Sometimes talking about the hard parts of our writing journey can bring back some trauma. Let’s just take a minute to breathe!

I’ve used this video many times and it helps. Maybe you’ll find some relief here too!

My journey with my third book has been a long road. I started the novel in 2014 and the road to publishing this one has brutal! I wrote THE LADY ILLUMINATORS book through some of the hardest parts of my life . . . A breast cancer scare, my dad’s cancer diagnosis, his death, my son’s traumatic car accident and brain injury, and etc. That’s just scratching the surface, really.

So many times there seemed like there was no hope.

So many times I was horribly discouraged.

It seemed like my career was at an end and there was nothing I could do to change it.

Since my agent and I had parted ways by this point, I considered getting another agent. SO, I started down the road of querying again. You would think that with the red I had gained with a $20,000 contest win in 2013, it would be easy to find another agent. Not so. I was met with the same closed door that many new writers experience. It was strange, really. Nothing made sense. 

I revised the book again and again.

I let the book sit.

I hated the book.

The book was the bane of my existence.

I regretted ever writing the book in the first place.

I questioned everything. And then questioned some more.

After all, I wrote historical romance, didn’t I? And this was time travel. What the heck, Brandy? I went off script (ha ha) – went rogue. Did what they always told you not to do by hopping genres. I did this. It was my fault . . . and on and on and on.

Since publishing wasn’t working out for me, I decided to actually make money. So I continued with my Story Consultant business and was hired to be a Publishing Specialist for an international ministry.

Life got a little better. I was validated through the work I actually got paid for. I was still able to mentor writers and that filled the void.

And then, last year we met a friend who was had connections in Hollywood. He introduced me to a producer’s assistant who asked me to write a script. And I did. It took me nine months and I had no idea what I was doing! I watched videos and I dug in. I learned some new skills and I started to enjoy it!

Turns out, things changed a bit for the producer so they wouldn’t move forward with why script. BUT, I now I had a script so I decided to enter it into some contests.

Today I found out that I’m a quarterfinalist in the Final Draft Big Break Contest! YIPEE!

I don’t know what God’s doing, but He’s up to something. Honestly, this journey has been so wild and publishing and screenplays are so subjective. I’m happy to be on the road.

Of course, this is a tremendous honor and I’m grateful. I’m also blown away that my screenplay rose to the top out of 10,000 submissions!

I’ll keep you updated as the contest progresses. At this moment, I’m stunned!

Good morning, Lovelies. I’m diving into some edits today and here’s my editing fuel. Taylor’s of Harrogate Scottish Breakfast tea, casual tea pot, chipped and faded Shakespeare quote cup I brought back from England. What’s fueling your brilliance today?

Here I was working on edits for The Covered Deep. This was my house in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I miss that living room! My husband was a little upset when I painted the walls merlot – ha ha. But, he came to love it too.

We spent eleven years in Colorado Springs, and it was a very good season! I learned so much from the writing community there! It’s also the place where I was in a critique group for five years and that changed and accelerated my writing! 

As I look at this picture, I’m thinking about Colorado Brandy and everything that came after. We’ve moved three times since then! I’ve also had a lot of changes in my writing journey. I certainly never would have imagined I’d be a literary agent, for one!

I have to give grace to Colorado Brandy. And I hope you can give grace to yourself as you look back on your years! 

We are ever learning and changing and while we’re writing our stories, there’s a lot of other “writing” going on in our lives! And some of it isn’t fun at all!

I like to hold on to Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Sometimes, that’s so hard to believe. And especially when your writing journey is long, this might seem impossible. 

I do know this: Nothing is wasted in God’s kingdom. When it seem like something is taken from you, God will restore it and it will be even greater than it could have been the first time.

I have a lot more to say about this! My journey has been wild (both professionally and personally) but I’ll save it for another post!

Stay in the battle and keep the faith! 

From the ACFW website:

Congratulations to the winners of the 2012 Genesis Contest.

Contemporary Fiction
Anne Prado – Through the Needle

Contemporary Romance
Amy Matayo – The Wedding Game

Historical Fiction
Kathleen L. Maher – Closer Than a Brother

Historical Romance
Brandy Vallance – The Covered Deep

Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Matthew Sheehy – Determination

Romantic Suspense
Arlene Coulter – Grounded

Speculative Fiction
Caleb Jennings Breakey – Unleashed

Women’s Fiction
Rachel Moore – The Language of Sparrows

Young Adult
Kathleen Freeman – The Broken Feather