Before I wrote, I had a tremendous love for words. I spent a lot of my free time reading all the books that I could check out from the library. My favorite series way back in the day was, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle by Betty MacDonald. There was something magical about a story that took me away from my present reality and made the world an adventure to seek after!
That love for words continued, and my journey to penning my own poetry, prose, and short stories was birthed. I don't remember being very good at it in the beginning, but I do know that my rhyme driven children's poems eventually blossomed into passionate youth pieces about love, world events, and God. I found my voice, and my style found me.
Then, in 1985 a seed was planted that maybe I could be a writer who inspires and impacts others. Maybe I could actually publish something! I was in a school for ministry training and one of our instructors was Tim Hansel (an author who wrote You Gotta Keep Dancing, When I Relax I Feel Guilty and Holy Sweat...). He read a few of my poems and asked me to put together a couple so he could show his editor. As a young 20-something, I didn't understand the gravity of the request or know what I probably should have submitted. My youthful zeal sent in my rendition of Jesus being crucified, not the best choice I realize, looking back with a smile and my head shaking at my younger self.
Not surprisingly, I accepted my first rejection letter from Zondervan (as they were not accepting poetry submissions) with sadness, and concluded that maybe I'm not a writer after all. Thankfully, that didn't stop me from pouring my guts out on paper and storing them up for the next 35 years. I continued to feel the inspiration and promptings to keep at it. Keep writing. So I did, which is why I finally published my first book, Heavenly Ink, in November 2017. What an exciting moment for sure!
Then in 2018-2019 I continued writing and was excited to publish my second book baby, Be at War: Battle for Love available on Amazon.com. 2020 brought the joy of my third book, Loving & Hating This Thing Called Church, along with completing the workbook to help others in their own healing of faith and church. What a journey it as been, one I give God praise for inviting me into this adventure with Him. I am thankful for moments when I get to look back and see how far I've come. Thank God for small beginnings and the joy of a big beautiful dream fulfilled.
I am a member of Kingdom Writers Association and have been a member of San Diego Christian Writers Guild for many years. Both writing communities are a great blessing to me as I continue to walk in my gifts and calling - to inspire those around me with words and art.