Everyone, no matter how talented, competent, or blessed, suffers from self-doubt at some point or another. But that doesn’t mean we must be trapped in our insecurities, and we should never allow our feelings of inadequacy overshadow our faith, because really, this journey we’re on is not about us and what we can or cannot do. It’s about what God longs to do in and through us.
So take a breath, release your grip, and embrace risk. Today my guest Bonnie Leon talks about what happened when she stepped out of her comfort zone and the incredible journey her risk-taking launched her on.
Take a Risk
by Bonnie Leon
If writers want to write they have to take a chance. The world is full of possibilities … but risk is required to obtain them.
I never imagined writing as a career until I stepped out of my comfort zone and attended a 
writing conference. I showed up feeling like anything but a writer. In fact, my primary reason for being there was to determine if I had it in me. Not just the skill but also the heart. During my growing up years I’d never dreamed of being a writer. And if it was part of me, wouldn’t the passion to write have shown up before the age of forty? That still puzzles me.
Feeling lost and somewhat like a wide-eyed child, I joined a line of conferees who were checking in. What was I thinking? I wasn’t a writer. Not like all the others … or so I thought.
With the help of kindly attendees and staff I was slotted in an Advanced Fiction class. I definitely didn’t belong there. I was a writing newbie. Quaking, I took my place in the classroom, very much needing a reminder that God was at work in my life. Sandy Dengler was the teacher. She was amazing and fun, and a great teacher.
The more hours I spent in the class the more certain I was that I didn’t belong there. The other students could actually write. I was just goofing around with words.
If the insecure part of me had taken charge that first day I likely wouldn’t have returned to class. But there was another piece of me that wanted to take a chance. I quieted the voice in my head that said I didn’t belong, and then I began to learn. Like a dry sponge, I soaked in the knowledge cocktail being offered.
It was an incredible experience. I spent time with lots of writers, published and unpublished. I took a risk and handed some of my work to the pros for critique. They offered great suggestions and encouragement. I was SO out of my league, but I didn’t care. This was a new beginning, and I knew it.
By the end of the conference I was ready to begin my first book. I connected with local writers and we started a critique group. None of us had a lot of experience in the writing world, but we fumbled along and managed to help one another.
The following summer I set off for the conference with my first ever book in safe keeping. I was about to reveal my work to editors and I was scared. What if they thought my writing stank?
On the third day of the conference I had an appointment with the acquisitions editor from Thomas Nelson Publishing. She was dog-tired. Certainly this wasn’t a good time to present my book. I nearly chickened out, but instead, with my heart pounding and my stomach tumbling, I waited my turn. It must have been a 100 degrees in that room and the editor didn’t look happy. At that point, I was sure she could chew rocks.
When my name was called I wasn’t sure what to do. Should I act like I was someone else … waiting for someone else?
On quaking legs I walked to her table. When I introduced myself I was surprised to see a warm smile. Hope lit up my insides.
While she read my first chapter, my mind told me how foolish I was. She’d likely say I needed to return home and learn to write. She set the manuscript on the table in front of her. I drew in a ragged breath.
“This is wonderful,” she said. “Is it finished?”
Had I heard right?
I told her it was completed and she asked if I could write a preface and send it to her with the first three chapters. I figured I could learn what a preface was when I got home.
That was the beginning. Thomas Nelson contracted me for that book, The Journey of Eleven Moons, and two others in the series.
If I’d been too afraid to take a risk it never would have happened. Has it all been successes since? No. But I’ve experienced many mountain-top moments and I’ve written and published twenty-one novels. I’ve learned to love the craft of writing and the beauty of story.
Dare to believe you can write and be published. Take a Risk.
***
The lure of the nineteenth-century gold rush calls to Erik, a civil-war veteran. He and Anna, his Aleutian bride, set sail for a new life together in Sitka.
Anna stands strong against the adversities of the new land with its unfamiliar culture and fearsome challenges. She fights her fears and the prejudice of others, while growing her newfound faith in the white man’s God.
When forced to move farther north and begin again, Anna refuses to give up, allowing nothing to stand in the way of her family’s happiness. They discover joy as well as heartache in the Alaskan wilderness. But will Erik’s love of gold put all they’ve worked so hard for in jeopardy?
***
Bonnie Leon is the author of twenty-one novels, including the recently released To Dance With Dolphins, the popular Alaskan Skies and bestselling The Journey of Eleven Moons.
Bonnie’s books are being read internationally and she hears from readers in Australia, Europe, and even Africa.
She enjoys speaking for women’s groups and teaching at writing seminars and conventions and especially delights in mentoring young authors. These days, her time is filled with writing, being a grandmother and relishing precious time with her aged mother.
Bonnie and her husband, Greg, live in Southern Oregon. They have three grown children and seven grandchildren.
You can find Bonnie at https://www.bonnieleon.com, on her blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
He gives it to a new writer who doesn’t have a clue he’s writing a book to begin with.
email loop halfway through the second year. I asked them to keep us going a bit longer. They did.
What is prayer? Prayer is a conversation with God.
Wade Webster lives in Plano, Texas with his best friend Jesus Christ. He attended Grace Bible College sometime in the last century and derives most of his income from driving trucks.
hands of church people. Not all the time, but when it happened it was hard and I’m sure left scars. Throughout Dani’s story, she must face a tragedy that never should have happened, and in the process, learn to forgive a huge wrong. She struggles with it, as I did. Some of her thoughts are similar to some that I had while God was working on me.
until we are so tired we can’t carry it one more day. We can be stubborn – yes, I can!
The man who killed Dani LaClere’s entire family has died in prison after ten years. She expects closure, but her grief is alive and well, and so is her anger at God – and Christians. She plans to deal with it like she always has, by not thinking about it. Easier said than done when she witnesses a murder and becomes the target of a stalker. Her fear escalates as evidence begins to suggest a tie to her family’s murder. When a handsome prison chaplain confirms her suspicions Dani is forced to deal with the pain of her past and a killer she will not see coming.
Sherri is a social worker by day and a writer by night. Her debut fiction novel, Sacred Ashes was released last year and is available through Amazon and Barnes and Noble. More fiction and some non-fiction inspirational books are in the works and she is looking forward to finding God’s purpose for her next fifty years.
story. I had my eye on one phrase but missed out on that one. I decided that I could come up with a story based on the section: “Love does not dishonor.”
pregnancies. But as I got to know these women and heard their stories, I realized I was wrong. What I needed to show them was God’s unconditional love, available to all.
Chelsea Wilson’s life is a constant reminder of what living dishonorably looks like. At every turn she continues to prove her mother’s shunning must be deserved.
Paula Mowery is a published author, acquisitions editor, and speaker. She is also pastor’s wife and mom to a college student. She homeschooled her daughter through all twelve years, and they both lived to tell about it. Before educating her daughter at home, she was an English teacher in public school. Her books have earned a Selah Award and been a finalist in the Carolyn Readers Choice Awards.
people who believed differently than me. Absolutely, under no circumstances, did I share my Jesus with those people of different belief unless forced, and then it rarely ended well.
Iraq under the cloak of night at 100 mph in the best attempt to avoid being targeted by
I had no idea when I started teaching ESL that I would experience even a tenth of the memories I now cherish close to my heart. My involvement isn’t limited to the hours I teach in the classroom – it extends to lunch invitations, doctor appointments, hospital visits, mail interpretation, errands, tutoring, homework help for the kids, etc. And while I’ve lost count of how many students I’ve taught over the last ten years (our program averages about 100 students spread across several different level-specfic classes), their faces and friendships are etched on my heart forever.
Carrie Schmidt (aka MeezCarrie) is an avid reader, a book reviewer, a story addict, a KissingBooks fan and a book boyfriend collector. She also loves Jesus and THE Story a whole lot. Her passion in blogging/reviewing is to connect readers with a new favorite author or book, especially in the Christian fiction genre. Carrie lives in central Kentucky with her hubby Eric and their quirky dog Zuzu and is the long distance cool aunt to nine nieces and nephews. When she’s not reading or reviewing or “cool-aunting”, Carrie teaches English as a Second/Other Language to international adults. Learn more about Carrie at 
I thought about that for a while, and the Lord spoke to my heart: “When you think of Me as Author, what do you want to know about Me?”
exclusion of everything else; that I trust numbers more than people because numbers never change; that I don’t much like to exercise; and that I strive to be a submissive wife to my husband but I still struggle with that.
Join Carly Turnquist, forensic accountant, who is in the midst of planning her son’s wedding when she sees a bank robbery nobody else admits seeing. When the news hits the national stations, her credibility is called into question. Then her husband’s long-lost brother shows up, but disappears soon after, leaving behind his young son. Carly is set to testify in a huge trial, but if she cannot be believed, she cannot give evidence. Can she salvage her tattered career—and her reputation—before someone tries to silence her forever?
Leeann Betts writes contemporary suspense, while her real-life persona, Donna Schlachter, pens historical suspense. No Accounting for Murder and There Was a Crooked Man, books 1 and 2 in her By the Numbers series, released in the fall of 2015 and Book 3, Unbalanced, released in January. Book 4, Five and Twenty Blackbirds, is due in April, with more planned for later dates. If you like accountants or are an accountant, check out Counting the Days: a 21-day devotional for accountants, bookkeepers, and financial folk. Leeann and Donna have penned a book on writing, Nuggets of Writing Gold, and Donna has published a book of short stories, Second Chances and Second Cups. You can follow Leeann at 
suitcase. After we secured our vehicle and arrived at the hotel, I forced my feet to walk until I fell on the bed. But soon we left to eat.
functioning at eight to fourteen percent and treated me immediately to start removing a toxic substance. Within a month or so, another scan revealed the bacteria for Chronic Lyme disease.
An illness comes out of nowhere and strikes Suzie Morris. Her boyfriend dumps her. She has no living family, and her physician can’t diagnose the malady. Suzie relies on her Christian faith as she faces the uncertainty of the disease, and turns to a renowned alternative doctor in Destin, Florida. She takes a job coaching a county-sponsored summer swim team. She’s determined to turn the fun, sometimes comical, rag-tag bunch into winners. Her handsome boss renews her belief in love, but learns of her mysterious affliction and abruptly cuts romantic ties. Later he has regrets, but can he overcome his fear of losing a loved one and regain Suzie’s trust?
Award-winning author Gail Pallotta is a wife, Mom, swimmer and bargain shopper who loves God, beach sunsets and getting together with friends and family. She’s published four books, including Barely Above Water, poems, short stories and several hundred articles. Some of her articles appear in anthologies while two are in museums. Visit Gail’s web site at 
You see, my grandparents are from Maine, and I’ve always been fascinated with this culture. I can remember my grandparents, who are both still alive, talking about “pahking the cah in the pahkway.” I loved hearing them argue, too. It was always, “I would have had dinna ready, deah, if you’d be home when you were supposed to.” Then my grandfather would reply, “Honey…” and on and on their “argument” would go. I never heard them raise their voices to each other. Oh, my Papa is loud, truth be told. When he enters a room, not a soul doubts his presence. But never at each other.
I suppose my “Maine” idea is this: each state has its own charm, its own special characteristics that we don’t realize. I’m from California, and while it is not my favorite state, there are some cities that hold special memories for me. Currently, I live in Colorado. This state owns my heart, to be sure. It’s beautiful, snowy one moment and sunny the next. The mountains take my breath away. Coloradoans have their own way of life, too. I’ve seen people run in the snow just to exercise.
Joi Copeland is married to a wonderful man, Chris, and has three amazing boys, Garrison, Gage, and Gavin. She lives in Denver, Colorado, but within the year, hopes to be living in Galway, Ireland.
I hurried to my computer and opened his email. The first photo was of a nice looking, very Latin appearing young woman. Something told me she wasn’t from here. I clicked on the second photo—a photo with her in a wedding dress.
didn’t. Do you remember that old margarine commercial, where the woman said, “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature” and zapped someone?
I was struggling with the story I was working on. I knew where I wanted it to go, but I wasn’t sure how to get it there. So I said a prayer. I asked God what HE wanted me to write about. And He gave me this story.
JC Morrows – Bestselling author of YA Christian speculative fiction, drinker of coffee and avid reader – is a storyteller in the truest sense of the word. JC has been telling stories in one form or another her entire life and once her mother convinced her to write them down, she couldn’t stop.
Truth in Fiction 
