Sometimes it takes awhile for a dream to come true. When I was 17, I had an inspiration to write a book, and I began working on it. I even had a celebrity lined up to endorse it.
Lo and behold, the celebrity’s secretary lost the best copy I had–lesson learned there, I can assure you–and I tucked the story in the back of my mind for another time.
A few years later I took it up again, starting somewhere from scratch. After many months, I began sending the manuscript to various publishers, who politely rejected it. Back to the proverbial drawing board.
I worked and reworked it, then sent out a new and improved version, with much the same result. This time, however, the rejections were more specific, and I began to work on the story’s weaknesses while adhering to the heart of it.
It got disacouraging to keep on writing a story that no one wanted, but I felt compelled to stay at it. When God puts something on your heart, it’s unwise to walk away from it.
This past Christmas Eve a contract arrived in the mail for this book, making one of the best gifts I’ve ever received! I’m hard at work on the manuscript, which will be published by AMG at a to-be-determined date.
The story deals with a young woman who, in the election year 1968, believes Bobby Kennedy has the answer to all the nation’s perplexing problems. When he’s assassinated, she hardly knows where to turn. A close friend begins to draw her towards Christ at that time, and as she enters college a year later, she maintains contact with him. The story culiminates with the 1970 Asbury College Revival, an event I’ve studied for many years and have actually written about in some other books.
I”m so grateful to God for making this dream come true, and I look forward to the day when I can share this book with you.
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