You Want Me To Do What? by Dora Hiers

We’re outta here! With their bags packed and camels loaded, the Jewish remnant of Judah planned to flee to Egypt. They’d had enough.

Ishmael had just slaughtered Gedaliah, the king’s appointed governor, and filled an entire cistern with dead bodies. Not only did the remnant fear Ishmael’s return, but they also worried about the king’s reaction to Gedaliah’s murder. Not that they had killed him, but back then they didn’t have Twitter or Facebook to spread the word.

The survivors begged Jeremiah for a word from the Lord. What should they do? Where should they go? “Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the Lord our God,” they said. (Jer 42:6 NIV)

Jeremiah relayed the Lord’s instructions: “Stay here in this land. If you do, I will bless you, and no one will harm you.” (Jer 42:10 TLB)

Say what? You want us to stay? They’d just witnessed horrific killings, and the Lord was telling them to stay, that no one would harm them? Outraged, they accused Jeremiah of siding with the Babylonians and departed for Egypt ~ against the Lord’s wishes.

Ouch. Hadn’t they just said they’d obey whether the news was favorable or unfavorable? At first, their flagrant disobedience blew my mind, but the longer I dwelled on it, I realized that whether it’s disobedience or ungratefulness, He views all sin the same. When God reveals His path and it doesn’t line up with my plans, isn’t my initial reaction usually disbelief or displeasure rather than gratitude? 

Case in point: my quest for an agent. My publisher doesn’t require an agent to submit, and since their contracts are fairly straightforward, I didn’t feel the need for one early on. Eleven books later, I would welcome career guidance and appreciate help navigating the ever-evolving publishing industry. So after prayer and research, last year I submitted my Harmon Heritage series to two well-known CBA agents, and both declined representation. OK. So God obviously didn’t want me partnering with them, but I didn’t perceive their rejections as a STOP sign, rather as a YIELD. I kept praying about my writing journey. Feeling a definite nudge to venture into unknown territory, I wrote Roping the Cowboy, my first book targeted for the mainstream market, and queried two more agents who represent both markets. Again, two more rejections. This time, I pouted. Yes, I admit. I sulked, and it wasn’t a pretty sight.

But if I'm praying for God to direct my path, shouldn't I be thrilled when He responds with either a RED or GREEN light? Was the nudge to write stories lacking a distinct faith element, but still sprinkled with grace and hope, truly from Him? Or had I mistaken His voice for my own?

I’m being completely transparent for a couple reasons. Let me just put it out there. First, I confess that I still struggle with discerning God’s will for my life and my writing. I can't be the only one, right?

Second, to encourage you that even published authors still receive rejections both from agents and publishers, and they still sting like a slap in the face. Not only that, but things start to wear a writer down. Lukewarm or negative reviews, no real down time because you're responding to emails and facebook posts or working on a galley when you're supposed to be on vacation, and the royalty statements that don't quite match the effort and time you've invested. Sometimes I wonder if it's worth it, if I shouldn't just let it all go...

But it doesn't let go of me. Because when I hit that pothole of discouragement, God rains down blessings. It may be a sweet friend who listens to me rant over coffee, a glowing review, an invitation to present a workshop because of a referral, or just hearing about someone else's problems and realizing mine pale in comparison. Sometimes, He plants another idea in my head and characters who yearn for their story to be heard, their hurts to heal, who crave forgiveness or who long for a second chance at love. Other times, He grants me a stellar word count day with peace that overflows from my heart and spills onto the page.

So, I’m still tooling down the road until God plants a ROAD BLOCK in front of me. 

What about you? Has the Lord revealed a different path recently than the one you expected to take? How did you respond?

The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty. ~Prov 22:3 NIV

You reign, Lord, in every aspect of my life. Take my hand and lead me where You’d have me go. Obliterate my fears and doubts. Fill my spirit with peace as only You can do. Amen.

****

Dora Hiers

Dora Hiers is a multi-published author of Heart Racing, God-Gracing romances. She’s a member of RWA, and her local chapter, Carolina Romance Writers. Connect with her here on Seriously Write, her personal blog, Twitter, Facebook or Pinterest.

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After a humiliating breakup, best-selling romance author Teal Benning flees to Promise Lake to complete her current novel, minus paparazzi and flashing cameras. Suffering from writer's block and a broken heart, Teal accepts the offer of help from neighbor, Hunter Miciver.

Hunter longs to be more than the friend who picks up the shattered pieces of Teal's heart, but when Teal finds out his secret, will she see him for the man he is—a man of faith and devotion, a man who would cherish her for the rest of her days—or will she lump him into the same category as all the other men in her life, including her father?


Will Teal recognize when truth whispers her name?

Acquiring an Agent by Katherine Reay

Katherine Reay

You may have been told that it’s important to sign with a literary agent. But what do you do? Where do you go to find the right one? Today, author Katherine Reay shares her personal experience.  Her story is another example of how God has an individual plan for each writer’s journey. ~ Dawn

Acquiring an Agent

When thinking about encouragement, I stumbled upon what most of us find or found discouraging: Acquiring one’s first agent. I queried many agents and received 38 rejection letters. Another author once praised my tenacity – that’s one word for it. But the reality is that, after you’ve put in all the work, it’s discouraging – and even upsetting – when you feel like you can’t get a foot in the door that fills your thoughts and dreams.

So that’s where we begin…. The process can be heartbreaking. Yet I do feel that if we are called by God to write – and we must be or we wouldn’t set ourselves up for such pain – then we write.  And we trust. We trust that, in some way and in some form, He will use our words and our obedience for Him.

My story is one I share because I can’t boast about it or take credit for it. God showed up, powerfully and with a sense of humor. The story is the encouragement…

In the summer of 2012, an editor I had met at a conference expressed interest in Dear Mr. Knightley. She sent a contract for a simple, brief offering – and yet it was 40 pages long and intimidating, especially without an agent to help translate. I was overwhelmed and discouraged. Within the hour of the contract’s arrival in my inbox, a newsletter from a writers’ group also arrived.  I reluctantly opened it when I really wanted to skip the newsletter and stop writing, forever. But upon opening the email, I found my picture, randomly chosen from a 2010 conference, staring back at me from the titled article “Why You Need An Agent.” Oh my…

I immediately wrote the head of the group and begged him to reply – after all, he’d used my picture. He graciously wrote back stating that I should not sign any contract without an agent.

Unwilling to return to my rejection pile, I searched my shelves and pulled down favorite books. Out of ten I respected, one agent’s name came up three times in the acknowledgments. I went to the agency website and found his picture. I read nothing because in that moment I heard loud and clear “That’s your agent.”

I then questioned – as I am wont to do.  “Seriously, God? One shot. That’s all I’ve got in me. This is the guy?”

Peace said “Yes.”

I called him. (Who does that?)

After leaving a frenetic three-minute message, I read the agency guidelines. It required one to be published to submit; it represented household names; it only received mailed queries from recommended authors. Dismayed, I realized that I’d already broken every rule.

           

Yet three hours later, he called me back.

I was so stunned I could answer few of his questions succinctly. At the end, he said “I am not taking you on, but I will read the manuscript and the contract and I’ll get back to you on Monday.” This was a Thursday. 

He didn’t call Monday and I thought I’d blown it, but he emailed the next day with “I’ll call Thursday. Hold tight.”

On Thursday, his opening line was “Where have you been?” I replied, “I’ve always been here.” He then said, “I don’t need new clients. I have a very stable clientele. I take on one to two each year at most… but I want to work with you.”

Two weeks and a forty-page proposal later, we met in Dallas at the 2012 ACFW Conference and pitched Dear Mr. Knightley to anyone and everyone who would listen.  And now… You can buy the book.

This is a “success” story because God pulled the pieces together. I did not. I was discouraged, frustrated and close to giving up. And it isn’t a usual story – technically I broke a healthy number of industry rules. But that’s my point. The journey to publication is as unique as the stories we write and we write those to stories to connect with and share a big God – and with Him all things are possible.

So keep writing, keep editing, keep seeking, keep searching and… keep trusting.

Thank you for reading. And please tell me your thoughts… You can reach me on Twitter @katherine_reay, on Facebook at /katherinereaybooks or on my website www.katherinereay.com. I would love to hear from you. 

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We trust that He will use our words and our obedience for Him. Click to tweet.

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Author Katherine Reay shares how God provided an agent.  Click to tweet.

Dear Mr. Knightley

Dear Mr. Knightley

Growing up in the foster care system, Samantha Moore found her best friends in the works of Austen, Dickens, and the Bronte sisters. The problem is that she now relates to others more comfortably as Elizabeth Bennet and Jane Eyre than as herself. While pursuing a graduate journalism degree at Northwestern University, Sam struggles to find her own voice and lay down those safe hiding places. And soon she begins to write her own story – by giving it to a complete stranger. 

Katherine Reay is a wife, mother, runner, and avid chocolate consumer. She has enjoyed a life-long affair with the works of Jane Austen and her contemporaries and, at the encouragement of her family, recently began an affair with food – cooking that is – and this new passion has strongly influenced her next novel, Lizzy and Jane, which will release in October 2014.

After living all across the country and a few stops in Europe, Katherine and her family live in Seattle, WA. You can also find Katherine at www.katherinereay.com and lurking somewhere within the pages of her first novel, Dear Mr. Knightley.