Serious Wednesdays: Courtesy Turn by Rebecca W. Waters

Welcome to my dear Ohio friend and fellow author! 

What a treat to have you here!

The Retooling of a Book, The Remaking of an Author

I was teaching overseas when I first learned the editors of Mt. Zion Ridge Press were looking at manuscripts to include in an anthology. They wanted to produce a collection of stories that take place in Ohio and are written by Ohio authors. It was an exciting proposal. I wanted to be a part of the book. The only problem? I wasn’t writing fiction anymore. Not much, anyway. I couldn’t.

I decided to be a published author in February 2012. Between March 2012 and March 2014 I managed to complete two novels, had two more drafted, and one sketched out. I published several stories in Chicken Soup for the Soul and took on numerous freelance pieces. All the while, I was keeping my blog going on a weekly basis. My first novel was published in March of 2014. I felt I was doing what God called me to do.

Then came October. On October 29, 2014, my husband died in a bicycle accident. Losing Tom has been the most difficult experience of my life. My blog posts were already written and scheduled through December. Good thing. I didn’t have it in me to think much less write. Worse than living in a fog was the feeling that in some way I was letting God down by not writing. After all, He had given me that skill, right? He had created the desire in my heart to become an author, correct? He knew I would be left alone and need this. Yet unpublished works were hiding, untouched in my computer files.

I moved to Southeastern Europe to teach fourth grade for the 2017-2018 school year. That year proved to be healing for me, so when I was invited to submit a story for the anthology, I took it on. I scanned my cache of manuscripts –my “works in the mill” list, and settled on Courtesy Turn. I retooled the short suspense novel into a romantic novella. It was hard because the story is about a widow who returns to square dancing five years after losing her husband. It was not about me. But it could have been. Tom and I were avid square dancers.

The story was accepted. Shortly afterward, I received a contract for another novel, Libby’s Cuppa Joe being released in March 2019. I had a Chicken Soup for the Soul story accepted as well –one I submitted in 2012 and they kept on file. Now I’m writing again. It turns out I never let God down at all. He gave me all those stories in those two years because He knew I wouldn’t be able to find words after Tom left this earth.

It reminds me of these verses: 

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart

 and lean not on your own understanding;

 in all your ways submit to Him 

and He will make your paths straight.” 

(Proverbs 3:5-6, New International Version)

Blurb for:

Courtesy Turn by Rebecca Waters

From the Lake to the River: Buckeye Christian Fiction Anthology 2018

Lori’s husband died of cancer five years ago. Now she must reclaim her life or be forever dependent on her son and his family.  Lori wonders how she can find purpose and if it's possible to ever love again. Should she return to square dancing…the activity she and John so enjoyed together? Could square dancing hold the key to Lori’s future?  Set in Cincinnati, Ohio, Courtesy Turn is a story of second chances.

Readers, be sure to check out the book here:

Amazon Print

Amazon Kindle

Kobo e-book