The Architect: The Story Of The Story

I dreamed about being an author when I was a little kid, and this year it’s really happening.

As I reflect on how in the world that’s possible, this is what I’m sure of: it was a group effort. Without the help of my family, friends, and a very good, very mysterious God, this story would never have been told.

In 2014, I drew a sketch of a girl talking to a radio. My story-obsessed brain wondered, what if you found someone on a certain frequency who knew everything about you? You would need to decipher whether their intentions and character were good, with nothing to go on but their choice of words and tone of voice!

The tension of the scenario reminded me right away of my relationship with God. My conversations with Him, if you can call them that, are complicated. I’ve never seen his face. I’ve only seen what I believe to be the effects of his actions. Sometimes he gives me specifics, but even then, I usually walk away from our conversations with more questions than answers. There is so much mystery to Him. Is he trustworthy? Is he good?

I kept coming back to the idea of the girl at the radio and the mysterious voice. It seemed like there might be a story behind it. Together with my friends Joey Sarlo and David Hopp, I used the idea as the basis for a play.

If you’re wondering, no, I’m not a playwright.

I’m a children’s pastor, which meant this play would be a large scale church production for children, a Vacation Bible School on steroids. As we were writing the story for the play, I could tell there was something special about it. It was going to make a fantastic play for kids.

Telling the story on stage was absolute joy. Seeing the children respond with cheers, screams, and applause to every twist, turn, character reversal, near miss, and plot surprise, was the most fun I had ever had.

When the play was over, I found myself going back to the story and toying with it. Reimagining, reworking, and rewriting. I had fallen in love with the characters. I wanted them to live on! This needed to be a bigger story! An epic! A trilogy! 

We wrote two more Architect plays for the kids, and both were wonderful experiences, but there was a discontent about it all. I couldn’t help thinking there was life for these stories beyond a church event. What was I looking for exactly? I wasn’t sure, so I tried a little of everything.

With my drawing experience, I began to design The Architect as a comic book. This time, I wouldn’t be restricted to a stage! The only limits were what I could write and draw! Well, as it turns out, those limits were limiting enough. There was too much story to tell, and as hard as I tried, I just couldn’t keep up with that much drawing.

I had another idea. The Architect could be a movie! How cool would that be?! I wasn’t restricted to a stage AND I didn’t have to draw it! I prepped, shot, post-produced and released the movie with my children’s team at Grace Family Church, and it was another great experience. But there was another limitation, and this time it was money.

I’m proud of what we made, but the limitations of our budget showed. The story hadn’t reached its full potential, so I couldn’t leave it alone.

“What’s left?” I asked myself. “A book series?” 

A book series! In 2020, while the Starretts were hiding from COVID, I opened up my laptop and started pounding out the story in book form, one page at a time. It was different, writing a book, and mentally really hard. I felt stupid. Like I was wasting time. Nobody was expecting the book, or asking for it.

This is where I want to give full credit to Rachael. My wife could have rolled her eyes or simply tolerated me as I retreated to write “another chapter of my book.” Instead, she has been the one to push me to think of myself as an author, and The Architect story as something truly important.

“This story is significant for you and our family,” she would tell me constantly as I was writing. “It needs to be written, to be shared, to be experienced by as many people as possible.” She sewed Patches’ jacket herself, and even made a custom refrigerator magnet from one of my Architect drawings. I’m not sure why, but that little magnet has encouraged me more than anything.

Finally, I finished the book. I’d tweaked it to death, and it was time for somebody else to read it. My mom is a copy editor, so I gave it to her. She fixed some of the grammar, but let’s be honest, she wasn’t going to tell me my book was trash. She’s my mom! She’s supposed to like everything I do.

The real test came when an author friend of mine, Jeff Wilson, got me a Zoom call with Tyndale House Publishing. Tyndale House! Like, the-New-Living-Translation-of-the-Bible Tyndale. Like, prestigious-Christian-Publishing-company Tyndale. Where did that come from? I sometimes think Jeff Wilson is an angel, which he doesn’t seem to appreciate.

Tyndale asked me if I had a manuscript, so I sent it over. I tried to keep in mind the stories of all-timers like Dr. Seuss and J.K. Rowling, whose works were rejected dozens of times before finally finding a publisher. Was my skin thick enough for rejection?

As it turns out, Tyndale did not reject my book. Instead they expressed eagerness to publish it. I negotiated a contract with them for The Architect to be released Fall 2022. 

Part of me feels a little weird about it. Shouldn’t I have to struggle more? Where’s the part where I really earn this opportunity by giving it all up, getting doors slammed in my face, and starving for my art? Maybe it’s still coming. All I know is, I am really humbled by the generosity and encouragement I have received from the people God has put in my life. He is mysterious, but he is trustworthy. And because of how good He has been so far, I have decided to keep on trusting. 

I am so enormously thankful for my family and friends who have helped carry the Architect, whether to bring it to life on stage, on film, or on the page. Those who’ve been part of this story are, without fail, all of my favorite people.

I realize I didn’t get here in a vacuum. It has been the greatest group effort of my life with the greatest people. And to any creative who thinks they can get there alone, stop trying and find some friends quickly. There was hard work involved for me, yes, but the story of this story is mostly about help I didn’t deserve, and it can be summed up best in the words of a guy named Patches:

“Chalk it up to serendipity… something good happening when you least expected it.”