Steve Laube and I were discussing recent contracts and that conversation further underscored a thought that led me to write this post. Success is not about us, but about our authors.
- Thank you, Authors! For laboring over your books. Each day, you must sit in front of a blank white screen and fill it with words. Good words. Words that will touch, inspire, convict, and uplift.
- Thank you, Authors! For asking us to be the ones to open doors for you. Yes, we work with the editors and publishers. And yes, we stand behind you, putting both your name and our name on the line when we submit your work. But first, you had to trust us with your hard-earned words.
- Thank you, Authors! For caring about your readers. We appreciate the desire to please them, and the passion you bring to your work.
- Thank you, Authors! For your faith journey. Because when all is said and done (and read), the Lord is the One we are trying to please. Whether you write for the Christian market or the general market, you are writing with your Christian worldview as the core of your being.
Your turn:
What current author would you like to thank, in particular?
What author inspires you most?
What would you say to an author you’d like to thank?
Twenty-five Fantastic Quotes About Words and Writers
Hi, Tamela! I thank Jeff Gerke for writing delightful books about the craft. He makes learning fun. I thank Allen Arnold and Sarah Beth Marr for writing about creating with God. I also thank established authors for taking time to encourage and support new ones. These are the ones who’ve spent an insane amount of time with my words and encouraged me greatly: Rachel Hauck, Nadine Brandes, Katherine Reay, Lorraine Beatty, Teri Wilson, Kara Isaac, Candee Fick, Tosca Lee, Ron Sandison, Carrie Turansky, and Narelle Atkins. Thank you 🙂
Great post Tamela! (And thank you agents for standing behind, with and for us!)
Thank you … CS Lewis. For firing my young writer’s mind with exquisite language and incredible ideas.
Thank you … Frank Peretti. For showing fiction could work with faith and blazing a trail when there wasn’t one.
Thank you … James L Rubart. For inspiring me to be a better writer with great stories and a vast bank of knowledge in promoting them.
I’d like to thank Carol Ashby, Beth Vogt, Jeanne Takenaka, Jay Stout, and Jennifer Major for their inspiring writing, friendship, and encouragement.
My writing arc is nearly done; without them it would have been far shorter. Thanks, guys!
I’d like to thank Dani Pettrey. Her Alaskan Courage series pushed me to try things I was afraid to do. (No joke.) 🙂 Dee Henderson and Terri Blackstock for turning me into a reader. And finally Lynette Eason for her amazing stories of hope and courage, and her encouraging words about my writing at the ACFW conference.
Aw, thanks, Sami!! I appreciate those kind words. 🙂
I love these words of thanks and praise for authors! Keep them coming!
I would like to thank DiAnn Mills for not only her great books but for being an amazing mentor and friend. Her support and encouragement has been invaluable to me! Also, to Lynette Eason, Sandra Orchard, Ted Dekker, Steven James for their great books. I devour them in hopes they will help me to become a better writer.
And thanks to you, Tamela for being my agent! You rock!
Awww, thanks!
How special! What would we do without our encouragers and our examples. I’d have given up long ago. The first to believe I had a message that needed telling was my mother, Evelyn Brumbaugh. That was a sweet goodness to me. She is now fading health wise, but I still read my blog to her, and she takes joy in it.
I appreciate many authors. but C.S. Lewis is at the top. I reach for one of his books when the day is a bit dry.
Most of all, I thank God for his book of life, and his gift of life. His words inspire truth, joy, and peace every day. I’m especially grateful for this.
This is going to sound like I’m currying favor, but I want to thank the writers who post here. I want to thank you for stepping up, so that I can learn who you are, sample your work, and find out what other writers who are Christians are doing. There’s fellowship here.
The writers who inspire me are many, but Margaret Atwood and Elizabeth Strout are at the top of the list right now.
So precious, LK! Thank YOU for posting and for sharing!
I would like to thank Jeff Gerke. His book “The Art and Craft of Christian Fiction” was a major influence in getting me started writing fiction. I would also like to deeply thank Bethany Kaczmarek for editing my first novel (after it was rejected). I learned SO MUCH from her insights and suggestions. Her edits were a priceless education on the craft of fiction and worth every penny!
I would like to thank DiAnn Mills, Lynette Eason, Patricia Bradley, and Brandilyn Collins. There are many others, but these stand out in my mind at the moment. A special thanks to you, Tamela!
Thank you for the post Tamela. I am thankful for Bryan Davis. I just love the story of his faith on his author journey. I’m thankful for him and Wayne Thomas Batson for taking time to give me advice, and Ted Dekker for putting so much into his writing and not bowing to culture.
This was super sweet, Tamela. My heart melted as I read your blog post. And we writers thank you AGENTS for your patience, time, and months of advice, and hard work to help us writers become the best writers we can be.
I’d like to thank Sarah Sundin for her encouragement and advice in helping me grow as a writer. I learn so much from reading her books.
The author that inspires me the most … I’d like to thank Judith Pella, for her Daughters of Fortune series, the first WWII series I read that really inspired me to have depth to my writing.
I’d like to thank Francine Rivers for her testimony as a writer. I sat next to her at one of the breakfasts at Mount Hermon a few weeks ago, and just listening to her was such a blessing. And I’d read Redeeming Love several years ago, and had always wanted to thank her personally for the influence her writing had on me then. I was so glad I finally got to thank her!
Awww, thank you!!!
Rebekah, I love Bodie’s Writer to Writer. Have you read it?
Tamela, You certainly have the ability to put a new twist on a topic and inspire me to drill deeper into it than I had before! What a good exercise in acquiring empathy to examine the thank-worthy characteristics of authors we read!
I would thank Doris Kearns Goodwin for having the courage to write something completely new and fresh and riveting about an already iconic figure–Abraham Lincoln, and put years of research into making sure every detail was accurate (Team of Rivals). She set the bar high. I would thank historian Fawn Brodie (No Man Knows My History) and researchers/ educators Linda King Newell and Valeen Tippetts Avery (Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith) who took great risk to write meticulously researched biographies, but did it anyway, and paid a high price at the time. Without their fearless commitment, a great deal of valuable history might have been lost. I would thank Grace Livingston Hill for…well, for just everything that introduced first my mother, then me, to well-researched and beautifully written Christian fiction many years ago.
And to acknowledge the most recent book I read, I would thank Mesu Andrews (Miriam) for making Christian historical fiction come alive in ways that challenge the mind and senses as well as the spirit.
Thank you for the compliment, LInda!
Thank you, Tamela, for encouraging your authors with that ever-present “you can do it” spirit of yours. And thank you, Linda, for your generous compliments and for being an obviously avid reader who appreciates the sea of words so painstakingly placed before her. Blessings on you both!
Give me an M…
Give me an E…
I’m always happy to root for you, Mesu!
I am thankful that Authors share their stories with us.
Thank you, Tamela, for working tonopen those doors. I’m grateful for Janette Oke and Catherine Marshall for showing the industry that there’s a place for Christian fiction.
Love those authors, Kim! I am so thrilled to be here with you!
Thank you — for some reason I guess I needed to hear this tonight (don’t tell anyone I cried).
An author (past) I will one day thank is C. S. Lewis. I read his children’s stories The Chronicles of Narnia when I was 17. I was not a Christian, but a pragmatic agnostic philosopher… then, I gave my life to Christ when I was 19.
Can’t leave out the best Author, the Author of Life, the Word of God, the Perfector of our Faith … Father/Son/Holy Spirit … His words are new every morning.
Christian authors I want to thank for their inspiration are Linda Rodante, Dale Amidei, Karen Kingsbury, Dani Pettrey, Dee Henderson (and several others).
I also want to thank you, all of the hard workers, readers, editors, agents there who uplift us, encourage us, words of wisdom and unbelievable support. Your webinars, books, podcasts … and the seminars. Your work is tireless and I am fatigued thinking about it!
-claire
It’s a huge sacrifice of time to write a book, like you’ve mentioned. Every time an author signs a contract, it means they commit to sitting their butt in the chair, researching, sitting in front of a screen, and giving up a big chunk of their time. Not only that but edits, more edits, and looking over galleys plus promo, promo, promo. Whew! It’s a wonder so many Christian fiction writers continue! I thank God that those who do are being obedient to Christ to put those stories out there. Thanks for the post, Tamela!
I’d especially like to thank, Pepper Basham, Sondra Kraak, Joanne Bischof, Lissa Price, and Deeanne Gist. Each has taken time out of their busy lives to speak with me, answer questions, and share the wisdom that can only be garnered through experience.
The list of authors who have inspired me is far too long, so I’ll list the one that pops to mind first since I recently had the honor of meeting her: Francine Rivers. I know I’m not alone in saying that her Redeeming Love novel opened my eyes to what historical Christian romance could be.