Thursday, November 16, 2017

My First Love Inspired Sale & An Unexpected Answer

Answers come in unusual ways sometimes. Several Christmases ago I travelled all by myself to three different African countries to visit some amazing non-profit workers and see some of the innovative and life changing work they were doing. When I got back home, I wrote down stories about some of the people I’d met and the experiences I’d had. These stories grew into a very long and beautiful story, that rambled on and on for hundreds of pages. I knew I loved it and had poured my heart into it. I also knew it was unfocused, too long and wasn’t publishable.

I mailed it to my editor Emily Rodmell and a few weeks later I got “the call” telling me that Love Inspired Suspense was going to publish it.

Years later I started reading Love Inspired Suspense books and wanted to write my own. But I didn’t have a story. I prayed and searched my memory for anything I could turn into a book. Suddenly the people I’d met in Africa and their stories came flooding back to me. I pulled the old stories out and rewrote them entirely into a fun and tense book called Killer Assignment, about a plucky reporter named Kate who was being pursued by ruthless criminals and a daring charity worker named Mark who was hiding a huge secret about his past.



I’d been walking through the park when the call came in. I’d been both praying and crying while I walked, because what I was going through was so hard it felt insurmountable. And that was the moment my prayers were answered with the unbelievable phone call that changed my life.

My tenth Love Inspired Suspense book, Undercover Holiday Fiancée, is out in stores right now. My heroine, Chloe Brant is a detective who had a small walk on role in that first book. Then Chloe reappeared three years later in Headline: Murder where she teamed up with roguishly handsome and determined undercover detective Trent Henry. Even back then I could tell they had a complicated relationship, but I had no idea just how complicated their relationship would become.

Now Chloe is back, working alongside Trent and posing as his loving fiancée, even though she promised herself she’d never work with him again because of the confusing and infuriating things he does to her heart. It’s one of my favorite books and I hope you like it too.

What was the most unexpected answer to prayer you’ve ever received?

15 comments:

  1. How intrepid you are, Maggie! So glad your Africa experience yielded double blessings for you.

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    1. Thanks! I never expected to set a book in Canada about people I'd met in Africa. But it was my lesson that there are a lot of common struggles that people face, no matter where they live.

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  2. What a wonderful story about using your fabulous experiences to bring your characters to life! Thanks for sharing it with us. And congrats on your #10 Love Inspired Suspense.

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  3. Thank you!! It's hard to talk about that first Love Inspired Suspense sale sometimes because it was such an emotional and difficult time for me. What using those stories from a world away taught me was that sometimes inspiration is transferable into new situations.

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  4. There's nothing like that 1st sale. It's a process of anguish, hard work, and a part of your soul. And the joy of holding that first book in your hands is unexplainable. Like holding your new child in your arms. God is so good.

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    1. Yes! That's very true. It's an unbelievably moving experience.

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  5. Maggie, I love your story about your sale to Love Inspired Suspense. Congratulations on your tenth book LIS.

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  6. Maggie, thank you for sharing! What was my most unexpected answer to prayer? Probably, when God spoke to me through the song on the Christian radio station and filled me with great peace after I was diagnosed with cancer. I was scared for my four little children, but He is greater than all our fears and His LOVE is unending.

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    1. What a beautiful and heartbreaking story, Natalya. I pray that God continues to give you all what you need to make it through. What song was it?

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  7. You are a brave lady, Maggie. I don’t think I could make such a trek. Congratulations on your tenth book.

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  8. Lovely memories, Maggie. I'm so glad you found a way to bring what you'd seen to a story. You are a very talented writer and a sweet human being!

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