Who Do You Mentor/Who Mentors You?

Mary DeMuth


I met Sandra Glahn several years ago, at the point in my life that I really felt God nudging me toward publication. I sat next to her at a church potluck. Sounds normal, right? Well, we had just visited her church that day. Someone asked us to join the church for a barbecue meal and we said sure. If we hadn't, I wonder if I ever would've met Sandi.

"So, what do you do?" she asked.

"I want to be a writer," I told her.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"You know what I like to do? I like to mentor writers."

It wasn't until later I realized she'd been multi-published and was a magazine editor. That was the beginning of an amazing relationship. Sandi looked at my faltering adverb/adjective glut of prose. She encouraged me. She helped me with my first query letter (it had been two pages--yikes!). I took her out to lunch from the proceeds of my first sale.

When I started writing my first novel and was essentially stuck, she gave me just a few good words--words that re-steered the storyline enough for me to go forward with zeal. When I met my agent, she rejoiced with me. When I made my first book sale, she jumped alongside me. Through it all, we've become the closest of friends.

Sandi was in France for a few days and spoke at our Riviera Writer's group. She and her husband Gary took Patrick and I out to a fabulous dinner.

I asked her, "When do you know when to say no when other writers send you their work?"

She looked at me and said, "When you figure that out, you let me know." Then, almost as an afterthought she said, "You know, if I had been good about saying no six years ago, we might've never met. One of the richest parts of my life has been knowing you. Had I said no, I would never have experienced that."

Sandi has a way with words that makes me want to cry. She is authentic, deep, intelligent, a killer writer and an amazing mentor. I pray that the Lord sends folks like Sandi your way. I know I am utterly richer because of her.



Click the book for more information on Mary's second novel, Wishing on Dandelions.

















Gina Here:

I'm curious, how many of you have writing mentors, and how many of you are writing mentors. Ane, Jess, and I mentor a critique group of a dozen or so. We're there to answer questions, sometimes read proposals and first chapters before they send them out, and that sort of thing. They help us too. It goes both ways.

I have quite a few people who help me in different areas of my writing journey. Robert Liparulo, Tony Hines, Colleen Coble, Deb Raney, Don Brown, Camy Tang, Chip MacGregor, Brandilyn Collins and many others.

I wouldn't say those folks are my mentors in the standard sense but they have mentored me in something, somewhere along the line.

I do have two mentors. Alton Gansky and I met at a 2004 Blue Ridge Mtn Writers Conference. We hit it off right away. Similar sense of humor, similar tastes in writing style. He has been there for me since then and has answered my questions, read my work: sometimes tearing it, sometimes praising it. He's been a shoulder to cry one with rejections and a cheerleader when something positive has happened. I appreciate him so much.

Kathy and I met at the 2005 ACFW conference, though we emailed a little before that. I sat on her shoulders and we bonded instantly. She's a wacky lady, just my kind of people. I love her writing and she seems to think I don't suck too bad. Like Al, she's been there for me, encouraging, pushing, critiquing, and praying.

I encourage those of you who do not mentor, to be open to this. It will bless you, not just the person you guide. Don't think that you have to be multi-published or have won an award to mentor someone, like my friend Chip says, you just have to be further along than that person on your writing journey.

And if you don't have a mentor, I encourage you to be open to who God would have for you. It's not always who you think it ought to be either. If you're looking for someone, pray, don't push and wait patiently. The person will reveal themself.