When Tire Tracks was barely a few pages long, Peter and I watched the movie I Can Only Imagine. In one scene, Bart meets Amy Grant. She is thrilled to hear that her songs were the main thing that helped him survive during his difficult teen years of abuse. 

I was very moved by the realization that books and music can go endless places the writer will never go and have unlimited potential to touch lives. I grew excited thinking about the far-off places my book could reach and wondered how God might use it as a lifeline where He knows it is needed. 

After considering the options, I decided to self-publish. This began the process that I came to call, “Whacking my way through the publishing jungle.” Writing is fun, but I discovered there’s not much creativity or pleasure involved in finding stray commas or misaligned indentations. And there are many steps to learn, like what’s an ISBN and where do I get one? 

God provided faithful friends for the initial proofreading and wonderful help through a writers’ group called Word Weavers. My dear friend Maggie Bruehl met with me twice a week to walk through edits. My team of prayer partners prayed for me and offered invaluable feedback on the book title and cover design.

There were times when the publishing jungle ahead felt denser and scarier than I wanted to tackle. Giving up occurred to me at one low point, but it was never a serious option. After a lot of hard work, these stories of His glory were ready to be released to the world. 

I am both humbled and honored that God has indeed taken this book to places I may never go and has used it to touch lives just when they needed it. People are reading it in Africa, Europe, Iceland, Asia, South America, North America, and Canada. I am pleasantly surprised that men, women, and those who hold different faiths have enjoyed it. These things have inspired me to begin work on my next book. More details in the future!.

Is there a project you discovered was more hard work than you realized when you started it?  What kept you motivated to continue pushing forward? Or are you stuck somewhere along the way?