Celebrating Because I Chose You
This week marks two weeks since Because I Chose You was sent out into the world, ready for readers to order a copy and spend a few days living in the story of Savannah, Scott, Margie, Doc, Sal, Allegra, Bellini, and so many others.
The feeling I get every morning when I wake up as a published author hasn’t changed since that first day I held my book in my hands. I’m humbled, grateful, blessed, thrilled, terrified, and excited—all at once!
The Lord has been so faithful in helping me along this journey. Trust me, I’ve spent many hours chatting with Him about a particular paragraph I struggled with, which direction a character should take, or which Scripture best fit a character. He’s also been there for every moment I wanted to hit delete and walk away from my manuscript. He shared in the joy of writing 1,500 words in a single day and the doubts that came from staring at a blinking cursor in an empty Chapter 25.
The Life of a Writer vs. the Life of an Author
There’s quite a difference between being an occasional writer who writes simply because she loves it and being the author of a book who discovers she wants to do this as a career—because she loves it!
As an occasional writer, you type words into a document, and when you’re done, you slip it into a folder labeled My Stories and turn off your computer.
As an author, you outline, take notes, highlight, research, and write timelines for your main characters. You spend hours working in Canva, trying to figure out what your characters look like so you can print their pictures and pin them to your wallboard. You dream up possible titles for your book. You pray, jot down ideas, and consider how each title looks and feels.
Then you find one. You love it. It’s perfect!
And then you open Amazon and Goodreads, only to discover that 25 other authors apparently thought it was perfect, too.
Ugh. Back to the drawing board!
It’s not that I need to have the only book in the world with that title. That’s a fairy tale. But there’s a difference between finding a handful of books with the same title, perhaps in a different genre, and finding a whole bunch with the same name in the same genre. If I love a title enough, a few other books sharing it wouldn’t necessarily bother me. But when there are so many, I feel it wouldn’t be fair to my fellow authors—or helpful to readers trying to find my book. So, back to the drawing board I go!
With Because I Chose You (BICY), I found the picture first and then the title. I didn’t run into any problems with someone else having already used it.
With my newest book, however, finding a title has been a bit more challenging. But I finally found it!
Thank You, Jesus! 🙏
I’m thrilled with the title and can’t wait to share it with you soon. For now, I’m only about a quarter of the way through the manuscript, so we still have some time.
Always Learning, Always Growing
I’m hoping to apply some of the things I learned while writing my first novel to this new one. The writing and publishing world is a never-ending learning process, and I’m working hard to learn my craft and become better at it.
The writing itself is my joy. The formatting and putting everything together so it looks awesome? That’s a whole other thing!
I’ve got my notes, my research, and my helpers, and I look forward (sort of!) to going through that process again with my new novel. They tell me it gets easier with each book. Fingers crossed!
Thank You for Being Part of This Journey
To everyone who has already purchased Because I Chose You, thank you! Blessings to those who have already read it, and double blessings to those who have graciously taken the time to leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads.
And to those who have been a constant source of encouragement and prayers? You are special, and I appreciate every single one of you.
Supporting one another is at the heart of being an author, especially a Christian author. Giving God the glory, putting Him first every day before I sit down at the computer, and being willing to ask others for help are among the things that keep me grounded and help me grow in this calling.
I simply want to bring a little joy to people while living in a world that sometimes feels void of true joy.
So here’s to celebrating two weeks of Because I Chose You being out in the world! 🎉
She’s available on Amazon in both paperback and eBook formats.
A Beautiful Morning in Arizona
I hope you’re enjoying this beautiful morning as much as I am!
It’s finally cooling down here in Arizona, and we’re having the most amazing storms, cloudy days, and breezy weather (sometimes a little more than a breeze!). From now until around mid-April, I’m reminded why I love the great Southwest.
The rest of the year, my brain seems to forget everything I love about the desert. When it’s 100 degrees and above for six months out of the year, it’s just too much!
If I were a rich woman—oh, I just had a flashback to Tevye singing in Fiddler on the Roof!—I’d have a little summer beach bungalow somewhere along the Oregon coast. I’d listen to the waves outside my window, sip my coffee, and write stories.
Now that sounds like a lovely writing life!
Until then, I’ll enjoy these beautiful Arizona mornings, keep writing, and thank the Lord for the journey He’s placed before me.
Always grateful,
Pam
