If it is in a novel, it comes alive." My only criticism is that it takes too long to get to the real meat of the story. It is not until half way through are you able to really get into the book, and feel what is really being told to you.While the beginning feels slow the end of the book feels rushed.Yet this almost works because it adds to the feeling of urgency Christ must have felt in teaching his disciples and making sure they knew and understood the work of God which needed to continue after Jesus was gone. "Everything he did, he did with love and confidence," Sorenson said of Christ and what she took from this book.In this season of Easter, Master is a perfect read to bring a reflected understanding of Christ, not just of what is taught in the bible, but what can be learned when seen through Almon's eyes. "I hope this book will change the way they look at Jesus Christ," Sorenson said.