Fabulous Friday Feature-Myra Johnson

Today I welcome 

Myra Johnson,

faithful to the calling of Jesus Christ. She is one of the "gang" from Seekerville, an award winning writer's blogsite. 

Enter to win Myra's recent 2013 release,

When the Clouds Roll By

Scroll to the end of the post to see how to enter.
International readers can enter!! See how, below.

I have been blessed to sit and chat with the Seekerville gals at several ACFW after-session get togethers. What a warm group. Their goal is to help writers on their journey. They've walked the steps where I am and freely share words of help and encouragement.  I've had several Seekerville gals as guests here on Let's Talk. This weekend, I simply had to invite Myra because she has a fantastic new release: When the Clouds Roll By. I asked Myra to tell us how God led her on her writing journey. Here is what she said:

When God Gives You a Dream

Mary, I’m so honored to be your blog guest today—thank you!

Mary asked me to share how God has led me on my writing journey, and I have to warn you, the journey has been a really long one. As best I can recall, it began in second grade, when I wrote my very first short story, “The Enchanted Prince.” In high school, whenever I’d finish a class assignment early, I’d pull out my story notebook and add to whatever saga I’d been working on. One favorite featured Gidget and Tammy-type characters at the beach, and I also had a spy story going, inspired by The Man From Uncle. (Am I dating myself here?)

That's okay, Myra...many of us saw these shows, too! 

The love of writing persisted into adulthood, but as a busy wife and mom and working occasional part-time jobs to supplement the family budget, I didn’t have the time or energy to give much thought to writing for publication. Not to mention, I was completely clueless about what it took to write professionally.

Then in 1983, I came across a magazine ad for the Institute of Children’s Literature. I’d flipped right past these ads many times before, but this time it felt as if God were whispering in my ear, Now’s your chance. Learn how to do this right.

August 2013 Africa trip--Myra greeted by a Masai warrior

I took the aptitude test and enrolled, and when my stories and articles began to sell even before I’d completed the course, I felt certain my writing career had finally been launched. I wrote for several children’s publications and devotionals, and eventually went on to teach the Institute’s magazine writing course for nine years.

The magazine credits were nice, but my lifelong dream was to publish a novel. Throughout those years I wrote and submitted one children’s book manuscript after another, but even though editorial feedback was usually positive, I could never seem to find the right fit.

In the mid-’90s, after my daughters had left the nest, I resigned from teaching the children’s writing course and decided to try my hand at romance and women’s fiction. Since faith is central to my life, writing for the Christian market was the only option I considered. I joined writers’ organizations, participated in critique groups, studied craft books, attended conferences, and began entering my work in manuscript contests. In the meantime, I was still getting enough of those “encouraging” editorial rejections to keep me hopeful.

In 2005, I entered a manuscript in Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart Contest and was both shocked and thrilled when my manuscript actually won the Inspirational Romance category. After all, rumor had it that even making the finals in the Golden Heart was practically a guarantee of publication.

Not for me. Over the next couple of years, two of the other finalists, who remain among my very best writer friends, sold their books. When I couldn’t even get a nibble, I questioned whether all the time, money, and hopes I had invested in this dream had been in vain. 

By the time I arrived at the ACFW conference in 2007, I was at my lowest point. It was so hard to be there, still unpublished, when so many of my friends were celebrating their first book contracts. But one night during the conference I had an amazingly vivid dream that I am absolutely sure came from God, and the message was crystal clear: Writing is so much a part of who I am—who God created me to be—that if I gave up writing, the very framework of my being would be gone.

So I held on another year, continuing to write and doing my best to be obedient to God’s direction and to trust Him for the results.

Then in July of 2008, I learned of a new fiction line at Abingdon Press. The editor had put out the word that she especially welcomed submissions from unpublished but talented writers who had paid their dues.

I figured that was me, so I e-mailed the editor that very day. She requested one of my manuscripts, and within a month, she called with a contract offer for my book One Imperfect Christmas. Then, as if God really wanted to show off, one month later the Heartsong Presents editor offered a contract for Autumn Rains, the book that had won the Golden Heart three years earlier. Both books released in the fall of 2009, and I officially became a published novelist.

If you’ve been doing the math, you’ve figured out my “overnight success” was 25 years in the making. If at any point along the way I’d given in to discouragement and laid aside my dream, I couldn’t claim eight published novels as of last month plus two more coming out next year.

So that’s my writing journey in a nutshell. Even with all the ups and downs, the years of discouragement, and now the “fun” of learning what a published author’s life is really like, I have to say it’s all been worth it. No words come close to describing what it feels like to hold my published book in my hand, to see it on a bookstore shelf, to read a glowing review, or to hear from a reader that my story touched her heart.

If there’s a lesson to be learned from my writing journey, it’s this: If God gives you a dream, there’s a plan and a purpose for it. No matter how long it takes, God’s timing is always perfect, and He is never late. So follow your dreams in faith, and remember “that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

 Award-winning author Myra Johnson writes inspirational romance and women’s fiction—emotionally gripping stories about love, life, and faith. She is a two-time American Christian Fiction Writers Carol Award finalist, most recently for her novel A Horseman’s Hope. Her novel Autumn Rains won the Romance Writers of America 2005 Golden Heart for Best Inspirational Romance Manuscript and was a 2010 Carol Award finalist. Myra and her husband are the proud parents of two beautiful daughters, and are also grandparents of four rambunctious grandsons and two precious granddaughters. Although Myra is a native Texan, she and her husband now reside in North Carolina and share their home with two very spoiled lapdogs. Myra writes full-time and is currently serving as president of ACFW-Charlotte Chapter (Carolina Christian Writers). Her latest release is When the Clouds Roll By (Abingdon Press, September 2013), book 1 in the Till We Meet Again historical romance series. 

Find Myra online here:

www.MyraJohnson.com

www.Seekerville.net

www.facebook.com/MyraJohnsonAuthor

Tweeting as @MyraJohnson and @TheGrammarQueen

When the Clouds Roll By: Annemarie Kendall is overjoyed when the armistice is signed and the Great War comes to an end. Her fiancé, Lieutenant Gilbert Ballard, is coming home, and though he is wounded, she is excited to start their life together. But when he arrives, her dreams are dashed when she learns Gilbert is suffering from headaches, depression, and an addiction to pain killers. This is not the man she had planned to marry.

After serving in the trenches, Army Chaplain Samuel Vickary is barely holding onto his faith. Putting up a brave front as he ministers to the injured soldiers at the hospital in Hot Springs, Arkansas, he befriends Gilbert and eventually falls for Annemarie. While Annemarie tries to sort out her confused feelings about the two men in her life, she witnesses firsthand the bitterness and hurt they both hold within. Whom will she choose? Will she have the courage to follow her heart and become the woman God intended her to be? As the world emerges from the shadow of war, Annemarie clings to her faith as she wonders if her future holds the hope, happiness, and love for which she so desperately longs.

To enter the contest for an autographed copy of 

Myra Johnson's book: "When the Clouds Roll By":

leave a comment (and email address)

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

Guess what??? Kindle option available for international readers!! Yeah!!
Hardcopy or kindle available for US

Winner announced on my facebook page.

Thank you, Myra, for Joining us This Weekend!

Friends, I personally was so taken with Myra's post, I couldn't even choose what question to pose for your response. Please, let the Spirit lead you in your comment.
Blessings on all of you, 
Mary