Dear Friends,

This last weekend, I did something I promised myself I wouldn’t do when it came to my writing…

I almost gave up.

Not writing itself. The business side. The posting reels and prepping drafts and worrying about budgets and finding editors and cover designers and finalizing publishing timelines.

I wanted to quit.

Let me explain...

It’s been an emotionally charged summer for me. Lots of wonderful things happened. Some scary things happened, too. Underneath it all was this tension, this building pressure, because I was focusing more intently on building my readership and selling more books.

It’s what we’re supposed to do. After all, if no one hears about your books, no one buys your books. And if no one buys your books, no one READS them. The money part is nice. Everyone dreams of being able to make a decent living doing what they love. And that’s definitely a part of the dream for me. But finding the readers – that’s the most important part of the dream.

That pressure, though, that feeling of worry over whether or not all the extra work will pay off in the end, that was starting to get to me. I started writing on “just for fun projects” (I came up with TWO additional story ideas on top of Project 13) and working on them late into every night while cramming my afternoons with drafting and editing. I realized I was burying myself in the writing part to avoid having to deal with the pressures of the publishing part.

Then last Sunday, I got called out.

A loved one had the hard conversation with me and helped me see just how obsessed I had become. In an attempt to numb the pains of building a business, I was pushing too hard. And others were starting to feel my absence.

I looked that loved one in the eye, tears forming, and said, “Maybe I should quit.”

And I meant it.

What if I just stopped caring? What if I went back to dabbling in writing on occasion and kept it just for me? Why put in so much work and effort if I wasn’t reaching hundreds or thousands? It would be so much easier if I didn’t have to try and balance things. If I could just give in and give up. Not from a place of faith or conviction, but from a place of anger and sadness and self-pity and doubt.

That’s when that person told me to push the brakes. That I didn’t have to give up, just stop working 80-hour work weeks on a part-time job. Maybe stop looking for a quick fix for something that is meant to be grown slow and steady. I didn’t have to quit. I just needed to make some adjustments.

I am so grateful to that loved one for speaking out in truth lovingly. Some of their words were hard to hear. But I needed to hear them.

That night, I shared my heavy heart with some Christian writer friends. And they shared in my struggle. I was reminded first of all how hard it is to find writers in real life. Sure, we all have friends online who share our passion. But meeting them at church or in our neighborhoods? It almost never happens. That kind of isolation is hard on us.

The second thing I was reminded of was that my writing isn’t something I’m doing for me. It isn’t to promote my name or enjoy the rush of being ‘famous’. I’m writing as a ministry. So I should treat it with the reverence ministry deserves. And I should recognize it for the spiritual battleground that it is.

That also means that I should expect the occasional attack of the enemy. He would love nothing more than for me to stop doing something God has put on my heart and equipped me to serve in. And those invasive doubts – those worries and insecurities, the desire to give up and take the easy way out – those aren’t there to push me closer to God. And I shouldn’t listen to them.

I realized that I need Him in every moment of writing, because it IS a ministry and it IS what I have been called to do right now.

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

Colossians 3:17 (ESV)

You may not be a writer. But we all have passions and ministries that we have been called to serve in. Some are quite public (like trying to be a published author). Some a quite private (like being a mom and a wife). Both need prayer daily. Both need grace and a willingness to trust and work for long-term fruit. I pray that whatever God has called you to, you will do it today with faith that He who called you is faithful and will complete what He has started in you.

Fall is my FAVORITE time of the year for reading and writing. And this year I've actually felt the shift in the weather! Subtle. Slow. It’s there, though. And after years of drought and mind-numbingly hot Septembers, this has me crazy inspired to work on my stories!

This week, I started final self-edits on Swan Song Book 1. Once this set of edits is completed, the book will go off to my developmental editor. And after that, it will be going to beta readers. Which means…it’s almost ready!

Meanwhile, I wrote up to the last four scenes of Book 2 when I realized I needed to go back and fix a bunch of stuff (or nothing would make sense). So I am also working on re-plotting. I want to make it the best it can be. Which in this case means stopping and starting over again. I’ll be keeping a lot of what I wrote (fortunately). I keep reminding myself that this is all part of the process. Book 1 needed some rewriting. It stands to reason Book 2 does, too.

(Wanna learn more about my writing process? Click the link below for my Authortube channel!)

https://www.youtube.com/@joannag.holden4465

This month I will be starting the process of mapping my budget for publishing these books, as well as the hunt for the right editors, cover designers, and release team! While there is no official release date, I DO plan to release Book 1 in summer of ’26. (That would have Book 4, the final book, releasing spring of ’27, the same month that the book takes place in; how cool would that be?!)

My goal is to have these books in readers’ hands as soon as possible. Dates may change. Words may get rewritten. But the goal stays the same.

That’s all for now, dear friends. Until next month!

Joanna

Want to continue the conversation? Feel free to email me at joannagholden@gmail.com or DM me on Social Media (@authorjoannagholden). 

Clean, wholesome Christian fantasy for preteen girls.

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