Tag: Missing and Mentally Ill in Mississippi

Wishful Thinking? Or Divine Instruction?

I did something this morning that I’m sure most of you will find incredibly silly or misguided or stupid. But I did it, and now I feel like I should share it.

Scripture tells the faithful to put the Lord to the test in our finances–commit to big things in his name, and he will meet us in that commitment and provide.

My church is doing a fundraising campaign. The particulars aren’t important. But today was the pledge day for it. And as clear as day, before the preacher even started talking, I heard God telling me to write on the pledge card that I would give my first book advance to the church.

This thought had never occurred to me before. I didn’t even know it was a pledge day until I got there in the sanctuary and saw the pledge cards.

Not a dollar amount, not a certain percentage of the money I already have, but something that I’ve questioned very much recently if I will ever receive.

I really wrestled with this throughout the service. Was I trying to manipulate God into doing something that wasn’t in his will for me? Was I selfishly asking him to bless my efforts at publication but dressing it up in religious language? Was I looking for glory for myself rather than for him?

Because God looks at the heart. Was I was asking for a miracle to quell my feelings of failure and inadequacy? Was I asking God to do something I wanted badly and just tacking on that I would give the money to the church in an effort to deceive myself about my own motives? Was I evading giving anything at all by hinging my pledge on something so farfetched?

I didn’t get that question answered during service. I just obeyed by writing that on the card and dropping it in the box they asked us to put our cards in.

I caught myself thinking that I’m sure whoever read the card would have a good laugh about what I said. Maybe even tell everyone on staff.

But then I thought: What a testimony it would be if it came true! A testimony not to my work or talent, because that surely hasn’t gotten me very far at this point. But a testimony to God’s power that anything is possible if it brings glory to him.

That’s how I need to think–how can I bring glory to his name. And so that’s what I’m going to do. You read it here first.

Break

I took a break from writing because I had outpatient surgery and didn’t want to write doped up. I’m going to start back on Missing and Mentally Ill in Mississippi tomorrow and have several goals for August:

–to complete chapter two
–to send out more query packages
–and to keep reading over and refining the chapters I’ve got

I keep on writing in the dark–I feel like I am going to write a book-length newspaper article. But I know it needs to be more than that. It needs to be a story–something to capture people’s hearts instead of just their minds. I feel like I can do this while keeping my head down and just plowing through, one short assignment at a time.

I am trying to push my own boundaries as a writer and get into people’s heads with the story itself, not with my fancy writing. I don’t think my nonfiction voice is fancy. I still have a very ‘just-the-facts-ma’am” voice. I need to push to come across as knowledgeable because I am. I need to push to create scenes as well as facts. Hopefully this book can teach me how to do that.

Onward!

DONE!

I. FINISHED. THE. PROPOSAL.

I am so excited! I finished my proposal for Missing and Mentally Ill in Mississippi last week in time for my mentor, Ellen Ann, to look at it and pronounce it good. I worked so hard to finish the last sample chapter. I need to get to work on the second chapter because some of the agents I want to send to require X number of first pages or chapters. So that will be tomorrow night’s writing sprint.

I sent it and a query letter to two agents this past Friday–I want to sell it on proposal so I am not investing my whole life into it only for no one to pick it up. So that is the plan right now.

I also plan to finish my light rewrite of Hurricane Baby this month as well. I know one big change I’m going to make to one of the upcoming stories in the list–I need to lose a scene that was in the original document but sadly has to go in this iteration from Tommy Hebert’s storyline. I hate it but that’s the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.

I feel so accomplished just making the major attempts I am making. Doing things I’ve never done before. Keeping on pushing myself to grow and learn and practice. We will see what happens!

Keep writing. Keep going. Keep dreaming. Keep on keeping on. You can do it!

Moving Right Along

I drafted a first chapter of Missing and Mentally Ill in Mississippi in my writing sprints this week, about 9,000 words. It needs maybe a few stats to fill it out, but I finally worked out the arrangement of the scenes and what order I wanted everything in. I had to figure out what I wanted to accomplish, which was introducing major characters and drawing parallels between us, then summing up what I wanted to do in the book. So I feel good about it.

Now I need another sample chapter and an introduction to my proposal. Then I’ll continue to draft more sections and see if I can get an agent on proposal only. I am selling it as true crime, so we will see how that stacks up with what agents are looking for.

My writing friend is really keeping me accountable. She reminds me it’s a writing day and that we start at 6:30 p.m. and write for an hour. Other times I remind her. But we check in at the beginning, then give a word count and what part of the story we wrote after we’re done. So it’s nice to know someone wants to hear about your writing when you finish.

Onward and upward!

New Project!

Time to announce my new project for the year–Missing and Mentally Ill in Mississippi.

I plan to write about working for MCIR and covering mental health issues, specifically the disappearance of Travis Sean Hunt from Choctaw County, which is where I grew up as well. I hope to tell his story as well as mine about being mentally ill and how similar our conditions were and how there but for the grace of God, go I. I will be chronicling the writing of this story the same way I have been doing Hurricane Baby in hopes that it can encourage others who want to tell their own stories as well.

As for Hurricane Baby, here are the latest statistics:

Presses sent to –62

Rejections–37

Presses left to hear from–25

Presses left to send to–6

So I will let the process work its way through the rest of the list and just see what happens. But I am excited to work on this new one and stay busy creating my own future. If I have to put away Hurricane Baby, I suppose that’s just the way it is. But I am excited for this new venture and hope you all can be excited with me!

Onward!