Tag! I’m it. Well, at least according to my friend and fellow author, Morgan L. Busse. She tagged me (along with my very dear friend Nadine Brandes) as part of a Writing Process Blog Hop. Heir of Hope, the final book in Morgan’s Follower of the Word series, will release in 2015. The bad news: fans like me have to wait a bit longer than expected. The good news: if you haven’t read the Daughter of Light and Son of Truth, you have time to catch up! As for Nadine, her debut novel, A Time to Die, will release fall 2014. A must read. Truly! I actually plan to invest in multiple copies for use as witnessing tools for the very audience I endeavor to reach.
And now it’s my turn to answer a few questions…
What am I working on?
In the midst of activities surrounding the release of my debut novel, Of the Persecuted (released May 27th), I’m also working on the sequel, Legends of the Woodlands: Book Two, tentatively titled Of the Coldblooded. While Of the Persecuted focuses on persecution, Of the Coldblooded will focus on forgiveness. I’m only about one-third of the way finished, so I have a lot of work ahead of me.
How does my work differ from others in its genre?
My stories are for young adult females, though I believe my works crossover to adults quite well too. More specifically, my stories are for insecure girls struggling to understand their worth in the world. My focus is on instilling confidence in such girls through Jesus Christ, as well as demonstrating that ultimate worth lies in faith.
Why do I write what I do?
When I was in the fifth grade, my teacher read aloud The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis to my class. In doing so, she opened my eyes to adventure and possibilities, all the while helping me escape a world of darkness for a short time. At its conclusion, I wondered, Is God real? He couldn’t be, right? For if He existed, innocent young girls wouldn’t suffer the wrath of drunken addicts, or the torment of abandonment. I continued to speculate. Each time God placed believers in my path—a high school teacher, a college friend, and a college coach—my fascination with the possibility grew stronger until the truth stunned me like a slap to the face. God indeed lives in the form of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He rescues. He saves. And He waited for me. Then He embraced me. It all started with a little seed, planted in the empty heart of the girl I once was. A love for reading expanded to a love for writing. A desire to know God became a desire to serve Him, to reach nonbelievers. So I write, in hopes of reaching at least one lost girl.
How does my writing process work?
I write…well, slow. I tend to over analyze every sentence and scene rather than just accepting the flaws of a first draft. While this makes the completion of the first draft a bit tedious, it makes the rewrites a little less stressful (or so I’ve convinced myself). And I long for a normal writing day. As a mother of three active kids and a job outside of my home, I stay quite busy. I basically write whenever I can, often stopping in the middle of tasks to jot ideas in my journal, but the majority of my writing is completed during late night hours while my family sleeps.
I’m also a panster, not a plotter. And sometimes I wonder if that is good or bad for my writing endeavors. As I write, I know exactly where I want to start and finish, but I fly by the seat of my pants when writing all of the details in between. In some ways, it’s a fun approach because my own characters surprise me with their decisions. LOL!
Thanks for spending a bit of time with me today. I truly hope you’ll take a peek at Morgan’s and Nadine’s stories to, for you will not regret venturing to other worlds with them. Blessings.
Venturing to Other Worlds 