So the big news in my world as of late revolves
around the fact I've decided to jump back into the deep end of the writing
pool. And before you find yourself muttering who cares,
someone must because people keep asking me about my work. Which is
exactly the problem! So here it is, an exclusive, no holds barred look at
what in the world is going on in my world and why...
One day last month I was approached about my
writing and I stammered for words. Me, the one who always has something
to say about everything, stood speechless, no answer to the question in sight.
Oh, I had an answer. I had a great answer I could have talked about
all night. But the truth was, I was a bit embarrassed to share it.
In the four years since I penned my first two
novels, a great deal has changed in my life. Not to send you heading for the
pillow with too much history, but I've been writing since I was in the 4th
grade. Yet it wasn't until the spring of my 39th grade year (hehe) that I
decided to get serious about seeing my name in print, a bucket list task of
sorts given the big 4-0 was fast approaching. Ever the type A
personality, I love a good deadline! So I did what every serious, type A
does at the start of a big project--I researched until the wee hours many a
night, studying the publishing industry, looking at the numbers, seeing what
was selling, where the trends were heading and what genre might best fit the
ideas bouncing around in my head. Readers, readers! Are there any
readers here? That was the burning question four years ago.
Fair warning now--while I promise this post won't
venture past PG-13, if you're the shy type, you might want to skip a few words
in this paragraph. Sex sells. In particular, romance heavy on
sexual content really sells. So that's where I landed, smack dab in the
middle of the hottest selling genre around long before anyone had ever heard
the words Fifty Shades. I wrote what I thought people wanted
to read, met with modest success while checking a box off my list and turned
forty and felt like a rock star at various points as long as I didn't look in
the mirror too long. Big whoop! But I'd be lying if I said the
journey was satisfying because deep down, I'm a big enough girl to admit it
wasn't satisfying. Most days I felt like a transplant playing in a world
where I didn't belong. I was a writer with a deep love of the written
word who was suddenly embarrassed to talk about her work.
Writing has always been a haven for me but I
can honestly say I felt the walls of the haven narrowing in on me as I tried to
write in a box society deemed popular. I've always marched to my own beat
and I truly believe I sold out for a time with my early writing, compromising
my own value system in the process. It's as simple as that. Oh, I tried to write at various points when
new story lines would surface, but the words never truly flowed from a place of
any substance. I still thought about
writing and kept up with events in the industry. I even started to pray
about writing. Ultimately, when I got quiet enough in my spirit to
actually listen, God re-introduced me to a part of myself during my writing
drought.
I can head to my office and lose myself for hours
in the worlds I create, making life on paper as perfect or dysfunctional as I
want for my characters. God has blessed
me with the ability to be largely transparent about the hurts and hang-ups in
my own life and in turn, I feel he's blessed me with the ability to be able to
use those things ripped from real life and spin them out in incredible ways on
paper. So I'm writing again. And my publisher is in the process of
suspending the sell of my old, stand-alone titles and has graciously released
me from those contracts.
I've always said I wanted to live a big life which
means I take big risks and sometimes I make big mistakes. But I can honestly
say I'm grateful for every day God has given me. Even the hard ones.
I don't live with a lot of regret and looking back over my years, I
wouldn't change the journey. I adore my
family, I treasure my friendships and I have a growing, active faith—those are
the things I want to honor in my life by giving them my best.
I'm proud to share that I'll be moving to the inspirational
side of my publishers imprint and that I plan to launch of a new line of
inspirational, contemporary romantic fiction that features strong characters
focusing on bringing love, grace, promise, healing, forgiveness, self-worth,
mercy, respect, redemption and a host of additional biblically based values
back to the forefront of reading.
Later this fall I’ll bring you my debut release, Hope 22, a story of
healing, grace and the peace that can be found when we earnestly seek God’s
plan for our life. While I know in my
heart I’ll be proud to share Hope 22 with each of you, I have to be
honest. It will be nice to have my name
on a story I can actually let my mom read!
