Getting "The Call" by Christine Johnson

Every author remembers her first sale. For me, I was pretty sure it wasn’t going to happen. After all, it had been 15 years since I received my first rejection letter. Crushed by that, I turned my attention to graduate school and getting my Masters degree in library science. It was a heady time in the field. The internet was just extending beyond research universities to the general public. New technology brought access to research materials to people like me who lived in rural areas.

I thought writing could wait.

A few years later, the stories couldn’t stand to be pent up inside me any longer, and I joined RWA. My first conference was an eye-opener! I attended 16 workshops and left realizing that my creative writing courses as an undergrad in no way prepared me for writing commercial fiction. That’s when the apprenticeship began.

Fast forward to 2008 when I received the email that two of my manuscripts had been named finalists in the Golden Heart Award. I thought I was on my way! Alas, nothing happened from that except a great reason to dress up and more rejection letters. 151 to be precise.

Here I am before the award ceremony trying not to look nervous.

Then, one day I received a telephone call from an editor at Steeple Hill (the predecessor to Love Inspired). She detailed at length what needed to be revised in the manuscript I’d submitted. I took copious notes on the scrap of paper by the phone, wondering all the time why she didn’t just send a letter because there was no way I would make sense of all my notes later. Then, to my utter shock, she said they were offering me a contract. I didn’t remember much of the rest of the call. I’m sure I muttered something unintelligible before hanging up. All I could think was that they wanted to buy my book!

The cat was the first to hear the news, since no one else was home at the time.

As you can see, she was thrilled.

Then I got on the phone to spread the news. Among the first to hear were my critique partners, who had been through every word of that manuscript with me. No one understands this moment like another writer. We screamed and laughed and cried.

And a year later, in November 2010, my first historical romance, Soaring Home, was published.

That book, dear to my heart and chock-full of years of research into early women aviators, was just the beginning. This month, my 12th and last Love Inspired Historical, Would-Be Mistletoe Wife, will be published. It’s a bittersweet moment. Love Inspired gave my historical romances a chance, and I will always be grateful for that. I have met many incredible readers and authors along the way an am so blessed by this journey. What’s next? I’m working on another book of the heart, and we shall see where the Lord leads.

Thank you, dear readers, for seven wonderful years.

Christine Johnson

Would-Be Mistletoe Wife (Dec 2017)

http://christineelizabethjohnson.com

Influential Teachers. by Christine Johnson

Teachers make a huge impact on their students. Today I’m reminiscing about the teachers who played a role in guiding me toward my dream of writing books. It begins with my second grade teacher who instilled a love of language in my heart and gifted me a tin filled with words printed on pieces of cardboard. I loved to grab a handful of words and try to make fun sentences.

Middle school saw three years of grammar instruction, some of which remained with me. During those years, whenever I got bored, I wrote snippets of a “novel” on any scrap of paper on hand. Those scraps are long gone and never ended up compiled into one coherent story, but the dream remained. In high school I was blessed with an amazing literature instructor and a creative writing teacher who fed my love of story. Great teachers continued into my college years, playing a part in honing both the love of language and the love of writing.

After a brief stint student teaching, I gained a much, much greater appreciation for the dedication and work that teachers put in each day. Teachers make a huge difference in the lives of their students.

Which teacher(s) made a big impact on your life?

In my upcoming April release, Mail Order Mix-Up, Pearl Lawson travels to her first teaching position in a Michigan lumber town. She brings along her best friend who was recently jilted by her fiancé and an advertisement for a mail order bride for a Mr. Decker, who is located in the very same town. Pearl hopes a new relationship will revive her friend’s spirits. She doesn’t count on competition in the form of two other ladies responding to the same ad, and she certainly doesn’t anticipate falling for Mr. Decker herself.

Christine Johnson

Mail Order Mix-Up (#1, Boom Town Brides, LIH, April 2016)

Honor Redeemed (#2, Keys of Promise, Revell, July 2016)

Mail Order Mommy (#2, Boom Town Brides, LIH, Nov 2016)

http://christineelizabethjohnson.com

https://www.facebook.com/ChristineJohnsonAuthor

I Wish I'd Known That! by Christine Johnson

You’ve been there. That Monday morning quarterback feeling. Hindsight is bliss. If only I’d known…

• If only I’d known that grizzly bears find hiking trails just as convenient as hikers do.
• If only I’d known that the incoming tide brings in the big critters (as in Sharks) to feed.
• If only I’d known that publication means hard-and-fast deadlines and spending as much time on non-writing activities as on writing.

The first two turned out all right. It’s never fun to come face-to-face with a grizzly, but luckily he preferred berries to hikers that day. The last one I thought I knew, but it was more like the “yeah, I know, mom” sort of knowing that doesn’t really have a clue. When seasoned authors told me to enjoy my time before getting published, I more or less gave them that “oh sure, easy for you to say” look. After all, they were published! The be all and end all of my 15-year quest. They must be exaggerating. Yep, those sage souls are laughing their socks off right now.

The heroes and heroines of our books often have an “if only I’d known that” moment. For Jen Fox in my current Love Inspired Historical release, Love by Design, a career choice doesn’t turn out quite the way she expected.

The heroine in my June release with Revell, Love’s Rescue, might have wished she’d known a little more about ships than she thought she did.

Your turn! What do you wish you’d known earlier?  

Christine Johnson

Love by Design – LIH, May 2015

Love’s Rescue – Revell, June 2015

http://christineelizabethjohnson.com

http://www.facebook.com/ChristineJohnsonAuthor

http://www.twitter.com/ChristineJWrite

God's Dreams for Us!

Patty here and I’m facing a problem that I’m sure most parents deal with some time or another. My twenty-year-old daughter plopped down in a chair in my office and asked the question everyone ask at one time or another:

“Mom, I don’t know what to do with the rest of my life.”

Such a profound question! And one I couldn’t answer until about ten years ago so if you’re one of those blessed few who knew exactly what you wanted to be with you grew up, this blog post isn’t for you.

You see, I was too ADD to make a career choice. The truth was you name it, I wanted to at least give it a try. In elementary school, I read every book I could find on the presidents because I was determined to occupy the Oval Office. But by the time sixth grade rolled around, I scratched public office off my list, instead taking a serious interest in writing romantic poetry and roller derby.

My middle school years were spent discovering the artist inside. While playing music wasn’t in the cards, I found my talent on the dance floor. So for the next five years, I twirled my way into the local dance company, spending six days a week at the studio and searching for colleges with good dance programs.

Did I tell you that I had ADD?

After college, I worked as a registered nurse for six years until I got a better job, that of a stay-at-home mom. When the girls started school, I put out magazines at Wal-mart, hung wallpaper for contractors, taught autistic kids and was named one of the top sales people in the country at both a well known candle shop and a office supply store.

My dad called me his Jackie of all trades.

So how did I end up on the Craftie Ladies of Romance? It was a total God thing as in God called me to write and I listened to Him. Where as most of my jobs lasted a couple of years or so, I've been writing for ten years now and I've never been happier. Isn't that just like God? In Jeremiah, He tells us that He knows the plans He has for us. Just like our earthly parents, God has big dreams for us!

And He has one for my darling girl as I’ve reminded her over and over again. So today, let’s talk about the dream God has laid on your heart for your life. I'd love to hear about your journey to find God's dream for your life.