Writing Career
I have always been a writer, though my beginning efforts prompted me not to plan on writing as a career. I started my first book at age 14 and ran out of anything to say after four handwritten pages. Hmmmm….maybe I won’t be the modern Louisa May Alcott after all, I thought.
I love to make an impact for my faith in my writing. My mother and her father were writers, too, and they set for me the example of getting across ideas that can change or expand people’s thinking. My article that has been published most often is What Was I Supposed to Be? It is the story of my daughter’s first understanding of abortion, and won an Honorable Mention in a 1992 contest in the now-defunct The Christian Reader.
I wrote and published while teaching in public schools in Tennessee, Kansas, North Carolina, Illinois, and Kentucky, but in 2000 I retired from teaching to write. I love this way of having a writing career—I get money deposited in my bank account every month because of all the years I taught, and I can write without stressing out about how much of my writing I’m actually selling.
A writing ministry I enjoy is writing devotionals. I write for Power for Today, The Upper Room, The Quiet Hour, Devotions, and others. I like to find a verse that connects me to a personal experience I can write about, but I also enjoy the challenge of getting assignments to write something with impact in 200 words on a specific passage of scripture.
My first published book was for Loyola Press, a workbook for third-graders, in 1985, so I’ve been writing for a long time! Most recently, my husband Steve and I wrote a book together, ATTENTION! The Art of Holding Your Audience in the Palm of Your Hand. (Yes, our marriage is still intact—and getting better all the time.) His expertise on speaking and my editing are a good combination. You can also see the results of our collaboration on his blog, Steve Boyd’s Communication Newsletter.
I have 26 articles published in compilation books and several in periodicals, both Christian and general market. There’s a complete list at Additional Articles.
My friend Elaine Young McGuire and I started an online sharing group, “The Sisterhood of Christian Writers,” where we share writing information and opportunities. Many of us feel close even though we’ve never met. If you’d like to receive notifications of paid writing opportunities, email me and tell about yourself and your writing.