I was recently asked this question. Why do you believe readers will love your work?
Wow! Interesting question! Back in the day, I was struggling
to understand my brand—my marketing tag. I asked a group of authors what I was
known for and the overwhelming answers were, “Faith and Humor.” Bingo! That’s
what I enjoy, and I believe my readers do too. I write for the Christian audience, and I'm thankful my fans
tell me they like what I offer.
My new book, a
historical novel, Mattie’s Choice, doesn’t have much humor but Mattie and her
friend, Ella, both live with a lot of faith. There were times during the Great
Depression when faith was all they had. I sprinkled humor in the book too, but
Mattie is more of a thought-provoking read.
Mattie’s
Choice is the first book I ever wrote, but it’s not the first one to be
published.
Sarah: A Mission of
Love has the honor of being my first published work. Sarah, a bumbling
angel, is whimsical and fantasy. She’s also funny. God gifted me with a
generous sense of humor, and Sarah makes my readers laugh out loud. My husband
often hears me chuckle as I write of Sarah’s goofs and he says, “What’s Sarah
done now?”
The idea of a dyslexic, bumbling, chaotic, angel came to me
out of the blue. Or was it a God thing? I believe He had a lot to do with it. I
relate to her blunders. My first year in Houston, I had nine wrecks. Yes, you
read correctly. Nine. They weren’t funny at the time, well, some were.
One morning I drove my car into a body shop with the
passenger side caved in. The man fixed it and returned it. A few weeks later, I
wheeled my vehicle in a second time. Identical scenario—the passenger side crumpled
again—the car appeared as it had in its previous condition.
The manager
scratched his head, “Ma’am, may I ask you a question?”
I nodded.
“Where did you learn to drive?” His eyes were the size of salad plates.
I sort of
learned to drive after that. Until we moved from Houston, that is.
A few years after the body shop incidents, my husband was
called as senior pastor to a Baptist Church in Central Texas. We’d been in the
county seat town for two weeks when a group of people outside the town invited
me to speak at a nightly Bible study. I wrote down the directions to the
country location and left early. I’m always lost. I give myself time to make wrong
turns. Or have wrecks.
In the heart of town, I read where I was to go left.
Uh-oh! You’re not gonna believe this, but as a brand-new
citizen, right then and there, I stranded my car on a railroad track in the
middle of that city. Yep. I did. Well, it was dark. Does that count? I thought
it was a street when I signaled and turned. Boy! Was I surprised. It wasn’t a
road at all—it was a choo-choo track.
What was I to do? I drove forward, backward, nothing,
nada, zip. I was stuck. I jumped out, left the car and ran to the nearby police
station. I tried to be calm as I reported what I’d done. The officer was also
calm when he said, “We could have a major fire if that coming engine plows into
your car.”
I bit my nails as I waited for him to notify train officials. I
imagined the newspapers across the country with the headline. “Pastor’s Wife
Burns Down Texas Town.”
While I waited, I did what most wives do, I called my
husband. He didn’t say much. He’s used to it.
An officer took me
back to the scene of my almost crime. As we exited the patrol car, my husband,
two additional police cars and a wrecker converged on the scene in chorus. My
husband exited his car, gazed at mine, and then turned to the officer, “Sir,
did you test her to see if she’d been drinking?”
I left him with the damages, hopped into his car, and made
the meeting. I was late, but I got there. I was the talk of the town for days.
I was just happy I wasn’t the toast of the town. Literally.
“Poopty doopty.” That’s one of Sarah’s favorite phrases.
It’s a nicer phrase than a string of naughty expressions, don’t you think? I use it often.
Many of Sarah’s incidents
actually happened to me.
In Mattie’s Choice, a historical novel, many of the
incidents occurred to family members. Authors write what we know. Sometimes the
events are humorous, and sometimes they are sad. I don’t know the number of
fans I have, but I believe they all enjoy Sarah. Mattie’s Choice is a serious offering from me. I think they will
like it too.
Faith and Humor. That’s me.
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