A Most Cherished Lesson by Mischelle Creager

I'm pleased to welcome my friend Mischelle Creager back to Seriously Write. When I first asked Mischelle about visiting with us, she sent me two posts to see if either would work. They were both terrific so I scheduled her for two visits! I hope you'll run over to Amazon and download The Rose and The Thorn. It's free and it is the first book in her MacPherson Brides Books.

Like most writers, I can say that I have learned a lot of lessons about life since I started this journey—things like discipline, balancing my writing and the other parts of my life (especially time with my family), rejection, and so many other things. But the lesson that I am most thankful for is one I learned as I finished a certain scene in the first book of my MacPherson Brides series.

To better understand the situation you need to know that for me, many things changed after the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. While I don’t need to go into all the details, I will say that before that day, life was bright and exciting. After that day, things turned dark. Things got worse when on Mother’s Day we visited the site as the employees (my husband worked there) and their families were allowed inside the fence to lay wreaths by department at the base of the ruble. As we left, a single bagpiper played “Amazing Grace.”

Sometime later on a Sunday night at church, the song leader led “Amazing Grace. I had a flashback to the time at the site—the sights, the smells, the sounds. When I was leaving the building, the preacher touched my arm, tipped his head toward the auditorium, and asked “What happened in there?” I explained. The next time we started to sing that song, I froze and started counting the bumps on the upholstery on the back of the pew in front of me. I got to where I was afraid to go to church, not knowing when we would sing that song again. This went on for over a year. Thankfully, at a survival workshop, a therapist helped me work through the situation and “Amazing Grace” has become one of my favorite hymns.

Now to the lesson, when I was writing the first book of the series, I had a character who had gone through a very abusive marriage. In church one morning, she connects what is going on there (the words of the song/sermon) with the abuse in her marriage. I wrote what she had gone through—her pain, her flashback, how she had to count the stitches on the shawl the lady in front of her wore to take her mind off the remembered horrors. When I finished the scene, I looked at it and dropped my head. For the first time, I thanked God for what I had gone through after the bombing, for the ability to understand such pain, to know that He allowed me to go through what I had so I’d be able to reach out to others who would need those words of understanding of their pain.

Thank you, God, for knowing what we need and being with us as we go through the growing pains that prepare us for the life You have for us.

Mischelle Creager writes inspirational historical romances set in the mid-1800s. She's not sure which she loves more--researching or writing. When she's not doing one of those two things, she can probably be found reading or baking. She love to share her historical research and has a website Under The Attic Eaves, filled with tidbits she's found in books written in the 19th Century. She also "reprints" a historical magazine, Worbly's Family Monthly Magazine, filled with items from books and magazines published in the middle of the 1800s. You can visit these two sites at http://undertheatticeaves.com/ and http://worblysmagazine.com.

 

If you would like to know more about Mischelle, please visit her author website at http://mischellecreager.com.

That Pregnant Pause of the Publishing World by Susan Tuttle



Susan Tuttle

I have three children, and I remember each of my pregnancies vividly. Nine long months, a few where it looked like nothing was happening, and a few where it was more than evident I was pregnant. And it never failed how at the very end I’d hear the lovely question every pregnant woman longs to hear: “Have you had that baby yet?”

It was even more fun when you were overdue.

Well, for many of us on this publishing journey, it’s much the same. In the very beginning we keep our writing status to ourselves. We enjoy writing small stories or articles, perhaps journaling, but no one knows. It’s our little secret. Yet we’re slowly growing and at some point we can’t keep our writing to ourselves anymore. So we announce to anyone who’ll listen that we are, in fact, a writer. We’ll be pursing publication and all the amazing wonder it entails. We look forward with anticipation at what’s to come. We are giddy with excitement and possibility.

We don’t mind the growing pains. And we experience some wonderful moments along the way. We publish a small article. We are picked up by an agent. We hear wonderful news from a publisher. It’s like the gifts at a baby shower landing in our laps. Fun to unwrap and they point to what will one day arrive: publication and the delivery of our book baby.

Except, much like pregnancy, we don’t have an exact date. We grow, we expand, everything starts to feel uncomfortable and the wait unbearable, but nothing arrives. And then it starts…the question every writer pursuing publication for any length of time loves to hear: “Have you gotten a contract yet?”

It comes in all forms from all angles from well-meaning friends and family. And each time we smile, tip our head, suck in a long breath, and answer as sweetly as we can, “Still waiting.” It’s not that we mind the questions, it’s that we aren’t in love with the answer. We are stuck in the pregnant pause of the publishing world, and just like you can’t force a baby out (okay, not easily, but you get my point), you can’t force this delivery to happen any sooner than God has on his calendar.

That’s because God is the only Author that gets to write our time table. We need to learn to appreciate this pause and understand that he’s preparing us for his perfect timing. He knows exactly when we’ll be ready for our book baby to be born. Don’t rush it. Just wait for him to fill your arms with every promise he’s given.

Because God never forgets to deliver on the dreams he’s planted.

Susan Tuttle is a homeschooling mom of three who is crazy about coffee, dark chocolate, and words—both reading and writing them. Combine that love of words with her passion for leading women to a life-changing encounter with Christ, and you’ll find her crafting Inspirational Contemporary Romance stories laced with humor, love, and healing transformations. When not cheering on her Ironman hubby, chasing the family dog, or tackling complex math problems to teach her kids (yes, even the third grader), you can catch Susan at her blog, Steps.

Susan contributes on the first Thursday of each month.