I had to learn what a query letter was, how it differed from a proposal, which publishers were looking for MY genre, and on and on. Once I started the submission process, I started my file folder of rejection letters, which grew thicker by the month. I would exhaust all my chances with one manuscript then start on another one. Once I finished pitching every manuscript I had, I'd start a brand new book. This went on for six years, nonstop writing, feeding my passion almost around the clock, and constantly reminding myself of an instant in time when I sensed the Lord telling me my passion would one day PAY OFF.

Writing is not easy. It's plain old hard work. And breaking into publishing is a job like no other.

BUT with God, all things are possible, and I learned that to the fullest when I signed my first contract six years after writing that first novel.

If one is passionate about writing, can't stop ‘eating, sleeping, drinking’ it, continually manufactures new story ideas, longs to sit at the computer and pound out one word after another, then it’s a GIFT! And God will be sure to use it in some form or other, if not in publishing then in ministry.

God doesn't just hand us a gift and say, "Here, this is for your pleasure alone. Don't share it." No, His gifts are given with strict instructions to go out and USE them for His honor and glory.