BEGINNINGS . . . THE BIRTH OF AN IDEA

Near the end of 2005, there was a lot of excitement and buzz throughout the ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) loop about a new cozy mystery line being developed by the Heartsong division of Barbour. Like everyone else, I read the announcements with curiosity, wondering if this might be something I could try. I toyed with the idea off and on, but didn’t really know if I could take the mystery/suspense I was used to writing and work it into something totally different. And then, of course, was the question of whether or not I could write humor. Sure, I loved to tease with my daughters and husband, but trying to make the public laugh, that would just be too difficult. The problem: the idea just wouldn’t go away.

Later that same year, a fellow ACFW member asked if I’d have time to do a quick read-through of her manuscript – a book that had been accepted into the cozy mystery line mentioned above. I loved the book, the easy way it read, the humor, and of course, the mystery. It was exciting to even be a tiny bit involved with a soon-to-be published author and her first novel. Big things were happening all across ACFW because of Heartsong Mysteries . . . was it possible I could be a part of that as well?

A lot was going on in our life at the time. My incredibly wonderful and awesome former mother-in-law – Gramma – had been sick since before Thanksgiving, and praying for her healing was uppermost in my mind. Gramma had always been a big influence in my life, her gentle wisdom, strength, and humor, plus her ability to forgive and continue to love me after her son and I divorced only reinforced what I already knew – she was one of God’s angels on Earth. Each time I visited her, something niggled at me, something I couldn’t put my finger on . . . until early one morning after a late night and a lot of prayer – a story about a grandmother . . .

As Christmas approached, the idea refused to be ignored. It nagged at me day and night, always with a vision of Gramma’s smiling face and her laughter. Unable to escape the pervasive thoughts, I finally relented and sat before the computer – an empty manuscript template in front of me. I closed my eyes, placed my fingers on the keys, and prayed.

“If you want a story, Lord, then You’re going to have to write it.”

I’d always known when He took over – the writing was much better than anything I could ever do on my own. But before, I would at least have more of an idea for a story. This time, all I had was a grandmother. Or was it?

I know I sat with my eyes closed for a long time that day. I also know I was typing. Well, you know how that is . . . your fingers know things sometimes before your brain does. At least, it seems like that at times. And that day, that day, God moved my fingers over the keys for several minutes before I was consciously aware of what was going on. By the time I lifted my hands from the keyboard, I had a nine-page chapter – and zany grandmother Glory Harper had been born.