Guest Blogger ~ Missy Tippens on Writing Partners

Missy Tippens is a pastor’s wife and mom of three. After ten years of pursuing her dream, she made her first sale of a full-length novel to Steeple Hill Love Inspired. She still pinches herself to see if it really happened! Her debut novel, Her Unlikely Family, was a 2009 American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year contest finalist and is now available in large print from Thorndike. His Forever Love was a June 2009 release, and A Forever Christmas is on the shelves now! You can find Missy at her website.

WRITING PARTNERS

If you see the title of this post and are wanting to learn about collaborating with another writer, I hope you won’t be disappointed. You see, the writing partner I’m talking about is the little black and white fur ball you see curled up at my feet in this photo. :)

I’m sure Ane will be jealous. If her dog sat at her feet, the bones would be crushed. So I feel very blessed to have a dog who’s a little neurotic and likes to be glued to my side. He’s also cold natured and likes the contact with human warmth.

So my dog, Duke, is part of my “office.” And speaking of my office… I know that previous guests have shared photos of their work space. I was so relieved when Robin Caroll shared hers on June 24, 2009. She shared that she does her best work when surrounded by a mess. I have to admit I felt much better about myself after seeing the photo of her desk. It looked so similar to my work area—my couch.

My real desk is in a part of the basement that doesn’t even have a window. And I haven’t sat at that desk ever since I got my first laptop. (Bless my dad for that gift!) So now I work on the sectional sofa in the family room. It’s quiet during the day while the kids are at school. But even when I work in the afternoon and evening, I love to work with the action all around me. My children know they have to actually tap me on the shoulder (or in extreme cases grab my face with both hands!) to get my attention. They know when mom is off in her fictional world.

I love that feeling, of being transported so far away that I’m living in the world of my characters. That’s when my fingers just fly over the keys, and ideas burst into my head more quickly than I can type. Of course, I have days where I’m in that fictional world, but it’s like every word I type has to be dragged out of me kicking and screaming. But what a sense of accomplishment to finally get the words out and onto the page, and to see a scene take shape—one that may have been very difficult to write but that takes the story in a direction I love.

Writing is tough, but it’s pure joy as well. Especially with a warm pooch sitting on your feet or laying his head on your knee. And even Duke knows he has to give a few yaps to get my attention when he needs to go out. All in a day’s work for the world’s best writing partner.

A Forever Christmas

Sarah Radcliffe's quiet Christmas back in her hometown will be lost if she agrees to direct the church's Christmas pageant. But when she meets two little boys determined to gain their father's attention, Sarah agrees to help. Then she discovers that the dad in question is Gregory Jones, the man she loved and lost. The single dad is working himself to the bone to give his boys the Christmas of their dreams, when all they want is some family time. Time that includes a new mommy. If Sarah can learn to open her heart, she may receive the most wonderful present of all—a family of her own.

Leave a comment: Missy's giving away a book.