New Beginnings

Hello Readers, Katy Lee here. Today I dropped my oldest daughter off at her college dorm. It's been a mixed emotion kind of day for all, but as Mom I did my best to set the atmosphere as positive and upbeat.

Change is always scary, and I could see the fear in my daughter's eyes as I said goodbye and walked away. I had hoped she didn't see the same look in mine. I'm sure it was there.

Fear of the unknown is real, but dreams come true on the other side of fear. Her dreams for herself, and my dreams for her. As a parent, all we can do is encourage them to push through the fear. As a writer, I hope I have shown her how to do it.

My children have watched their mom go after her dreams of being a writer and have seen what putting myself out there looks like. They've seen the fear. They've seen the hard work. And they've seen the dreams come true on the other side.

I know my daughter will push through her fear, and I look forward to the next time I see her when I will see how her courage had turned into dreams come true.

But for tonight, I will smile through a few tears.

Question: Have you had to push through a fear to achieve your dreams?

Thank you for stopping by!

Katy Lee

Something to Celebrate

Hello, this is Katy Lee. Yesterday I got the call every romance writer hopes to have. I was told I was a 2018 RITA^® Finalist for my Amish Romance One Simple Wish.

Now I know this is a suspense day on the blog, but I hope you don't mind taking a break to hear about my blessing...and a blessing it is.

A little over a year ago my appendix went. But it didn't just happen. I actually wasn't feeling well for a year before I landed in the hospital. And during that year, I couldn't write through the pain.

Then right before Thanksgiving, I was asked if I would consider writing an Amish Romance. This would be different from my normal suspense, and I wasn't sure I could do that, especially since it had been over a year since I wrote anything. But I said yes, I'll do it. I signed the contract, and that week my appendix burst. 

Now, I'll spare you all the details on what that was like and jump to my recovery and how I now had two months to write a book through it. I was thankful I was alive and could still be used to share God's message to my readers. I could have tried to cancel my contract. I'm sure people would have understood, but something told me this book had to be written, and it had to be me.

So, for two months I didn't just twiddle my thumbs in bed, but rather put my fingers to the keyboard. I knew only a little about the Amish, but God always equips the called. And He did. It amazed me how He sent the right people my way who had the resources and knowledge I needed to make my story authentic. And when I typed THE END I had a book that celebrated life. 

Every one of my stories has a little piece of me in them. A message that comes out of something I have gone through. I can only hope my readers come away with the hope I felt while putting words down on the pages.

Thank you all for joining in with me on my celebration. And thank you to RWA^® 

Now back to your regular Thursday Suspense programming.