We are all works in progress...and I have some of those too.

I am currently working on some exciting projects. Join my mailing list down below to stay up to date with these and other works. If you are interested in collaboration or partnerships, please email tracie@traciemilesliterary.com. If you have any other questions, send me an email at charityschlote@gmail.com!

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Even Then Picture Book Series

I have found it impactful that the very first thing the Lord did in Genesis after Adam and Eve's sin was to find them and cover the shame that they had tried in vain to cover on their own. This consisted of making them clothes and giving them a promise. From that moment on, strewn throughout the Old Testament like a beautiful tapestry, God has interwoven the promise of the Savior. "Even Then Stories" will focus on the Old Testament and will teach kids truths about the promise through a variety of stories, many of which are not the traditional Sunday School flannelgraphs.

There are currently three drafts for this series.

Happily Ever After and the Sadness of Job (companion board book Come and See):

"Happily Ever After and the Sadness of Job" tackles the potentially faith-shattering reality of suffering in an age-appropriate way for children. Using the Biblical story of Job, this story teaches that God is both BIG and NEAR, despite a broken world, and that even then - in the midst of the brokenness - God is working out our “happily ever after” through Jesus. "Come and See" is the companion board book for younger children that focuses on where God meets Job and asks Job questions about the universe.

Rock Collecting and an Ebenezer

"Rock Collecting and an Ebenezer" is a story based on 1 Samuel 7:12 that follows the narrative of God’s provision throughout the Old Testament through the theme of rocks. This story focuses on the roller coaster of the celebration of God's power and the forgetfulness of God's people and that even then, God was providing a steadier foundation through the cornerstone, Jesus.

Dry Bones and Spinning Wheels

"Dry Bones and Spinning Wheels" is a story based off of Ezekiel’s visions that tell the story of Judah’s sin, captivity and return. This Biblical narrative highlights the strange and surprising ways through which God tried to get His people's attention and to bring them back to Him. This story teaches that even then - in the midst of sin and separation- God is making all things new and how even today, He is still bringing dry bones to life.

All Theologians Children's Commentary Set

This is a set of works for children in the planning stages that will be composed of 66 picture books relating the story of each Bible book to the whole narrative of Scripture, providing accessible and strong theology with relevant background information for young Theologians.

"Hello Young Bible Scholar. God’s Word was given to you. When Jesus was on earth, he welcomed children to come and sit at his feet while he taught. In fact, when the adults tried to shoo them away so the real followers of Christ could get closer, Jesus rebuked them. He told them to let all of the Children come. They were not too little for him then, and you are not too little for him now."

I Hope You Fail

"I hope you fail.

\Wait…Did you read that right? Your eyes aren’t playing tricks. You did and I do. For your sake, dear child, I hope you fail. Not all of the time, no. But some of the time? Absolutely. The greatest of things are found through failure. So as much as I hope you win and learn to be a good winner. I hope you fail and learn to be good at that too."

Hope You Fail is a story that tackles a difficult concept for children in a poetic style to empower them as they face hard things. The title of this work is a shocking statement that is further explained throughout the book. Failure is something that is a certainty in this world. It is vital that children (and adults) learn how to cope, and even thrive amidst this certainty. It is my hope that this story helps to create resilient learners who are not afraid to attempt things and fail and in doing so gain the valuable knowledge only understood through failure.

I have spent a lot of my life dealing with the anxiety of trying to run away from failure. I have replayed mistakes that I have made like a video recording in my head on repeat. I have had to learn to embrace the process of messiness in order to find any kind of success. I now work in education and see countless students struggling with the same thing. In my background of SEL (Social-Emotional Learning) education and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) education, I have actively taught students that failure is beautiful and necessary. This is a children’s story suitable for both the Christian and commercial market about the opportunities that failure provides, attempting to establish a growth mindset and encouraging all students to become lifelong learners/.

Table Etiquette: A Pastoral Fable about God's People Using Proper Manners

I deconstructed before deconstructing was cool. I am no novice at churches falling apart. I have grown up in church all my life. I knew how to do church and do it well. I was a pastor’s kid. With that role, comes a certain education. For example, I learned the best hiding places in those old buildings, the way to greet people who knew all about you but who you couldn’t recall ever seeing before, and how to masterfully change the subject when someone asked how you liked their less-than-appetizing dessert that they had made for your family. But I also received an education of another kind. I have watched churches fall. More than once. Some I have stood and watched at a distance, while for others, I found myself right in the middle as the columns and stones fell in around me.

When I was younger, I was buried underneath the weight of the debris for a bit. The demolition that I saw before me did not make sense. I asked God why his church was such a barren place. I wondered why the world seemed safer than the sanctuary. I asked God why in Psalms, David’s one wish of God was to stay in his house forever, when my one wish was to never go back inside again. And he left me with those questions for quite a while.

The Lord showed up and answered my questions, gradually, bit by bit as I put my faith back together again. He showed me himself. Then He showed me a glimpse, just barely, of what the Church was supposed to be. It was beautiful. I couldn’t help but try to begin building again, both my faith, and the corporate community that we were supposed to have. Sin has infected us all, so much so that for us all to actually do this “church thing,” where we live, worship, learn, work, and trust together, it would take a miracle that rivals calming storms and walking on water. Good thing we know someone who knows how to do both. The image of that beautifully standing cathedral of fellowship was so alluring, that I couldn't help but try to build it again and again, building through the rubble.

I wrote about it. Table Etiquette is a book for adults in two parts. Part one follows the fictional ministry of a young pastor named Alfred D. Lendell and the other is a discourse about what the Church was meant to be. We have all been invited to a feast. The plates have been set out, the utensils polished, and a welcoming aroma fills the air. We come and dine with the Feast Giver. Only, too often, we pull out the chairs from underneath others at the table. We compete for the Feast Giver’s attention by telling one more joke or speaking louder than the person right next to us. We ask who gets to sit at the right hand and make bids for the comfiest cushion. We don’t use proper manners. In the fable portion, the reader gets a front pew seat to Al’s ministry at various churches, culminating in a stand-off at a church named Stoneybrook. Alfred’s story is entertaining, light-hearted, and sometimes painful to read. The reader then moves on to study three different “tables” in Scripture and what the Church can learn from each one. This piece is not written to dismantle church, but rather to build up the Church. The purpose is not just to help change behavior at the feast and call for a more dignified communion table, but to more importantly change our focus to the Feast Giver and call for more communal, undignified worship.

The Unseen, Stained-Glassed House

As mentioned above, I am passionate about the Church and what it is created to be. "The Unseen, Stained-Glass House," is a picture book for children using the imagery from 1 Peter 2 and Ephesians 2 to help children understand the spiritual inheritance we are given in the Church.

There was one living stone, a Cornerstone, who came and was rejected. Many have stumbled over Him because He wasn't what was expected. The Church builds upon Him as the foundation. As the Church builds, we are individual living stones coming together to form a spiritual house. We find our identity and cohesion in the strength of the one cornerstone, but then we are joined together and build on. We are stones that can cause damage, be used as weapons, but also be moved in mighty ways by our architect. The Church is built layer by layer on the foundation of Christ and with the added support of all of those throughout time who have paved the way before. Brick by brick, stone by stone, this eternal spiritual house is built. The shadow of this massive, overarching structure is solid. It is a fortress of safety for those who come to it for peace, but also is an intimidating force of might, for those who oppose it. The gates of hell cannot prevail against it. This spiritual house will last. This is our unshakable inheritance. He is the cornerstone, and we are living stones and a beautiful, unseen, stained-glassed house because of Him.

Sometimes Sheep Fall Over

"Sometimes Sheep Fall Over," is a children's picture book about Psalms 23. David was a shepherd and he chose the imagery of a shepherd and sheep to depict his relationship with the Lord for a reason. Throughout the Old Testament, we see God's relationship with his people likened to that of a loving shepherd and in the New Testament, Jesus is the "Good Shepherd" who gives Himself for His sheep. This comparison is a vibrant picture of how we are loved and cared for, even though the practical daily realities of sheep and shepherding are often a foreign concept to many of us. This book dives into this image through Psalms 23 and helps to bring more understanding to our relationship to the Good Shepherded and who we are as his flock.