Welcome to my very own Creative Writing Month where each day of the month I am focusing on a topic and spending fifteen minutes reflecting and writing as inspired by the topic. For more information about why and how check out my post, Writing Down the Bones.
*This weekend I spent some time away at the annual FCA Fall Retreat which I organize along with other local FCA Leaders and volunteers. Due to my lack of wifi I will be posting twice today to get caught up.
Today’s topic: Visualize a place where you would like to be and give a detailed description.
In my sweaty hands I am clinging to a copy of my first novel. A crowd has emerged in a small local bookstore. Rows of metal chairs have been filled with readers eager to hear from the author of their new favorite novel. Each of them armed with questions and details to bring to the forum. My heart is thudding as a woman at the podium introduces me and the crowd begins to clap lightly. My family is in the back of the room cheering me on.
My heels drag in the padded carpet of the bookstore on my way to podium. I place my copy of the novel and my note cards on the podium. For the first time in my life I am about to open up to a crowd of strangers about my newly released novel. Public speaking isn’t really my thing, but it’s expected in this line of work. I’m about to answer questions about a book that I spent over two years of my life on. Eagerness to hear the thoughts and questions from the dedicated readers fills my heart. I am thankful for the opportunity. It moves me to tears to see so many people who were touched in some way by the story I had crafted by divine intervention. I open with a short reading from mid-novel. A sentence that stood out to me as the author and helped me to determine the title of this first book. Then the floor is opened for questions and comments and hands are thrown up all across the room.
“Where did you get the ideas?”
“Why did you decided to…?”
“To you, what was the most important part of this novel?”
Each question proving that others had put time and thought into this work. That every minute spent struggling my way through the story was returned by readers. The message resonating with those who made the trek through the pages themselves. And in the midst of all of the newness and excitement I am reminded that none of this is because of my doing. That through it all God had been there giving me the words and perseverance to make this happen. He had put the story on my heart and given it life. He had inspired this dream and this moment and led me to fulfill his purposes.
The Ameri Brit Mom 