When given the option, I tend to pick dates that have some significance for me. So, when my editor asked when I’d have book #3 for him to look at I picked . . . my birthday. So here it is, on the day I turn 43 I’m sending my latest manuscript off to my editor. And then I may very well drink champagne.
This is actually the first manuscript I completed at least five years ago–maybe more. (I’m getting old, I can’t remember these things like I used to.) The day I typed THE END I thought I’d written the next great American novel. Oh, I knew hardly anyone wrote a great first draft, but I’d kind of edited as I went and was pretty sure I’d be the exception to the rule.
I wasn’t.
And this editing process has been–shall we say–significant. That handful of folks who read the original draft will find little to recognize beyond the main character’s name. And some of the food–I did keep the food.
But here’s what IS the same after several birthdays, quite a few rejections, conferences, edits, an agent, a contract, and two-and-a-half novels–my passion for these stories. I started writing seriously when I was a mere child in my early thirties. While I’m beginning to have an inkling of how much I don’t know about writing, the desire to tell stories that wrap my love for family with my awe of God still clamor for release each time I open my laptop.
I’m excited for my editor to help me make this latest story better. I’m excited to share Ella Phillip’s journey toward a real, living faith with you. I’m excited to keep telling stories as long as God blesses me with stories to tell.
Happy birthday, indeed!