Thrilled to welcome Leslea and her novel, The Perfect Blindside! Be sure to comment and show her some loving reader support! :) Don't forget to leave a comment and your email address for a chance to win a print copy of The Perfect Blindside!
Ministry through Mystery
Encouraging Teens to Use Their Gifts from God
By Leslea
Wahl, author of The Perfect Blindside
Have I always been interested in writing for teens? Umm, no.
I had barely even read any teen fiction in the few years since I was a teen.
(Ok, it had been quite a number of years). Regardless, writing a Young Adult
novel wasn’t exactly the obvious choice for a new post baby-raising career but
when God calls – you answer. That sounds a bit dramatic and at the time I
didn’t think of it quite that way, but from the beginning I knew God was
leading me.
As a mother of three, I was often very frustrated with the
things my growing children were exposed to through movies, television, music,
and even literature. The societal messages that bombarded them didn’t always
coincide with our faith. As my children grew and started reading Middle Grade
and Young Adult books, I struggled to find ones that my kids were interested in
and exemplified the morals we tried to instill in them.
Then one day I woke up and this story idea popped into my
head. Characters and scenes just kept coming to me until I had to write them
down. A few other odd things happened that made me certain God was leading me
to write this story. So, I began working on it and luckily found a mentor who
gently guided me along the way. Honestly, the learning curve was steep – mountainous
is fact. I had no idea how to write a novel, especially one for teens. I cringe
when I think of all the paper I went through creating all those rough drafts.
I kept plugging away and eventually, when my manuscript
finally felt ready, I started sending it out to agents and publishers. But
sadly, all I received in return was a pile of rejection letters. Despite the
frustration, I didn’t lose faith and instead began to pray. After all, if this
was God’s plan there had to be someone out there who would publish it.
Soon after my plea for guidance, came what I like to call my
Eureka moment. I happened to came across a book that changed everything for me,
a YA novel full of humor, mystery, adventure and unbeknownst to me at first, a
Christian novel. As I read it, I realized this was exactly the type of book I
wanted to write - a fun book full of mystery, adventure, humor, with a touch of
romance thrown in for good measure. It occurred to me if I changed my story, I
could include my strong belief that God has blessed us all with gifts and
talents that we should use and share with others.
Sometimes I wonder if making me wait so long and slowly
having me figure out this genre change was always God’s plan or if He finally
had to break down and give me another sign because I was too dense to figure it
out by myself. Either way, when I changed the format, I suddenly received more
interest in the story and a publishing company soon approached me.
The Perfect Blindside was published in August of 2015 by
Pauline Books and Media. In January the book won an Illumination Christian Book
Award silver medal. I have no doubt that God led me on this incredible journey
and I can’t wait to see what my next chapter will be.
Leslea Wahl is the author of The Perfect
Blindside, an adventurous mystery set in her home state of Colorado. Ms. Wahl is
excited to continue her passion of encouraging teens in their faith with her second
Christian Young Adult novel which will be released later this year.
For more
information please visit her website at www.LesleaWahl.com
ABOUT her book:
He’s an
egotistical snowboarder with a silver medal.
She’s a
judgmental honors student with a flair for photography.
Slashed
tires…. False accusations…. A coded text message….
When the sleepy town of
Silver Springs, Colorado is threatened by a series of mysterious events, Jake
and Sophie must put aside their differences to figure out what’s really been
happening at the abandoned gold mine and challenge each other to become who God
wants them to be.
Blessings!
2 comments:
I am so glad that you have been called to write for young adults. I think this is an important area. We need more stories that younger people can relate to and learn from. Blessings to you and your family. :-)
Leslea, Carole shared this with Heart"wings" - a women's fellowship group and I loved reading about "The Perfect Blindside" and about you as well. I am placing your book on my TBR list and am sending you a friend request so that I can get to know you better.
I also plan to invite you in our loving, supportive group of Christian women. God has grown Heart"wings" to over 400 members since it began in March, 2015. The group is populated by over 100 authors, bloggers and inspirational speakers and counselors. Joyce @ Heart"wings"
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