Fabulous Friday Feature: Ann Gabhart

Today I welcome a small town gal who persistently walked an up and down hill journey. God blessed her with twenty-five published books, and she continues to use the gifts He gave her: Ann Gabhart

Enter to win Ann's new release,

Small Town Girl 

Scroll to the end of the post to see how to enter.

Like many of my fantastic Friday guests, I met Ann through the Internet. I saw her sweet smile and the books she has written and immediately wanted to become friends. I asked Ann about the journey God has led her on, this is what she answered:

Writing isn't Just Magical...

At ten years old, a kid can imagine doing anything. That’s why I picked up a pen and began writing my first story–a mystery modeled after the Hardy Boys books I’d been reading. Of course, in my book I was the cute, smart kid who solved the mystery. Through the magic of imagination, I was no longer shy and awkward. I was the heroine. Right then, the dye was set. I discovered writing could not only be magic, it could be fun.

Fast forward a few years, and I was a very young mother and wife still dreaming that impossible dream of being a writer. How in the world I ever thought that would be possible, I don't know. Maybe I was still too young to know better. I just knew I wanted to write and I wanted to see that writing in print. That was way before I could see my words on the internet. Back then there was no internet, or computers in every home. 

Phones, the property of the phone company, were attached to a cord in the wall. The thought of phones that could take pictures or electronic books were something the Jetsons might have. But there were ink pens and wire bound notebooks. There were typewriters. Plenty of ways to write and in spite of how hard it was to find hours for writing in my busy life as a mother with a toddler and a baby, I was determined to chase down those hours. Those hours were very slippery and hard to grab for writing with so many other things demanding my attention.

Finally I began keeping a journal record of how much I wrote each day. That was my way of keeping my goal in front of me. Some days I couldn't enter any writing progress, and that made me more determined to carve out time to write the next day. I started out writing short pieces and managed to get a few published. Then I wrote my first novel.  I've never looked back. I loved coming up with a set a characters and staying with them through a whole book. I'd found my writing niche. Not that it was easy. I wrote three books before I managed to find a publisher.

That third book, a historical romance for the general market, was published in 1978. I thought I had it made. If I did it once, I could surely do it again. And so I did. Warner Books published my second book in 1980, but then my next novel didn't meet their needs. Once again, I was writing books that weren't finding a publisher. My historical stories were "too clean," the general market editors said.  

I re-invented myself as a writer and began writing for young people. I published eleven chapter books for middle readers and young adults. I really enjoyed writing those coming of age stories, but alas, once more, market trends changed. My books kept returning to me like boomerangs with little “sorry, but no thanks” rejections on them. For several years I wrote without any publishing success. I tried more young adult books. I tried my hand at a cozy mystery. I even tried a fantasy young adult novel. But none of them found a loving editor. One of the rejects said, "There's nothing wrong with this story, but nothing right about it either." What in the world did that mean? I had no idea.   

After an extended dry spell, I began to think I’d never see another book in print. I decided to write one more story. I quit worrying about the markets or what editors might want to see. I wasn’t going to think about anything except writing the story I wanted to write. Something I knew. What I knew was small towns and country churches. 

I loved the characters from the opening sentence, a preacher and his family in a small town during the 1960's.  Jocie was my kind of character and she had a lot of discoveries to make in her little town of Hollyhill, Kentucky. I prayed for that story. I prayed it would find readers. In my heart, I sang that old spiritual “It’s me, it’s me, it’s me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer.” And the Lord answered my prayer. He sent my story, Scent of Lilacs, to an editor who happened to love lilacs and so was willing to give the book a read. That editor worked for Revell Books, a Christian publishing house.  I found my new writing home.

I wonder now if the Lord didn’t use my years of rejections to guide me into this market. The rejection filled years weren’t pleasant. I was often very discouraged, but I kept hanging on to hope. The next book. The next editor. The next idea. And I kept writing. The books I wrote during those rejection filled years might never see print, but they were great practice to hone my writing skills. 

Since the day in 2004 that I heard Revell Books wanted to publish Scent of Lilacs, I’ve published twelve more titles. The most recent release is Small Town Girl, published this summer, 2013. A Shaker Christmas novella, Christmas at Harmony Hill, will be out in September. 

I love writing for the Christian market. I’m ever thankful the Lord heard my prayer and gave me stories to share and readers willing to follow my characters on their fictional journeys.

Ann Gabhart is the author of several bestselling novels. She's published twenty-five novels and has more stories on the way. Ann keeps her keyboard warm out on a farm in Kentucky where she lives with her husband,Darrell. They have three children, three in-law children and nine grandchildren. She loves to walk on the farm with her grandkids, and her dog. She also enjoys reading and getting to know her readers. To find out more about Ann and her books visit: 

www.annhgabhart.com. 
Check out her blog, One Writer’s Journal, www.annhgabhart.blogspot.com 
or follow her on Facebook, www.facebook.com/AnnGabhart , 
Twitter, https://twitter.com/AnnHGabhart 

To enter the contest for an autographed copy of 

Ann Gabhart's book: "Small Town Girl":

leave a comment (and email address)

and become a follower of this site if you aren't already.

Good news...International readers may also enter. Ebook will be sent if the winner is International, paperback copy will be sent if the winner is in the U.S.

Winner announced on my facebook page.

Thank you, Ann, for Joining us This Weekend!

Reader, talk about ups and downs, Ann certainly has experienced them. I love the way she tells of her persistence to find new ways to get the job done. God calls all of us to do a job, but sometimes it needs to be done differently than we expect.  What have you done for God that you never thought you would do?