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| Laura Hervey |
Are you trying to write your first book? Your second? Your tenth? When we sit down to write, many of us face challenges and occasional doubts. Author Laura Hervey shares her journey to publication and encouragement for us all. Enjoy! ~ Dawn
My Journey to Publication
I published my first novel, Scarlet Tears, this past July. My journey to publication began in a high school English class more than forty years ago. We were reading Ray Bradbury’s “The Martian Chronicles.” I still remember thinking, he created an entire world with words. I want to do that. Unfortunately, at that time, I believed only geniuses, such as Hemingway or Faulkner, could write novels. Flash forward a few years and my college fiction writing professor tells me, “You’ll never find your own voice until you stop trying to write like Hemingway and Faulkner.” His advice, though spot-on, told me only what not to do. Duly noted: do not try to sound like someone else.
Four years later, my marriage ended. Brokenhearted, I concentrated my attention on my daughter and my baby due to be born in a month. When they were eight and five, after tucking them into bed each night, I wrote my first book, on lined paper, and then, on an old Smith Corona typewriter. That book allowed me to find my voice and to learn how to put together a novel. Of course, it didn’t sell.
Determined to proceed in a more systematic manner, I enrolled in a correspondence course with The Institute of Children’s Literature. After completing two courses, I sold my first short story. For several years, I sold opinion pieces, articles, short stories, devotionals, and greeting cards. I also received countless rejections, and as every writer knows, rejections can feel as if someone is siphoning off your lifeblood until you’re convinced you can’t survive another heart-wrenching disappointment. Ever. But you do, because when you are born to write, no other creative activity can silence the urge to create worlds on a page.
I have come to see writing as a reverent act of worship. Showing up at my pages honors God because He fashioned me as a writer. I write every morning—even if it’s only for fifteen minutes before getting ready for work—because when I am writing I am better at everything else I do. Writing is not a selfish choice. The simple truth is when I honor the person God created me to be, I am happier. I can be in the moment with my 9th grade ELA students and with my family and friends. I no longer hear that nagging rebuke in my head, You really should be writing. Why aren’t you writing? I trust God’s plan for me, for my books, and for my readers.
No matter what obstacles may come into our lives, we can trust God to bless every work He has planned for each one of us to accomplish for His glory. If you dream of publishing a book, put yourself in God’s hands, show up at your computer, and one day, He will change someone’s life with your words.
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| Scarlet Tears |
Caught in a romantic triangle with her brother’s best friend and a charming pastor, former call girl Carly Lawrence struggles to start a new life. To escape her past, she must learn to forgive herself and Alan Rutledge, her sometimes-boyfriend and owner of Rutledge Escort Services.
Abandoned as a child, Joe Callahan, Carly’s former neighbor and now a Buffalo police officer, must forgive his mother before he can fully forgive Carly her past and earn her trust.
When Carly meets Ryan Edgar, a young minister pastoring his first church, she finds his attraction to her amusing. Surely, he must realize she could never make a suitable pastor’s wife.
Does her attraction to these two men mean she hasn’t changed at all?
An American Christian Fiction Writers member, Laura Hervey writes inspirational romance. She teaches high school English and is the author of a variety of short works, including articles, opinion pieces, poetry, short stories, and devotionals. Scarlet Tears is her first published novel. When she isn’t writing or teaching, she enjoys spending time with her two children and her grandchildren. She shares her home with two dogs, a German shepherd and a miniature Dachshund.
Connect with Laura at: www.facebook.com/AuthorLauraHervey, https://twitter.com/AuthorHervey, www.tumblr.com/blog/authorlaurahervey, https://www.instagram.com/laurafhervey/, https://www.pinterest.com/laurahervey31/, www.laurahervey.com.
