Hi, everyone!
Since today is a special day, I thought I might check in and update y’all on what have turned out to be a very interesting last couple of weeks.
As you all know, my writing hit the proverbial brick wall. I had pudding for brains every time I went to write, so I elected to take some timely advice given to me by one of my amazing readers and set aside my keyboard for a bit. I read some here and there, visited with out-of-town family, and all around chilled out beyond the day-to-day usual tasks.
The Friday before last I Skyped with a dear friend of mine, a wonderful fiction writer herself. Inevitably our conversation turned to writing. I asked how her current work-in-progress was going and then froze when the question was eventually turned back on me. Isn’t it funny how we’re so willing to ask questions we’d love to run from answering ourselves? In all honesty, my only answer was to scrunch up my face like I’d eaten a lemon. This, of course, only spurred on my dear friend to prod some actual words from my vocabulary.
“I’m stuck,” I said, and filled her in on my blogging break.
“Well, that’s probably for the best. You need to put your energy toward your novel.”
At this I hemmed and hawed. (Literally. I’m not good at actual words when I’m flustered.)
“What about that editor you found? The one you liked so much.”
Funds. It always boils down to money. While the editor is AMAZING, she is also pricey. I told her my family was trying to fit it into the budget. What happened next is a moment I will never forget, and one reason I will forever be floored by the people God sometimes brings into our lives. She offered me a “scholarship” she called it, to help make my dreams come true. I had no words. I sat there gaping like a fish until tears began to race down my cheeks and all I could say was “Thank you,” and “You don’t have to do this.” She insisted though, so now, through the grace of God and a friend I will never deserve, I have about half of what I need to have my book edited.
Today we talked again to get a game-plan together to move my book forward so that’s most likely where my energy will be going. While I’m not there yet, this reminded me that God has ways of doing things I could never begin to fathom. I’ll be sure to keep everyone updated and drop in a short story here and there as ideas come to me.
Your ’till the ink runs dry,
Justina
