The Power Behind the Pen by Michael K. Reynolds

Michael K. Reynolds

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by trying to do it all—family, church, job, and pursuing a career in writing? It’s not easy, is it? How do you handle it? Author Michael K. Reynolds faced such a time, and he’s here to share what he learned. Be blessed! ~ Dawn

The Power Behind the Pen

 by Michael K. Reynolds

Ever feel like throwing in the pen? Giving up this crazy writing pursuit?

The voice in your head whispering: Who are you fooling? This will never amount to anything.

I heard the voice almost exactly a year ago. In fact, there were dozens of voices joining together in a discordant, conspiratorial choir. And it sounded like hopelessness.

No question about it. I was in a crisis. 

My first novel Flight of the Earls had just released and I was overwhelmed by the demands of promotion. My second book In Golden Splendor, which at the time was due to come out in a few months was in final production. Then my third book Songs of the Shenandoah was already past its appointed draft deadline with my editors writing me patient…but pointed…e-mails: “Is it just about ready, Michael?”

Uh…not exactly.

It was the dream of my life fulfilled…and I was miserable.

Because during a time that should have felt like tremendous victory my world was shattering tiles beneath my feet. Just like Elijah after his triumph over hundreds of the false prophets of Baal, I found myself alone, quivering in a cave of darkness.

Behind the scenes I had just learned my publisher was eliminating nearly the entirety of their fiction line, which meant the new deal we were working on for my next trilogy just vaporized.

Meanwhile, the business I owned was going through a tough transition, our family was facing some unexpected financial and health issues and I was completely exhausted from a two year schedule of balancing two full time jobs while trying my best to keep my family first.

Spent…wiped out. Kapootz. And for what, Michael? A foolish chasing of the wind? I was ready to throw in my pen.

Fortunately, through the gentle mentoring of some of my most respected writing friends I realized what was wrong.

In all of my busyness and relentless goal chasing I had inadvertently pulled the plug out of the wall.

My time in the Word was subordinated to “maybe tomorrow” status. My prayer life was pared down to pre-dinner blessings. My family had pulled back from service in church. We no longer attended our weekly Bible study.

And I was a Christian fiction author! It was my faith that was becoming make believe.

God has a great sense of humor and it turned out the joke was on me. My third book, Songs of the Shenandoah, staged during the Civil War was all about hearing His voice during even the most difficult battles of life. I had managed to get lost in my own plot.

I realized in that moment my struggles were a gift from God so I could breathe into my characters with firsthand, visceral experiences. The Civil War fields became the canvas of my own personal struggles.

So I plugged back in.

In God’s infinite mercy it was extraordinary how rapidly my world healed and my energy and passion returned. The concluding novel of my series virtually wrote itself the rest of the way and with its recent release it’s been encouraging to learn how it’s already changing lives.

If you are writing with the purpose of honoring God, you must realize you are at war with a bitter enemy. When you hear that voice in your head urging you to quit, be firm and say, “Get behind me Satan”.

Then make sure the plug is firmly attached to the socket.

Tweetables:

Author Michael K. Reynolds offers encouragement for those times when you want to give up. Click to tweet.

Have you tried using personal struggles to breathe life into your characters? Click to tweet.

If you write with the purpose of honoring God, you must realize you are at war with a bitter enemy. Click to tweet.

Songs of the Shenandoah

Songs of the Shenandoah

At the onset of the Civil War, Seamus heeds his wife’s wishes to return to her beloved family farm in the South, where he takes a post as chaplain for General Stonewall Jackson’s brigade. As Seamus ministers to the troops, his sister Clare ministers in a different way—by being a powerful voice in the Northern cause toward freeing the slaves. All this while their youngest brother Davin, who became wealthy during the Gold Rush, struggles to find love and identity in a fallen world. It’s a clash of loyalties and beliefs that threaten the entire family, each of them trying to hear God’s encouragement in the midst of the tragedy of war. The dramatic conclusion to the acclaimed Heirs of Ireland Series.

  

Michael K. Reynolds’s debut novel, Flight of the Earls, about the Great Irish Potato Famine was recently nominated for RT Book Reviews 2013 novel of the year award in the category of Inspirational Romance. In Golden Splendor, set during the San Francisco Gold Rush, received similar high acclaim and Songs of the Shenandoah, the Civil War-era conclusion to the trilogy was just chosen as a Top Pick in RT Book Reviews.

Michael is the author of a popular Christian Blog called Real Life. Real God. and he has been rated as one of the top 50 Christians on Twitter. He lives in Reno with his wife and three children.

You can learn more at:

WEB: http://www.MichaelKReynolds.com.  

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorMichaelKReynolds  

TWITTER: http://www.twitter.com/M_K_Reynolds

 

Persistence...Does It Payoff? by Dora Hiers

Image courtesy of Bing.com

Soon after we married, my husband and I began praying for different jobs so we could leave Florida. The constant ninety degree temperatures left me fatigued, and both of us longed for cooler climates. We prayed. And prayed. God told us no...for twenty years.

We'd walk in the evenings, sweat dripping down our necks and backs, sharing our dreams, and talking about where we might live. Sometimes when we felt particularly discouraged, when it didn't feel that God was listening to our prayers, He'd open up a door. An interview, just enough encouragement to keep us knocking on heaven's gate.

In 2007, God finally called us into our promised land, North Carolina, a land flowing with milk and hon...er, seasons. Where trees bud and leaves flutter softly to the ground in a gentle breeze. Where we could tug on sweaters and long pants, instead of the usual shorts and flip flops. Where we learned to appreciate snow and four-wheel drive.

What if we'd given up praying for our dream? Would God have given up on us? No. But He might not have blessed us so abundantly. He moved us smack into the middle of NASCAR country! Hubby thinks he's already in heaven!

Jesus shared the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18, instructing us to "always pray and not give up" and that God wants to bring justice to His chosen ones, the ones who cry out to Him continually.

Many of us started writing with only our dreams. Years stretch into decades, and as we walk the path, sweat drips down our backs. We're fatigued, worn out from sending queries and proposals, and the constant rejections seem to be the only answer to our prayers.

What does God call us to do?

I believe He gave us our marching orders.

Pray. Pray. Pray. Don't give up. Cry out to Him continually.

What if your promised land is right around the next query letter?

What about you? 
Are you weary from the long journey?

Have you considered quitting? What, or who, has kept you going?

Purchase Link

Devastated after the brutal murder of her husband, Chelsea Hammond vows never to love another lawman. Intent on rebuilding her shattered life, she turns her focus to helping troubled teens. But when an angry father bent on retaliation, threatens her, Chelsea must turn to the one man she never thought to trust: Deputy U.S. Marshal Trey Colten.

Trey wants only to protect Chelsea, but she blames him for her husband’s death. Trey can relate. He blames himself, also. As danger lurks, Trey begs Chelsea to heed his warnings. He let down one Hammond. He won’t let down another—especially one who now holds his heart.

When Chelsea is snatched from her home, can she put aside her fear, and trust Trey with her life? Can she forgive him for destroying her past and let him help to rebuild her future?

Where one journey ends, another begins…

Dora Hiers is a multi-published author of Heart Racing, God-Gracing romances. She’s a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and the Treasurer for ACFW-Charlotte Chapter. Connect with her here on Seriously Write, her personal blog, Twitter, Facebook or Pinterest.

Giving Our Characters Our Hobbies by Patricia Bradley

After I read Shadows of the Past and learned that the author's hobby was pottery, I asked Patricia Bradley to share about adding personal hobbies to our stories. -- Sandy

Patricia: He has filled them with skill to do every sort of work done by an engraver or by a designer or by an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, or by a weaver—by any sort of workman or skilled designer. Exodus 35:35 ESV

Thirteen years ago I had a character for a book, but I didn’t want her to have the same old-same old occupation. When I closed my eyes and brought her to mind, I saw her sitting at a potter’s wheel, outside under a spreading Oak. Occasionally, she would look up from her work and gaze in the distance. That was in January 2001.

I loved it! But there was a problem. I didn’t have the first clue how to use a wheel or clay. In fact when I was in the seventh grade my art teacher brought her wheel to class one day. After I had my try, she shook her head and said, “You’ll never be a potter. Get up and let someone else try.”

In May of 2001, I went to a Women’s Conference and one of the sessions featured a potter. After an awesome presentation, I asked where she learned to use a wheel, and she gave me the name of her instructor. I called him and signed up. And became this great potter.

No. The instructor did say he’d never seen a person so determined to learn how to throw on a wheel. That’s the way potters talk about working on the wheel. Throwing. You see, you take a ball of clay and throw it on the wheel then try to keep it there while the wheel is spinning 90 to nothing.

*Sigh*

But I was determined. I bought a wheel, clay, even a kiln. And sat down and practiced. And practiced. Remember the throwing bit? I occasionally threw the clay…out the door. But I kept at it. I think that’s the secret whether it’s writing or pottery or anything you want to get good at. About that time, I began working in the abstinence program in Mississippi, and I used the wheel and clay to show how to build a good foundation for your life and how to reclaim your character when you didn’t build that foundation.

It was seven years before I wrote the book that had a potter in it. In that time, I became quite accomplished at making vases, bowls, and mugs. I even began fashioning jewelry from my porcelain clay. While I don’t have time right now to play in the mud, I am itching to get back to it. But first, I have a third book in the Logan Point series to write. And guess what? My subplot character is a potter…creating beautiful things on the wheel is how she regains sight of who God created her to be.

Have you had an experience similar to Patricia's? Has your character inspired a personal hobby or have you given your hobby to a character?

~~~ 

Patricia Bradley lives in North Mississippi and is a former abstinence educator and co-author of RISE To Your Dreams, an abstinence curriculum. But her heart is tuned to suspense. Patricia’s mini-mysteries have been published in Woman’s World, and her debut novel, Shadows of the Past, is the first of three set in Mississippi and will release February 4, 2014. She presents workshops, her most recent is Writing 50,000 words in 30 days, at the Midsouth Christian Writer’s Conference in Collierville, TN on March 8, 2014. Her tag line on everything is: I asked God to teach me patience and He gave me a book to write. And when she’s not writing, she likes to throw mud on a wheel and see what happens.

Back cover copy:

Psychology professor and criminal profiler Taylor Martin prides herself on being able to solve any

crime, except the one she wants most desperately to solve—the disappearance of her father twenty years ago. When she finally has a lead on his whereabouts, Taylor returns home to Logan Point, Mississippi, to investigate. But as she is stalking the truth about the past, someone is stalking her.

Nick Sinclair pens mystery novels for a living, but the biggest mystery to him is how he can ever get over the death of his wife—a tragedy he believes he could have prevented. With his estranged brother the only family he has left, Nick sets out to find him. But when he crosses paths with Taylor, all he seems to find is trouble.

Connect with Patricia Bradley at:

www.patriciabradleyauthor.com
www.facebook.com/patriciabradleyauthor
https://twitter.com/PTBradley1

Links to buy book:

Available at CBD: http://ow.ly/qIx2k and Amazon: http://ow.ly/qIx90 and B&N:

http://ow.ly/qKdSL 

Hope Floats by Heather Frey Blanton

Heather Frey Blanton

I have wanted to be a published author since I was five. Today—literally today—I am 49. And I am not published. I came agonizingly close once, only to have the door slam shut in my face. In the midst of that heartbreak, God showed me something amazing: hope floats.

In May of 2012, my book, A Lady in Defiance, made it all the way to the fabled “contract meeting.” Breathless, I read emails from my agent that hinted at heady things like the possibility of a “multi-book offer.”

I was in a meeting with my boss when I saw the email come through that said the publisher had decided, instead, to “pass.” Sucking up a punch from Rocky would have been easier to take. The second I could, I headed for the lady’s room to yell at God. Man, I was crushed. And, yet, I still felt…hope. It wouldn’t go away. It wouldn’t sink to the bottom of my sea of despair. It kept bobbing to the surface. In that restroom, God clearly impressed on me that he had a plan. Would I wait on him? Could I hang in there with Him?

Reluctantly, I nodded, and with a lump in my throat, said aloud, “God, I trust you. I know you have a plan here.”

Little did I know his plan was already unfolding.

Rewind to February, 2012. I had asked my agent if I could self-publish my book as a fundraiser for my Relay for Life team. I wanted to raise $200 for the American Cancer Society, what I thought was around 200 copies. Long story short, by the end of the year, A Lady in Defiance had sold over 8,000 copies! Over 12,000 have sold to date, and I am writing full-time now. I’m not sure I could have taken that path if the deal with the traditional publisher had gone through.

God’s unexpected blessing on my book led me to question my dream and, specifically, the motivations behind it. On the surface, it would seem He was telling me, “You don’t need a publisher.” And maybe that was his point. Why do I want to be traditionally published anyway? Is it just vanity? Pride? A desire to be accepted by my peers? Sure, all that probably figures into it. But, bottom line, I want to get my stories out to more people, even if I make less money. God has called me to write. I believe that. In fact, that is the only thing I do know for sure about this crazy gig.

So why keep hoping for traditional publishing? Because when we have a dream, God has a miracle in the making. Are you humble enough to believe his version may be better than yours? If you’re feeling frustrated or snarled over the direction of your career, my advice is hold on to your dream, but with a loose grip. If God wants to take it out of your hand, trust that he’ll replace it with something better.

About the Author

Heather started writing when she was five; her first tale was a ghost story that her mom typed up for her on a Brother typewriter. Over the years, she has worked as a journalist for newspapers, magazines, and blogs. She grew up on a steady diet of Bonanza, Gunsmoke, and John Wayne Westerns. Her most fond memories are of sitting next to her daddy, munching on popcorn, and watching Lucas McCain unload that Winchester! She loves exploring out West and would happily spend all her time researching and rummaging through ghost towns till the cows come home. Heather lives with her husband and two adventurous boys on a farm outside Raleigh, NC.


A Lady in Defiance

... It's his town and he dares God to step foot in it.
Charles McIntyre owns everything and everyone in the lawless, godless mining town of Defiance. When three good, Christian sisters from his beloved South show up stranded, alone, and offering to open a "nice" hotel, he is intrigued enough to let them stay...especially since he sees feisty middle sister Naomi as a possible conquest. But Naomi, angry with God for widowing her, wants no part of Defiance or the saloon-owning, prostitute-keeping Mr. McIntyre. It would seem however, that God has gone to elaborate lengths to bring them together. The question is, "Why?" Does God really have a plan for each and every life?

Learn more about best-selling author, Heather Blanton at her blog, http://ladiesindefiance.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heatherfreyblanton
Twitter: https://twitter.com/heatherfblanton