Fantastic Stories, Real Life Prophecies
During the past four years, I have discovered that my fantasy and real-life stories are often deeply and strangely intertwined.
Fiona’s Choice is a prime example.
I wrote Fiona’s Choice in February 2020, as a companion story to my YA fantasy novel AVALON LOST. It’s a tale about a wife and mother who is forced to make an impossible choice in the face of sudden tragedy.
Three weeks after completing it, my family (and our world!) was bombarded with a series of tragic events. Within a one-month timespan, I lost my beloved grandmother to COVID-19, both my parents contracted the virus, and my husband was hospitalized days before the due date of our second child. I spent Easter Triduum alone with my two-year-old son, praying my baby girl wouldn’t come early and I’d have to drive to the hospital all by myself.
Suddenly Fiona’s Choice, which had seemed a bit dark and serious as I was writing it, now felt like a divine warning or prophecy. Like my character Fiona, my life had been going pretty well—until the people I relied on most were inexplicably stripped away. Like Fiona, the choices I made that spring and summer had lasting consequences, both for myself and those closest to me.
Writing Poetry like the Bard
I had originally planned to write the sequel to AVALON LOST in 2020. Once the pandemic started, however, I found I couldn’t write it. It seemed frivolous to write a fantasy novel when people all around me were fighting for their health and their lives.
“But you love writing your fantasy,” my sister protested, when I told her the news.
“Yes, of course I do,” I said. “But this isn’t the right time for it. I think the Lord is leading me in a new direction.”
I wasn’t sure what that direction was, but I guessed it might have something to do with sharing my convent story.
Black Plague.
With a newborn and toddler in the house, and no outside help because of quarantine, I didn’t have time to write a book. Instead, I composed poetry.
I got the idea from a book I read about William Shakespeare. According to the book, Shakespeare wrote epic poetry for his patrons when the playhouses were closed during the Black Plague.
If Shakespeare wrote poetry during the Plague, maybe I can write some pandemic poetry, too.
One late summer evening, all the writing stars aligned: my 3-year-old son, newborn daughter, and husband all fell asleep at the same time. For about thirty minutes, nobody needed anything from their Mommy. I hastily turned the page in my daily planner and composed a poem based on the theme of my friend Lisa’s new website, “Monastery in My Heart”. In the poem, I tried to capture the grief of a woman who has left the convent but is still in love with the Lord: “Once outside the convent, you still long to be inside it…”
That summer I also wrote “Untouched”, a poem about my lovely, lonely year in central Texas: “Loneliness is that hollow state that must be undone…”
A Precious Inheritance
Then in November of 2020, my mother gave each of her five children a share in my grandmother’s inheritance.
“I want to use the inheritance money for something really special,” I told my husband. “Something to honor my grandmother’s memory.”
“It’s your inheritance,” James answered. “You can use it however you want.”
After careful reflection, I chose to use the funds to jumpstart my writing career. I purchased a work desk for the basement, a new laptop for writing stories, and a website and webhosting platform from Bluehost. I also hired an outstanding editor, Ruth, to meet with me over the phone to talk about AVALON LOST.
My writing picked up speed after that. On January 21, 2021, my friend Lisa posted the “Monastery in My Heart” poem on her blog. The next week, I shared the post on Facebook:
I had hardly touched my social media accounts since returning home from the convent. Although I felt certain God had asked me to leave the convent to pursue my married vocation, I didn’t have the confidence yet to share my testimony publicly. From the outside, I imagined that I looked like either a conservative “holy roller” or a disappointing convent reject.
However, my first Facebook post received an overwhelmingly positive response. The post collected 100 reactions, 3 shares, and 49 comments from 27 different people. My friend Lisa’s website also received a surge in views and subscribers. And the poem’s popularity continues: as of the date of this post, the “Monastery in My Heart” poem has received a thousand views on 3 different websites. I had written something that other people were not talking or writing about, but that needed to be expressed.
And many of those people wanted to read more.
How to Blog Your Book
That winter, I read Nina Amir’s How to Blog Your Book, a title about systematically creating blog posts to tell your story, build your audience, and create your book. Following Nina’s advice, I laid out a detailed blueprint of blog posts that covered the time periods before, during, and after my convent experience. I posted weekly on Lisa’s blog and spread the news on Facebook and Instagram. I also categorized my convent letters, keepsakes, and journals, so that I could describe my experience as accurately as possible.
At the beginning, my blog was a bright spot in the darkness of pandemic lockdown and quarantine. I loved supporting my friend Lisa and her website, while also sharing my personal faith testimony with our readers.
And when I created my own website in November 2021, I added even more content and features, like audio posts, artwork, and themed webpages. My creative nonfiction seemed to be taking off. But as I entered deeper into my convent story, writing the blog became much more difficult.
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Thank you so much for reading! Please check in next week for the next twist in my writing journey. 🙂
And now, as a special bonus for subscribers, I am delighted to share this beautiful cover design for AVALON LOST, my debut YA fantasy novel! Coming soon in 2024! 🙂
AVALON LOST is for readers who want a fantasy adventure novel with noble characters, treacherous villains, magic portals, Scottish vibes, first love, and lots of epic sword fights! ⚔️⚔️⚔️
Available soon in e-book and print on Amazon, Apple Books, and your public library!
Begin your adventure today by subscribing to my fantasy blog, Heart & Sword, for the latest book release news.
Thank you all, and God bless!
