The End is but another Beginning.

The book has climaxed. The story told. Emotions roll in, roll over, roll on. But, for me, the writer, two words sum up and underscore the years gone by: The End!

Does that mean I have no more to say, give or experience? No! It is my recognition of one task fulfilled and now I scan the horizon for what’s new from God for me to do.

I wonder what verdict, if any, would be passed upon my writings. Being a Devotional writer of no importance, I understood my competitor’s advantages. How could I surpass or even draw near to Spurgeon, W. Barclay, Watchman Nee or Oswald Chambers. In a saturated market why even bother! Most folk wouldn’t understand but maybe you do. I had to write. I had a story to share. I wanted those within my sphere of influence to know about God’s grace and His Word.

Would it have been easier to simply buy and give one of those more famous author’s works to family and friends. Sure. But where’s my testimony in that to those who know me and my journey into faith and commitment to Christ Jesus. My readership is small but in many ways they're a captive audience. It was to them, and a few others I believe God insisted I write.

As I look back over the years what are my assessments regarding my words on paper? It was hard work, yet I loved it. I count it a privilege to have written a word to honour the Lord, challenge unbelief or ignorance and be a witness to grace. Has it been profitable? No! Well, not in monetary terms. However, I look at the cost through my calling. It is, for me, part of ‘take up your cross and follow me’ Jesus laid upon me. My cross had a pen and paper attached. They had to be used. Was I ever depressed by small sales or being sidelined by bookshops for more well-known authors? Disappointed yes, depressed no! This I do know, someone has read something of mine and the Lord will have used it. I count that a privilege and worth the price invested in the writing.

So, as I near the end of my journey I am grateful to Him for the trust He invested in me to write about Him and His word.

Jesus didn’t call me to be famous. He asked me to be faithful. As His word never returns empty from its mission I believe its expression through my ‘pen’ will make a difference to someone, somewhere.

In drawing this to its conclusion I express my gratitude to those who have made my words enter into print. For those who have read something of my heart may you have been drawn closer to the Lord and His word. Thank you all for including me in the demanding, the exhilarating, the costly and the wonderful world of being a Christian writer.

Ray and Mary

                                                The End.

But- wait a minute -what's that appearing on the horizon? Guess I'll just have to wait and see what eventuates!

Copyright, Ray Hawkins Nov 2017.

blogsite: http://rayhawkinsauthor.blogspot.com.au 

Am I Paying Attention?

By Iola Goulton

I recently finished reading an advance copy of If I’m Found by Terri Blackstock (an excellent book, but do read If I Run first).

Terri includes a message to readers at the back of each of her novels, and I hope it’s not a spoiler to discuss this message weeks ahead of the novel’s official release date (21 March 2017), because it’s a timely message. Terri says:

This resonated with me on many levels. It’s December, and the interwebz is (are?) full of advice about how to set goals to make 2017 a great year … much of it the same advice as was offered last December, about how to make 2016 a great year.

On the face of it, 2016 hasn’t been a great year for me. When I consider the list of things I wanted to achieve in 2016, I fall short. Way short.

Yes, I’ve achieved some of my minor goals.

But I haven’t achieved the one main goal. Some days I feel I’ve barely even made progress on getting book one finished, edited, published, let alone the other two I wanted to write.

When I look at why I haven’t made progress towards those goals, there are good reasons. My father died, and that took a lot out of me both emotionally and time-wise. I’ve had some huge unexpected work projects, which take time away from those longer-term goals. So it’s been a hard year. Perhaps a hard two years.

Good things have happened. 

I won a major writing contest (and a less-major one), attended two excellent writing conferences, and I’ve just come back from a family vacation to Hawaii. I’m healthy, as are my family, and while I haven’t achieved my weight loss goals, I haven’t gained weight either.

I got to spend a week with my mother in June, and we visited my father every day. My sister and I were both with him when he died—he was unconscious and probably didn’t know we were there, but knowing he didn’t die alone gives us comfort. So that’s a good thing in the middle of the bad.

And the big work project is difficult and stressful, but I’m a freelance worker so I only get paid when I get a project. And let’s face facts: most of us can’t afford to turn down short-term paying work to chase long-term dreams. It’s the short-term pain for long-term gain.

So has it really been a not-great year?

Or has it been a good year I’ve risked missing because I was focusing on the wrong things?

Yes, you know the answer. It’s been a good year. Not the best, perhaps, but not the worst. Yes, there have been challenges, but that’s how we learn—learn how to deal with challenges, learn how to empathise with others facing similar challenges, learn to pay attention, to see the good as well as the less good.

How about you? Has 2016 been a good year … or do you need to join me in paying more attention to the right things?

About Iola Goulton

I am a freelance editor specialising in Christian fiction. Visit my website at www.christianediting.co.nz to download a comprehensive list of publishers of Christian fiction. 

I also write contemporary Christian romance with a Kiwi twist—find out more atwww.iolagoulton.com.

You can also find me on:
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What I Used to Not be Grateful For

I can't help but chuckle as I reread the title for this post. While I personally celabrated Thanksgiving about a month and a half ago here in Canada, my neighbours to the south are today with their families around large turkeys being thankful. Perhaps they are just grateful they fit a bird that large in their roster, but gratitude is rarely out of place. So today I would like to share some things that as a writer I am grateful for...that I used to not be. Some of these were actually quite disappointing and painful in the moment, but have become huge blessings with the gift of hindsight!

Let me think. Where should I begin? One thing I am grateful for on a regular basis is:

Piles of rejections! 

Who would have thought, right? Some months they seemed to pour in like tiny pointy darts. Ouch. But now as I look back I see the gems of advice. Meny were form rejections and all I could take away was either that agent/publisher wasn't ready, or my work wasn't. But when you send out enough proposals to get piles back, you are going to get those personalized notes as well. You hear things like: Your characters are too one dimensional, or cardboard cutouts. Your writing isn't there yet. Too melodramatic. Etc, etc.

I have learned to take their criticism and make those points my strengths. They have driven me to make my writing better.

My first almost contract. 

Seven years ago next month, I received my first good news from a publisher. They told me they loved my story and wanted to publish it. They would send me a contract in the new year and probably look at publication late 2010. I was so excited! Finally I had confirmation that my writing was good. And I was going to be published! 

In January 2010 I received another note from the small publisher. No contract right now. No book in 2010. They didn't have the budget. Early 2011 I received notification that this 15 year-old publisher was closing it's doors. So much for that!

Now I'm grateful. My writing has come a long ways since then and my voice has developed. I plan to rewrite the story before I send it out again. 

Harsh criticism from judges.

I went into writing contests quite naively. My work was amazing. Who could not love it?
Obviously, one out of every three judges.
At first it burned pretty good (LOL, who am I kidding, it still stings to get that sort of criticism), but after a while I found myself entering contests for that very purpose. It has become the perfect place to get completely honest feedback.

Months of preening a manuscript for a publisher...and no contract.

This one was fun. A small publisher wrote me and told me they really loved my first three chapters, but noticed my word count was too low for them. I needed 7000 more words. I took a breath, because how do you add that many more words to a book that is already tight and edited? But I really just wanted to get traditionally published at this point. That was my life's goal (passed down over three generations).
So I wrote 7000 more words. And I made them good. Delved deeper into my characters and their story. I loved what I'd written and happily sent to back to the publisher to wait.
A couple months later, I heard back that they did love it, but one of their trail readers wasn't "gripped". No contract.
Best thing ever!
That stand-alone story is now the second book in a series, and I am pitching the first book (that wasn't even conceived at that time).
I LOVE the story I wrote to precede it and how the stories have become woven together. I plan to do yet another rewrite of that original manuscript and am very excited about it's potential.

That horrible agent appointment.

At ACFW conference this year I had some great agent appointments. But I there was one agent I sat down with, who from the very start obviously wasn't interested in my story. It was not the easiest thing to sit there smiling and nodding as she explained the problems with my manuscript's first page. But I did. Then we chatted about kids and I thanked her. And I am thankful to her. Her words reflected some of the criticism from the contact I had just entered it in, and also some of the pause from the other agents. Because she gave me some definite points I can work on in this particular story, I can make the needed changes and my story will be that much better -- and ready for when I send out future proposals.

So what are you grateful for...that perhaps you weren't to begin with?

To keep from freezing in the Great White North, Angela K Couch cuddles under quilts with her laptop. Winning short story contests, being a semi-finalist in ACFW's 2015 Genesis Contest, and a finalist in the 2016 International Digital Awards also helped warm her up. As a passionate believer in Christ, her faith permeates the stories she tells. Her martial arts training, experience with horses, and appreciation for good romance sneak in there, as well. When not writing, she stays fit (and warm) by chasing after three munchkins.

www.angelakcouch.com  

Gratitude

I’ve recently been reading Deeper Places Experiencing God in the Psalms. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16234349-deeper-places. This book is written by Matthew Jacoby, pastor at a Baptist church in Victoria and singer with the band Sons of Korah, http://www.sonsofkorah.com/ whose music is based on the psalms. I have greatly enjoyed it and found lots of helpful insights. One that was not new but is one I think we often need to be reminded of is about the attitude of gratitude and thankfulness for all God has done and continues to do for us each day. So this is a list of some of the things I am thankful for.

I am thankful to God for the many years my husband and I have had together and look forward to more to come. It’s a great blessing to be walking with God together, starting each day with prayer and learning from God’s Word together.

One of the things would have to be the area where we live. It is a beautiful area. Each day my husband and I give thanks that God has brought us here.  But on Christmas morning as well as remembering the gift of the birth of Jesus, God sent us this sunrise.

 

It felt like a special gift from God for that day.

I am also thankful for having family all together between Christmas and New Year. Yes, it was noisy, filled with laughter and chatter with all the grandchildren and six adults in our not so large house but it was also a lot of fun. I praise God too that our son and daughter are walking with the Lord and teaching their children His ways. What a blessing that is!

I am thankful for the church God called us to, a church where God’s word is faithfully preached and where we were made to feel welcome from the moment we set foot in the door on that first day. This year will see some big changes for our church in some areas and that is a little daunting but also exciting to see what God will do.

I am thankful for the beach close by and opportunities to go and walk along the beach and swim.

I have been swimming more since we moved here than ever in my life before.

I am thankful for good and lasting friendships from years ago that survive despite distance between us and also for those who have spring up and bloomed since we moved here. I’m thankful for writerly friends who are always prepared to help each other with knowledge and advice.

I praise God for the gift of music. My music taste is pretty eclectic and runs the gamut from 60s rock to opera, ballads from the 1940sand 1950s, jazz, gospel, hymns old and modern and a whole heap more. Just about anything that has words I can sing along with.

I am thankful for the colour blue. Of all God’s colours and I love colour, blue is my favourite. I love the changing blues of the sea which is sometimes a greenish blue or turquoise, and other times a greyish blue, the blue of the sky, and the blue of flowers.

No surprise to learn my study is blue and so are other walls in our house.  It’s a colour I wear a lot, in all shades but teal is a particular favourite.  Red and purple, pink and black are other favourite colours.

I am thankful to God for my eyesight and being able to see the wonders of God’s creation as well as being able to read the Bible and so many other books. I could keep going as there are so many things to be grateful to God for. After all I wouldn’t even be able to draw the next breath if it weren’t for God. I’m thankful that He guides, protects, and enables me in tasks He has called me to do and that He is with me each day.

So at the start of this New Year what are some of the things that you are thankful for and that make you especially grateful to God? Please share them with us.

A Gratitude List

Gratitude and thankfulness seem to be severely lacking in our world at times. People expect others to cater to their needs yet often when they do, there is not even a word of thanks. This attitude can even rear its head in the way we treat God. How often have you or I prayed and then forgotten to give God our gratitude, praise and the glory when He answers, often even more wonderfully than we could have imagined?

So today I thought l would share some of the things I am grateful for in my life. I’m grateful for:

 God’s grace that called me into His family and the salvation won for me through Jesus and His death on the cross.

God’s Word which helps me learn more about God, his mighty plan of salvation and what He expects of me.

The privilege of prayer and knowing the value of praying for others, as well as being prayed for.

My husband of over forty years who is still the love of my life, my best friend and the one I enjoy spending time with. I love that we go to church, pray and share God’s word at home together.

Our married adult son and daughter who are walking with the Lord, married to believers, serving the Lord in their own churches and communities and who are teaching their children His ways. What a huge blessing that is.

For the church we are part of and the concern for each other shown in this church. For the feeling of belonging.

For good friends who share our lives and for Christian friends online who share the trials and joys of being a writer.

The place where we live, where God’s creation is so evident. Just yesterday morning as my husband and I went walking, we were blessed with the sight of kangaroos that we share our space with. At present a number of them have joeys in their pouches. They look so cute.

Sweet peas in our garden flower pink and purple. There is nothing like the smell of sweet peas to lift the spirits, so I’m, thankful for the gift of smell. Orchids and moth orchids brighten up our dining area and sweet peas and pansies are on the table in the living area.

The cheerful yellow and orange of browallia in my front garden. This photo is the parent plant of mine given me as a cutting from a friend.

Sunrises and sunsets. Two of my favourite times of day. These photos were taken at a beach near to our home.

The ability to be able to walk and stand and do things after my spinal operation over a year ago. Relief from pain and the outstanding result of the operation which came through prayer and plenty of it as well as the doctor’s skill.

Singing at church, in the car and just about anywhere else. The gift of music.

Sight to see all of the wonders God has made and to be able to read. I can’t imagine a world without books. I’m thankful for writers who write the kinds of books I like to read and for variety in reading.

Imagination. Without imagination and creativity we would have no books, no stories, no art, no craft, inventions and spectacular l buildings. The Sydney Opera House is one of my favourite buildings.

Words to communicate to my loved ones and friends how much they mean to me and words to use in my writing.  Poetry - I love the way words can be used to make different and beautiful patterns of sound and meaning.

Last but by no means least, my football team that just won the 2012 AFL premiership and my husband and I were able to see it and share in the joy. If that’s an amazing experience, and it was, it made me think how much greater it will be when we are around the throne of our Lord and God all praising Him together.

Over to you now. I’d love to hear some of the things you are thankful for.

 Streets on a Map, Dale’s latest novel was published by Ark House Press. Prior to that, Dale has had seven children’s books and Kaleidoscope a collection of poetry published. Many poems in Kaleidoscope have been previously published in Australia’s literary magazines. She has also written bible studies and Sunday school lessons.More information about Dale can be found at www.daleharcombe.com or on her Write and Read with Dale blog http://www.livejournal.com/users/orangedale/