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| Lorilyn Roberts |
I JUST ENTERED A CONTEST
50 Great Writers You Should be Reading 2016 Contest
(contest closed but enjoy the post)
My love for writing began with a homework
assignment in third grade. The teacher asked us to write a short story. Fifty-plus
years later, on occasion, I’ll pull the old, faded, handwritten story out from
underneath my bed and read it. I still remember writing the words.
In fourth grade, I wrote poetry.
In fifth grade, my teacher accused me of
plagiarism in front of the class. My father went to the school and talked to
her. He never once questioned my integrity.
By the time I was in ninth grade, I had
written two unfinished books. Yeah—I didn’t know how to finish them.
When I was thirteen, my parents gave me a
guitar for Christmas. For the next few years, my writing waned as classical guitar
took up most of my time. I loved the attention and self-worth it brought me as
I performed at many major events.
When I went to the University of Georgia my
freshman year, I rediscovered my love for writing. Since I grew up in a family
business, however, English wasn’t on the list of “qualifying” majors; maybe physical
therapy or business administration, but not English. No starving authors were
allowed in the Roberts family.
Then, as often happens, I fell in love.
I hit a crossroads. What was I going to
do with the rest of my life? In a moment of insanity, I threw my college degree
out the window, and at my parent’s urging, agreed to go to court reporting
school. My future husband promised someday I could go back to college.
As a court reporter, I was writing, if
you can count thousands of pages of depositions writing. I imagined how many books
that would be, and I longed to write something different.
When my husband finished medical school,
we moved to Gainesville, Florida, where he began his residency in radiation
oncology. I enrolled in college and earned my two-year degree toward a
bachelor’s in journalism. I took my first creative writing class, and my writing
appetite was whet once more.
My life changed forever when tragedy
struck. I discovered my husband was having an affair and had gotten his
girlfriend pregnant. Not only was I devastated because I loved him, but I had
sacrificed a lot for his career. My dreams were just beginning to be fulfilled,
although my inability to get pregnant caused me great depression. My hopes of
becoming a mother, earning my college degree, and writing books evaporated
overnight.
I cried oceans of tears and didn’t want
to live anymore, but God heard my desperate wails. I sought counseling, began
to read the Bible, got involved in a local church, and started attending a
prayer group. Most importantly, I recommitted my life to Jesus Christ.
Perhaps the hardest part was accepting
God’s will. I had to go back to work as a court reporter since that was the
only skill I had. I had dreamed of so much more.
While it took some time, God gave me new
dreams and better opportunities. I obtained that elusive college degree, and in
the process, did quite a bit of traveling that included studying in England,
Israel, Italy, and Australia. On a whim, I got certified as a scuba diver and
made over a hundred dives around the world.
However, my longing to be a mother remained
unfulfilled for eight more years. Then, on May 8, 1994, on Mother’s Day, I
arrived home with a three-year-old Nepali girl. Five years later, over Christmas,
I adopted an infant girl from Vietnam.
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| Manisha a couple of months after arrival. |
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| Joy in Vietnam When I Adopted her |
Reading picture books to my daughters
unexpectedly rekindled my love for books and writing. We made frequent trips to
the library, and I would come home with armfuls of books. We read hundreds of
books together, even into their teens—one of the best things about
homeschooling.
Not surprisingly, the first book I wrote
was a children’s picture book, The Donkey
and the King. When I finished it, God told me something I didn’t expect. He
wanted me to wait until my children were older before I wrote more books. My
passion for writing was all-consuming. As a single mother, my daughters needed
me when I wasn’t working—now as a broadcast captioner.
I waited four years to write my memoir Children of Dreams. I was afraid if I
waited any longer, I would forget my daughters’ adoption stories. I wanted them
to know how God had brought us together as a forever family.
After writing Children of Dreams, my passion for writing grew. However, I only knew
how to write picture books and nonfiction. How could I learn to write fiction?
I remembered those two books I wrote as a teen—the books I never finished.
At the Florida Christian Writer’s
Conference, I heard about a Master’s in Creative Writing degree from an
accredited online college. I later enrolled at the spry young age of 53. When I
completed my Master’s, the book I wrote as part of my thesis became a best-selling
book in Christian fantasy on Amazon. Three years later, Seventh Dimension – The Door is still listed in the top twenty Christian
fantasy books (I eventually made it free on all eBook platforms).
Following Seventh Dimension - The Door, I wrote three more books in the series:
Seventh
Dimension - The King, Seventh Dimension - The Castle, and Seventh Dimension - The City. Currently, I’m working on the fifth book in the set to be
published next year.
What drives me to write? I write for an
Audience of One. God gives me the desire to write, and He gets all the glory. I
feel God’s pleasure and spiritual insights I can’t explain.
As I look back, I’ve learned I needed to
live a little so God can teach me much. God has shown me He never wastes
anything and limits the feasts of the locusts. They can only eat what He
allows. It is never too late to start writing, and it’s always too soon to
quit. If we commit our way to our heavenly Father, God will multiply our time, effort,
and ability. If my writing can change a life—even if it’s only my own—then I
know I’m in God’s will, and really, isn’t that all that matters?
You can read more of Lorilyn Roberts’ blogposts at LorilynRoberts.com
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