I signed!

I have such exciting news to share! Laughably, I'm sharing about a year-and-a-half late.

But before I share, I'd like to tell you a little about my writing journey, and my story began a long, long time ago. (Not a dramatic entrance at all! haha)

I am not like other writers in the sense that I was not a "bookworm" growing up. Just about every writer I meet, their story begins with growing up as an avid reader and dreaming their whole life of being a writer.

For whatever reasons, my dreams never made it that high. My playtime as a child consisted of me pretending to be a teacher and a mom. And guess what, I've accomplished both of those! Check. Check.

For me, I was not a big reader growing up. I struggled connecting with words on a page and because of that, most of my childhood was spent outside. My memories of being a kid all center around one central thing: imagination. I loved being outside. In fact, I'm positive during my elementary years, I came home every day and played outside until dark. Not rainy days, but cold weather didn't stop me, that's for sure.

Did I mention I was adventurous? Okay, not that adventurous. These are plastic snakes after all. But I definitely kept my family on their toes in more ways than one!

It wasn't until college that I really fell in love with reading. Now, that isn't to say I didn't love story. Now, that is a love affair I have had since as early as I can remember. I have always loved movies. Anyone watching TV or reading books parks their rear in a seat because through this medium, we are transported into another world through the lens of a different person. And boy is it a great adventure. All the feels and excitement. I absolutely love story.

Just like reading a book, movies can offer a unique story experience. Now, of course, I don't want to start a debate: Movies vs. Books. Because I think we all know we need both. There are positives and negatives to each form of story, and we can appreciate and dislike aspects of both.

Regardless of this argument, I finally found my genre in college: Christian Fiction. Specifically, Historical Romance. For the first time, I was glued to a book and didn't want to leave the pages. What a glorious feeling!

While taking creative writing in college, my teacher said she'd had students who became published authors. Sitting in the same classroom as me? No way! Her classes? This is where the "What if?" questions started tumbling around in my head. Well, if someone like me was sitting in this very chair, under the same teacher, and they actually wrote something worth reading, what if I could do that too?

That same year for that very creative writing class, I completed a massive writing project and loved every minute of it. That was when I took my questions and started imagining a little more. And from this dreaming, I wrote my first fiction novel. It's a YA about a present day gymnast. I love gymnastics so this was a fun avenue for me to explore. Needless to say, that book will never see the light of day.

Then I wrote another story. Then another. And another.

I am currently 60,000 words into my ninth manuscript. And guess what, I still don't have a single story available for purchase. No publisher has called, let alone busted down my door begging me for my stories. Crazy, right?

Let's backtrack for a bit. I fell in love with writing in college but writing wasn't the only thing I loved. I got married two weeks after graduation with an Elementary Education degree and started a job the following fall teaching history and reading. Teaching is something I still love despite not spending my current days inside a classroom. Oh, and so is my fun-loving, wickedly smart, handsome, adorable husband of 16 years, John. We are high-school sweethearts and after only one month of knowing each other, have been together ever since. I like to think we could only resist each other for that one month (that's the hopeless romantic in me!).

My husband was still in school, and I was supporting us and that meant, my writing had to stay in the drawer until I had a spare moment. Between teaching and being a newlywed, I found enough time to write a few more stories but at this point, I was just writing for fun and had no desire to share my stories with anyone other than my mom. (Hi Mom! It is still baffling that you have read every single word I've ever written. You're the best.)

Fast forward a few years, we're living in Jacksonville, FL, my sweet husband is still in school, and I am still teaching. We are surprised in the best way with a pregnancy. After the birth of our first child, we prayed and made the decision it was best for me to stay home and care for our newborn son. Neither of us regrets that decision (and he just turned nine yesterday!).

After a year of being home and loving almost every minute (except those sleepless nights and infant sicknesses that are so scary and definitely not the highlight of new parenthood), I was a little blindsided by what the Lord did next.

My pastor at the time preached a sermon on the parable of the talents. How was I leveraging my time, my treasure, and my talents to spread the hope of the gospel? Well, I didn't have many talents or treasures, and my time was pretty wrapped up in my precious boy so I didn't really have much to offer. Or did I?

Pause here. God has since revealed to me that the single most important thing in my life is making disciples. And that starts in my home. And guess what? If you're a mom reading this, the same goes for you. I remember during this time, being at home as a new mom, I wanted to do more. I thought, what good am I to the kingdom of God sitting at home and taking care of my infant. I should be traveling to the Congo or giving more money for our local church. Problem: My son needed me 24/7 and the money? I didn't have much anymore because I wasn't working an actual job. I felt a bit worthless. But then I was reminded that sharing the gospel starts in our homes and also, with the people around us. Maybe God hasn't called us to the Congo. Maybe he's calling us to PTO? Or to our neighbor across the street? A big, beautiful mission doesn't always have to be overseas. God can use us right where we are today.

My pastor asked: "What would you do for the glory of God if you knew it wouldn't fail?"

Immediately, I knew! Failure out of the picture? That's easy. I'd share my stories.

Did God give me writing as a talent and I was burying it like the wicked servant? Yes, He confirmed I was burying it. So that day, I put my yes on the table and have been taking steps of obedience ever since.

More or less.

After this sermon, I was so excited to share what God had spoken to me that day. I had a clear vision of what I needed to do, and I was ready to be obedient and walk out this amazing calling.

That was, until I started thinking about the rejections. And all the unknowns. There would lots of rejections and to be honest, I didn't know anything about the publishing world.

What had I just said yes to exactly?

And that's when I started dragging my feet and questioning whether I heard God correctly. Did you say writing was a talent? I think I made that up.

Well, after a few months of that, I was convicted. My pastor would also say: Delayed obedience is disobedience (Yeah, Joby Martin, I'm talking about you!). I mean, talk about some tough love talk there.

If I had a dollar for every time I heard his voice in my head saying that exact line, I'd be a very rich girl!

Not only was all this dragging of feet happening, but I also had a new baby girl, and we'd just moved back home to Mississippi.

To say I had a lot going on was an understatement. So, I made a deal with God. (Spoiler alert: Bad idea) I told Him I'd finish this manuscript, write a book proposal, send the thing to the agent of my dreams, and if she said no, then I could check the box and move on. I'd done what He asked.

That's just hilarious, isn't it? That I thought for a single second that would work.

As I was getting ready to email said agent, God had been working in the background and opening doors I didn't even consider were around me, much less actually saw. I had befriended our Bible fellowship teacher's wife, Melissa Hanberry, and worked up the courage to ask her to pray for me. And don't you know God's timing is perfect. Her response: "You're a writer? I'm a writer!" Just like that, a new log on the dying fire of my writing life.

And then she invited me to a writer's conference. And I have been on a roller coaster adventure ever since.

Here, Melissa, Molly (her daughter) and I are at the Blueridge Conference.

I have said this for years now. The best part about writing is the friends you make along the way. God confirmed years ago that writing is a gift from Him. What an amazing gift! He's brought the most wonderful ladies into my life through writing. Ladies who pray for me, encourage me, carry me along when I want to quit, and critique my work with kindness and wisdom. I am so blessed in this way!

One such friend he brought was author, Tara Johnson.

After we met through a critique zoom session in 2021, we clicked immediately. She kindly offered help if I ever needed it and when I reached out again, she offered to be my mentor and just like that, a friendship of iron sharpens iron was born.

But before I met Tara, I went to my first writer's conference, Southern Christian Writer's Conference, with Melissa where I met the lovely Kristy Ensor, Larke Ready, and DeAnn Starling.

(Larke not pictured. Sorry, Larke! I don't have a picture of you!)

What a crew of fun ladies! At the conference, I was told very kindly that I was making all the rookie mistakes. Oops! And I was so ignorant to this. Looking back, I question how I hadn't already made this connection. I blame it on mothering a one-year-old and a three-year-old.

So there I went, down into the icy plunge of craft books and classes. Okay, maybe not icy, but definitely unfamiliar for me. But if I was going to do this writer thing, I wanted to do it with excellency.

I went to another conference, Believe by Karen Kingsbury.

I traveled to Franklin, TN with my friends Melissa and Molly, and there I met Natalie Wise Watkins and Kristine Delano. Kristy and DeAnn were also there. After this conference, I literally went to a blank page. Yes, my 100,000 word manuscript went into the vault, and I started over completely. Sometimes your writing is so bad, it's easier to start with a blank page. Literally.

At this conference and henceforth, Natalie and I have become joined at the hip.

And she's someone I go to first with any writing updates or when I'm in need of advice, both for life and writing. She will be one of the loudest voices cheering for me, but she'll also be the first by my side to comfort me when I'm down. You couldn't ask for a better friend than Natalie.

Back to me. After this, I started entering contests.

I got absolutely berated with comments. Some constructive, others not so much. After one tough judge, I literally cried for hours (maybe I was a bit dramatic too) and asked God why in the world He called me to this? Like why? What was I doing with my free time? I could be mindless strolling, shopping online, playing Tennis or Mahjong, binge-watching a new show, lost in an epic storyworld created by an actual writer. Or my personal favorite, reorganzing a random space in my house for no real reason.

But each time I considered leaving this calling (not to mention knowing I was disobeying what God had told me to do) I remembered something else my pastor said (Yeah. You again Joby.). God didn't call us to comfortable little life. He called us on a rescue mission. This is what the Great Commission is all about. We leverage all we have for the sake of the gospel and to be honest, I love the struggle. For me, a life spent doing only the things above would feel like a wasted life.

Back to what actually happened. This "feedback" from real writers was the rejection I'd been fearing, and it felt like a punch to the nose. One that knocked me down so hard I stayed down for a while. But I wasn't alone in my pain. Failure is the best teacher. What I wanted to do was hang up my pen and move on, living a simple mom life. Back to my list above. Maybe take up pickle-ball or cross-stitching again?

But no. You can't walk away from a calling.

In reality, I couldn't stay away from my pages for long, and before I knew it, I was starting that story over. Again. Yes, this is the same story from earlier. I got the idea for this story in 2015, and the year I'm talking about here in 2022.

Sometime in between all of this, I met my dear friend Christy Smith.

As much as I loath social media, I have to say, without it, I never would've meet this wonderful lady that is such a light of encouragement and joy in my life. She texts me regularly and prays for me consistently. We are both very wordy and love our two-hour, long-distance phone chats from CA to MS! I am so very blessed by the ladies God has brought into my life. Are you seeing this trend?

Back to 22-23. I entered more contests. Went to another conference, the Blue Ridge Conference in 2023. Here, I met more friends, ran into Kristine again, and felt so much at home among like-minded people, I cried. And somehow, I won third place in the Historical category. If Molly and Melissa had an image of my face when they called my name, there could be so many great memes out there. The genuine shock was priceless.

Molly and I both placed!

And at Blue Ridge, I reconnected with the fabulous, Kristine!

Kristine is so smart and so kind. She's taking the Christian Thriller world by storm with her latest Wall Street Suspense. If you want to have the best retreat, her lake house in Maine cannot be topped. She absolutely spoiled me!

Getting back to the story, after a kind agent requested my work and then gracefully rejected representation, she gifted me with great feedback. After a few more tears and wanting to quit, I started over. Again. That's right. Same story! I rewrote the first two chapters, added another plot line, and entered a few more contests.

And guess what? I started winning. Finally! I won the First Impressions Contest in December 2023. Then I won the Cascade Writer's Contest in the Historical Fiction category in May of 2024. And then was a finalist for the Genesis at the 2024 American Christian Fiction Writers Conference.

I didn't win the Genesis, but my dear friend, Bailey Cornell won! She's one of the sweetest people you'll ever meet and we are now teamed up together in a critique group with the wonderful Natalie.

Me, Natalie and Kristine at the 2024 Gala dinner. (Bailey, sadly not pictured.)

Here in 2024, I met the fabulous Stephanie Mack and Andra Loy! Such a joy to know both of you and I absolutely love watching both of your incredible journeys from MS.

Kate Mackereth traveled from Australia for the 2024 conference. This sleepy-eyed photo was taken on the morning we were all heading back home. I'm so happy to have met you, Kate, and hope to see you again one day! Cheering you on from the states!

And at this same ACFW conference, I was FINALLY able to meet my dream agent in person. Tamela Hancock Murray with the Steve Laube Agency. The same agent I'd been wanting to query since 2018.

Isn't she beautiful?

Not just beautiful on the outside, but on the inside as well. She's so encouraging, and I'm still pinching myself that I get to call her my agent.

So, I finally finished that manuscript. The one I had the idea for in 2015 and rewrote 4 times. And it was this story that Tamela loved and signed me with. My working title was A Pearl Among Swine, but we went with a different one: The Queen and the Rogue. Sound familiar? If you look over to my books section, you can read all about it there.

So this brings us to 2025. God blessed me with another writer friend, Laura Nolen and the best part? She's local and our sons are best buddies. We have coffee and focused--well, sometimes we just chat--writing time followed by lunch every week. Laura is a great listener, encourager, and friend. Plus, she's an excellent writer. We are side-by-side in the rejection trenches right now but we're not letting that keep us from dreaming big together.

Back to the journey. Off the high from the conference and signing with an agent (still pinch me!) this was the year of rejection. A long, tough year in writer life. My 103,000 word manuscript lived in the emails of publishers for about a year before also entering the vault for a while. I hope to share this story with readers one day.

But I didn't let that stop me from being obedient. I wiped my bloody nose, metaphorically. Of course no one actually punched me, but if you've been in these shoes before, rejection can feel like a punch to the nose. Even the kindest rejection hurts.

I wrote a novella. No one has read that one either.

I then switched time periods from 9th century England to 4th century Rome. Started a new story. Wrote 20,000 words. Paused it to write my free 10 chapter story. (Have you read it yet? Here's the link to sign up for my newsletter.) Started a new 4th century Rome story. Wrote 20,000 words in that story.

Then realized the market wasn't going to be friendly to this time period either, and I needed to pivot. Again.

After a two hour conversation of slamming into figurative publishing walls with my wonderful and patient agent, (where we laughed one minute and grunted in frustration the next) I pitched a contemporary idea and do you know what? She loved it!

So, with that, we've landed in 2026. I am writing a contemporary Rom-Com, and I'm having so much fun. God is good.

And that is my writing journey. Thus far! July 2026.

So, if you are a writer or chasing some sort of dream or promotion and you feel like you keep hitting setbacks, take heart. I've been there and so have many others. Truly, rejection and the long, rocky path are part of the process. At least for the majority of us.

Wipe that blood off your nose (from the latest sucker punch) and stand up. Or better yet, pray while you're down there on the floor and God will give you the strength to stand again. And just keep going. Keep taking the next step and see how God grows your faith, shows up in miraculous ways, and provides you with just the right amount of wind beneath those sails to keep pressing forward.

If we can be certain of one thing, it's that this life will be full of heartaches, suffering and trials. Jesus promised this. The good news? We're all in this together, and we're never alone. So link arm with those around you and enjoy the journey, no matter how it looks.

Because at the end of the day, all we're called to is obedience. God takes care of the rest.

If you enjoyed reading about my journey and want to follow along, I'd love to have you joiin my newsletter community. I send monthly update emails with information about me and my journey, along with book deals and freebies from the amazing writers in my circle.

Now, I'd love to hear from you! Have you ever chased a dream? What talent has God given you that you might be burying?