Waiting, Writing, Waiting, Writing...

In my home office, I sit at my desk and write new stories. Devotions, articles, children’s stories, fiction, blog posts and even snail mail letters and cards to friends and family.
When the coronavirus news entered everyday news and conversation, I noticed writers asking questions like, “Should I put aside my writing for now? Publishers are not
looking to acquire any new stories. Maybe I should not write anything new.”

These were conversations found on social media and in writing groups. I am thankful to writers and publishers who are encouraging writers to keep writing. Every day brings the opportunity to write. This is a great time to encourage other writers.

While we wait for restaurants to open for inside dining, stores to open without taped lines on the floor directing us where to stand, the social distancing requirement of staying six feet apart to end and other ways we are being affected, keep writing.

Yes, keep writing. Jot your story ideas on a notepad, make a list on your phone, create a colorful folder to keep at your writing desk and fill it with ideas for stories.
Whenever a story idea comes to your mind, be prepared to save the thoughts. Distractions can easily make us forget a great story line. Don’t let distractions take away your creativity.

While we wait, let’s write. Write about the impact of the coronavirus, write about things you hear or read that have an affect on daily life, write a joyful article that will help people during this time of sadness. Write about the compassion you witness or hear about.

During this waiting time, remember to write, write, write. Encourage authors by posting reviews for their books. Comment on social media posts and send uplifting words to another writer. Your words can have a positive impact.

During this waiting time, remember to write, write, write. @mimionlife #seriouslywrite

Are you writing today? Share some favorite topics you will be writing about in the future.

Blessings,
Melissa Henderson

Melissa Henderson is a writer of inspirational messages. Her first book for children, “Licky the Lizard”, was released in 2018. She also has a story in the compilations “Heaven Sightings” and “Remembering Christmas”. She contributes articles and devotions to various magazines and websites. Her passions are helping in community and church. Melissa is an Elder, Deacon and Stephen Minister. She and her husband Alan moved from Virginia to South Carolina to be near son, daughter-in-love and first grandchild. The family motto is “It’s Always A Story With The Hendersons”.
Follow Melissa on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and at http://www.melissaghenderson.com

Website and blog : http://www.melissaghenderson.com
Amazon link to "Licky the Lizard"
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Twitter : @mimionlife

God Works Upstream On Our Behalf by Sandy Kirby Quandt

Writers spend a lot of time waiting. We wait for manuscripts to come together just right after multiple critiques, edits, and more edits. We wait to hear back from agents, editors, and publishers. We wait on God’s perfect timing to open doors previously shut. Some of us may even need to wait following a manuscript’s rejection before tackling it again. I know I do.

The Israelites did a lot of waiting before they crossed the Jordan River and entered the Promised Land. When they reached the river, they camped four days beside its banks. As Joshua went through the camp, he told the people to prepare. The Lord was about to do a great miracle. God would lead them across the river.

The people waited beside the water’s edge. What they saw was a river at flood stage, overflowing its banks, standing between them and the Promised Land. How would they cross it?

What they couldn’t see was God working upstream on their behalf. They didn’t know the moment the priests stepped into the water, the river would pile up as though blocked by a dam, and drain to the Dead Sea. The only thing the people knew was what they saw in front of them at that moment in time. They didn't know all they had to do was wait for the river to flow by. Once it did, they would walk across a dry riverbed to the Promised Land.

As writers, oftentimes we stand on the riverbank and wait while God works further upstream on our behalf. We wait for him to intervene, to hold back the river, and lead us safely across on dry land. When we can’t see God's hand working, we might wonder why he delays. We might doubt we heard him correctly. Is this the river he intends for us to cross? And if so, has he heard our cries for help? And if he heard our cries, is he going to step in and save us from the rising waters that block our way?

Although it may take longer than we would like, we can trust God is working on our behalf. What rivers are you waiting to cross while God works further upstream?

Sandy Kirby Quandt is a freelance writer and follower of Jesus with a passion for history and travel. Passions that often weave their way into her stories and articles. She writes numerous articles, devotions, and stories for adult and children publications both print and online including Christian Devotions and Inspire a Fire. Her devotions appear in two Worthy Publishing compilation books; So God Made a Dog and Let the Earth Rejoice. Sandy won several awards for writing including the 85th and 86th Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition in the Young Adult category, First Place in the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference Children’s Literature 2016 Foundation Awards, First Place in the 2017 Foundation Awards in the Young Adult, Middle Grade, and Flash Fiction categories. Looking for words of encouragement or gluten-free recipes? Then check out her blog, Woven and Spun.
twitter.com/SandyKQuandt

The Weight of a Dream by Emily Conrad

During my senior year of high school, a couple of our varsity basketball stars stood in my art class with their arms twisted at odd angles as they struggled to keep their hands aloft.

In theory, the challenge they’d accepted was simple. Clasp a spool of wire in your right hand. Extend that hand straight out from your shoulder. Hold it there for three to five minutes. If memory serves correctly, the wire weighed 2-3 pounds.

The boys thought it would be easy, but they soon learned the heavier the weight and the longer the wait, the more difficult holding it away from the body becomes.

Surrender to defeat becomes a tantalizing out.

Compared with a spool of wire, the dreams of writers are heavy material. And the years of waiting and working most writers face dwarf that silly challenge of enduring for a few minutes.

I would know. Back as that challenge happened in high school, I was already writing. I may have even been querying agents already. If not then, I started shortly after.

At first, the waiting was more about possibilities and potential success. Each query and new manuscript was exciting. I may as well have been one of those boys with their arm extended, thinking the weight wasn’t so heavy and the wait wasn’t so long.

Oh, but it was.

I was seventeen then. My first novel was published at thirty-five, and I’m still carrying dreams.

Through the struggle, I’ve learned the secret to surviving the wait is to hold the weight close to the body—to the body of Christ.

Jesus calls us to writing, and He’s our key to flourishing in any way. He is the vine, we are the branches. We must hold our dreams close to Him, allowing Him to do with them as He chooses.

But we don’t have to do this alone. Imagine if those basketball players had made a team sport of keeping that spool of wire aloft. With enough teamwork, they could still be holding that weight aloft.

Here’s how one Biblical team handled just such a challenge:

Whenever Moses would raise his hands, then Israel prevailed, but whenever he would rest his hands, then Amalek prevailed. When the hands of Moses became heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side and one on the other, and so his hands were steady until the sun went down. (Exodus 17:11-12, NET)

God was with Israel in that battle, but Moses was still called to hold his hands aloft. Similarly, when God calls us to writing, He’s with us each moment, but we’re still called to a persistence that proves difficult—impossible, even—if we try to do it alone.

As writers, we need critique partners who help us improve, pointing out what we can’t see for ourselves. We also need friends and family to lift us up with encouragement and prayer.

Through prayer, study, and fellowship, many hands carry the burden. With all of this support, we can persevere, ready to carry the weight however long the wait stretches, steady until the sun goes down.

When God calls us to writing, He’s with us each moment, but we’re still called to a persistence that proves impossible if we try to do it alone. via @emilyrconrad #writingcommunity

✎✐📖✎✐📖✎✐📖✎✐

Emily Conrad writes Christian romance and a blog to encourage women of faith. Her debut novel, Justice, released from Pelican Book Group in 2018. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband and two rescue dogs. She loves Jesus and enjoys road trips to the mountains, crafting stories, and drinking coffee. (It’s no coincidence Justice is set mostly in a coffee shop!) She offers free short stories on her website and loves to connect with readers on social media. 

www.emilyconradauthor.com

facebook.com/emilyconradauthor

Instagram.com/emilyrconrad

Twitter.com/emilyrconrad

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Justice-Emily-Conrad-ebook/dp/B0792HGXQN/

Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/justice-emily-conrad/1127841580

Justice 

Jake thought he was meant to marry Brooklyn, but now she's pregnant, and he had nothing to do with it. Brooklyn can’t bring herself to name the father as she wrestles with questions about what her pregnancy means and how it will affect her relationship with Jake. If Harold Keen, the man who owns the bookstore across from Jake's coffee shop, has anything to do with it, the baby will ruin them both. Can Jake and Brooklyn overcome the obstacles thrown in their path, and finally find the truth in God's love and in each other?

Today Matters by Emily Conrad

Emily Conrad

The nature of publishing gives writers years and years to dream about what will happen “someday.” 

Someday, we’ll get THE call. 

Someday, these stories will touch lives.

Someday, our books will be on shelves.

In the meantime, there are no adoring crowds. No packed conference rooms hoping to learn from us. Other than comments from critique partners (usually more aimed at improving the writing than praising it) and a couple notes on the blog or some much-appreciated retweets or shares, all is quiet.

In my home, between bursts of thought that result in clicking keys, I hear the clock tick and my old pit bull snoring on the living room rug. 

Novelists are trained to expect this. Publication takes a long time (as does reaching career goals beyond that first step). So we keep posting and writing and working like each action is a penny in a bank that will someday amount to something.
But each penny has value. Every word does, too. 

Though anticipation, goals, and improvement are all good, let’s not spend so much effort striving for someday that today’s significance gets lost in the bustle. 

Many of us write because we believe God wants to use us, but as we follow him, he is using us. Already. Today.

Regardless of our platform size or our agented/unagented, published/unpublished status, today matters for today’s sake.

Today, God will use our gifts. 

Today, we are commissioned to follow Jesus. 

Today, we can speak hope into someone else’s discouragement whether it’s through a blog post or a card to a friend or a comment on social media. 

There is a meaning and value to all this writing. It’s not about platforms or numbers. It’s not about best seller lists or advances. It’s about being available to God, following Him, and seeing where that leads. 

Actually, I know where it leads. It leads to people’s hearts. As writers, no matter where we are in our careers, we have been blessed with a gift that allows us to be that one voice of hope to that one person who needs it.

Because to the one person who needs it? That means so much more than any words could convey. 

Here I am, Lord. Send me. You can have my someday. All I ask is You give me words for today.

What is God nudging you to write today? How have you been touched by words someone wrote recently?


Tweetable: Don’t let today’s significance gets lost in the bustle of striving for someday via @novelwritergirl

About the Author

Free Short Fiction for Email Subscribers

Emily Conrad is a wife and writer who lives in Wisconsin with her husband and two rescue dogs. Her debut women’s fiction novel is underway with Pelican Book Group. Emily loves Jesus and enjoys summer road trips to the mountains. You can connect with her on social media and at EmilyConradAuthor.com.

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www.twitter.com/novelwritergirl
www.EmilyConradAuthor.com

Are You Still Waiting? by Susan Tuttle

The wait.

It’s the hardest part of this writing game. Putting words on paper for all of us is fun (writer’s block notwithstanding), but once all those words are down, we wait.

For an agent.

For a contract.

For those books to show up on our doorstep.

For reviews—the good ones.

For everything we just poured ourselves into to be noticed by someone…anyone.

We don’t pour those words onto a page to sit in a drawer and never be seen—unless of course they are our rough drafts. We write because we feel a burning need to tell a story that God has placed on our hearts, which means he must desire for someone to hear that story. And we truly believe he’ll share that story with the perfect audience he has for it.

But then we wait. For weeks. Months. Sometimes for years. And we start to wonder when God will open that door.

See, sometimes our crisis of faith isn’t if God can do what he says he can do, it’s when will he do it? We know he’s the same God who does the impossible. We believe in a God who can raise the dead, surely he can handle putting our books into the right hands. But if he’s capable, why isn’t anything happening? With that one question, or faith begins to ebb.

Friend, we need to remember that our God sees time so differently than we do. He transcends it He doesn’t play by the rules of time—he created them. And he created us, with a purpose, plan, and eternal calendar that has our names written across it. We feel like we’ve been waiting forever, but he designed forever. With his leading we will not arrive one minute earlier—or later—to our destinations than needed. His when is perfect, even if it’s carving out our patience along the way.

I love Isaiah 60:22. “I am the LORD; in its time I will do this swiftly.” If you’re wondering about his when today, keep this verse close to your heart and running through your mind. If God has called you to this writing life, he has a time appointed for you. It will happen, and it will be perfect timing, because God’s when always is.

****

Susan Tuttle

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.

In God's Waiting Room by Jodie Wolfe

One of the hardest parts about writing is waiting: waiting for news about a contest entry, waiting for news from an agent or editor, waiting for that first release, waiting for ... Well, you get the picture. Jodie Wolfe is here today to give us some tips about what to do during all that time of "waiting." -- Sandy

Jodie: Hurry up and wait. My husband and I once joked that this was the slogan of the Army. We were stationed in Germany at the time and had a young baby, which meant a lot of check-ups those first months. We had 'scheduled' appointment times, but it didn't mean we saw the doctor then. Often other pressing needs or patients trumped when our son actually got seen. We learned to be patient because we didn't have much choice.

What's a writer to do during a waiting season...especially if it's a really long one? I've been on 'wait' mode since I recommitted my writing to the Lord in 2009. I'd love to tell you I have a contract waiting in the wings or am published or multi-published by now but so far it hasn't happened.

I firmly believe waiting has a purpose. In this time when the answer is 'not yet' God refines us and our talent. He knows the right season for us to become published authors. Until then, we need to immerse ourselves in Him and seek His direction.

You may be wondering what I've been doing in the past six years. Here are some things I've found helpful along the way.

1. Keep writing. I've written at least four novels and am starting on a fifth one. I also tried out for other various writing project opportunities as they presented themselves.

2. Enter contests. While these can sometimes be a double-edged sword, they also are helpful with improving our skills. It's how I ended up landing an agent. :)

3. Attend conferences. Learn as much about the craft of writing as possible and find ways to share it with others so you can encourage someone else.

4. Work on building social media platforms. I had been in a rut in this area until I attended a conference this summer which gave some hands-on ideas. I decided to put them into practice. In less than two months time I tripled my friends on Facebook - all because I tried something new.

5. Look for new areas to grow. After a conference workshop I decided to try my hand at writing a devotion and sent it off to be considered. What a joy and surprise to have it accepted and posted online a few weeks ago.

6. Keep seeking the Lord. I believe God has big things in store for me and for you. Seek His face daily and ask for His direction for your writing. Come to the point where He is more important than seeing your name in print.

Keep your eyes on the goal of following the call God has placed on your life. Look for each step He leads you on, to reach the place He wants you to be. He's rooting for you and so am I. God bless!

So what are you waiting for? Where are you in that writing stage, and have you found that the waiting ever ends, even if you're published?

~~~~~

Jodie got bitten by the writing bug as a young girl after reading and watching Little House on the Prairie. She loves writing stories about feisty heroines and strong, godly heroes. The power of story to influence lives and change hearts is what motivates her to weave tales that tell of the Savior’s faithfulness and forgiveness. Jodie is a columnist for Home School Enrichment magazine and had a devotion featured on Christian Devotions. She achieved semi-finalist status in the 2013 ACFW Genesis Contest and 3rd place in the 2015 Novel Beginnings at St. David's Christian Writer's Conference. She's represented by Linda S. Glaz of the Hartline Literary Agency.

Website - http://www.jodiewolfe.com

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/jodie.wolfe.1

                     - https://www.facebook.com/Jodie-Wolfe-553400191384913/timeline

Twitter - https://twitter.com/JodieAWolfe

Waiting by Dawn Crandall

Hi, Terri here. I’m thrilled to welcome my friend, Dawn Crandall, to Seriously Write today. Dawn is a 2015 Carol Finalist for her debut novel The Hesitant Heiress. If you haven’t read Dawn’s books I encourage you to give one a try. They are fantastic.

Dawn Crandall

****

People who don’t know me might not realize that I signed my three book contract with Whitaker House) when I was (finally) six months pregnant with my first child. What they also wouldn’t know is that I’d waited twice as long to have a baby than to get published, and that they both, unfortunately, happened to come about at the same time.

Yes, unfortunately.

Or at least, that’s what I thought most of the last year as I was busier than I’d ever been in my life, launching my three eBook series from Whitaker House—all within my son’s first year of life. But now, as the first year of my author career comes to a close and the three books of my Everstone Chronicles series release as paperbacks this Fall, I’ve come to realize that maybe I should have been more trusting with my God-scheduled life.

One proposal. One chance. That’s all I had because I’d written my three book series out completely.

Even as I did so, I knew it seemed unlikely that my one proposal would make it through the “barrier” every yet-to-be-published author wants to break through. Especially when publishing house after publishing house—some which were quite interested in my manuscript—either closed their fiction line or merged with another publishing company. I waited two long years from the day I signed the contract with my agent until she informed me of the book contract offer. I had come to the point of wanting nothing more than to see my name in print, to the point that I’d completely given up on having children because I thought I knew what God wanted to do with me. It certainly wasn’t that He wanted me to be a mom. So what else was there? But then it kept not happening. Month after month. Year after year. And yeah, there were times I wanted to give up and never write another word.

Are you in this place of waiting? Are you waiting for the call from an agent—for representation or news of a book contract from a dream publisher? Hoping that the next stage in your writing career will be IT?

Well, let me urge you to enjoy whatever time you have at each stage… because there is no IT this side of heaven. No matter where you are in your writing journey, there will always be something more your heart yearns for. And yeah, you might feel down and discouraged because you don’t have some higher-up’s stamp of approval for everyone to see, and you might even feel that God must not be paying attention or doesn’t want to see your manuscripts published, but that doesn’t change the fact that He’s doing exactly what He sees as best for your life right now.

I can see this now that it’s all been laid out behind me in His will for my life. Can you see the ways He’s worked in the waiting periods of your own life?

Trust Him. Continue to trust Him. Are you writing for Him or for fame, recognition and attention? I know it’s a struggle, but when it’s all said and done, whatever we do, it should be for the Lord. No matter what stage of the journey we’re waiting in.

This was originally posted August 27, 2015 on the www.acfw.com blog.

Amazon

Dawn Crandall is the author of the award winning series, The Everstone Chronicles: The Hesitant Heiress, The Bound Heart and The Captive Imposter which will all three release in paperback from Whitaker House this fall. She is a graduate of Taylor University with a degree in Christian Education, and is represented by Joyce Hart of Hartline Literary. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, American Christian Fiction Writers, secretary for the Indiana ACFW Chapter (Hoosier Ink), and associate member of the Great Lakes ACFW Chapter. can be found online at www.dawncrandall.blogspot.com and www.facebook.com/dawncrandallwritesfirst.

When the Time is Right by Sally Bradley

Sally Bradley

In 2007 my husband left his job as an assistant pastor to be head pastor for another church. It involved a move to a new state, a new culture, a new school for the kids, and a new job for me. I’d been a stay-at-home mom, but now I needed to find some part-time work to help pay the bills.

For the past several years, I’d been writing and studying fiction while my kids grew from babies to school-aged children. I’d had two agents offer representation, had a handful of houses request full manuscripts, and felt that I was getting close.

Close! Maybe my next book would be the one.

Everything about the move happened fast. From hearing about the position to accepting it took four weeks. And then we’d move in four weeks.

I was excited for my husband; he’d been longing to be a head pastor for a couple years, and I believed in him. God had really molded him, and I thought Steve was ready.

But I began to realize that he’d need more support and help from me as we made this huge adjustment. On top of that, my kids would be dealing with a new school. And again, there was that pesky job-that-actually-brings-in-money that I needed to find.

God began to impress upon me that I needed to set my writing aside.

When I knew I was so close.

It was heartbreaking. While I packed up our home and said goodbyes to family and friends, I kept the struggle about quitting writing (for a time please, God?) to myself. I didn’t tell my husband. I didn’t tell anyone.

Not until I felt that it would be sinning to keep on writing did I tell Steve that I felt God wanted me to stop writing in order to help him in this move.

And his response? “Oh, thank goodness.”

So not what I wanted to hear!

The day after the move, Steve went to work and I took the kids to new schools and started a job hunt, all while slowly unpacking our gazillion boxes. There was no time for writing. Not even any time for reading.

It hurt.

But I began to see God working in the church through my husband. There were sweet moments and big-time hurts and betrayals. At home we got caught in the housing crisis. We also had a surprise baby. I quit my job and started freelance editing. I read. I cooked and cleaned and invited church members into our home.

In short, I lived a whole lot of life. And grew up some more myself.

Four years later, the desire to get back to writing pestered me, no matter how much I reminded myself that I’d set it aside until God made it clear it was time to go back.

Was it time? How would I know? We were still so busy. I was homeschooling now. Where would I find time to write?

That summer my husband chose a video series by Pastor John Piper that dealt with living for God. It was an excellent series, but the one thing that struck me repeatedly was that being a Christian wasn’t meant to be one of misery. While definitely not a health and wealth message, the concept was that we should be happy in our Christian lives. If we were living right and in a right relationship with God, there should be joy. God had given us dreams and goals, and we would never be happier than when we were following the desires He’d planted in us.

That hit me so hard.

Throughout the weeks of the video series, the desire to write my next book grew and grew and grew until I felt I had to do it. That it would be wrong not to write it.

So I told my husband. “I think I need to start writing again.”

And his response? “Good. I’ve been hoping you’d get back to writing. You’re much happier when you’re writing.”

His words weren’t said in a negative way; he was just stating fact. I was meant to be a writer. He knew it. I knew it. And it was time to get back to it!

So five years after setting writing aside, I dove into an idea that had been simmering in my head since before our move, the story of a completely unchurched woman caught up in our society’s twisted views on love and relationships. I’d like to say the story poured out of me in a month, but I was still homeschooling and editing. It took a year to get that rough draft down, another eight months to cut sixty thousand words—seriously!—and then another six months before it was published.

That book went on to win two awards: The Christian Manifesto’s 2014 Lime Award for Romantic Fiction (beating out two Susie May Warren books and a Tricia Goyer book) and the 2014 Grace Award for Romance.

When I look back, I realize I wasn’t nearly as close to publication as I’d thought, way back before that move. The time off from writing gave me a chance to experience more life, to come across people who had a huge impact on me and who would influence how I would write Kept. All of that life gave me so much more to pull from.

And it set up the perfect time for my first book to find readers, a welcoming reading world that was waiting for the kind of book I wrote.

I look back on those five years and don’t view them as wasted at all. They were painful at times, hard for sure. But I didn’t see the end result as I walked through it. I had no way of knowing what God was doing, what He was going to do. I had no idea the roads He was paving, the connections He was making, all of which would result in some of my biggest writing dreams coming true.

Why do I write all of this? To encourage those of you who might be in that stage—where you’re giving to everyone else and finding no time for yourself, for your dreams. You might even be thinking, I wish it had only been five years, Sally. I know. God doesn’t work in all of us the same; some might go through a season like this for a whole lot longer. I get that.

But if you are in that waiting stage, if you’re in that season where there’s no time for anything but family, laundry, the day job, and church, realize that you’re still in a very good place. You’re still right where God wants you. And He’s working through all those mundane, ordinary events to create someone who’s ready to write for Him.

When the time is right.

About the Author

Sally Bradley writes big-city fiction with real issues and real hope. A Chicagoan since age five, she now lives in the Kansas City area with her family, but they still get back to Chicago once in a while for important things—like good pizza and a White Sox game. Fiction has been her passion since childhood, and she’s thrilled now to be writing books that not only entertain, but point back to Christ. Connect with Sally at sallybradley.com and on Facebook at Sally Bradley, Writer. Kept is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Kept
"Gutsy and fast-paced."—Laura Frantz, author of Love's Reckoning

"One of the most surprising and best books I’ve read this year."—MaryLu Tyndall, best-selling author of Legacy of the King's Pirates series

Kept
by Sally Bradley

Life has taught Miska Tomlinson that there are no honorable men. Her womanizing brothers, her absentee father, and Mark, the married baseball player who claims to love her—all have proven undependable. But Miska has life under control. She runs her editing business from her luxury condo, stays fit with daily jogs along Chicago's lakefront, and in her free time blogs anonymously about life as a kept woman.

Enter new neighbor Dillan Foster. Between his unexpected friendship and her father's sudden reappearance, Miska loses control of her orderly life. Her relationship with Mark deteriorates, and Miska can't help comparing him to Dillan. His religious views are so foreign, yet the way he treats her is something she's longed for. But Dillan discovers exactly who she is and what she has done. Too late she finds herself longing for a man who is determined to never look her way again.

When her blog receives unexpected national press, Miska realizes that her anonymity was an illusion. Caught in a scandal about to break across the nation, Miska wonders if the God Dillan talks about would bother with a woman like her—a woman who's gone too far and done too much.

Waiting by Laura V. Hilton

Laura V. Hilton

I’m talking about publishing in this, but you can apply it to anything.

Back in the day when I first dreamed of getting an agent and getting published, it seemed an insurmountable effort. I had to wait—wait for an agent to believe in me enough to sign me. Wait for a publisher to like my story—and then wait while they took it to committee to decide if it will be a good fit for their publishing company. So many times, my hopes rose—just to crash face first in the dirt.

Now, it isn’t such a big deal. A publisher doesn’t want your book? Self-publish. You have control of everything. Or maybe a publisher does want your book, but you love absolute control. Or maybe… the genre you write isn’t what publishers are buying. They loved your previous books, your fans are clamoring for more, but the publisher doesn’t want to take the risk.

For those of us who want our books traditionally published, it is difficult to wait on the Lord. To wait on the publisher. Yet so often we must do this for our stories. Sometimes we must be patient while we seek the Lord’s guidance about whether to continue seeking traditional publishing or to self-publish.

I’ve looked for some insights about patiently waiting on the Lord. Maybe they’ll encourage you…

“Patience means living out the belief that God orders everything for the spiritual good of His children.” – J. I. Packer

“Grin and bear it is old-fashioned advice, but sing and bear it is a great deal better.” – Charles H. Spurgeon

“Patience does not just grin and bear things, stoic-like, but accepts them cheerfully as therapeutic workouts planned by a heavenly trainer who is resolved to get you up to full fitness.” – J. I. Packer

“Are we prepared to take the awful patient ways of God? We must not be infected by the world’s valuation of either speed or success.” – John B. Phillips

“The trouble is that I’m in a hurry, But God isn’t.” – Phillips Brooks, Boston Pastor

“I’m extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end.” – Margaret Thatcher

“Patience and passage of time do more than strength and fury.” – Jean De La Fontaine, Poet

“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” – Leo Tolstroy, Novelist

“Our patience will achieve more than our force.” – Edmund Burke

“With time and patience the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown.” – Chinese proverb

“Wait on the Lord, be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!” – Psalm 27:14

Are you waiting on something? Are you tired of waiting?

While you wait, apply meaningful waiting . . . spend time in prayer, talk with mentors about the situation, meditate on scripture, start a NEW project while you wait on answers to the current one . . .

About the Author

Award winning author, Laura Hilton, her husband, Steve, and three of their children make their home in Arkansas. She is a pastor’s wife, a stay-at-home mom and home-schools. Laura is also a breast cancer survivor. Laura also has two adult children.

Her publishing credits include three books in the Amish of Seymour series from Whitaker House: Patchwork Dreams, A Harvest of Hearts (winner of the 2012 Clash of the Titles Award in two categories), and Promised to Another. The Amish of Webster County series, Healing Love (finalist for the 2013 Christian Retail Awards). Surrendered Love and Awakened Love followed by her first Christmas novel, A White Christmas in Webster County, as well as a three book Amish series with Whitaker House, The Amish of Jamesport series, The Snow Globe, The Postcard in April 2015, and The Bird House in September 2015. Other credits include Swept Away from Abingdon Press. Laura is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and a professional book reviewer.

Connect with Laura
http://www.amazon.com/Laura-V.-Hilton/e/B004IRSM5Q
visit her blogs: http://lighthouse-academy.blogspot.com/ & http://lauravhilton.blogspot.com/
Twitter: @Laura_V_Hilton
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Laura-V-Hilton/161478847242512
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/vernetlh/

The Postcard
by Laura V. Hilton

The Postcard (from Promised to Another)
David Lapp survived a “code blue” when he was in a buggy/semi truck accident in Seymour, Missouri. Now after extensive therapy he has lingering mobility problems and is still struggling to find his place in the world. Lured away from Webster County by thoughts of closed buggies and a postcard friendship he’s developed with an Amish girl in Jamesport, he moves north, hoping for a fresh start. He finds work in the area tying flies and basket weaving, selling his products in the Amish markets in the Jamesport area.

Rachel Miller dreams of travel, but feels tied to her Amish life. She is being courted by Obadiah Graber, but wonders if there’s more to life. When she sees David’s name mentioned in The Budget, she strikes up a pen pal friendship with David while he’s in the hospital and in therapy, consoling him when he and his girlfriend part ways. She never dreams that David will come north and move into her community. David is still fearful in the buggy, especially in high traffic areas. Feeling he’s called by God to preach, David spends hours in the Bible, but the Amish discourage him, believing their ministers should be drawn by lot. Will David follow his call, even if it takes him out of the Amish church? Will Rachel realize her dream to travel?

On Your Mark ... Get Set ... Wait by Irene Hannon

Irene Hannon

On your mark … get set … wait.

Sometimes that’s how the writing game works—at least for me. So often, I’ve thought I was ready to take a giant leap forward, only to get slapped back into the waiting mode—waiting for the right publisher, waiting for the right editor, waiting for the right agent, waiting for someone ... ANYONE … to notice I had a great book ready to dazzle the market. ☺ To illustrate with a story …

A number of years ago I was writing inspirational category romance. My publisher decided to launch a line of single-title trade-length books, and my editor suggested I consider writing one—on spec, of course. So in between my category commitments, I tackled that challenge. It took a while (funny how little things like a day job and family responsibilities can get in the way of an ambitious writing plan), but I finally finished the manuscript. And guess what? In the interim, my publisher decided single-title books weren’t its cup of tea after all and had just decided to discontinue the line.

That trade-length contemporary romance/women’s fiction book languished for several years—until I finally found an agent to shop it.

We didn’t get one offer.

So I did what most writers do when faced with a setback. After consoling myself with chocolate, I started a new trade-length project—a romantic suspense book. (Can you tell I was determined to break into the single-title world?) That book somehow morphed into a three-book series…all written on spec—again, in yet another leap of faith.

But this time it paid off. That series not only sold, but all three books went on to become bestsellers.

Fast forward four years. After multiple best-selling suspense book, NOW there was interest in that trade-length contemporary romance/women’s fiction novel I’d written years before. Good news, right? Yes…but with a caveat. Because when I pulled it out and read it again, I cringed. I couldn’t believe how much I’d grown as a writer. So I dived in and did some very heavy editing, making the story and characters much richer and deeper.

After multiple offers, I ended up selling the book to my suspense publisher. THAT CERTAIN SUMMER came out last year—and it, too, was a bestseller. My second book in the genre, ONE PERFECT SPRING, is now hitting shelves with a front cover endorsement from #1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber. And I just signed a contract to write more contemporary romance/women’s fiction, along with a new suspense series (my fourth).

The moral of this story? For all of you who’ve written a book that won’t sell—don’t be discouraged and don’t give up. If you’re exhausted every avenue and no one is interested, put it aside for now and move on to a new project. Doors may open down the road…when the time is right.

And if they do, be ready with your red pen in hand—because no matter how good you think the book is now, you’ll be a much better writer then…as long as you keep putting words on the page day after day, week after week.

As for THAT CERTAIN SUMMER—I’m glad my it didn’t sell years ago. Because, hard as it was to put that novel aside and play a waiting game, God’s timing ended up being best.

Click to Tweet
Funny how a day job & family can get in the way of a writing plan.
Keep putting words on the page, day after day, week after week.
As hard as it was to play a waiting game, God’s timing ended up being best.

About the Author

One Perfect Spring
by Irene Hannon

Irene Hannon, who writes both contemporary romance and romantic suspense, is the bestselling author of more than 45 novels. Her books have been honored with two coveted RITA awards (the “Oscar” of romantic fiction), a Carol award, a Daphne du Maurier award, a National Readers’ Choice award, two HOLT Medallions, a Retailers Choice award and two Reviewers’ Choice awards from RT Book Reviews magazine. In addition, she is a Christy Award finalist, and Booklist named one of her novels a “Top 10 Inspirational Fiction” title for 2011. A former corporate communications executive with a Fortune 500 company, Irene now writes full time. For more information, visit www.irenehannon.com.

One Perfect Spring

Independent single mom Claire Summers is doing her best to make lemonade out of the lemons life has handed her. Workaholic Keith Watson is interested only in the bottom line—until a letter from Claire’s eleven-year-old daughter reaches his desk and changes everything. As the executive assistant to a philanthropic businessman, Keith is used to fielding requests for donations. But the girl isn’t asking for money. She wants help finding the long-lost son of a neighbor. Keith tackles the annoying project in his usual results-oriented style—yet the results are anything but usual. For who could have guessed that a child’s kindhearted request would bring love and hope to so many lives…including his own?