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.
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!
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:
~ 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
Twitter https://twitter.com/Journeystojoy
Website https://www.joyaverymelville.com
Facebook
Author Page http://facebook.com/jamauthor
Facebook Personal Page http://facebook.com/joy.averymelville
