I’ve had a lot of fun launching my newest prayer book, but behind all of that, I’ve still been writing my stories. Did you know that I started writing nearly twenty years ago? I still remember the five goals I set in my very first fiction-writing class.
- Get published in the local paper.
- Get published in a devotional.
- Get published in a magazine.
- Release a book with a traditional publisher.
- Release a title with Love Inspired.
At the time, those felt like far off dreams—and pretty lofty ones at that! There have been a lot of words written since then. Some of them were good. Some of them were not so good. There has been a lot of learning and a lot of rejection, and no one is more amazed than I am that, along the way, I reached some of those goals.
Get published in the local paper. May 2006Get published in a devotional. Fall 2006Get published in a magazine.Winter 2005Release a book with a traditional publisher.2016- Release a title with Love Inspired. COMING MAY 2027!!!
Yes, my first Love Inspired Suspense novel releases in May 2027, and I still can’t believe it. I can’t believe that I get to do what I do. I write romance.
I love a good love story, be it contemporary romance or romantic suspense. I love watching two people slowly learn to trust each other. I love sacrifice and tenderness, and the moment when someone realizes what’s best for someone else matters more than getting their way. And I really love how Christian romance, when told well, can be a shadow of a much greater love story.
God loves us. He pursues us and doesn’t give up on us. He doesn’t walk away when we are hard to love. He doesn’t give up on the wanderer. And tucked inside my stories of human love is that greater love story.
I especially want to write that kind of story in a world where we see more examples of broken love than healthy love. I want to show what it looks like when someone stays and when someone sacrifices. I want to show someone protecting rather than taking. I want my characters’ love for the Lord to change the way they love the people around them.
I want to set the bar high because real love isn’t only a recitation of 1 Corinthians 13 on a wedding day. Real love receives the correction of 1 Corinthians 13. Paul was correcting a church that wasn’t loving well. He explained that love is patient and kind. It does not envy or boast. It is not proud or rude. It is not self-seeking and keeps no record of wrong. Love doesn’t delight in evil; it rejoices with the truth. That kind of love is beautiful. And it’s incredibly hard.
Nearly twenty years ago, I dreamed about seeing my name on a Love Inspired Suspense novel. In May, Lord willing, I’ll get to hold that novel in my hands. And you’ll get to read about a love that wasn’t easy but was worth fighting for.