Who in the World Am I?
In the meanwhile, I rejoice in my belief that God has read my manuscripts numerous times and still gets a kick out of my offbeat sense of humor. I think He enjoys listening to my music, too, even when I feel like giving up on it.
He knows the strenghs and weaknesses of everything I create--better than I do, in fact--and yet He keeps blessing me with fresh ideas and permitting me to think of them as mine.
I believe God will use them in ways I can't imagine. He alone knows the influence they will have.
Although I don’t have Moses’ speech problems, I write more clearly than I speak. A confirmed introvert (an INTJ for anyone familiar with the Myers-Briggs inventory), I prefer thinking before I speak, and seldom do I talk just to hear myself talk.
Maybe that’s why writing Christian fiction has become so important to me at this stage of my life. As of September 4, 2008, I have retired from working for a living so I can focus my full-time attention on the writing I feel God compelling me to do. While I can’t claim to be a Bible scholar or to “have it all together” as a Christian, I believe God has blessed me with some valuable insights and some creative and offbeat ways of conveying them.
Recently challenged to compose a statement of purpose for my writing, I wrote these words, which I refer to constantly:
I pray that God will continue inspiring the use of whatever skills, creativity, and insights He’s given me to write “Faith-in-Fiction” novels as a legacy that's limited in scope only by God's perfect plan and holiest of desires.
I am not anxious about having my novel manuscripts published. God inspired them. He won't let them go to waste.
I'm a former English teacher, job counselor/interviewer, and programmer/analyst. After a downsizing several years ago at the International Mission Board, I ended up a part-time cashier at a Target store near my home in Richmond, Virginia. That allowed me time to pursue my passion for writing. I took an early retirement so I can write full-time.
I won the English Department Honors Award at Frostburg State College (now University) as a senior and have had poetry published in four Southern Baptist periodicals and a local newspaper. Several dramatic monologs and short plays have been published in a free local magazine. I've written articles for staff newspapers at several work places and was the editor of the newsletter at my Target store. I've published technical articles in a national computer user newsletter and won Outstanding Editor award for my section. I contribute periodically to the FAITH & VALUES section of the Richmond.com website.
But writing Christian novels has become my passion. I completed and POD-published my first novel, I STARTED A JOKE, in 2004. I finished my second, FIFTY-FIFTY, six months later. My third novel, FOUND IN THE TRANSLATION, won 1st place in the novel category at the 2006 Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference. A short story version of FOUND placed in the top ten of a contest sponsored by Dave Long of Bethany House. My fourth novel, ROSA NO-NAME, written in 2006, was a prequel to FOUND.
An article was published in a Standard Publishing collection about grace in 2007. I am currently in the "erp" process (editing-revising-polishing) on my current project, THE LADY & THE IMPRACTICAL JOKESTER. JOKESTER is a total rewrite of I STARTED A JOKE, which I withdrew from availability because it no longer represents my best writing. I'm also erp-ing THE DEVIL & PASTOR GUS. I have one additional manuscript, A TWISTED RAINBOW.
I am pleased beyond words to have Mr. Terry Burns of Hartline Literary Agency as my agent. How I became his client is a God-sized story.
An editor (I'll keep her anonymous to prevent anyone from bombarding her for help) fell in love with my writing, even though the book samples I sent did not fall within her company's areas of interest. When I sent her chapters from Found in the Translation and then the whole book, she took it upon herself--without telling me what she was doing--to do what a publisher "never does": she recruited Terry Burns as my agent!
Best regards, | ||||||
Although receiving human recognition for my novels and songs would be more wonderful than I can imagine, what I look forward to even more is the possibility of hearing God's "Well done, good and faithful servant" at the appropriate day and hour.