Musings by T. L. Wiens

Over the last few months my husband almost died, my mother had a heart attack, my father in-law has faced serious health issues and my mother in-law has broken her hip which led to diagnosing other serious health issues. All these incidents have put me into a figure out my priorities state of mind.

I’ve gone through many ups and downs during my short writing career. More often or not the pendulum has swung towards walking away from the difficulties of publishing. And then the “but” rises to the surface—I’ve had many encouraging letters and phone calls from people who were helped with my writing.

But what do you do when you receive a scathing personal attack from others within the industry? When I published my third novel, I knew it was not going to be the favourite of many Christians in the industry. Then I heard back from the royalty mainstream publisher—the editor thanked me for the book. She said it cleared up many things she never understood about Christianity. As part of the contract, the book was sent to be considered by a Christian book awards organization. What I got back was a personal attack that had nothing to do with the book. When I contacted the awards people, they apologized. The lady said, “I thought I deleted all of those comments.” It hurt. They’d judged me instead of the book. When I asked to see the comments, I was told they couldn’t provide me with them. I left the group associated with the awards. I then went through who had won the awards over the years and was appalled to find the blatant favouritism in who was chosen as winners year after year.

I don’t ever expect to a best seller but I will never be a sell out. Will I ever publish again? Maybe, if God leads that way. For now, I will continue to write and share my stories with the people God places in my path. And for those who decided to make my entry of a book in their awards a chance to attack me, I feel sorry for them. How can anyone take our profession seriously with behaviour like that?
Now I find myself wondering what to do with the time given me. Watching life slip away before my eyes makes me realize if God can use my writing, I will continue serving Him with this gift.

Trying Something New: stress-filled, but good for the creative soul

By Dayna E. Mazzuca

Trying something new is sure to induce stress. Tackling a project bigger than the last one can lead to sleep loss. Obsessing over something with no guarantee of success to loss of appetite, shortness of temper and increased irritability…. all sure signs of stress. It also might mean you’re absorbed in something large enough to motivate you, stir the imagination and spur you on to a finished work. I’d even argue that trying something new and big and scary is necessary to the creative soul.

So, yes, I am trying something new (a book length project—solo). And, yes, I am losing sleep, acting grumpy, not eating regularly, etc., etc. (Thank you God for my family's love and wisdom in giving me space during these seasons of creative-surges).

In the past, I’ve contributed to books; co-authored and self-published. But. I really think I need a book that’s all mine, published by a traditional print publisher. I see it as a calling card—basically a door-opener to leading writing workshops, which I love to do.
 
It should be easy. As a freelancer and a former journalist, I’m used to writing to deadline, following assigned word counts (under 2,000) and generally using a template for my work. But I find setting my own deadline (June 30) and my own word count (35,000) and working with chapters rather than sub-heads requires a different energy level, sustained focus and a longer admin process. In other words—I'm not sure I'm entirely up for it!

Turns out matching the writer’s skill and experience with the writer’s goals and dreams is no small feat. As Yente the MatchMaker in Fiddler on the Roof knows, we all need some help now and then to make that perfect match!

So... I took a breather and went back to leading writing groups for Christian women. Eight to ten of us meet every second week at the local Christian bookstore after hours. They serve us fancy coffees and arrange comfy chairs around the tables. We talk about writing, genres, publishing goals and the roadblocks along the way. Even though I’m the one facilitating the evening, I am part of the group, with my own writing goals and roadblocks. It’s very (very!) encouraging.

Coaching this group of women through the basics of the business and realizing how deep our support for one another goes...  inspired me to take the next step in my own career—the next step forward on this path the Lord has had me on for a long time now.

Doing something new, something big IS scary. It causes stress and can lead to fretting. So I am thankful for these wonderful women who gather together to pursue their own dreams of writing. I realized it wouldn’t be right for me to encourage and equip them to follow their path without being willing to follow my own. I really believe we are all on this larger, God-designed and Spirit-inspired path together—daring to create something that mirrors and echoes all the good stuff HE has put inside us.

The good news is the creative soul really does love a challenge!