Hello! I'm New Here!

Hello! I am super duper happy to be a new regular contributor to this site. Nice to meet you all.
Let me share a bit about my life and my writing.

Reading and writing have always been an important part of my life. My parents shared their love of reading with me. We visited the local library and bookmobile weekly. Newspapers, magazines and books were read everyday. I frequently positioned myself beside my parents and waited for them to finish reading pages of the newspaper and hand sections to me.

Literature classes in school were always my favorite. I was blessed with encouraging teachers who noticed my love of reading and writing stories.

#Reading and writing have always been an important part of my life #seriouslywrite @mimionlife

As an adult, I continue to have a great love for the written (or typed or spoken) word.

My husband (Alan) and I moved from Virginia to South Carolina in 2017. We had not planned on relocating. Yet when we learned our son and daughter-in-love were expecting our first grandchild, we made the wonderful decision to pack up our belongings and move from Mechanicsville, Virginia to Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.

The Low Country of SC is very different from Virginia. We are learning about lizards, alligators, flooding, hurricanes and more. Finding the best grocery stores for our needs, choosing physicians and meeting new friends has given us many opportunities to explore the area. We are blessed with caring, compassionate neighbors. Family from Virginia have been able to visit and explore the sights and sounds of the Low Country.

I write inspirational messages and pray the words will lead people to a closer relationship with God. My first children’s book, “Licky the Lizard” was published in 2018. The story is based on my personal experience with lizards. The way the small creatures jump from place to place and run faster than I can blink made me a little fearful. Pausing and remembering God created lizards
and God created people gave me a different perspective.

The lizards are fun to watch. I don’t want them to find a way inside the house but I do enjoy watching them from a distance.

The question is asked. “When is your next book coming and what will the story be about? I am considering a story about alligators. I’m putting on my thinking cap and waiting to see what happens.

Let’s keep in touch. Hope you’ll stop by and enjoy a read on the fourth Monday of each month. I’ll be here to share with you.

Our family motto is “It’s Always A Story With The Henderson’s”. Check out my website/blog
and read some of the interesting experiences.

Here are ways we can connect.

Website and blog : http://www.melissaghenderson.com
Amazon link to “Licky the Lizard”
Facebook : Melissa Henderson, Author
Pinterest : Melissa Henderson
Twitter : @mimionlife

Looking forward to getting to know you better.

Blessings,
Melissa Henderson

Why I Write by Heather Gray

Writing is a funny thing, isn’t it? Every writer has a deeply personal relationship with writing, but no two writer-writing relationships are identical.

Why do I write?

I write because I breathe.

I write because I don’t know how not to write.

God speaks to me through my characters, the ways they deal with life, and the fears they hide from one another.

I had a character a few years ago who had to face the possibility of permanent disability, and he struggled to find his footing with God in the midst it. I finished writing a heartfelt scene where Holden explained his complex emotions about God, and as soon as I tapped the last period into place, something I’d been wrestling with finally made sense. Everything fell into place, and I heard that still, small voice.

Ah. Now you understand.

Writing is a lot like looking into a mirror. We write powerful scenes for our characters because we harbor powerful emotions. We can make readers cry because we’ve shed tears. We all have stuff going on inside of us that we don’t completely understand. By God’s grace, I often find myself accidentally writing that stuff into the lives of my characters. It’s through writing that I’m able to gaze into the mirror and see the truths within my own heart.

In the case of that scene I mentioned earlier, I had struggled with my feelings toward God following the death of my daughter. I wasn’t angry at Him, but I was…something. Finding a way to articulate that character’s emotions — even though our situations were completely different — showed me the feelings I’d been unable to voice about my loss and about God.

As writers, we often say that God is going to use a story He’s given us to touch the heart and soul of someone specific. We can also, though, lose sight of the fact that sometimes, one of the people whose life God is going to change through a story is the writer.

When we write the stories that God has given us, we walk in obedience and faith. We trust that God knows what He’s doing with the story, and we follow Him as the story unfolds. It’s in that special place that the magic happens. The story comes together better than we ever imagined. The characters are real, the scenes come alive, and the ending is strong and satisfying. Both we and the readers are better for having experienced the story.

As a writer, is there a better feeling out there?

I write because I breathe. I write because I don’t know how not to write.

I write because, through writing, God works on my heart and in my life. He holds up the mirror so I can see the things about myself that I’d rather avoid, and He helps me understand what working out my own salvation (Phil 2:12) looks like. That’s not something I ever want to give up.

What about you? Why do you write?

~~~~~~

Heather Gray loves coffee, God, her family, and laughter – not necessarily in that order! She writes approachable characters who, through the highs and lows of life, find a way to love God, embrace each day, and laugh out loud right along with her.  And, yeah, her books almost always have someone who's a coffee addict.  Some things just can't be helped.

Despite their different lives and situations, Heather’s characters have something in common. They're all flawed...but loved anyway.