My Writing Past, Part One

sketch pen and paper

The book on this website, Unjealous Heart,   is the first of many books I plan to blog.  All of them came from my prayer since the early 80s that I might “write right out of my life.”   I had full custody of my seven-year-old daughter.   Her father had disappeared, along with c child support.   Thankfully, I realized that Sharon’s years at home would be as fleeting as they were precious, so I prioritized time with her over writing.

For those joy-filled early years, my song was “if I cannot write full-time until I am a little old gray-haired grandmother, that is okay because God will take care of everything.” Well, I will never be little, since I am six feet tall!  However, I am older and graying and I am the proud Nana for two of the grandest grandsons in all of Texas, which as you know, is BIIIG!

Let me explain how God “took care of everything”.

In the 30 years between my first serious writing in 1985 to now, 2015, the field of publishing changed entirely. Back in 1985, writers submitted book proposals, on paper, and hoped against long-shot odds that a publisher would accept and promote the manuscript while you happily began another book.  Today, you not only have to write the book, you have to establish a LARGE following on-line (called a platform) before a publisher will even consider your manuscript.  And most publishers now only accept submissions from authors with agents.

Throughout those 30 years while publishing was changing, I was raising Sharon and praying like crazy as I stepped through doors God opened, trying wholeheartedly, to do what He wanted me to do.  That is how I ended up with a Ph.D. in educational measurement and research (smile. . . a story for another day.)

Each step of that 30-year journey yielded experiences to share with others, things on  a multitude of topics.   So. . . I moved from Florida to Texas (to be a Nana) with about 25 boxes of writing papers. The boxes included three complete manuscripts, several rejected book proposals, outlines, and scraps and files of numerous other topics.  Most of the paper is yellowing, much of it was typed on a typewriter and pages are clipped together with paper clips rusted from years in the Florida humidity.  (Ever been there?  It is MUGGY!)

I would not change a thing about this journey, because it has brought me closer to the One my heart loves.  No price is too great to pay for drawing closer to the One who created and sustains the universe but chooses to dwell in the hearts of those who love and obey Him!

The second reason I would not change my past is found in II Corinthians 1:3-4 (NIV):

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that [emphasis added] we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”  

How I look forward to sharing that treasure box of  comfort with you!

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