 |
| Mona Hodgson |
God has a unique plan for our lives. That includes the individual paths taken to publication and our encounters along the way—the people who mentor us, the experiences that help us grow as writers—even how we come up with story ideas. Today, author Mona Hodgson shares her personal journey to publication. Enjoy!
~ Dawn
My
Circuitous Writing Journey
by
Mona Hodgson
Me, a writer? Was
that even possible?
In 1983, my hubby, our two daughters, and I attended a
retreat for Law Enforcement families. That’s where I had my first encounter
with a real writer! Carol interviewed Bob and me for a magazine article. I
remember sitting across the table from her and wondering. Hmmm! A writer?
Mid-summer 1987, I was still intrigued by the idea of
becoming a writer, so I responded to an ad for a correspondence course offered
by Christian
Writers’ Fellowship International. The day before
Thanksgiving in November 1987, my first acceptance letter and non-acceptance
letter arrived in the same envelope from The
Secret Place, a quarterly daily devotional.
In January of 1989, I walked a dirt road with my dad in
Arizona's White Mountains and discovered a deserted and dilapidated cabin not
much bigger than my dining room. I hadn’t been a writer for very long, but God
had already braided the “what if?” gene into my DNA. What if a granddaughter
had left that cabin after a family tragedy? What if she had to return years
later when her grandmother’s health was failing? By the time, Dad and I
returned to the house where our family was staying for the weekend, my
imagination had planted a full garden of seeds from which the premise for a
novel sprouted.
Over the past two decades, I’ve taken countless novel-writing
courses, focused on learning the craft and the art of storytelling. Intrigued
by the late 1890s and the stalwart women of that time, I began writing a
historical novel set in Jerome, an Arizona copper mining camp.
In the meantime, I had several hundred articles and short
stories for adults and children published in fifty-plus newspapers and
magazines. In 1998, my first two children’s books were published, and
twenty-six more since then.
I was working on the historical set in Jerome when an editor
who had seen the opening pages of that novel gave me an opportunity to write
the Sinclair Sisters of Cripple Creek
Series, set in a Colorado Gold Mining Camp in the late 1890s. Like Kat
Sinclair, the main character in Two
Brides Too Many, I am one of four sisters and knew I’d have a lot of fun
writing about the complex sister relationships. I love Colorado. And, of
course, I had already done a lot of research on mining camps in the 1890s. I
knew the opportunity was God’s answer to my prayers; His provision for my dream
to become a published novelist.
Now, I'm celebrating the February 19th release of Dandelions
on the Wind, the first of three eBook novellas in The Quilted Heart Series. Readers will join the women of the Saint
Charles Quilting Circle as they struggle to rebuild their lives in the wake of
the Civil War.
A
broken soldier. A nearly-blind abandoned bride.
Will
love bind their hearts together, or will stubborn pride
unravel the family they
both love?
MONA HODGSON is
the author of nearly 40 books, both children's books and historical novels for
adults, including her popular Sinclair
Sisters of Cripple Creek Series. Mona's writing credits also include
several hundred articles, poems and short stories, which have appeared in 50
different publications. Mona lives in Arizona and speaks at women's retreats,
conferences, and schools.
Connect with Mona at www.monahodgson.com,
 |
| Click to reach Amazon. |
Dandelions
on the Wind, Book 1 in The
Quilted Heart Series
An eBook Novella
WaterBrook Press
Release Date: February 19, 2013
Now available for pre-order, only $1.99!
