It’s Here!

Exciting news! My first book, Moving Beyond: Journeying through Life’s Changes, is out!

I have heard authors refer to their book babies, and I admit that this feels much like bringing a life into the world —although this has been a three-year pregnancy – ouch!

What God has been teaching me these past three years is that his time is not always the same as mine. This book baby needed time to incubate and grow before it was ready to come into the world.

When I first got the idea in the fall of 2019 to write a devotional book on going through transitions in life, I was recently retired and experiencing the highs and lows of my new freedom. The excitement and fear were very similar to how I felt when I left home as an eighteen-year-old and drove the forty-five miles west on I-40 to start college. Perhaps others had struggled with times of change.

In my arrogance, I figured I would pop the book out in a couple of months and get back to the young adult novel I had been working on for a few years.

Ha! I believe I heard God laughing, but it could have been my old house creaking.

I began studying and finished the manuscript in about six months. I worked very hard to have a traditional publisher pick it up and received only polite rejection letters. By January of 2022 I gave up. I had a good cry and put it on the proverbial shelf. I couldn’t understand why the doors were slamming shut after I had tried to be faithful to God’s leading. ( Be sure to read Chapter 2 in my book about dealing with God saying ‘No’).

So I took a break. I painted my dining room and kitchen, cleaned out cupboards, and visited my North Carolina family. In June I went down the Amazon River on a boat and felt the Holy Spirit through the wind that blew across the water.

When I got back from the Amazon, I heard God say almost audibly, “Are you ready to let me take over now?” I said I was.

After I decided to self-publish, I immediately felt a peace wash over me. I pulled my Word document out and saw why it had been turned down by so many publishers. It was not ready — just like a baby in the last trimester, it needed to mature and put on weight.  With the Holy Spirit sitting next to me, we got to work.

Many, many revisions later I knew I had a manuscript I felt proud to bring into the world. My cousin Grey Von Cannon created a gorgeous cover, and I began tackling the learning curve of formatting and uploading my document. My book baby was full term and came into the world this past January.

Since then I have been overwhelmed with the doors that have opened and the response from my friends, both near and far. I feel God nodding at me and saying, “See, all this would not have happened a year ago.” I am reminded that trying to force God’s timetable does not work.

If you live in the Northwest Georgia area, I would love to see you at my book launch at the Harris Arts Center in Calhoun on March 5^th at 3:00 or at the Lighthouse Christian Bookstore in Calhoun on Saturday, March 11^th from 11 – 2.

And I would be happy to come speak to your church group, book club or bowling league!

Moving Beyond: Journeying Through Life’s Changes is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Lulu.com.