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| Davalynn Spencer |
When Angie Arndt invited
me to share about persevering in times of adversity I double-clutched. Persevere
through hardship and danger? Seriously? And write at the same time? Oops – sounds
like this blog’s name. Unfortunately, Angie’s invitation could not have been
better timed.
I don’t like adversity
unless I’m heaping it upon my characters. It’s not something I care to
experience myself. I’d rather imagine how someone feels when difficulty strikes
than write about it from a personal perspective.
But that is not life. And
that is also why we must have adversity and obstacles in our stories. They make
our fiction real.
This year I was excited
about Thanksgiving break because the college was closed for a week and I didn’t
have to teach my writing course. How tasty the anticipation: no interruption of
going to-and-from the paying job while working on my next novel.
And then, just after dawn
Monday morning, the neighbor’s Belgian Malinois escaped from their compound
(yes, it’s a compound) and lit into our elderly Queensland heeler. On our turf.
Three against one. Not a pretty scene.
How could I write while
our Blue was at the vet’s all day on pain killer and antibiotics, being stapled
back together?
How could I write after
unprovoked violence broke into my quiet, country lifestyle?
How could I write with
such anger surging inside that I felt like a living, walking, talking volcano?
I couldn’t. But it was
okay.
My personal writing goal
is 2,000 words a day. Sometimes I get in more, sometimes less. But having and
reaching that goal fuels me with a sense of accomplishment.
The day Blue was attacked,
I logged 70 words. That number is not a typo, and I have two points to make:
1. I wrote.
2. I cut myself some
slack.
If I would allow someone
else time to grieve, simmer down, and start healing emotionally, why not do the
same for myself?
The emotive power of that difficult
day will easily be pulled from my memory and inserted into a future scene. But
I didn’t have to do it that day. Or
even the next.
A few days later I hit
1,800 words and was quickly back on my regular schedule.
Sometimes persevering
through adversity means letting go of our need to perform, produce, and press
on to our detriment. Sometimes we simply need to let God heal the hidden wounds
in our hearts and minds and emotions.
He’s much better at it
than we are.
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| About the Author |
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| The Snowbound Bride by Davalynn Spencer |
Davalynn Spencer writes
cowboy romance, a skill she’s honed since marrying a professional rodeo
bullfighter and raising another. Her most recent title is “The Snowbound
Bride,” one of twelve historical novellas in Barbour’s collection, The 12 Brides of Christmas. She is
represented by Linda S. Glaz of Hartline Literary Agency and makes her home on
Colorado’s Front Range with her handsome cowboy and their Queensland heeler, Blue.
Connect with Davalynn on her website, Facebook page, Goodreads, and Twitter.
"The Snowbound Bride" from The 12 Brides of Christmas
On the run from a
heartless uncle, Arabella Taube hides in Nate Horne’s farm wagon just as a
harsh winter storm sweeps into Colorado. Despite Ara’s mysterious background,
Nate’s mother thinks she is the answer to a prayer and the hope for his future.
