It has been more than a year since my last blog post.
A lot can happen in a year.
I released my first book…
And my second!
And I am in the process of releasing my third title in the series.
So what happened to my weekly posts?
Good question. There are a few reasons I stopped writing. Some of them are understandable, and others took me by surprise. I’m not going to fill this page with the details. I had some challenges to manage, and lessons to learn. But I’m hoping that I have come out the other side and found my online voice again.
What I want to share is why I have been able to make it back.
Once people discover that I have written a book, they ask questions. Some of those questions are tricky. Sometimes, they purchase a book, which leads to more questions. And some of my readers want to discuss the different themes that I have woven into my stories.
Please keep the questions and comments coming. Talking about my books, and finding answers to some of the trickier questions, is making me a better writer. And a stronger person.
That doesn’t mean writing and publishing are getting any easier. I made a rookie mistake that has set the release date for Book 3 back by a few weeks. But Book 4 is already queued into the Editor’s schedule and should return to me for more hard work mid-July. I am hoping to release that one in September.
Where can you get my books? Paperbacks are available from me. The eBook links are on my Facebook author page
When I work out how to add the links to this new version of the program I am using, I will add them here – this is another of those “things” that have changed while I was away đ
Amazon links here. All three books are “live” here.
White Rose of Promise, the paperback version, became available to the wholesalers on May 20, 2019. To celebrate, I am holding a small local party, here in Sorell, Tasmania. There will be cake.
Time 2pm -4:30ish Saturday 1st June 2019 Afternoon Tea and Book Signing BYO alcohol, soft drink and hot beverages provided Sorell School Performing Arts Centre, Walker Street, Sorell, TAS, 7190 https://www.facebook.com/events/510703492796215/
I have been fortunate to secure a talented musician to perform for me at my Book Launch Party. I am especially pleased, as his colourful tattoos were a key inspiration for the visual development of the hero in my novel.
Here is one of my favourite videos from 2014, when my famous nephew was a contestant on The Voice. Here is the link to his onscreen audition for The Voice from 2014. To date, this video has had 6 million+ views. He was a little nervous, but the judges forgot to ask him his name, so it wasn’t the usual chat at the end. If you hang around, you will even get to ‘meet’ my little brother, my sister-in-law and my other talented nephew )i(
Transformation business “That is not the end of the story. God is in the transformation business. Judgement flows from Godâs holy character but he delights to show favour and love; these are the things that last…” John Grayston, WordLive 09/12/2018. For the complete devotional please click the following link:Â https://www.wordlive.org/Session/Classic/2018-12-09/Complete-turnaround
A milestone not to be forgotten )i(
Thirty years ago, I was in a terrible state. As a patient in a private clinic, I had been weaned off one powerful medication only to have an adverse reaction to the new one. Five months earlier I had been admitted to hospital after developing encephalitis, and then sent home when I didn’t die. The prognosis for the next few years was bleak. I wasn’t going to get better anytime soon.
I could no longer stand upright without support, and when I closed my eyes I fell over. I was plagued by visual hallucinations, nausea and a slowness of thought where the neurologist’s tests matched my waking moments to that of a normal person sleeping. I could barely look after myself, and my son had gone to live with my mother. No-one was surprised that I was clinically depressed, a chemical imbalance that robbed me of my joy.
My faith in God was tested.
Then a series of unfortunate events tipped me over the edge. First, I was violently ill in response to the new medication. Then one of my new friends told me she wished she had the hope that I had, and went away to die alone – she changed her mind at the last minute but the person she called for help didn’t arrive in time. But the straw that broke this heart was going out with my husband to a Christmas function and having the waiter accidentally tip a cup of coffee down my back.
My last recollection was wailing on the pavement, as a swirling pit of darkness underneath my feet. I cried out to God that I couldn’t take anymore. The darkness grew and I was falling. Then I felt the hand of God grab me by the back of the neck like a kitten carried by its mother. He pulled me back into the light. My husband watched me go from insanity to a quiet mess. Neither of us has been the same since.
There followed an amazing series of positive experiences that cancelled out all the bleakness of the previous days. I awoke on Sunday 18th of December, sane and alive, and in a defeated state. I lay in bed in the private clinic and told God He had to take over control because I had nothing left. Within minutes, there came a knock at the door, an unexpected invitation from an acquaintance, and I was dressed and out the door on an unexpected visit to an unfamiliar church. During that morning service, one by one, people stood up and quoted scriptures, each with direct correspondence to some puzzling visions that God had given me in answer to my pleas for help in recent weeks.
Hope reawakened in my heart. But God wasn’t finished with me yet. I was still physically broken but my joy was overflowing and I knew God had heard my desperate cries. That evening, I went back to that same Church, and during the service, God called me to my vocation. I went from a helper for other people’s ministry to a leader of a ministry of my own. Only when I had fully accepted that new calling did God bring about the greatest sign of all.
I went forward for prayer at the end of the service, and witnesses told me it was marvellous to see. My walking stick went flying as I fell – I closed my eyes to pray and the catcher missed me. I had a bump on my head to testify to the hardness of the floor. After making my confession, my body felt as if I had been struck by lightning, and I jumped up. Much laughter and celebration followed, and then other people hurried down to have prayer, not wanting to miss an opportunity for a miracle.
I was delivered back to the private clinic afterwards, and the other patients had me walking and leaping up and down the corridor to prove that I was healed. My transformation was remarkable. God is good. )i( He steps in at just the right time. My faith in God was tested to the very limits of my sanity, and He didn’t let me down )i(
When I started writing White Rose of Promise one of my Church friends asked if this book was going to be autobiographical. I said no. Yet I realise that the transformation that takes place in the life of my central character has the foundations in that event that happened thirty years ago. I had been an active Christian for fourteen years when my faith was tested.
There have been other testing times, including the season that I am in at the moment. My WRoP manuscript went to the proofreader yesterday, and I have hired a designer to take over the cover preparation. I still have a lot to learn about life, about being a writer, about living a faithful life in a troubled world.
But today, God has filled my heart with rejoicing as He reminds me that the journey of discovery is ongoing, and He will be right there with me to pick me up when I fall. I have a couple of miracle memories to make sure I don’t forget )i(
Today’s inspiration comes from another long-term project. A few years ago, I set myself a task to create images to go with my Butterfly Prayer House daily blog, with the ambitious goal of one day having designed an image for a verse from every chapter in the Bible. As there are many great inspirational texts, it will take me the rest of my life to fulfil this goal.
Today, I went through my collection and selected some images taken at Dodges Ferry, Tasmania, Australia. I love going to the beach, but not on my own.
I have added a caption below each image to explain the relevance that these Scriptures brought me today as I prepared for my day of writing )i(
Writing a book takes a long time. I like to swap out the word ‘temple’ in the final line of this text and replace it with my current project.
This is a good Scripture to describe what happens when writing the manuscript is done, and the revision and editing stage begins. I have discovered that it is easier to write the story than to reach the end of the process of editing. But the end result is worth the extra effort.
There comes a time in the writing process where taking time to rest and recover is the best way to keep moving forward.
There also comes a time when I sit and call out to God for help. There are moments when I know where my characters need to get to but I have trouble writing their journey.
Always God answers my prayer for guidance. Not always when I expect Him to, and not often within my time frame, but when I wait patiently, He brings me through the desert to the place where the words flow from me like water from a spring.
My stories are about justice, with lots of internal conflict and more than a little bit of trouble for my characters. I am working on my third manuscript in the River Wild Series, and so far the stream of inspiration hasn’t failed me.
I remember sending off my first manuscript White Rose of Promise (WRoP) for Copy Editing, and my editor told me to get to work on my second manuscript. The first one (WRoP) is still fully engaged in that process, and my second manuscript When Promises Are Broken (WPaB) is away with my alpha readers. Meanwhile, I am up to chapter 5 of book three…Â
I have chosen water themes to join together the books in my River Wild Series. When I trusted God to give me a clear direction for my writing, I was expecting to come to a satisfactory conclusion to my first story, and then wait on Him for inspiration. I never expected Him to take my characters and build a new story around them, so that I started writing the next episode with all the hard work already done.
When I take the time, I can find inspiration from wherever God has placed, me, but sometimes it takes me some intentional sitting and waiting before I find the key to what God wants to say.
Do you have a favourite beach or water photo? Or do you get your inspiration from another natural feature?Â
One of my quick sketches for White Rose of Promise page decoration idea
My manuscript White Rose of Promise has come home from the copy edit, and I am about to embark on the next stage of the publishing journey. (There are still a few more giant steps to come.)
The first draft of the story was easy to write. I made it all the way to 120,000 words before I realised there was a serious possibility that I would get this finished while juggling all my other responsibilities.
I really liked my characters, both the good ones and the ones who were going to create lots of trouble. I even found a couple of baddies that I was happy to see get what they deserved.
The most important decision I made at this time was to search for an editor who could guide this project from its humble beginnings to the next stage. I prayed and waited for God to show me where to turn. I have found that many people are generous with their time, and have valuable research documents available on their webpage.
Here is the link to the editor that I chose. I can highly recommend Belinda from Small Blue Dog Publishing
Inspiration everywhere
Suddenly I found myself with a project that brought inspiration at every turn. Even the cottage garden at the venue where I supervised an after-school activity provided unexpected opportunities to practise my sketching. I had a title and visual inspiration to keep me moving forward.
During the process of writing WRoP, I rediscovered my love for making up stories and watching them emerge on the page.
The first advice my editor sent me was put into action. I needed to address the high word count, to bring my manuscript back into the range where a new reading audience might be prepared to give this unknown author a chance. Chop, chop, chop. The manuscript came down to 65,000 words as I looked at the best way to bring my story alive.
Now that it has come back, my editor has identified areas where I have left too much unsaid, so I get a second chance to look at key scenes and give them a little more detail. This revision process looks like it will become a conversation.
There is something special about having an animated discussion about a story that is the product of my imagination. When I started talking to my editor I was afraid that I would lose my voice, but instead I have discovered that I am learning how to make better use of it )i(
Confession time. There are more steps to becoming a published author than I ever imagined. This is a learning journey of great proportions. You, my intrepid readers, play an important role. When I feel like I want to sit down and give up, I am reminded that people are waiting for an update, waiting for the next instalment, waiting to see the finished book…
For me the process of writing is easy. Taking my creation and working towards getting it published is not. Some essential tasks seem almost impossible!
Problem #1 Setting up a webpage is much harder than it looks. I made what I thought was a good start and then hit a brick wall I wasn’t able to get around. I tried many different ways and then I gave up. A few weeks later I am ready to revisit the how-to videos and make another attempt. Watch this page for updates in the coming weeks – I hope to have more links for you to click on!
Problem #2 I hit a snag with my email account and accidentally unsubscribed because I kept getting pop-up boxes asking for information that seemed irrelevant. So if anyone has emailed in the few days and is waiting for a reply, please accept my apology… and send the email again. The server deleted everything. That problem has now been fixed – happy dance here!
One of my rose drawings
My first manuscript moves closer towards publication. White Rose of Promise fits in the Christian Romantic Suspense genre.
The goal of having a happy-ever-after ending seemed elusive, but the heroine arrives at the final chapter with joy in her heart and her faith made stronger by the adversity. The man she falls in love with remains a work in progress right to the end.
There are 26 chapters in the novel, one for each letter of the alphabet. If you guessed that each chapter starts with a letter of the alphabet from a-z you know me too well already!
The first chapter title: Anticipation – A Promise Given. The companion text is Jeremiah 29:11-13 (NIV)
Chapter 1 image
To go with White Rose of Promise I am planning a colouring book and a devotional book based on the Bible reference texts that guided me through the chapter development. This image is a work in progress. I am still playing with design ideas.
White Rose of Promise is currently away from home, enjoying time with my Copy Editor. It will be a few weeks before I get it back. What happens after that is still unknown! I am hoping to self-publish so another learning opportunity is looming. Hopefully, it won’t be as tricky as setting up this webpage!
The manuscript left me at various stages to spend time with my amazing beta-readers (those brave friends who agreed to listen to my ideas and took the time to give me feedback). I keep in regular contact with my beta-readers, asking them random questions, and keeping them informed about the day to day challenges. If you would like more information about being part of the day to day discussion, please email me, or message me on facebook.
