Thursday, November 7

What if we wrote a book for moms? {The Crazy Idea}


Have you ever had a really crazy idea? One that is just so far beyond your reach, you can scarcely imagine breathing a word of it to anyone?

I've had many. Two of those sorts of ideas turned into my adopted three year-olds. Another had me painting our entryway and living room walls red while watching Marley & Me. Not all crazy ideas are crazy. But some do take enormous amounts of courage to act upon.

So with years of built up courage in my bones, I'm going to tell you a story about a crazy idea.

I was standing in my kitchen four years ago on a warm summer day, with a pile of dirty dishes to my left, thinking about moms everywhere. About how we've been tricked into believing a lie about the way good mothering should look. Our culture has pulled a fast one on us. And unfortunately we're buying it.

Something needed to be done. And fast.

Within an instant, I felt the overwhelming urge to make a phone call.


Creative Commons: Daniel Hurst Photography
 


I dialed my friend Anne-Renee, but no one was home. So I left her a cryptic message, asking her to call me back. She returned my call, and I proceeded to tell her about my ponderings and this crazy idea that wouldn't go away.

"What if we wrote a book for moms?" I eeked out, squeezing my eyes shut and pulling my shoulders up toward my ears, as I waited for an imaginary blow that would come as the words leaked out. She agreed. We should write a book.

And so we began, all those years ago, meeting in coffee shops, praying, talking on the phone, and exchanging emails as we honed the idea and got down to the work of dreaming and writing. There were quiet seasons where we didn't pick up the project at all. Times we wondered what in the world we were doing. Exactly who did we think we were, attempting to write a book? Every other person and their brother says they'd like to write a book. What made us think we had something to offer anyone?

Fast forward to February of 2013.

It was that time of year again. Time to register for the She Speaks speakers and writers conference that is held in Charlotte, North Carolina each July. That conference we'd been dying to attend since this idea of writing a book came into existence three and a half years earlier. With trembling hearts, we asked our husbands what they thought about us attending the conference in July. Because it wasn't exactly cheap, and it wasn't exactly held in our backyard. After some time in prayer and discussion, both husbands agreed. "You should go. This is the year."

And so we set to work on our toughest writing assignment yet: a book proposal and sample chapters.

You see, not only would we be attending our dream conference surrounded by 750 like-minded Christian women speakers and writers, we made the heart pounding decision to check the little box on the registration form that indicated we would like to pitch a book, our book, to the prominent Christian publishers who would be in attendance.


 
 
After months of pouring over our laptops, we gave birth at Office Depot on July 19th, to a 72-page, 8.5 x 11 inch baby. 

Oh my word. We were actually going to do this. And so were half the other women attending. In order to be ready for the conference and meetings with publishers, we worked non-stop from the first week of March until July writing a book proposal (no small feat) and preparing three sample chapters from our book.

And then we did it. In late July, we flew across the country with a box of book proposals and two bared souls in tow. We checked into the hotel after 24 hours of travel, and entered into three days of pure amazingness. We could never have dreamed up what would happen there.


 
In Dallas waiting for our flight into Charlotte!


We met the most amazing women. And had appointments with real life editors. Those hard-nosed dream squashers new writers fear with their lives.  Except they weren't hard-nosed dream squashers at all. They were wonderful. Like, let's be new friends kind of wonderful.




This was taken before our very first publisher appointment on the very first day. Behind the excited smiles and calculated outfits were sweaty palms and quickened pulses.
 
 
Our meetings were incredibly fun and encouraging. We had to keep pinching ourselves through the process. Was all of this really happening? Did that crazy idea really turn into this? Indeed it did.
 
Here we sit in November, three months after presenting our work, without a lot of answers. We are still in process with publishers, still praying, still hoping. But simply being still has been the greatest challenge of all. God is teaching us, stretching us, and asking us to follow Him through this.
 
And now we invite you to follow along too. Because a story is best when it's told.
 


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10 comments on "What if we wrote a book for moms? {The Crazy Idea}"
  1. I love everything about this!!!!!

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  2. Love the topic of your book and love you guys! So excited for you and can't wait for the next chapter of this story. Praying!

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  3. Yay! Rejoicing and hoping with you as you "go public"!

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  4. I'm with Janee, I love everything about this! Love both of you too!

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  5. I love this and I know the quiet of waiting! I stand with you with open hands and pray that God will bring even more dreams in 2014! Lovely post and adorable outfits! :)

    Blessings,
    Angie

    www.angieryg.com

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  6. Waiting. . . praying. . . hoping with you for this project. Let me know if you need an agent. I know a good one! Glad to find this post through the GodSizedDreams.com linkup!

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  7. Very exciting - and cheers to you for being brave and taking those first very scary steps!! Praying God will be glorified in the details as it unfolds!!

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  8. Yeah! This is awesome and exciting! I pray it comes through for you both just how you dreamed it. Way to go!

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  9. Yay!!! I was there too for the first time this year!! Loved hearing your story -- not crazy at all -- pretty encouraging!! : )

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  10. Thank you, everyone!! We're still in the game, writing, praying, and hoping. Maybe in 2014?

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Thank you for commenting, I love hearing from you!