If you occasionally checked on this blog this year, bless you. I admit there hasn’t been much activity here, except for my vague assurance that more would be coming. But behind the scenes, there has actually been some important things happening with my writing in 2021.
I believe I’ve developed my book enough for the publishing process. It’s been a long, slow journey. I first started jotting down thoughts for the book in 2008. I put together the first rough draft in 2013. Many rewrites followed. In 2017, I bounced the manuscript off some close friends and got some good feedback. I researched publishing and working with editors. In 2018, I put the manuscript into what I hoped was a final form before the publishing process began in earnest.
Then I floundered. I couldn’t seem to push the book forward. Part of the reason for that was God’s providence–things arose that just happened to get in the way. We had some critical leadership transitions in our staff. I got heavily involved rewriting our church’s by-laws. COVID showed up and we had to figure out completely new ways to do church ministry. Stuff like that.
But another thing happened too: I realized that the book wasn’t complete. Certain parts of my life and message needed to find their way into the manuscript. So I broke the book apart, wrote the new material, and then had to put it all back together again. It was a painstaking process, but it was worth it. Now I’m almost ready to start working with an editor.
Along the way, I’ve planned a new series for the blog that should keep me going for about 100 posts or so. I’ll have more details on that in my next post.
Featured image via Luke Besley on unsplash.com.
On Your Side Today 