Fabulous Friday Feature-Shannon Taylor Vannatter

Today I welcome 
Shannon Taylor Vannatter,
who has witnessed God's blessings through family and friends

Enter to win Shannon's new release,

Rodeo Regrets

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






God Gave Me A Little Help From My Friends

For fifteen years I had a story in my head. In the summer of 1999, I realized this story was much more; it was a book. I purchased a computer and began writing my first manuscript.

In 2004, six unpublished books later, I sank into a writing crossroad. Two hundred rejection letters littered my desk. I thought I had done everything right—after all, I belonged to two local writing groups and did everything in my power to attend local conferences and workshops. My brain was on overload from learning, but I wasn’t learning anything specific to my genre.

I googled “Christian Romance Writers Conference” and stumbled upon the American Christian Romance Writers. What a dream. The conference was held in Denver, Colorado that year and sounded like a writer’s heaven. Unfortunately my stay-at-home mom life and budget didn’t agree.

Early the next year, my grandmother left all her grandchildren a savings bond. The very amount needed to pay for a conference registration. I checked on-line for the date of the next conference. By then the name had changed to the American Christian Fiction Writers and would be held in Nashville, Tennessee. Only six hours away! Fantastic. I only needed enough money for gas, food, and lodging.

I registered, chose my editor and agent appointments, and made travel plans. I even got an appointment with Tracy Peterson, the acquisition editor for Heartsong Presents, where I’d already sent my book proposal. Since I hadn’t heard whether my book was accepted, I figured I could just sell the book to Tracy in person. No biggie.

A month before conference, I received a rejection letter from Heartsong Presents. I nose-dived into anguish for two days, then picked myself up, and decided I would just have to convince Tracy in person.

That September I walked into the beautiful hotel lobby and saw her, Tracy Peterson. I didn’t know what to say. Feeling way out of my league the next morning, I found an empty table to sit at for breakfast. Friendly writers soon filled the empty seats around me. I met kind people like Margaret Daley.

After the first workshop session, I realized I barely knew the basics about writing. My brain tried to process all the new information and keep up with everything I’d learned. By my appointment time with Tracy, I was on overload.

I recapped my story for her and asking why she’d rejected it. She told me there wasn’t enough conflict and then brainstormed with me how to fix it. She even agreed to take another look after the changes.

After we got home, I upped the conflict in my book and sent it off, but it was rejected again. I realize now, my writing wasn’t ready to be published.

In 2006, I sat down at an empty breakfast table at the conference in Dallas. A lovely lady approached me and asked if anyone was sitting beside me. I said no. She offered her hand and said, “Hi, I’m LeNora Worth.” My jaw hit the floor. Lenora is my favorite Love Inspired author. I’d read countless books of hers.

In 2008, I joined ACFW, took advantage of joining a critique group, and trolled the course archives and learned the conference would be in Minneapolis that year. Way too far and expensive for me, but I heard about the local zone group meeting in Little Rock. I attended the meeting twice that summer and met Linda Fulkerson. A few months later, out of the blue, she e-mailed asking if I wanted a ride to Minneapolis.

A few weeks later, my critique partner who happened to live near Minneapolis e-mailed asking if I wanted to stay at her house and ride back and forth to the conference with her. So, I had a ride and a place to stay, but still no funds for the conference. A few weeks later, God blessed by sending money out of nowhere.

I met two of my critique partners, Brenda Anderson and Lorna Seilstad, at the confernce and made other close friends that year. For the first time, I attended the early bird session and took Marjorie Lawson’s EDITs class. The scales fell from my eyes showing me what went in a book and what didn’t. That class was the culmination of all the others and brought my writing to a publishable level.

By then, I’d added conflict to my story and scheduled a meeting with JoAnne Simmons, acquisition editor at Heartsong Presents. I’ll never forget the moment her eyes lit up over my story. She requested the full. I went home, used the techniques I’d learned in the EDITs class, and sent the manuscript to JoAnne. In January, I received an offer.

Without ACFW, it’s highly possible I wouldn’t be published. And without God providing the means, I never would have gone to the first conference or the pivotal one where I received the request for a full.

Lately, things have been coming full circle. A few years ago, I taught at ACFW. This month, my seventh book, Rodeo Regrets released and two more are in progress.

That story in my head since I was fifteen, it releases in November. 

Rodeo Regrets:

NATALIE WENTWORTH'S PAST IS ABOUT TO CATCH UP WITH HER

Natalie once dreamed of finding true love. Then Lane Gray broke her heart. After running wild to fill the emptiness inside her, she heads back to her hometown to heal. But when she sees the cowboy she once loved so much, she finds him hard to resist.
Lane Gray is a changed man. The handsome cowboy wants Natalie's forgiveness-and more. Natalie has made plenty of mistakes in her life, but so has Lane. Could falling for each other again be the worst one yet? Or the path to redemption?

Shannon Taylor Vannatter is a stay-at-home mom and pastor’s wife. Her debut novel won the 2011 Inspirational Readers’ Choice Award. When not writing, she runs circles in the care and feeding of her husband, their son, and church congregation. Home is a central Arkansas zoo with two charcoal gray cats, a chocolate lab, and three dachshunds in weenie dog heaven. If given the chance to clean house or write, she’d rather write. 

http://www.shannonvannatter.com

To enter the contest for an autographed copy of 

Shannon Taylor Vannatter's book: "Rodeo Regrets":

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Winner announced on my facebook page.

Thank you, Shannon, for Joining us This Weekend!

Friend, isn't it fun to look back at the times God has blessed us by arranging the very gift we wanted?  What blessing has God given you?