The Miracle of Becoming an Author

The Bible shows many incidents of God doing remarkable things in astounding ways with ordinary, flawed people. With hindsight, I can look back and see how God was training me to become a Christian writer all along, but I couldn't see it for a long time. 

I think it all started when I was almost three years old. I was an only child, and I'd developed this vivid imagination. I had an imaginary younger brother that I looked after and talked to. I embarrassed my mother several times by talking to him in public, but I was making up a story in my mind even then. I also learned to love stories early. True to the Appalachian tradition, my mother told stories and recited poetry to me for as far back as my memory goes.When I started to school, I was ready to read the stories books held.

However, I grew up learning Appalachian speech patterns. It's the way most people around me talked. These language patterns were about as far from standard English as a native-born American can get. However, as I progressed in school, I liked the mechanics of the language and diagramming sentences made sense to me. I found that I sounded much better on paper than I did orally, and I began writing my own stories in the third grade. I've been writing ever since, although I've only been a published author for about seven years. However, in that time, I've published almost 50 books. God has blessed.

Some think of only pastors or missionaries when they think of God calling people, but He calls others. He calls us for short-term projects and for life goals. I think God has called me to be a professional writer as my second career, and I thank Him for it every day as I ask for His guidance and direction.

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