Sitting crossed legged across an accented red couch with pen in hand, and family photos adorning the walls just above him, Travis Hearn works tirelessly with more than a few projects in hand. His most recent and now completed project - which was complied for what seemed like tireless and endless months - just hit the shelves. You can say that his final project is nothing but a ‘game changer.’ Hearn, senior-pastor of Scottsdale’s Impact Church, first book, Game Changer, was just published and released. We had a chance to sit down with the humble-spoken author for a little Q&A session on the process of writing his first book.
1.What is your book’s title and what is the general idea behind it?
“The books name is Game Changer. Its tagline: The defining moment that takes you from trial to triumph. It’s basically a 14-chapter, 200-page book that is simply about how moments can literally redirect change from bad to good - from valley’s to mountain tops. It’s the game changing principles of life that provide hope. It’s a book of belief. It’s a book of personal illustrations and stories; the most game changing moments in life. To put it simply, Game Changer is a book of hope- it’s a book for those that are going through valleys. I want people to always know, the valley is not the finale. We all need a little shot of adrenaline into the soul.”
2.Why did you decide to write a book, and why this topic?
“I was encouraged by friends that I should write a book. Some of that was coupled with the success and national attention that Impact Church was receiving because of its rapid growth. I didn’t grow up in church, and I didn’t become a Christian until my senior year of high school, I’m not what you would expect in a pastor. Those friends of mine thought that I should tell that unorthodox story. At first I kind of thought: ‘why would I write a book? I don’t have anything to write about that anyone would want to read about.’ Those thoughts were completely real. That’s just how I felt at the time. The more people started asking me about writing a book, the more I kept thinking ‘why not?’ I really had to get there mentally.
The stories are real. They’re very raw. They’re transparent. They’re extremely emotional. I think that a majority of society can relate to that. I think that when people read a book like that they’ll think ‘HOLY COW’ I can’t believe this guy is a pastor.
Game Changer made sense. It has a little hint towards an athlete feel. It’s not a book for athletes. It’s a book for people that are maybe in a situation that could use little help and a little pick me up. It’s not a self-help book, it’s a book how God has literally time, and time again transformed dire scenarios – losses into victories.
3.How do you feel that Game Changer will impact readers?
“I think that the book impacts the reader by providing hope. With the things that they discover ad learn from my life by reading the book, I think that the average everyday person will say ‘maybe that can happen for me too.’ There are a few things that we all have in common: everybody wants to be loved, everybody wants affection, and everyone wants hope. If you don’t have hope, what do you have? Some of the emptiest people that I know have everything you could possibly imagine. Some of the people that don’t have anything are the most fulfilled people that I’ve ever been around. The reader receives hope, faith, courage, and maybe a rekindled dream.
4.What has been your favorite part of writing Game Changer?
“Remembering the miracles throughout my life. Remembering the ‘impossibles’ that became ‘possibles’ throughout my life. Getting to remember those beautiful moments when something crazy amazing happens in your life - those breakthrough and unbelievably amazing moments - like marrying my wife, the birth of my children, and the refinancing of this church. It was those breakthrough and chilling moments of my life that I was able to reference in the book that I don’t always think about in an everyday moment. Reliving those memories was my favorite part of writing the book. As time gets away, it’s easy to forget them.
5.What did you learn about yourself throughout the time you wrote the book?
“I learned that I could write a book an in an extremely untraditional way. One of the “giants,’ if you will, for me in my life, would be living with an incredibly frustrating neck condition. Since 1998 I’ve been writing every sermon of mine standing up or in excruciating pain. I mention this “giant” of mine in a chapter of the book. I had a dear friend help me with the deskwork and typing with the book. The biggest thing that I learned when writing a book it goes back to the good old saying, ‘if there’s a will than there’s a way.’ Stay driven and diligent and it will wind up coming together.”
6.What are your hopes about the future with this book after it’s published?
“To be honest, my hopes, expectations, or goals for the book are very small. I hope that it makes an impact to somebody somewhere. Period. If it was one person, it was worth EVERY ounce of energy. I don’t care if it looses money or if it’s not world famous. It just needs to impact someone, somewhere.”
To buy Game Changer, click here.
