The next promise in my March series is to tell you about what I write. I want to tell you I have a specific genre, but that always seemed so limiting to me. I love a good story. I love relatable characters who discover that they can do or be more than what they thought.

My first novel, that remains in its unrefined state, was inspired by a comment at a Bible study. Earl, an elder in our church, talked about his mansion in heaven. How he imagined sitting out on his front porch and going fishing in his lake. That got me wondering about my own mansion, how it was being built just for me. That gave me my character, Taylyn, aka Tate. A teenage runaway who feels unseen by her aunt who has raised her since her parents died. I won’t spoil the story but there is a representation of the mansion, and people that my be angels, helping her discover God’s love. (I’d really like to finish her story.)

My current work leans more into speculative fiction. (Though Taylyn’s story may eventually end up in that category.) But what is speculative fiction? I didn’t know until a few years ago. I just wrote what I imagined. So before I continue—speculative fiction is an umbrella genre that contains fantasy, sci-fi, and other genres that contain elements that are beyond known reality.

Just the enormity of genres and sub-genres gets my mind in a tangle. I’m still contemplating how to best categorize my novel for marketing purposes.

Back to my current novel. The inspiration came from several sources, all talking about references in the Bible about fruit and fruitfulness, as well as God’s role as gardener. And so, The Journey Gardener and the Compass Thief was born. My story is full of symbolism. One of my goals is writing a companion study guide to pull out the deeper meaning. That’s not to say this is a Christian book written for a Christian market. I wrote it more as an exploration of faith.

I’ll go into more specifics about my characters in next Monday’s post. For now, I ran across the following quote from an article I read today and thought it was appropriate.

I am imperfect in many things, nevertheless I want my brethren and kinsfolk to know my nature so that they may be able to perceive my soul’s desire.

St. Patrick

This describes me and many of my characters. It’s because of our imperfections that we find common ground, and it is because of our soul’s desire that we love stories of triumph and transformation, of love, hope and untapped power.

There is more I want to say, that’s why I need to write my blog every week. God never let’s me run out of inspiration.

For now, I hope this will help you get a glimpse of what kind of stories I write. I hope you will become a fan. And most of all, I hope my writing will encourage you to find hope in God and the person created you to be.

Is there a specific genre you like to read? What is it about that genre that draws you in?

Grace & Peace,

Sandy

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