Getting Started

Have you ever prayed and prayed for something . . . only to pray some more . . . and then, when you least expect it, God answered? And not with a "no," but with an emphatic "YES"?

That's where I am today. My journey to today began . . . well, at the beginning. But for brevity's sake, we'll go back about 10 years. That's when I decided I wanted to write a book. I sat at my computer and, over the course of several months, wrote 90,000 words that somewhat flowed together.

Voila!

I thought I was done. I mailed (remember snail-mail?) query letters and sample chapters to five or six publishers, and waited. One by one, the responses came back.

"Thank you, but . . . uh . . . no thank you."

So that was that. I wasn't going to be a writer. Which was OK; I have a lot of other things to keep me going. A great wife, one (now three) great kids, a good job, hunting, fishing--you get the picture. Life would go on.

Fast forward to six months ago.

I got the bug again. The dreaded writing bug. And I got it bad. I dug into the old files and found that awful manuscript (moved across three computers by this time--thank you God that I didn't just leave it to rot!). I read it, (prayed) re-wrote it (prayed again), re-read it (prayed fervently), re-wrote it (prayed some more). . . nine or ten times. Not exaggerating here. I have all the old formats.

One day I decided it was time; actually, God told me it was time. Believe what you will. He did.

I sent out queries, cover letters, proposals . . . and waited.

Rejection, rejection, rejection.

But one wonderful day . . .

"Please send me the full manuscript to read."

I made it out of the slush pile, that infamous bottomless pit where query letters go to die. A Literary Agent wanted to read the whole book!

Off it went. Out the door went my patience. I checked my email every hour, often times more than that. Mr. Agent read part of the book, requested a phone call.

The Call!

But no, not yet. More days passed. Then--glorious day!--he said yes. He would represent me. He made no promises other than to try to get my book published.

And that is where we stand today.

We have an agent. We're past the starting line. We're in the race. You see, we are in this together, you and I. I can't do this alone.

But we are just getting started.

Will you walk with me as I traverse this winding path ahead? Join my blog. Visit me on Facebook.

Pray for me, if you would.

And, my question still stands. Have you ever prayed for something . . . only to have God say yes?

Tell us about it.

I'll be back every week, maybe more.