Lessons This Writer Has Learned From a Young Gymnast

By Pamela S. Meyers

While going through some of the things I've written on my personal blog, I came across this from four years ago when the Olympics were going on like they are now. Like everyone else I was enthralled with Gabby Douglas who was a young teen. I loved her smile and her unabashed way of sharing her faith and giving glory to God for her success. It was a life lesson to me at the time. I'd just had my first book published the previous November after years of book proposals, editor appointments at conferences and enough rejections to paper my bedroom wall I had another book coming out the next spring. It's easy to let things go to your head if you're not careful. 

I had determined when I signed the contract that I would give God all the glory as much as possible in the process of promoting and talking about my book. And hearing Gabby state the same goals encouraged me to stay that same course. 

This year Gabby is a mature young woman, and back at year's Olympics. I haven't seen any interviews featuring her because all eyes are on one of her teammates, Simone Biles, who just killed it on the all-around and won gold. So, I don't know if she is still making this statement or not. I hope so. 


Here's what I wrote four years ago. May it be an encouragement to you.

It's been a long dry and hot summer in the Midwest. Between trying to keep my balcony plants well watered and wincing at the thoughts of my electric bill as the air conditioner churns away, the Olympics this week has brought a welcome respite.

It's awesome to watch the swimmers winning gold, silver and bronze, but the highlight for me so far as been women's gymnastics. I was not familiar with any of the young women on this year's team, but one member stood out to me from the beginning. It could have been her smile that stretches across her face, or the sparkle in her dark eyes, not to mention her uncanny and wonderful gift to fly through the air, twisting and flipping before she nails a near perfect landing every time.

But, wasn't until Gabby Douglas won the gold the other night and she said this in a one-on-one interview right after the medals ceremony, that I knew what attracted me the most to her.

Gabby four years ago at the Olympics

As a recently published author after years of hard work I've been so aware of how much God has been involved in my desire to write, as well as my growth as a writer. It's only been since I totally surrendered the process and my writing career to Him for His glory that things began to happen last year. I've tried various ways of saying this, but a sixteen-year-old girl said better than I ever have.

Congratulations to Gabby Douglas. May you have many years of golden blessings falling down on you!

A native of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, author Pamela S. Meyers lives in suburban Chicago with her two rescue cats. Her novels include Thyme for Love, which has recently been re-released on Amazon and her 1933 historical romance, Love Finds You in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Love is All We Need (the sequel to Thyme for Love) will release in 2016, and Second Chance Love from Bling!, an imprint of Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas, will release in January 2017. When she isn’t at her laptop writing her latest novel, she can often be found nosing around Wisconsin and other Midwestern spots for new story ideas.

Read More

Be A Champion Writer

By Rachel Hauck

This was an Olympic year. And March Madness just ended. 

And I'm sure somewhere around the world it's soccer or rugby championship.

I'm fascinated by athletes and the level of commitment they have to their craft, their skill.

They train for a shot at gold. For a college scholarship. For a championship ring.

It's a shot of a life time. A chance to chase the dream.

A lot goes into training for the Olympics, or any athletic competition. Time, heart, grit, money. Saying No to legitimate life pleasures – like hanging out with friends – so they can train.

It’s getting up early. Going to bed early. It's dedication. Devotion. Mental and physical discipline. Being in the gym, on the field or in the pool instead of the mall, the movies or on Facebook.

For writers, it’s much the same process. Maybe not with the intensity of a high-level athlete but we must focus our time, energy and efforts to be the best we can be.

I’m sudo-athletic. I like to play sports, exercise, challenge myself physically. But I’m not an athlete. Meaning, I don’t really shine in any given sport.

I tried basketball in Jr. High. Was on the team for while but was too intimidated to excel. I ran track one year.

I think, maybe, I’d have been a good softball player but I never found an organized team to join.

God had other things for me.

While I still like to swing a bat, I’ll never make an Olympic team. Being an athlete at such a level, or any level, is not in me.

Writing is my thing. I love writing. I gravitate toward it. I like to think I’m an Olympic type of writer.

Some of us will scale the heights of Olympic glory. Winning awards. Hitting best seller lists. Being known widely among readers. Perhaps getting movie and TV deals.

Some of us will earn our way into the halls of learning with our writing. Our stories will be used to teach metaphor, symbolism, angst, emotion, to teach how to comment on society along with greats like Tolstoy, Austin and Dickens. 

We won’t know this until we’re dead 150 years, but there we’ll be.

Others will own the trade fiction market like Ted Dekker, Debbie Macomber, Karen Kingsbury.

The mass market and genre fiction is where many of us will land. And stay. No shame here folks. 

Genre writers can make a fantastic living. Sure, our words fade as new releases come out. And we’ll always remember the day we see our book in a used book store with the cover ripped off, but we love what we do.

No matter which way our writing takes us, we must have a championship heart. We must train, focus, strive to use our talents the best way we can.

Writing is a competitive game. We don’t see our opponent across the field, beyond the net or in the lane next to us, we see them on the bookshelves. On blog tours. In the review cycles.

We hear of them on Twitter and Facebook.

And we feel as if we are losing, falling behind, yet we’ve barely started the race.

Writing is a marathon. I love what my friend Debbie Macomber says, “I’m a 30 year overnight success.”

Here’s some tips for staying in the writing game.

1.     Prepare for the long haul. You’re running a marathon, not a sprint.

2.     Read. Study. “Train” to be better.

3.     Write who you are. The more I write, the more I figure out the message of my heart – the one only I can tell.

4.     Don’t despise small beginnings.

5.     Don’t compare yourself. Focus on your “game” and let the others take care of themselves.

6.     Devote time. Do the “reps” as the coaches say. Write and you’ll be a writer. You’ll improve. You’ll have more to say.

7.     Earn it. Earn your spot on the “team.” While publishing, books, art, contests are all very, very subjective, write as if you have a chance to earn your place in the publishing world. How ironic for the arm chair quarterback to shout at the TV, telling the guy who DID make the cut, who IS earning the big $$, how to play the game, or what he’s doing wrong. But he did earned it. The arm chair quarterback did not.

8.     Trust the Lord.

***

Rachel lives in sunny central Florida.

A graduate of Ohio State University with a degree in Journalism, she worked in the corporate software world before planting her backside in uncomfortable chair to write full time eight years ago.

She’s the author of EPCA and CBA best sellers, and RITA nominated books. She also co-authored the critically acclaimed Songbird Novels with platinum selling country music artist Sara Evans. Their novel Softly and Tenderly, was one of Booklists 2011 Top Ten Inspirationals.

Rachel serves on the Executive Board for American Christian Fiction Writers. She is a mentor and book therapist at My Book Therapy, a conference speaker and worship leader.

Rachel writes from her two-story tower in an exceedingly more comfy chair. She is a huge Buckeyes football fan.

Here latest novel, Princess Ever After and novella A March Bride, released in February 2014.

Her novel, Once Upon A Prince, is a 2014 Christy Award Finalist.

Visit her web site: www.rachelhauck.com.

Read More