I. Have. A. Blog.

Carole TowrissWriting 4 Comments

To most writers, those four words would be fun. Exciting even. To me, they’re unnerving. Intimidating.

I write fiction for a reason. For one, I don’t have to write about myself. I write about characters I have created, and I design them exactly the way I want them. They are as nasty or kind or insecure or silly as I decide they should be. And I craft a story-world just the way I want it. If I don’t like the way a plotline is turning out, I just hit delete, and rewrite it. Again, and again, until it ends up in a manner that pleases me.

Well, life is not like that. I don’t get to write the ending. God has that honor. And things don’t always go the way I want, or even in a way that makes sense, at least to me.

I started writing In the Shadow of Sinai over twenty years ago. I stopped after a couple years for two reasons.

1) I ran into a wall doing research. There wasn’t an internet then, and books on the subject were rare. I got so frustrated, I quit.

2) My first child was born, and I concentrated on her. I tried a few more times in the years to come, but never really got going with four kids at home.

In late summer 2009, I decided (or God did) that I would once and for all finish the book He had put in my heart so many years earlier. I completed it about a year ago, and took it to a Christian writer’s conference. An agent asked for the whole manuscript, a rarity for a new writer. She told me if it were prairie fiction she could sell it “in a heartbeat.” For a brief moment, I considered changing all my characters from Israelites and Egyptians to Amish and Indians. 🙂

Over the summer and fall, I entered a few contests. I placed second twice, and then in December I won first place in the Show Me the Spark! contest. I yelled so loudly when I opened the email I scared my ten-year-old.

In January I queried a publisher, and he requested the full manuscript, and that’s where it is right now.

So … I can write. At least that’s what I’ve been told several times. But will I get published? That’s not an ending I can pen. In the meantime, I’m writing the sequel, I’ve started this website and blog, and I keep studying the craft.

If you follow my blog, you can see how the story turns out. It may not be the story I would write. It may have many twists and turns and detours, and may not ever end up where I would have it end. But as with all the other stories of my life, when it’s over, His version will be far better than anything I could ever possibly imagine.

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  1. Carole!!! I am so proud of you! How about an autographed copy of your book for your college roomie? It is so exciting to see what God is doing in your life! Good wishes and prayers are going out to you today!
    Love and prayers,
    Cindi

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