When I started my writing journey, I had no idea where God was going to take me and my books. Honestly, I doubted whether I could write one book let alone five! (The sixth book is in the works!)
Books have always been a large part of my life and heart. I even wrote most of a book when I was twelve years old. Trust me. You don’t want to read it!
When I began writing my first novel, I was in school earning my Bachelor’s in Business Administration and working in a local office doing title work for the state. Let’s just say, I had given up on any dreams of having a career as a writer.
But after having a very vivid dream, God put a burden on my heart to write my first book. I know, I know. Sounds cheesy, right? But it’s true! And when I say burden, I mean that if I wasn’t writing or outlining the story, my brain was overloaded. There was a constant need to write.
I’ve been a Christian all of my life.
As a Christian, I went back and forth on whether I wanted to write in the Christian genre. On one hand, I would be glorifying God with the talent He gave me. On the other hand, not only does the Christian genre serve a much smaller audience, I was afraid of how it would limit my story.
I grew up reading Christian fiction that was identical to the Hallmark Channel where everything is sweet and happy. There’s nothing wrong with any of those movies or books but it wasn’t what I wanted. My desire was to write imperfect people dealing with real life issues and emotions.
I had no idea Christian fiction had changed so much!
Christian fiction has evolved into a more diverse genre. Authors are writing about sinful people who find God. They are addressing hard topics like grief, sin, and heartbreak.
When I started writing, I had so much to learn along the way. I wrote The Influencers and The Legacy: The Influencers Book 2 as closed-door romances. There are no detailed, smutty descriptions but it’s assumed “the deed is done”. The story didn’t revolve around this scene but it happened! There was a part of me that felt guilty for including sex outside of marriage in my books. Yes, the story still contains a lot of morals and no foul words but it held no Christian themes.
Skip to my third book, The Walls We Built. This story does not contain sex. It is a clean romance novel with only one steamy kissing scene. Yet again, I wrote about an imperfect family with themes of morality and abstinence but never touched on religion.
Then, God took control of my writing.
If you follow my publishing journey at all, this might throw you off. My book, Dear Daughter, was the fourth book I wrote and Distant Stars was my fifth. However, because of marketing purposes and timing, I published Distant Stars in the summer and Dear Daughter the next spring around Mother’s Day.
Dear Daughter was written in the first couple of months after I had my first child, Nora. It was written for her through the new eyes of motherhood. The story is about a woman who travels back through the significant moments of her life while crying out to God. It was unmistakably Christian. There was no fighting God’s calling on this book.
You can’t fight God’s will.
Because I was still adjusting to motherhood, I didn’t publish Dear Daughter immediately but instead wrote Distant Stars. While Dear Daughter was an incredibly intimate journey with God, I questioned whether I should return to writing fiction without Christian themes.
Well, God gave me my answer. Whenever I would attempt writing without Christianity weaved through the story, I would have the worst writer’s block. I couldn’t write, couldn’t plot, couldn’t do anything!
Sometimes God has to shut us down to show us what He wants us to do!
I went from writing closed-door to clean to Christian romance. It’s been a journey but I don’t regret anything that I have written. Why? Because Christians aren’t perfect people and neither are my characters. Cue the gasps and scowls! There are Christians who have premarital sex. Christians make mistakes all the time.
Christians aren’t perfect. That’s why we need God.
Maybe my first three books aren’t Christian but they value goodness and morality and are about people fighting for love, kindness, and happiness. And I will never be ashamed of that.
My writing will remain in the Christian genre going forward. Weaving God into my stories adds a depth and intimacy that cannot be replaced. I’ve seen what my writing can be with God and I’m never going back. I hope you’ll join me on my journey.
Okay, okay! I’ve made you wait long enough! You can find my books here!
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