Hi everyone! Hope you had a great Thanksgiving full of food, fun, and family 🙂 It’s the last Friday of the month and that means another coffee date with yours truly. Enjoy.

Maegen asks: “When you write something that is similar to a real life experience you’ve had, does it feel awkward? How do you handle awkwardness in writing?”

When I write, I pour my heart and soul into my writing. I also ask a lot of questions in my writing: questions about myself, about God, and about life. Sometimes that means I bring in my own experiences and flesh them out through my characters. I think this makes my characters more relatable, but it also makes me vulnerable.

When I received back my first set of edits for Daughter of Light, my editor told me not to hold back. He wanted me to dive deeper into what Rowen was feeling and experiencing. That was hard because I didn’t want people to see my fears, my past anger toward God, and my struggles to follow God when life is hard. You see, when I choose to open myself up that much in my stories, it means that negative reviews are much harder to receive. People say readers are not judging me, they are simply judging my book. But when your book is you, then it’s harder not to take it personally.

As I’ve grown as a writer, it has become much easier to bring my life-experiences into my books and not have it feel so awkward. I’ve come to realize that there are others out there who need to read what I have to share, and have been through, or are currently going through, the same fears, doubts, and feelings of worthlessness. Those are the people I’m writing for. My books are a bridge between my heart and theirs. And when I look at it that way, it’s not as awkward to open up about myself.

Thanks, Maegen!