At the ACFW conference this year in
Dallas, I got a wonderful surprise. I learned Barbour Publishing was going to
purchase something I wrote. I was getting my first publishing contract!
When the news came, my friends, who all
knew of the surprise contract, turned to me waiting for the cheers and squeals
of delight that usually accompany such news, but all I could comprehend at that
moment were relief and thankfulness—relief that all my years of working and
hoping had not been in vain, and an overpowering thankfulness to the Lord for
finally making it happen.
Like other writers, I spent years
clinging to the hopes of one day being published. I knew I had a God-given gift
and the desire to use it for God’s glory, but what was taking so long? It’s hard
to keep going sometimes when you don’t see any progress towards your goals. I
began to wonder had I misunderstood God? Was I fooling myself into believing I
could be a published writer? With so many options available today to
self-publish, why was I waiting for a traditional publisher to validate my
writing? The doubts were endless and my future seemed bleak.
I was pregnant with my son when I read a
newspaper article about another writer who’d sold her first manuscript and
suddenly become an overnight sensation. In that article, she stated she’d been
writing for ten years. Although I’d been formulating stories in my head most of
my life, I’d only recently put pen to paper and started writing my first story
and I remember commenting that if it took me ten years to get published then I
would give up long before that. That son is now twenty-three years old, and
still I persevere.
What kept me writing all those years?
Faith. Faith that God had given me something that He wanted me to use. I
repeated two verses over and over. Hebrews 11:1 which reminded me that faith
meant being certain of what I hoped for but could not see, and Jeremiah 29:11
which promised God had a plan for my life, a plan to give me hope and a future.
I had no way of knowing I would ever get a publishing contract. I could not
always see how He was working in this part of my life. I only had my faith that
God had given me something and that He would someday bring it to fruition in
His time.
The squeals of joy and delight came
later. But in that moment, when I learned He had answered my long time prayer,
my heart was overcome.
All I could do was praise the one who
made it happen.
Ginger Vaughn. Winner surprise contract from Barbour for Plantation Christmas Weddings Collection.
Cynthia -
“What do you mean I should reconsider going to
Dallas?” I looked at my husband astonished as we sat eating pizza. Hadn’t we
decided just two weeks before that the trip to the ACFW conference would take
too much money and time?
“I’ve changed my mind. I think you ought to go.” This complete turnaround in my husband’s attitude made me suspect something was afoot.
Not that I had any reason to believe I would get a
contract or even a look from an editor or agent at the conference. My first
year experience in 2011 had helped me realize how little I knew about writing
in spite of having written and self-published one novel. I had spent my summer finishing and polishing
my second full-length novel and writing two novellas to go in collections
proposed by my critique group, the Bards of Faith. “I’ve changed my mind. I think you ought to go.” This complete turnaround in my husband’s attitude made me suspect something was afoot.
Convinced at last that they knew more about getting published than I did, I had tried to incorporate as many of their suggestions into my novellas as I could, and I had spent a lot of time studying books on fiction writing and editing. Still, I couldn’t quite believe that I would see results any time soon. But since my husband said go, I trusted him.
So it was that I sat with my friends near the front at the opening session and heard my name called as one of the winners of Barbour’s surprise contracts for previously uncontracted writers. I stumbled my way to the stage, tripping over the microphone cord and almost pulling it out of President Margaret Daley’s hand. She gave me a letter from Barbour offering me the contract, and then she handed me the microphone. I hardly know what I said. I hope I thanked the Bards for all their help.
The most surprising thing to me has been everyone else’s reaction. I received so many hugs of congratulation, not just from friends, but from complete strangers. My appointments with agents and editors seemed so different from the year before. I walked around ACFW in a haze trying to understand what this would mean to my future as a writer.
Like all mountaintop experiences, this one had to end, and I found myself on Monday morning trudging up the stairs to my office, facing stacks of papers to grade that I had assigned while I was gone. As I searched in my purse for my keys, I turned to look at my door and saw a surprise. The door hung with crepe paper streamers, ribbons, and beads, and a large sign proclaiming, “Congratulations on your contract. We’re proud of you.” This encouraged me so much. Later that afternoon, my colleagues on the whole floor came into my office singing, “Happy contract to you,” and bearing a cake. Having friends who can rejoice with those who rejoice means so much.
I don’t know what God has in store for me through all of this. My entire writing journey has been marked by miraculous signs of his leading and of his sending people to encourage and help me. Getting a contract is another humbling sign of his approval of what I’m trying to accomplish by writing down spiritual truths that he has taught me in the form of stories. I praise him for the privilege of being allowed to write.
Cynthia
Leavelle
