Friday, August 16, 2013

The Long and Winding Road by Sherri Wilson Johnson


Sherri Wilson Johnson
Welcome to another Fortifying Friday, the day at Seriously Write devoted to giving authors the opportunity to share their personal journeys to publication. They also offer encouragement to writers who may have only begun and those who have reached one destination and are traveling on to the next. Today, author Sherri Wilson Johnson tells her story. Enjoy! ~ Dawn


 The Long and Winding Road 

For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be a published author. I dreamed from an early age about having my books on bookstore shelves. I wanted to take writing classes but my family couldn’t afford them. This was before the age of home computers and the Internet. Information on how to write and be published wasn’t readily available.

I was at point A and wanted to get to point B but I didn’t know how. And I wanted to be rich and famous.

I started writing To Dance Once More in 1993 and after numerous rewrites, countless rejections, a writing course, a conference, and practicing the craft, I achieved the goal of being published in 2011 and again in 2012.

The road to publication was different than I thought it would be. I had planned to study journalism and be an anchorwoman or a street reporter while working toward my goal. Instead, I worked in an office. I married, became a mom, and helped my husband run our business. I planned to write fulltime when my kids went to school but God called me to homeschool. Some would take this as a sign that it was time to give up the dream. But I didn’t! During my fourteen years of homeschooling, I worked several part time jobs but in my free time I wrote and somehow managed to write three novels and a variety of other things.

Because my journey to publication took so much longer than I thought it would, I have a richer, less selfish, more purposeful life. Because of my experiences, my mistakes, my jobs, and the people who have come in and out of my life, I have depth to me that I didn’t have before. That depth is reflected in my writing.

Because of His direction, my goal is no longer to be rich and famous but to spread the news of His great love to the world. Of course, I’m still pressing on to realize the fullness of my dream—a spot on a bookstore shelf.

God knows what’s best for us and He directs and narrows our paths. His timing is always perfect. Each of us has a unique journey to publication and it’s not always about the end as much as it is about the road between point A and B. I hope this has inspired you to strive for your dreams and to never give up!




Tweetables:

Sherry Wilson Johnson discovered advantages in taking a long road to publication. Click to tweet.

God knows what’s best for us. His timing is always perfect. Click to tweet.

It’s not always about the end as much as it is about the road between point A and B. Click to tweet.



Song of the Meadowlark
Song of the Meadowlark is a Contemporary Inspirational Romance full of hope, forgiveness, and second chances at life and love set in South Georgia on a ranch with an ornery cowboy.

When trusting others only leads to pain and rejection, and loving ends only in loss, what will it take to restore hope again? Shunned by the uncovered truth about her missing husband’s secret life, Cora Buchanan sets out on a road trip for home to mend her broken relationship with her parents. When her car breaks down, she’s stranded in a small Georgia town. While staying at the struggling Southern Hope Ranch, she meets little Susie O’Reilly, who unexpectedly fills a void in Cora’s heart. But Rex, Susie’s rugged cowboy father who lost his wife a year earlier, seems to go out of his way to either confront or avoid Cora. It doesn’t help her comfort level that the news continues to report missing and murdered women in the area. Cora has no idea just how close to home the crimes will hit…or how much the sweet sound of the meadowlark’s song at the ranch will impact her future. 



Sherri Wilson Johnson—Where Faith and Fiction Collide. Sherri lives in Georgia with her husband, two children, and two dogs. She is an Inspirational Romance novelist, a speaker, and a former homeschooling mom. She works with the women’s ministry at her church and she loves to make people laugh. She’s passionate about purity and sexual integrity. She’s a bird-watcher; loves the ocean, ice cream, Jesus and her family. She is the author of To Dance Once More (OakTara) and Song of the Meadowlark (OakTara).

To learn more, please visit:

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5233294.Sherri_Wilson_Johnson