Two hundred not out!

Being a cricket fan from way back, I couldn’t resist the above title. You see, I find it hard to comprehend, but this is the two hundredth blog I have written for this site! I began my blogging adventure in July 2009 and have kept it up every week since then. My thanks to those who have kept on faithfully reading and commenting, either on the blog itself or on Facebook. Those little words of encouragement have inspired me to keep going, even at times when I felt I had little of worth to say.

What have all those blogs and all those hours spent writing them achieved, I wonder. I will probably never know. But I can give you several reasons I have continued to persevere with the whole idea. Firstly, as someone who was previously part of the ministry team of a local church, it is like relating to and encouraging my own little ‘cyber congregation’ at times. Just as I often used to share from my heart through the spoken word in our church, I can now share from my heart via the written word—and I find that such a wonderful privilege. Yes, I still speak in various places, but here via my blog, I have my ‘regular attenders’ who always read and often comment or click the ‘Like’ button on Facebook as well! I like to hear that they are travelling okay and love it when something I write turns out to be particularly pertinent in their lives at that point.

A second reason I have persevered with my blogs is that even though they take time, I still enjoy writing them. And a third is that I think it is good discipline for me as a writer to have to craft somewhere between five hundred and six hundred words each week into a blog that hopefully says something worthwhile and that God can use in someone’s life. Being such a wordy writer, it is good for me to have to limit myself and not wax eloquent for too long!

And yes, I have to admit a fourth reason for continuing with my blogs is that I have been told they are a good way of promoting my books. I’m still not completely convinced, but they do enable me to give my readers little glimpses into my writing world, include them at times in my interesting book selling adventures and let them know when a new book of mine is due for release.

I am aware my blogs would probably be more successful if I narrowed the field and aimed my content either at other authors or at non-authors. However, I cannot seem to bring myself to do this. Each week, I pray and ask God what I should write about. Sometimes the inspiration I seem to receive revolves around writing and sometimes it is simply something I have observed in reading my Bible or in everyday life. But I trust that in it all, God can guide me to write the content someone out there needs at that time and that God can also guide the relevant person to read and receive what is needed. What an adventure to be on with God! And what a privilege!

Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honour and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!” Rev 7:12

Read Full Post »

Falling into that silly trap again

I knew it wasn’t wise, but I did it anyway. This week, I took on board two facts about other authors and their books and promptly compared their efforts to mine. Yes, I believe I can learn from how other authors go about promoting their books. But is it a good idea to take their excellent sales figures to heart, without recognising the differences in our situations, personalities, style of books and calling from God? I don’t think so.

Comparison Number One happened in the course of a conversation with my husband about a friend’s book.

‘Oh, I think he’s sold about five thousand copies,’ I commented.

‘No, it’s about seven thousand now,’ my husband told me.

Instead of being happy for this particular author, my heart sank a little. Never mind that this person is with a large, overseas publisher. Never mind that his book is entirely different from mine. All I heard was that seven thousand number. And that was enough to cause me to feel more than a little downhearted.

Comparison Number Two occurred as I was idly flipping through Facebook. There I noted how another author is managing to sell her books by the hundreds as she travels around the country. How does she do it, I wondered grumpily. Again, instead of being pleased for her, I began to feel inadequate, wondering if my feeble efforts at selling my books and speaking here and there are enough. And again, I completely lost sight of the fact that her personality and her books are entirely different from mine.

As I sat wallowing in self-pity, I managed to think clearly enough to realise one fact at least. I am doing all I can, to the best of my ability right now, to honour God with my writing and speaking. I am continuing to promote my non-fiction book Soul Friend that was released last year and my novels as well. I have a good number of speaking engagements in the next two months and have spent hours and hours in recent weeks, preparing for these. My sixth novel is being released in September. I write my own weekly blogs and comment regularly on other blogs and on Facebook. I am trying hard. I believe I am listening to and doing what God wants me to do. I cannot do more.

Then I managed to keep thinking clearly enough to do the most sensible thing of all. I reached for my Bible, where I was up to Philippians 2. And sure enough, God had something very pertinent to say to me about the whole situation. In verses 3 and 4, I read:

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Hmm. Yes, Lord, I hear you. Why focus so much on my desires and ambitions for my own books? Why not cheer my fellow authors on, rejoicing at their success? Surely this is what is meant by putting their interests above my own? How about cultivating a little more humility, just as Jesus did? It wouldn’t go astray.

I’m hoping I don’t fall into that silly trap again—for a while at least!

Read Full Post »