When You Give Up Your Dream By Janalyn Voigt

Janalyn Voigt

Have you ever had to lay down a dream? As soon as you do, you wonder, did I make the right call? What choice did I have? I poured months or years into it; what will become of that project?Janalyn Voigt, fellow Mountain Brook Ink author, is here today with her story of laying down a dream. Read on for encouragement! ~ Annette

I held my breath as I opened the email, but then expelled it in disappointment. Another rejection. I scanned the words on my screen. My agent had run out of publishers to approach with my proposal. She’d hoped that my writing voice was unique enough to land a contract, but the Western historical romance market was crowded.

I’d been so sure that the Montana Gold series was God-led. I’d felt an unction to write books set in Montana while gazing across the Ruby Valley. The title of the first book had dropped into my head out of the blue. Giving up felt wrong. The characters I’d created seemed real to me. How could I bury them?

Fortunately, my agent wasn’t offloading me, but her inference was clear. It was time to switch genres. It was tough to let go of my plans, but I couldn’t ignore that the doors to write Western historical romance were closed. If God had wanted to open one for me, He’d have done it. I could only trust that He had something else in mind for me. I focused on writing a proposal in another genre.

I’d met Miralee Ferrell when we were both featured as Christian authors at the Missoula Festival of the Book. As the author of Tales of Faeraven, a medieval epic fantasy series, I’d been invited to represent Christian speculative fiction. Miralee and I struck up a friendship, and she offered me advice on the Montana Gold series. Miralee hadn’t yet started her publishing house, Mountain Brook Ink. Neither of us guessed that she would one day acquire my series. That happened almost by accident.

Several years later, I learned that Miralee would attend a local writing conference where I was speaking. I invited her to coffee with no thought of pitching the Montana Gold books to her. The sneaking suspicion that I should do so crept up on me. I pushed the notion away, but it wouldn’t leave me alone.

It took another kind of surrender to pitch my series. I’d given my dream to God. Attempting to revive that particular aspiration made me vulnerable to further rejection and heartbreak.

I needn’t have worried. Miralee loved the story idea, asked to see the proposal, and contracted me to write the series. Writing for Mountain Brook Ink is a joy, a blessing I’d have missed if I hadn’t surrendered my writing dreams to God.

The Author of Salvation loves us too much to allow us to slip into idolatry. That is the danger when we love our own will more than we do our Savior’s. It’s not wrong to harbor hopes and dreams, but we must cast them like crowns at Jesus’s feet. Who knows, maybe then God, if He is willing, will restore them to us.

Taking up a dream afresh calls for courage. Life offers no guarantees, but one thing is certain. Doing nothing leads to failure.

Dare to try.

Has God ever turned your surrendered dream around? Come be encouraged! @JanalynVoigt

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The Forever Sky

Can a young widow with no faith in love, hope for a future with the man who broke her heart?

Maisey isn’t about to give Rob another chance to reject her love. Why should she believe that the man who left town without a backward glance three years ago cares about her? Life had taught her all about broken dreams, and she didn’t want to hope again. If only her young daughter would stop adopting Rob as a father, ignoring him—and her own emotions—would be a whole lot easier.

Thoughts of the woman he’d left behind haunted Rob for three long years. It wouldn’t have been fair to ask Maisey to wait while he mined a gold claim. After making his fortune, he has returned to his family in Montana’s Bitterroot Valley. Rob is ready to settle down, and he’d rather do so with Maisey. But after their first encounter, it is clear that he’s lost her forever.

Circumstances force Maisey and Rob into one another’s company. They learn, through hardship and loss, that the only way to one another is to surrender first to God’s love.

Based on actual historical events during a time of unrest in America, The Forever Sky explores faith, love, and courage in the wild West.

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Janalyn Voigt fell in love with literature at an early age when her father read classics to her as bedtime stories. When Janalyn grew older, she put herself to sleep with her own made-up tales. Her sixth-grade teacher noticed her love of storytelling and encouraged her to become a writer. Today Janalyn is a multi-genre author. Janalyn writes the kind of novels she likes to read – epic adventures brimming with romance, mystery, history, and whimsy. She is praised for her unpredictable plots and the lyrical, descriptive prose that transports readers into breathtaking storyworlds. Janalyn Voigt is represented by Wordserve Literary. Learn more about Janalyn and her books at http://janalynvoigt.com.

Plant Your Dreams by Gail Johnson

Gail Johnson

Spending time in nature gives me peace, and it stirs my creativity. It’s where I feel closest to God. So, today’s post by author Gail Johnson deeply inspires me—and gives me hope. Enjoy! ~ Dawn

Plant Your Dreams

When we moved our house to the piece of land we call home, it was nothing but a barren sand ridge. The only trees in our yard were the ones we left standing when we cleared the land. We didn't have money for landscaping, so every spring found me planting tufts of grass taken from our former yard behind my in-loves.

Throughout the coming years, I planted shrubs, trees, and flowers. I enjoyed some plants the moment I stuck them in the dirt, but I had to wait for certain flowers. Like the year I planted gladiolus and daffodil bulbs.

Those bulbs didn't bloom that year or the next, or the year after that. In fact, they remained hidden for so long, I completely forgot about them. When they finally appeared in all their glory, I had to think hard about where they came from and when I had planted them.

Our writing dreams can be like those bulbs. We may spend years cultivating stories without a promise of publication. The longer we write, the more we fight the urge to give up. If you're in a waiting season, remember, burying and planting are the same in action, but not in thought. When we bury something, we don't expect to see it again in this lifetime. But when we plant something, we plant it knowing that it will soon appear and bring pleasure to others.

Don't bury your gift. Cultivate with confidence. Plant your dreams in faith and expect "that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." And one day, when you least expect it, your story will bloom for His glory.

What are you planting this year?


Image by S. Hermann & F. Richter from Pixabay

If you're in a waiting season, remember, burying and planting are the same in action, but not in thought. #seriouslywrite #encouragementforwriters via @GailJohnson87

Don't bury your gift. Cultivate with confidence. Plant your dreams in faith and with expectation. #seriouslywrite #encouragementforwriters via @GailJohnson87

Treasures of Hope

Treasures of Hope

When long-buried memories of abuse resurface, Gail faces a choice: continue ignoring the implications of her nightmares and remain a captive of fear and shame, or dare to remove the painful chains binding her present to her past. Unearthing the sorrows of her past would not be easy and distressing questions would arise along the way to challenge her faith.

Why would a God of both love and justice allow this abuse?
Why does He expect me to forgive my abuser?
If He let this happen, does He truly love me at all?

In her memoir, Treasures of Hope: Discovering the Beautiful Truth Beneath My Painful Past, Gail Johnson shares the truths she uncovered while studying earlier daughters of both harm and hope. As she became better acquainted with women of the Bible like Sarah, Rachel, Hannah, Rahab, Tamar, and Esther, their stories spoke truth into her own, mining the jewels of Identity and Purpose, Intimacy, Incomparability, Courage, Peace, and Victory. With each new discovery, Gail traded a length of chain for a balm of gold . . . and unearthed treasures that would sever the past’s stranglehold on her life, allowing her to live joyously in the present and anticipate the future with emboldened hope.



Gail Johnson enjoys sharing her passion for life and Christ through the power of the written word. Whether it’s through stories, articles, or songs, she invites her reader and listener to “taste and see” the hope she has found in a faithful God and loving Savior. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and the author of Treasures of Hope, Discovering the Beautiful Truth Beneath My Painful Past, a memoir.

You can find Gail online—at Inspired Prompt, Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Amazon Author Page.

Happy Thanksgiving

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.
Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
              -Psalm 100

Seriously Write is closed today to allow us to spend the holiday with our family and friends. We wish you a blessed Thanksgiving. We will be back tomorrow and look forward to visiting with you then.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Seriously Write Team

Look Up! by Elizabeth Musser

Often when I see a musical, one song will resonate with me so that it replays itself ad nauseum in my brain for days and weeks and months afterwards. Such was the case when I watched the wonderful film Mary Poppins Returns back in February. Here we are many months later, and I’m still singing, “Count your blessings; you’re a lucky guy for you’re underneath the lovely London sky.”

But I don’t mind.

Everything about the lyrics in this song makes me smile. First of all, the London sky doesn’t exactly have the reputation of being that welcoming for much of the year. But can’t a gray sky be lovely? It’s all about perspective as the song goes on to tell us.

When we write, we are giving our readers a certain perspective and hoping that they’ll catch on. Part of that perspective for us as Christian authors is to infuse our stories with hope.

The song from the film continues, “There’s a different point of view awaiting you if you would just look up.”

I want to give encouragement to my readers, but sometimes I sense the Lord simply wants my readers to be an encouragement to me. He whispers to me on those days when I’m feeling distracted or uninspired or discouraged, “Count your blessings and look up!”

As writers, we need to do this throughout each day so that our imaginations which are often creating conflict and angst don’t hijack the joy of the present. It’s a juggling act, isn’t it?

Usually I’m not underneath the London sky, but the Lyon, France sky where my husband and I serve as pastoral care missionaries. But we’re back in the States for the launch of my new novel, When I Close My Eyes. Yesterday, under my north Georgia sky, I watched my grandchildren frolicking right outside the window of my office, making it very hard for me to concentrate on writing and delighting me with the simple experience of being together on the same continent. So I looked up from my manuscript, waved to them, and hummed that tune in my head.

This morning, I drove up on Lookout Mountain underneath an autumn-blue sky to speak to a book club. In my talk, I addressed the major themes in the novel: depression, hypocrisy and grace, sharing from my own experience with depression. I was blessed and encouraged by the honest conversation that followed as these women responded to both the story in my book and my personal story. I sensed the Lord saying, “I don’t waste anything in your life. I’m using your story to impart hope. Look up!”

A few days ago, I was talking on the phone with my father in Atlanta. He told me that his new next-door-neighbor had just discovered that I was an author and that she’d read and greatly enjoyed some of my novels and couldn’t wait to meet me. Look up! That was a fun and unexpected blessing for my father, this woman, and me.

A few months ago at our little church in France, my husband, Paul, met a young Dutch woman named Judith who was visiting her sister in Lyon where her sister and husband attend our church. Paul mentioned to Judith that we had traveled to The Netherlands often because my novels are published there. Then Paul introduced me to Judith, and I explained that I write Christian fiction. Her eyes got wide when she asked me my name and I replied, “Elizabeth Musser.”

“I’ve read your books and love them!” she said. “And I just bought another of your novels to give to my mother for Mother’s Day.”

We chatted for a while, both of us certainly blessed by that serendipitous encounter. Later that week, I mailed a few signed book plates to Judith to put in those books.

So often we can’t see the impact of our words on others. “Is what I’m doing really making a difference, Lord,” we may ask. Then He pulls back the veil, ever so briefly, and gives us a peek at the lovely sky, reminding us that there’s a different point of view awaiting us if we will just look up. He intertwines lives at the right time so that indeed we’ll be blessed.

My sky today keeps changing from sunny and blue to moody and gray to frivolous with puffy white clouds. I think it is going to rain soon. But I’ll keep looking up. Won’t you, too?

As writers, we need to count our blessings throughout each day so that our imaginations which are often creating conflict and angst don’t hijack the joy of the present. via @EMusserAuthor #SeriouslyWrite #amwriting

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ELIZABETH MUSSER writes ‘entertainment with a soul’ from her writing chalet—tool shed—outside Lyon, France. Her new novel, When I Close My Eyes, was released on November 5 of 2019. For over thirty years, Elizabeth and her husband, Paul, have been involved in missions’ work in Europe with One Collective, formerly International Teams. The Mussers have two sons, a daughter-in-law and three grandchildren. Find more about Elizabeth’s novels at www.elizabethmusser.com and on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and her blog.

When I Close My Eyes

Could she ever share the secret of The Awful Year?

There is one story that novelist Josephine Bourdillon shirked from writing. And now she may never have a chance. Trapped in her memories, she lies in a coma.

The man who put her there is just as paralyzed. Former soldier Henry Hughes failed to complete the kill. What’s more, he never received the full payment—funds that would ensure surgery for his son.

As detectives investigate disturbing fan letters, a young but not-so-naive Paige Bourdillon turns to her mother’s tormented past for answers. Could The Awful Year be worse than the one they’re living now?

Set against the flaming hills of North Carolina and the peaceful shores of the Mediterranean Sea, When I Close My Eyes tells the story of two families struggling with dysfunction and finding that love is stronger than death.