CHOICES, by Joy Avery

Hey, everybody, it's Wahoo Wednesday!

Please welcome author Joy Avery Melville as she shares the story leading up to the publication of her debut novel, Meant For Her.

CHOICES

Every one of us has choices to make.

Narrowing it more… every author has choices to make.

Allow me to narrow it to choices I had to make.

I have written five full-length novels to date. Meant For Her was the second. The first: an Historical Romance, written because—after all—it was the genre I most loved reading.

God brought something about in the Fall of 2011 that had me making a choice. Genre change.

Meant For Her; a Contemporary Christian Women’s Fiction (with a strong thread of Romance) is a blended genre written in obedience and a whole lot of trust. Six months of research netted a written novel in under six weeks.

I pitched it to agents. Joyce and Jim Hart of the Hartline Literary Agency offered to represent me based on my personal testimony and the strength of the story.

CHOICE: I could accept or reject their offer of representation. I chose to accept.

Then, it came to the houses Jim sent the novel to. During the time he attempted to sell Meant For Her to publishers on my behalf, I was busy going to conferences, where I met other editors sent by their publishers, pitching as often as I was able.

I was offered a contract by a small but reputable house. Nice contract, per se. Two clauses within the contract brought me to another decision. One clause was to remove the Women’s Fiction and turn the manuscript into a formulaic Romance. Another clause was to remove the Irish brogue of my very Irish hero.

CHOICE: I could accept or reject the contract. I could not believe God would have asked me to change genres so drastically, asking me to remove the message I firmly believe He instilled in my heart. Having reached a decision after much prayer, I contacted Jim and explained to him why I could not in good conscience accept the offer. I could not help but think, changing genres again, just to get published would be no different than had I chosen to ignore God’s urging me to write Women’s Fiction in the first place. He told me he had been praying as well. His advice was to make the decision that would most bring me peace. I rejected the contract.

At least one year passed before another publisher offered me a contract. Ironically, I got the same clauses in that contract as I had the first. Time hadn’t changed the strength of my belief one iota.
CHOICE: I could accept or reject their offer. I rejected with no doubt what so ever.

In the meantime, I’d written three more full-length novels, and it took at least three more years from the time I’d written Meant For Her. I was offered a contract from two of the same publishers and another for the first book of my second series. Ironically, all three included the same two clauses in their offers.

CHOICE: I could accept or reject those contracts. I chose to reject all three.

Do you see a pattern here? I did. TEMPTATION—JUST GET PUBLISHED… leaving God’s calling for me out of the equation. HAVING OBEYED DOES NOT MAKE TEMPTATION GO AWAY. If anything, it becomes stronger to sway one from standing firm in their calling.

In November 2017, I felt nudges to independently publish Meant For Her. I wrestled with God over that one also. For months my husband and I prayed about that. I had no clue how to go about it… what it would take… how I’d find funds to hire things done I could not do myself… the list went on. I asked God to give Jim wisdom in advising me once more. When I told him what I’d been praying about, his first words were something like… Joy, this is the new reality. Then… That story has too much value to sit in a drawer or a box. It needs to be out there.

CHOICE: I could go full out in trust, depending on God to supply all of my needs, or I could ignore those urgings within. I chose to independently publish.

GOD HAS SUPPLIED! I HAVE NO REGRETS!

 Had it all truly been ~ MEANT FOR HER?

Kidnapped, raped, brutally beaten, and left for dead, Candi Reynolds becomes a prisoner of fear. Faced also with the impact of the unexpected break-up with her fiancé, and an unwanted pregnancy resulting from the attacks, she believes God has forsaken her. Choosing to move back to the Michigan horse farm, owned by her older brother, Dr. Cam Reynolds, Candi essentially goes into seclusion.

Dr. Patrick (Mack) MacKevon, a long-time friend of Cam’s, watches from the sidelines at the farm, where his horses are stabled, while Candi struggles to regain a sense of normalcy. His own big-brother tendencies develop into a much deeper emotion over the months he prays for her.

Is it possible for Candi to put all of the pain and trauma behind her and renew her former relationship with the Lord? Will she allow her heart to open enough to discover authentic love, while making decisions of victory on her personal journey to joy?

KINDLE and PAPERBACK PURCHASING LINK:

https://www.amazon.com/Meant-Her-Intended-Book-ebook/dp/B07Y8RJFJ1/ref

~ ABOUT THE AUTHOR ~ 

Joy Avery Melville’s heart’s desire is to be the author God has called her to be by sharing Him with readers in such a way they long to have a deeply committed personal relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord.

Fully intending to write Historical Romance—had in fact— she had no plans to deviate from that. God had something else in mind for that ‘call’ He’d made on her life back in 1967. A mere eighth-grader at the time, she had no clue about the topics she’d be drawn to write about.

Surrendering to the genre God placed on her heart has given Joy new insight into the hearts and lives of those who too often hurt in silence.

The settings of Joy’s books are near where she lives in Schoolcraft, Michigan with her husband of nearly 46 years and their one-yr-old Yorkie pup, Is-A-Bella Bindi, (Is-a-beautiful little girl) who thinks she’s a much larger breed with tomboy tendencies.

Joy loves to hear from readers and will respond!

Email       joyjournaling@gmail.com
Twitter    https://twitter.com/Journeystojoy 
Website  https://www.joyaverymelville.com

Blog        https://www.journeystojoy.net

Facebook Author Page http://facebook.com/jamauthor

Facebook Personal Page http://facebook.com/joy.averymelville

Amazon:         https://www.amazon.com/author/joyaverymelville

Goodreads:     https://www.goodreads.com/joyjournalinggmailcom

Bookbub:      https://www.bookbub.com/profile/joy-avery-melville