My Commitment...Because Stories Matter

Welcome back!

If you have followed me for any length of time, you know how much my writing style and goals have changed. In the beginning, my goal was to bring “clean” stories to young adults and adults alike. While that might have been a noble cause, it was misguided at best. At worst, I was delusional about my ability to deliver such stories while my faith was sorely lacking. I walked right into a hornet’s nest, so to speak, and I got sucked in deep before I realized I wasn’t writing for the right reasons.

Let me back up. I began my career on Wattpad. If you’ve spent any time at all on the platform, you know it’s full of issues. Number one being that it seems to pander pornographic material to young minds, but I didn’t know that at first. In the beginning, I wanted a place where I could publish my work without the gatekeeping of a publisher stopping me. (Cue the trad-only tribe saying I told you so about Indie authorship…that’s a story for another day.)

I quickly realized I had to push the envelope if I wanted my stories to rise to the top of the platform. I was already struggling with post-partum depression, among other things, and my mind was not in the right space for publishing. While I’d never say I “caved” and wrote things I shouldn’t have, I will admit I certainly pushed the edges a little. I wrote things that were not God honoring, and frankly, I’m embarrassed by them.

That isn’t to say all my stories are bad. Many have deep themes of love, redemption, sacrifice, and forgiveness. Sadly, though, those themes get lost in the weeds of secular storytelling. That’s why you won’t see them available for sale right now. My hope is to rewrite those stories with God’s help and put them back on the market with the right purpose this time.

What are those stories, you might ask? Well, I’ll tell you but ONLY because they exist in audiobook format on Audible. I DO NOT recommend reading them unless you want to be surprised by the content (nothing open-door, I promise, but a lot of things can be surprising even in closed-door romance.) Unfortunately, it takes time to request having them removed since they are under contract for seven years. The producers must agree to remove them, then Audible will review and decide if they, too, agree it can be removed. It’s a lot of work. I’m doing it, but it does take more time than I’d like. Hard lessons sometimes make the deepest impression, though, and boy is this one hard lesson.

Series include:

·         The Secret Author Series

·         The Demolition Series

·         The Projects of Life Series

What am I doing now? I have made a commitment to my readers and myself to do better.

As I said, I’ve pulled down the books I feel don’t represent my present relationship with God. My faith has grown, sisters in Christ have sharpened me, and I can’t imagine not having that faith, or at least Christian worldview in my books. I will slowly rewrite those between other books, pray that the producers will allow me to remove the audiobooks, and continue writing faith-filled sweet romance, fantasy, sci-fi, and more with copious prayer.

My focus is on including God and/or writing my characters from a Christian worldview. They aren’t afraid to lean on him, trust him, and even struggle with him. Some of my books will be light and funny, while others are deep and impactful. I think the world needs both, and I have a lot to say.

You can follow my blog for all the details about my series in the coming weeks if you’d like more information. Just know that I, like many, have a history. It hasn’t always been pretty, but I’ve learned a lot on my journey. There is still room for growth, and I hope God never stops putting me into the fire.