Category: New Author

TODAY’S THE DAY! D-DAY! DELIVERY DAY!

Very early in the morning of June 6^th 1944 thousands of brave men and women prepared to play their part in a day that would eventually turn the tide of the war in Europe. From what I have read, they faced this day with mixed feelings. Many were actually excited, relieved that the day had come at last, full of anticipation, trained and ready to do their bit. Mixed with that of course the apprehension, the sheer terror, the fear of the unknown, and inevitably the resignation that they might not survive.

Today is my D- Day of sorts. My Delivery Day. It would be insensitive to compare myself in any way to our heroic predecessors, but I admit to experiencing a measure of all the emotions they must have gone through. The last few days, weeks, months, have all built up to this point, and my feelings have ridden the highs and lows of the choppy voyage. Today my books arrive. It is delivery day. No going back. Today I get to hold the book, look at it lovingly, feel it, caress it, smell it (yes, Ruth Leigh, I will smell it!) gaze at wonder at this miracle of a book baby, and it will be REAL. I will finally be able to say ‘I am a published author of adult fiction. Look my name is on the book!’

I am overwhelmingly excited, have been for a long time, and it has absolutely reached it’s peak today. Anticipation of this day has been a constant drain on my emotional energy, and I am incredibly relieved that it has finally come! I am ready for it. The mailing lists, the packaging, address labels, fancy wrappings, perfectly designed postcards. We are ready, poised, our hands ready to wrap, and our car ready to deliver! But I am also ever so slightly terrified too, because today marks the day when my precious baby of a book will actually go out to the far flung corners of the nation (yes, even Scotland!) and people will actually be able to READ it. It is so unsettling, waiting to know if what you have written is going to be considered worthy of the price paid for it. Whether it really is good enough to sit squarely on a bookshelf among other real books. Whether it will bless and encourage, or frustrate and bore. This is the fear of the unknown, and I will take a deep breath with every padded envelope I fill, and pray that the book wings it’s way into the hands of someone who will love it. Or who needs to read it. There is also resignation. I can’t go back now. I have done it. I have written a book, had it published, sold and sent out copies. Whether it is loved or whether it is hated is out of my control. And I will survive. Exhausted maybe, but very much alive!

This day might well mark a turning point in my life, only God knows that, but it certainly feels significant. And I intend to enjoy every moment of it, as I wait and see what might come next. Thank you for being my ally.

You can order your own signed pre-publication copy of The Healing now at http://www.joymargetts.com three weeks before the booksellers have it.

You can also sign up to receive my newsletter, with sneak previews of the story, and special offers, on the website. If you enjoyed reading this blog please consider following me.

The Healing will be officially published by Instant Apostle on 19th March 2021.

THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE BOOK

Today is the day that I was supposed to be holding the long awaited first printed hard copy of my book The Healing in my hands. In fact several boxes of copies of the book were due to be delivered to my doorstep today – until I got the disappointing news last week that due to the Suffolk snow, there would be another week to wait. It’s a wild, wet, windy day here in North Wales, so probably a good thing that the books aren’t coming. I do have great respect for all postal workers and couriers, especially on days like this.

I’ll admit to feeling a bit flat this week, the excitement and anticipation ebbing somewhat. But when people worldwide are suffering so much loss and hardship, what is the delay of a few (hundred) books, in the bigger scheme of things? So today I am choosing to focus on the positives about this journey in publishing, and there are so, so many. A huge thing that I am becoming more and more thankful for is the people this adventure has brought into my life.

In all the best adventure stories, the hero or heroine might be crucial to the success of the mission, but not without the help of others. The Lord of the Rings would not be so magnificent a story, if Frodo did not have his Samwise, and Gandulf, and the fellowship of the ring, and the elves, dwarves, riders, trees… you get my point!

 Now, I’m no hobbit, although I do have quite big feet (not hairy ones!) but like Frodo, I have realised that my adventure is not just about me, and I really can’t do to this on my own. I have those in my life like Samwise – special close friends, family, those who have known and loved me a long time, and have been so good at encouraging me, praying for me, giving me a kick when I’ve needed it, sticking with me. I have also discovered a whole new world of writer friends, through the Association of Christian Writers, History Writers and just by reaching out to other authors in the same boat as me. One of those new friends emailed me when she heard my books had been delayed and suggested a zoom call to commiserate and pray together. So lovely! These things make this adventure so much richer and are priceless to me. Wordy chats, FABCHOW, Instagram pods – if these sound like a foreign language, they would have been to me once – now they are just evidence of a growing number (not quite hoards, but almost) of people who are wanting to be involved in my journey. Add to that the wonderful people at Instant Apostle, who have made this adventure possible, my social media followers, and you precious ones who have signed up to my email newsletter! I am truly surrounded by lots of wonderful, genuinely lovely, people.

So THANK YOU – to all of you, whatever role you have taken in this adventure. Thank you for the messages, texts, zoom chats, calls, prayers, invitations to share. Thank you especially if you have believed in me enough to already pre-order a copy of the illusive book! And thank you God, who started me out on this amazing adventure and has stayed close every step of the way. I could not have got this far without you – all.

The Healing will be published by Instant Apostle on 19th March. You can pre-order your own signed copy now at http://www.joymargetts.com, and these will be available (hopefully!) from 26th February. You can also sign up to receive my newsletter, sneak previews of the story, and special offers on the website. If you enjoyed reading this blog please consider following me. Elves, dwarves, hobbits, wizards – all welcome!

Have you ever found yourself signing up to something you didn’t intend to? Maybe to take part in some ridiculously crazy charity fundraiser? Of to run or host an event? Or to sit on some committee or other? Often we find ourselves unintentionally committing ourselves to things we later regret. Perhaps we were ‘volunteered’ by a well meaning friend, or felt bad because no-one else was offering, or perhaps we just couldn’t find the words to say ‘no’. A simple word, but one very many of us have difficulty enunciating.

I once found myself signing up to cater for a friend’s wedding reception. I have no experience in professional catering, nor am I an events planner. But I do have organisational skills and I can delegate quite effectively. This particular wedding reception was provided by our church and actually involved getting others to sign up to provide dishes for a buffet (this was before the days of hygiene certificates). It also involved setting up the hall, laying the tables and decorating them, providing staff to wait on tables, and clearing up afterwards. It went well enough, and everyone helped magnificently, but it was still an extremely stressful and exhausting day. I swore I would never do it again. A year later, I was asked by another friend to organise his wedding reception along similar lines… and found I could not say no… except when he asked if his guests, dressed in all their wedding finery, could be served Spaghetti Bolognese!

I have great admiration for those men and women who signed up to follow Jesus. What did they actually know about Him when He called them? What was it that made them leave their homes, families, and jobs to wander from one end of the country to the other with Him? Was what they experienced with Him, the things they heard Him teach, the miracles they witnessed, the amazing things they did themselves under His anointing, worth all that it would cost  them – loss of security, wealth, reputation and for many of them, ultimately their lives. I think they would have said yes! It was worth it all, just to be with Him, to journey with Him. Witnessing His resurrection, and His ascension. Knowing without a shadow of a doubt that He was their Messiah, their Saviour, their King. And Jesus called them because He needed them, to learn from Him, but also to be His friends.

Today, I want to ask you to consider signing up to something. I am not going to bully you, or blackmail you, and it won’t cost you anything. You won’t have to leave your home or your security, nor will you be overwhelmed by the stress of the commitment you have made. What you will do, is find yourself part of my journey. I would love you to become a follower of mine! I’m not anyone special, but I do need the support of my friends as I navigate this new journey of becoming a writer. If you want to travel with me I would like to invite you to visit my website www.joymargetts.com, and sign up to receive my newsletter. I have set this up so that my team of subscribers will be the first to hear updates about my book and my writing, and the first to have access to special offers. To celebrate the launch of my book, when my subscriber list hits 25, I will select a subscriber randomly to receive a free signed copy of The Healing. In the first few emails you receive from me you will also receive exclusive sneak previews of extracts from the book, to whet your appetite. You will receive regular emails but not so that they overwhelm you; if you regret signing up – you can just unsubscribe!

So can I ask you? Please Sign up, Sign up! 😊

The Contract

Sending off your manuscript is like standing at the school gate, watching the child you have brought into the world, nurtured and protected, wander away from you towards the schoolroom, to the start of a life no longer fully dependant on you. You have to let go, but it is with a mixture of emotions; pride and joy, yes, but tinged with loss and anxiety. Will they be ok? Will I be ok? A work written from your own heart is a piece of you, and it is a weird thing, giving your ‘child’ into the hands of strangers, knowing that it might come back to you changed. It took a great deal of determination to actually press the send button on that particular email to the publisher. But then it was gone, and I was left adrift slightly. Wandering around aimlessly for the next few days, wondering what to do with myself (apart from the housework, cooking and ironing, of course, which never miraculously disappeared, unfortunately).

But I needn’t have worried. My child was cherished and taken good care of. I received a reply in little over a week after sending the manuscript in. ‘We feel that the manuscript has real potential, and we would be delighted to offer you a contract for publication…’

What?! No! Really? I must have read that email three times, before shouting up to my husband in his home office – ‘I think I might have been offered a publishing contract!’ I don’t know what I expected to feel. I thought I would be overjoyed, elated, dance around the room happy. Instead, I felt suddenly overwhelmed and terrified, and confused, and perhaps ever so slightly excited. And then just thankful! As I acknowledged to God, that this was His doing, completely, and I would submit to His will, with a growing amazement at His goodness to me.

A few phone calls later, with a very patient and understanding editor, and the contract was signed. My dearest friend witnessed my signature. ‘Look,’ she said…’under where you have to sign is the title ‘Author’. You are a real author now!’ She was so excited, but it still hadn’t quite sunk in for me…