One Week to Launch!
In one week, Forbidden, the fourth book of the Forlorn series (the fifth if you count the prequel), will have its official book birthday.
Let me tell you how that feels.
Terrifying.
Exciting! I mean exciting. Of course. But also, yes, terrifying. Because along with the joy of a newborn novel comes the angst: will anyone read it? Will anyone like it? Will anyone buy it?
What if no one does?
Word of advice: if you have a fear of rejection, don’t become a writer. Or, if you do become a writer, be an Emily Dickinson kind of writer who lives like a recluse and doesn’t show anyone their writing so that after they’re dead, their work is discovered and published, and they become famous.
I jest—sort of.
Most of us writers enter the publishing world with dreams of instant bestsellers dancing in our heads. Well, it happens. Look at J.K. Rowling. Once reality sets in, we can fall into despair and quit writing, or learn to be grateful for the path we’re on and where it has led us.
So on this eve of another book birthday, I want to take this time to be grateful.
To God, first and foremost. There were many times I wanted to quit. I would tell Him I was quitting, and then something would happen—a random note from someone who liked something I’d written or a kind comment from a friend who’d read one of my books. At one particularly low point, I received three unexpected royalty checks from Amazon UK for my book Hammer of God, totaling over $2000. That was from ninety-nine-cent downloads. I’d done no marketing or advertising for that book at the time, so there was no explanation for it other than God. I believed it was His way of telling me to keep going, to not quit.
Not quitting has become my main goal ever since. I wanted to quit again in 2014 after going through a fresh round of rejections. I told God I was done. I couldn’t do this anymore. Maybe I’d go to plumber school.
He responded with a story: the disciples fishing all night and catching nothing, then Jesus showing up in the morning and saying, “Lower your nets on the other side of the boat.” You know what happened—they caught so many fish their nets broke.
I pondered this for a while. I did feel a lot like those disciples. But how was I supposed to lower my net on the other side? I’d lowered my nets too often to count.
I decided to try one more time. I bought a one-week subscription to Literary Market Place. I made a list and wrote four query letters to four agents I had not queried before. One of them wrote back within a few days—surprise! She asked for three chapters. I sent them, hoping she would ask for a full manuscript next. This process often took months, so I tried not to get my hopes up.
Three days later, she sent me a contract.
Lower your nets on the other side of the boat.
I cherish those moments when God shows himself to me in unmistakable ways, especially in times when I tend to doubt. I’m a doubter by nature. I’m like Gideon, constantly wanting reassurance that God is really there for me, that I’m on the right track.
I’m grateful that He made me wait so many years for just the right agent, Julie Gwinn. Julie was the one who recommended me to B&H Kids when they were looking for an author to work with Priscilla Shirer on her middle-grade fantasy series, The Prince Warriors. Had I not found Julie at just that moment, I would not have had the opportunity to co-write those books. Do you see how this works? All that time I thought God was holding back, He was simply holding out for the work He had prepared for me.
I’m so grateful to Priscilla and Jerry for taking a chance on an unknown writer to help them realize their vision of crafting exciting adventures for kids with biblical truths that will carry them into their grown-up lives. That was a dream job—I had to pinch myself every time we met for our brainstorming sessions or when I sat down to write a chapter. If I do nothing else as a writer, I will still feel content. I am privileged to continue to work with wonderfully creative people at LifeWay on other projects like the Ultimate Bible Character Guide and the upcoming devotional companion to that book.
I’m grateful to Dawn Carrington at Vinspire Publishing for going out on a limb to publish the Forlorn series, fulfilling yet another dream. This series has led me down unexpected roads, and Dawn has allowed me to travel those roads unhindered. I’m thankful for her constant support, excellent editing skills, and patience in answering my newbie questions. She also suggested writing a prequel about Jared’s origins, a stroke of genius.
I’m grateful to my writer friends to whom I could kvetch about the trials and tribulations of publishing, cry on their shoulders, get valuable feedback, and garner the courage to write another day. Writing may be a solitary pursuit, but I’m convinced you can’t do it without friends. They commiserate, they encourage, they give you an occasional kick in the pants. They share the journey. One of my favorite Bible moments is when God gives Elijah, one of the loneliest people in the Bible, a friend. Elisha. Something he didn’t even know he needed.
I’m grateful to you, faithful reader. My books may not be for everybody, but they are for somebody, and I hope that somebody is you. I hope you get caught up in the story, that you fall in love with the characters, that you are surprised and occasionally freaked out and never bored and sometimes moved. I hope you laugh and cry and learn something. I hope you finish one book and want to pick up the next. I hope if you like it, you will tell your friends (or drop a review, hint hint), and if you don’t, you will still find something to ponder. I hope you are led to discover more about the story of God because that’s the whole point. And lastly, I hope you will come back for the next one. Because guess what? I’m not done yet ☺
Forbidden, book four of the Forlorn series, releases on March 29, 2022. You can check out the entire series at ginadetwiler.com
