How did I get started writing? It was 2008 and my high school English students were so engrossed in the popular vampire novels that they were completely ignoring my lectures on dangling participles and misplaced modifiers (shocking, I know!). So I read the books, and I immediately recognized why these students – the females especially – loved them so much: This was what we all crave. We want to be loved, cherished, treasured so much that someone is willing to give up everything for us, sacrifice himself for us, tell us and show us every day in many ways that we are his beloved. But these books – and the romance within their pages – fell short. No man will ever meet all our needs. No earthly romance will ever fully satisfy us. We are the Bride of Christ, and until we fully embrace that relationship, we will never be truly fulfilled.
So I thought to myself, “Someone ought to write books for teens where Jesus is the main character, wooing the girl to Himself…” That thought got stuck in my mind, wouldn’t leave. And from that thought, the idea for my first novel, First Date, was born.
First Date, loosely based on the book of Esther, is the story of a teenage girl thrown into a situation she doesn’t want to be in, surrounded by people very different from those she is used to because God wants to use her in ways she never expected to be used.
I wrote the book in the summer of 2009 with no assurance it would ever get published, and no confidence that I could even finish it. I left home with my laptop in the mornings, going to the public library, Panera, or anywhere I could find some quiet space to write. God gave me just what I needed each day. I’d wake up to repeat that process again the next day. And the day after that. And the day after that. By the end of the summer, the book was written.
God directed the next steps in ways only He could. He opened up the door for me to get an agent and, with her help, to find a publisher willing to take a chance on me. In the fall of 2010, I signed a three-book contract with Thomas Nelson.
Each of the three books in that series is loosely based on a biblical woman, and each of them has Jesus as the main character, wooing the girls to himself – in different ways, to different girls, in different circumstances. Starring Me is based on the story of Isaac and Rebekah, and Right Where I Belong is based on the book of Ruth.
Last spring, I signed another contract with Thomas Nelson for a young adult dystopian trilogy. The first book in that series, Anomaly, will be out in July. For more information on that or any of my other books, please visit me at www.kristamcgeebooks.com on Facebook at Krista Abney McGee or Twitter @KristaMcGeeYA
When Krista McGee isn't living in fictional worlds of her own creation, she lives in Tampa and spends her days as a wife, mom, teacher, and coffee snob.
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What inspired you to write in your chosen genre?
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| Right Where I Belong by Krista McGee |
Natalia’s about to discover her place in the world . . . and it’s not following in her father’s footsteps.
After watching her father jump from one marriage to the next, Natalia has completely written off love. And when her father divorces his third wife—the only one who has been a mother to her—Natalia is ready to write him off too.
Needing a change of scenery, Natalia leaves her home in Spain and relocates with her stepmother to sun-soaked Florida. But she didn’t realize just how far a new school, a new culture, and a new lifestyle would push her out of her comfort zone.
One of her biggest surprises comes from Brian, a pastor’s son with an adorable smile, who loves God with a sincerity that astounds Natalia. She doesn’t want to fall for him, but she can’t seem to avoid him long enough to get him out of her mind.
Love is the last thing Natalia wants. Even so, God has her right where she belongs.
