Day Eleven: Authors

Authors are all around us. They add to the entertainment that many of us enjoy: books.

What is it like to be an author?

Well, I can answer this for what it's like for me.

Most of my books are based on my faith and are Christian reads. I tend to pray A LOT for each book that I am writing. I ask for God to guide my mind in the direction he'd like this book to go. At times, I feel that my prayer isn't answered right away because I'm meant to spend the time dedicated to something else.

However, the life of an author tends to be a physically lonely one, which is why I call upon the Lord quite a bit. One aspect that I haven't got to enjoy just yet is spending time with authors from all walks of life and who tend to write in different genre's than me.

I've had the opportunity to make a few authors close friends of mine, which I feel blessed. These authors have touched my life in ways they will never understand, especially when they came together to help me through the loss of my daughter, Dakota. So, I'd like to dedicate this post to them. I'm going to bring a few of their works to this blog and hopefully you will find a new author to enjoy. I'll
link their name to their Facebook pages and the title of their books to Amazon.

**The books shared are not necessarily Christian reads.**

The first author I'm going to talk about is Jaime Gibson.
    Jaime and I met through loss. Unfortunately, she is traveling this road in life as an angel Mom. She wrote her daughter's story, "My Angel." Her story was one of the first books I read after my loss. I've connected with this book because it made me realize that I wasn't alone. It reminded me that others are out there and totally understand how I feel.

I want to thank Jamie for all that she's done for me. Thank you for the hours of talking and helping me through my loss.


The second author I'm going to mention is Lee Ryder.
    Lee is another angel Mom who has been on this road for a while. She and I met because of her love to write and from our path. She's another amazing woman with an amazing family. Every member her family has done something to impact mine. **In a good way, of course.** Even though we live in different places, I feel that she's a best friend and will always be. So, thank you Lee for your unconditional love for me and my family.

Her writing will take you on a future journey. She wrote the book called, Broken Earth. This book is one of my favorites because it takes place after the destruction of the life we know.


The third author is a friend through Christ. Her name is Ann Voskamp.
   I don't know her personally, nor have I actually talked to her. However, I feel as if I need to mention her here on my blog, so I can let you know just how awesome she is. Her outlook on life has set mine in a different direction. I absolutely loved her book, One thousand Gifts.

The things she says in this book has helped me to see my life in a better light. She's inspired me to work on my own 1000 gifts journal. As each day goes past, I'm remembering eucharisteó every day within my life now. Before Ann, I unfortunately didn't give God enough thanks.


Now, as an author there is one thing I know each one of us loves to hear. I personally think that readers don't do it enough and I believe that we should do it more. Every author deserves to hear about how their books have impacted their readers. My entire day is transformed in the matter of a few sentences when one of my readers have emailed me, tweeted to me, or posted on my Facebook page by their words of thanks. So, I would like you to contact an author (or two) and let them know how one of their books impacted your life. Take the time to speak love to an author. They need love too.