The poem by Emily Dickinson has long been one of my favorites. Hope drives me to do the things I do when life and my body tell me it’s time to give up. Hope is why I kept writing for over thirty years. 

I’m not talking about hope as in, I hope I get to do something. No, the hope that kept me writing all those years was grounded in knowing God called me to this writing gig, and I didn’t think He would have me wasting my time. 

You may be wondering how I knew God called me to write, and I can’t tell you, only that deep in my heart, I knew one day my book would be published (Note I said my book, not books). But as I approached twenty-five-plus years of waiting, I reminded Him I wasn’t getting any younger, and that’s when I (in my spirit) heard Him say, “Your mother will hold your book in her hands.”

Several more years passed and I was still waiting. Oh, I’d learned to enjoy the journey, maybe because my writing improved. And that’s what it was all about. If I had been published any sooner, I would have been so embarrassed by my work. I needed those extra years of seasoning. 

God is always faithful, and my mother held my book in her hands a month before she passed away. In fact, He’s not only faithful, He gives us more than we can think or imagine. I wanted one book published. That was my whole focus. God has given me 18 books so far in the eleven years since my first book was released.

During the years before my first book was published, God gave me what I call “God-winks”. The very first thing I ever wrote was published by Woman’s World. And every time I was about to give up, they bought another story. You can read the last one on my website. Click here. 

But what if I’d given up at the beginning of year thirty? That’s when Revell offered me a contract for Shadows of the Past. And this year I return to Logan Point, the setting of the first series with a new book!

And now back to my writing cave to work on a proposal for my next book…