First Book? by Lorilee Guenter

 

This month we were asked to consider our first book. The book that I am stalling on sending to an editor immediately came to mind. I have received feedback on it, and I've almost finished reworking the awkward sections. I have read it aloud to myself so I could identify jarring sentences and disjointed thoughts. But then I stopped mere chapters before I finished this revision. In doing so, I have a reason that keeps me from contacting an editor. The novel is not finished.

The more I thought about the question, the more I found myself reconsidering what a first book might be. Indeed there are other "books." None of them are cohesive enough to continue revising, for now. I may return to the ideas and characters at some time in the future. It would require a major rewrite to get them into a polished form. But they are still books, hidden on my shelf. They have structure and character.

I contemplate further and remember my first time participating in NaNoWriMo (national novel writing month). It was November 2014 . I wrote 50,000 words as I followed a main character. Is it a book when the best next step is to chop it into the start of a few short stories? Maybe. What I want anyone to read it and its current form? Absolutely not! Do I want to reread it for any gems hidden inside? Not at this time.

Then I considered the novels I have in various stages of completion, the reflections I have been encouraged to gather into a book and various short stories hidden on my computer (or on scraps of paper) one of them must be the first book. Then I remembered I started writing an outline for a mystery near the end of grade 8. I was making notes on setting and character. I did not have or take opportunity to put flesh on the story. We moved. It got stored with school papers and other things we didn't have room for in our much smaller home. Mice moved into the storage container, and my story became material for a mouse nest. Perhaps it is for the best. I've learned a lot about crafting a story in the decades since then.

So far my first book is unpublished. If these early attempts count, my first book will never be published. However, I may yet publish something. It might be a novel, or it might be one of the collections I've been encouraged to consider. In the meantime I'll keep writing. I have to. It is one of the ways I process everything I am currently learning. It is one of the ways I process my place in God's larger story. While I may not know what my first book is, there is no uncertainty about God's story.

Lorilee Guenter enjoys gardening, reading and more. During the summer, her and her husband often hit the trails at nearby parks. He carries a camera. She carries a sketchbook. She never thought she'd write a book. 

Thank you, Mrs. Lowry by Michelle Joy Teigrob

 

My first book came out when I was 12 years old, thanks to my Grade 8 English teacher, Mrs. Lowry, who chose to notice and respond to two needy students in her class.

My twin, Maria, and I had recently immigrated to Canada. The experience of culture shock entwined with pre-teen hormones meant we had entered the most excruciating time of our lives yet. We were probably the most painfully shy, awkward, freckle-faced girls our teacher had ever met.

Overwhelmed, resentful, flailing to find a place to belong, we turned to the greatest solace of our lives at the time – books. Maria and I read obsessively in those years. Anne of Green Gables was a lifeline. I honestly can’t imagine how we would have coped during that period of emotional upheaval without the ability to read.

(I teach new immigrants to read now, people who never learned what letters mean, even in their first language. Perhaps my junior high experience is part of the reason I am so passionate about this work.)

With her bright red lipstick, dangling gold earrings, and heels, Mrs. Lowry was unlike any of the teachers we’d experienced in our small, rural school in Belize. She laughed and spoke loudly, enjoyed the Cats musical immensely, and planned to move west shortly to be with her second husband after a failed first marriage.

Mrs. Lowry gave us a writing project – a story birthed from our own imaginations. All the Grade 8 students would have been required to complete it, of course. Breathlessly inspired by our Lucy Maud Montgomery books consumption, my twin and I took to the task as if we had been asked to save the world.

Intoxicated by the joy of creation, we planned and wrote and planned some more with possibly greater intensity than our heroine author ever did. We did so for our own sakes, not with the goal of getting the highest grade or becoming world-famous, but because we came alive as we wrote.

Mrs. Lowry decided our stories – both mine and my twin’s – needed to be published. Perhaps the tales showed some flair, though both of us cringed later to reread them. My twin even went so far as to destroy her copy some years afterward, she was so embarrassed by it. Certainly, the stories weren’t good enough to warrant the extra cost and work to get them typed up and hard-bound.

At the time, however, we were overjoyed. Our stories would be published! The winner of a lottery could not be as happy as we were on learning this news. I felt as though my bliss lifted me above the ground for weeks. My culture shock and pre-teen hormonal troubles shrank to almost nothing during that period.

I firmly believe this is why Mrs. Lowry decided to put in the extra work and cost to publish our stories – she noticed the struggle of two new students, and she decided to do what she could to bring just a bit more joy into their lives.

Thank you and bless you, Mrs. Lowry. Your kindness will always be remembered.

Michelle Joy Teigrob is an author, college instructor, mom of three, and wife of one. She grew up as a missionary kid in Belize, Central America, the youngest of 10 children. In addition to her twin’s death, she has since lived through the loss of two other sisters. Michelle is launching a blog on her journey through her wrenching sadness. Visit www.michellejoybooks.ca to learn more.

With Joyful Hearts by Peggianne Wright

When the Advent Season approaches every year, there's a certain feeling or emotion that begins to well up inside me and I begin to feel like my heart will burst from my chest. The same goes when I read a verse in the book of Luke; Chapter 10, verse 27. And because of that, there's a longing to share this feeling with all those around me. So, in 2024, one late autumn day, I sat at my computer, I thought about the time left on the calendar before Christmas and my first published book, With Joyful Hearts, was born.

Earlier in 2024, I produced—entirely in-house—a Lenten reading plan and study guide. It was developed from a Bible study my friend from Arizona and I had done together via Zoom during Covid. Relatively successful, I had unknowingly laid the groundwork for my introduction as an author in the world of self-publishing including two Advent devotionals (with two more planned in the series of four), an updated and expanded version of the "homemade" Lenten devotional, and two K9 related books that had been in the works for many years.

I confess that I struggle with imposter's syndrome; especially when I hear someone say, "Oh, you're self-published." The funny thing is, I've never approached a book project with the focus on sales or perceived success. My love for writing and teaching and inspiring is the root and foundation for all the books, devotional pieces, and stories I've written. God blessed me with a creative eye, a desire to do these things, and the gift to string words together in a meaningful way. Success to me is holding a real book in my hand and knowing it is my work. Success to me is a message from that one person to say my words were meaningful to them in some small way.

Each book I have written has taught me something new about myself both as a writer and a human. The technical skills I gain with each project help me to elevate and improve on the next. But, the lessons I experience in patience, grace, and humility benefit me in all aspects of life. The frustrating technical issues, the compliments from a reader, and the joy of seeing the overwhelming success of a fellow writer all help me learn and grow.

I have been further blessed to receive invitations from my church seniors’ fellowship to speak about my books and share the messages I’ve written.

As I continue to work on the many writing projects I have planned, I do so, not in pursuit of fame and fortune; if God intends that for me someday, then okay. But, in the meantime, I write books and devotionals to provide encouragement and enjoyment to the few who read them.

So, as the calendar turns to July, my thoughts turn to Advent—yes, Christmas in July—and I will begin work on the third book in my Luke 10 Advent Series. With Ardent Strength: Experiencing the Blessings of Advent will become my focus over the next while, pouring my heart and soul into its every page. And when the calendar pages fall away, the feeling of Advent will once again fill me and, I hope, you too, With Joyful Hearts.

He answered, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.'" (Luke 10:27 NIV)

Peggianne Wright is a published author and is the founder of the pet parent ministry Paws To Pray, blending her passion for the Lord and all-things-K9 to form this unique, faith-based community. Peggianne is an ardent Bible study student, devoted dog mom, wife of 44 years, and lover of music. Her blogs Spiritual Scribbles and Fur-Kid Fanatics can be found on her website www.PawsToPray.ca and you can follow her on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/PawsToPray/ and on IG @Sister_In_Prayer.

A Labour of Love by Bob Jones

The July writing prompt was to share about the first book I wrote and published.

My experience is summed up in four words – A Labour Of Love.

A Lifetime 

Rare is the gift of undeserved presence. As a pastor of thousands of people, there are those who entered my life for a moment, and some for a season, all for a reason, but few for a lifetime. Kristen Miller Fersovitch was for a lifetime.

Thirty-six years ago, our family arrived in Edmonton in August fresh from Montreal, the newest additions to a pastoral staff in a historic church. A portion of my role was to provide Christian education opportunities, especially for children. One of those children was eight years old, a peer to our eldest son, and part of our Sunday School. We had no idea then the incredible influence she would become.

Kristen was born into a musical family with parents who travelled North America, so it was quite natural for her to take centre stage in kids choir presentations, church worship teams, and as a featured soloist in musical performances. She was precocious, strong-willed, a competitive athlete, believer, and fiercely loyal to her younger sister and friends. She was a bit of a handful during her teenage and young adult years, but settled quickly after marrying the love of her life, a fireman and giving birth to three wonderful sons.

Cancer 

You can only imagine the devastation of a diagnosis of cancer, all that this horrible affliction brings, and then a second diagnosis of terminal cancer at the age of 28. She had just delivered their third son, and her eldest son was only five. Prayer, fasting, medical intervention, juicing, trips south of the border for special treatment, and more prayer from around the world, could not keep death at bay from her bedside.

She won the hearts of Edmontonians with her tenacious battle during radiation treatments, losing her hair but never her smile, singing at Christmas on the largest stage in the city in front of thousands with a scarf covering the effects of the radiation. She was candid and bold in publicly sharing her faith, along with producing a CD of songs she wrote about God in her journey. Her voice is still one of my favourites and I can't hear it without tearing up. And I was only her pastor, invited into private, precious moments of family time during her courageous struggle. I never felt I did enough.

When she passed away on Thanksgiving weekend, 2013, her celebration of life was held in the largest church in the city, covered by major news networks, and eulogized by the most popular news anchor in Edmonton, one of many who had become her friend.

During the years of her cancer journey, the most asked questions were, “How does Kristen do it? How does she stay so joyful, optimistic, and hopeful amid such a painful struggle?”

In 2015, the first book I published was in answer to those questions. 

Ornament 

The book was a specially crafted, gift-sized, hard cover, with interior artistry provided by a friend of the family, featuring colour pictures of her life, family, and ministry. The title, Ornament, was the inspiration of another of her friends, because like an Christmas tree ornament, Kristen was “on display for all to see”. Her family gave me permission to include her writing, and her husband wrote the final chapter. Each chapter concludes with a reflection and simple direction about developing a personal faith in Jesus just like Kristen’s.

Kristen was real, far from perfect, but a testament to trusting God even with the struggles of leaving her young family. Carrie Doll of CTV summed up the feelings of so many in her tribute in the book: “She was beautiful and real and funny. She challenged us to live the best life we can—in the face of tragedy, in the face of despair. Not by telling us to, but by leading by example.”

Ornament (access the book on Amazon) caught on and became a Canadian bestseller and was awarded the most inspiring story of 2015 by the Word Guild. Readers loved her story and sent messages of the moving and transformative effect of the book.

All the proceeds from the sale of Ornament: The Faith, Hope and Joy of Kristen Fersovitch, went towards building a trust fund for the post-secondary education of her sons.

Kristen often said during the toughest times, “Even if He doesn’t heal me and I die, I will trust Him.” 

She would want you to know that and to live by that faith, hope, and joy.

Thank you for reading. I would love to connect in the comment section. God bless.