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| Melissa Tagg |
A favorite song of mine focuses on knowing that “hope changes everything.” It’s certainly one of the reasons I write—to give hope. But what about us as writers? Ever have a day when you feel discouraged and want to give up? Take heart! Author Melissa Tagg shares part of her personal journey to publication and offers encouraging words. ~ Dawn
Give
Your Hope a Voice
by
Melissa Tagg
Summer 2012 will go down as one of my favorites of all time.
It started with car-shopping.
Now, I am not a car person. Give me four doors and moonroof
and I’m set. At the start of June 2012, I really just wanted to avoid actually
having to do the “shopping” part of “car-shopping.” I sorta hoped a car would
land in my lap.
It sorta did.
But here’s the fun part: When I made the decision to buy my
car, I said to my parents, “Hey, maybe later on this summer I’ll land a book
contract—maybe even a two-book contract!—and then I won’t feel bad about
spending this money on a pretty car.”
Two weeks after I bought the car, I signed with my agent.
Less than a month after that, we received the two-book contract offer from
Bethany House.
Now let me be clear: I don’t believe in magic words. I don’t
believe that hopeful “maybe” I threw out was the key to unlocking my
dream-turned-reality. Oh no, that was all God opening the right doors at the
right time.
BUT…I love this personal story because when I look back on
that summer, I realize that my joy over getting that book contract was
extra-big because of the hope that preceded it.
Does that make sense?
It was exciting enough receiving that phone call, hearing
from my agent that a publisher was willing to take a chance on me. But there
was an extra thrill attached to that excitement. A hope I’d given voice to now
sang with fulfillment.
And I guess I write this because I so often hear writers
say, “I don’t want to get my hopes up…because I’ll be disappointed if it
doesn’t happen.”
But you know what? Your dream deserves to have some emotion
attached to it—ups and downs and all. Goodness, if a dream is that important to
us, why wouldn’t we be disappointed
when we encounter a bump in the road? I’m not saying we should go all crazy
emotional roller coastery. But I do think sometimes we get so busy trying to
stay even-keeled and “realistic” that we become a little shielded and stoic…and
our dreams, a little dispassionate.
But if we want to talk “reality,” let’s try this on for
size:
God is faithful to finish what He’s started in us. He
doesn’t give us creative spark and passion and talent for no reason. He doesn’t
give us a dream only to say, “Don’t hope too much, kid.”
I say, let yourself hope. Yeah, there are going to be
disappointments along the way. Goodness
knows I’ve had mine. And maybe sometimes a dream doesn’t pan out exactly the
way we’d planned. But the unexpected twists and even the disappointments hold
so much less power over us when we’ve nurtured a hopeful, expectant outlook.
Let’s hope. And let’s give our hope a voice. Our God-given
dreams deserve it.
So…what are you hoping for?
Tweetables:
God doesn’t give
us creative spark and passion and talent for no reason. Click to tweet.
Let’s give our
hope a voice. Our God-given dreams deserve it. Click to tweet.
Your dream
deserves to have some emotion attached to it—ups and downs and all. Click to tweet.
Miranda
Woodruff has it all. At least, that's how it looks when she's starring in her
homebuilding television show, From the Ground Up. So when her network begins to
talk about making cuts, she'll do anything to boost ratings and save her
show--even if it means pretending to be married to a man who's definitely not
the fiancé who ran out on her three years ago.
When a
handsome reporter starts shadowing Miranda's every move, all his digging into
her personal life brings him a little too close to the truth--and to her. Can
the girl whose entire identity is wrapped up in her on-screen persona finally
find the nerve to set the record straight? And if she does, will the life she's
built come crashing down just as she's found a love to last?
Melissa Tagg is a
former newspaper reporter and total Iowa girl. Her first novel, Made to Last, releases from Bethany
House in September 2013. In addition to her homeless ministry day job, Melissa
is also the marketing/events coordinator for My Book Therapy, a craft and
coaching community for writers. When she’s not writing, she can be found
hanging out with the coolest family ever, watching old movies and daydreaming
about her next book. She’s passionate about humor, grace and happy endings.
Melissa blogs regularly and loves connecting with readers at www.melissatagg.com.
You can find Melissa . . .
Website/blog: www.melissatagg.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Melissa_Tagg
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/melissatagg
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/MelissaTagg
