And then God intervened … Blog news

November 25th, 2020

Dear Readers,

I mentioned in “I need to be honest with you” how this blog might not be continuing past November 30^th. If you haven’t read that newsletter, the basic summary is this: I had intended to pack up the whole website by August 30^th 2020 after two years of, well, not much, but at that time God intervened and I extended the website three months. We are now in those extra three months and during this time I felt I was meant to start this blog to pass on what I knew to budding future writers. I stated, though, that I only intended to go for three months and would see what happened.

Well, God intervened again.

To cut a long story short, my passion and ability to write died a slow, agonising death several years ago, and any attempt to resurrect it left me drained and depressed. It simply wasn’t happening. My writing life was gone.

But in the last four weeks, the spark returned. And with that spark, I began to sit down each darkening, lengthening autumn evening to write and soon found the spark fanning into flames. I began to feel about writing as I had not done for years and years, not since the glory days of working on books when I was pouring out books like Sacrifice. And it wasn’t just a passion for writing re-emerging either.

You need to understand that I don’t edit my books for the fun of it. I edit them solely for other readers to read them. If the books were ultimately going to have a readership of one – myself – I would leave them as is and save myself the many, many months of time it takes to edit them. I usually spend more time in the editing phase than I do in the writing phase, and it’s admittedly not always the most inspirational thing I can do. Sometimes it’s just plain old hard work.

But I have found even the enthusiasm for editing returning, which is perhaps the biggest surprise. After feeling somewhat aimless for the last two years, I have now found that having the goal of finishing books I began a long time ago rather invigorating.

These last four weeks, God seems to be restoring my energy and enthusiasm for finishing books I thought would remain bottom-drawer books forever. I knew, though, that if I did this as a hobby only, that it would be too easy to make excuses, take time off, just fiddle here and there. When it comes to say, the huge six-book series I am few chapters away from finishing, to treat the editing as a hobby only (a pointless hobby if I am the only one reading it), I would be chipping away at it for a lifetime. So a decision had to be made. When it came to editing, I either did it seriously, full time, with deadlines I commit to, or I didn’t bother with the editing at all and shelved the project. And that meant a decision, too, about the website. The website would be a big part of the external motivation I would need to pull this off. I knew that once I lost the website, or a place for the books to go – a home – when they were finished, my current incentive to write would disappear and my writing life would officially become a distant memory. There would be no second resurrection.

Still mulling over the idea, and wanting to keep it to myself for now, I spoke only to my husband, no one else, about possibly going back into writing/editing/publishing full time, extending the website, putting books on Kindle Publishing Direct as well as this website as ebooks only, and keeping the blog going. He really encouraged the idea. He thought it seemed like the right time.

So then I presented my plans to God, laid it all out, and told him I would not do it without his blessing. Did I have it? Yes or no?

I happen to be reading Oswald Chamber’s “My Utmost for His Highest”, the biggest selling devotional of all time. It is a whole other story for another time how God showed me that for this season of life, that is the book he wants me to read each morning over my cup of tea. And if I ever doubted that God led me to the book, that doubt was soon dispelled when over and over again, the right page became the daily read at the exactly the right time.

The same morning that I asked for God’s blessing, yes or no, the topic was: “Are you ready to be poured out for God and not make it about you?”

I don’t know why I didn’t entirely think God was speaking through that page. Perhaps because I was expecting a nice clear yes or no from somewhere in my day. Regardless, I answered, “If that is you, God, I have nothing left in me to pour out. I am empty.” I meant it. The writing journey had brought me to the point where it would have to be all God or nothing.

The next day I asked the same thing, and the topic was surprisingly, “Are you ready to be poured out” Part 2. (Just to clarify, the book doesn’t often repeat a topic.)

Again my answer was the same.

The third day I am ashamed to say that I approached God in a storm of frustration. I said to him that it was a simple yes or no answer and if he couldn’t answer me one single word, then it was obvious we would never be able to talk about the more important things that required longer answers. I said that this was where the rubber hit the road and yet he couldn’t even give a simple yes or no answer. There were people who heard God clearly all the time and yet I couldn’t even hear a one-word reply.

Meanwhile, my sister back in Australia, who helps manage the website, had no idea of my thoughts or ideas or of how I had been wrestling with God. As far as she was concerned, I was quitting the website on November 30^th, was content to do that, and that was that. And I had been adamant that my book writing days were behind me.

That afternoon, however – the very day I had expressed so much frustration to God – I received an email from her saying that she had extended the website for three months, her treat, and she hoped I didn’t mind.

I just sat there stunned. I thought, “It’s a yes. It doesn’t get any clearer than that.” God didn’t just say, ‘Yes’, he went ahead and extended the website for me, and it cost me nothing.

And so, dear reader, this blog will not only continue, but I also plan on adding to the books I have published and will therefore get back into writing once more. So if you were hesitant to join the blog, worried it might not last past this month, you can join with confidence now that I will be here for some time to come.

I would love for you to come along with me on this journey. Subscribe to get notifications so you can follow along with the blog in a more logical linear way. Join me for chats in the comments, or even just email me* with your writing and editing questions and we will talk.

Lisa.

*[info at the lonely creative dot com]

About the Author: Lisa Saul

Author, editor, artist and mixed-bag creative. As well as writing fantasy novels of her own (The Lonely Creative Books) , Lisa has 25+ years of editing experience, including working with many published and budding authors. She is also a mixed-bag artist, working mainly with watercolour and gouache in a mixed-bag of styles. Her other mixed-bag creative pursuits and careers include journalism, interior design, and photography. She and her sister Naomi are the co-founders of The Lonely Creative Books, and Willow Lane Art & Design: Lisa's art & writing, Naomi's designs and publishing. Go behind the scenes of her books and art, and find out about the latest Willow Lane products and happenings. www.thelonelycreative.com/blog