Publication Update, Part 2 From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for joining me today for the second part of this publication update. I guess that’s what I get for waiting so long!

I need to rewind a bit to lead into where we are going next with this update. About a year and a half ago, I had met Nan Rinella, the coordinator for the C.S. Lewis workshops, at a Starbucks when my first book, A Cup of Encouragement for the Day” came out. Her joy for the Lord and my passion to share the Lord connected us instantly and we stayed in touch, but it wasn’t until three months after I met her that she wrote me to tell me she loved my book and that she was going to quote from it in her teaching for the upcoming workshop. She invited me to attend and said I could sell the book there.

Well, it just wasn’t the right time – how many times have we had to hear that – and so I didn’t go. But this year, as the conference drew close, she got a hold of me again and invited me. I asked her if the offer to sell books still stood because by then I would have three! She told me she would bet back with me. To make that long story short, through a series of what I deem divine, I would up having a conversation with the president/founder of the C.S. Lewis Foundation, and learned that their headquarters is in Redlands, California, just around the corner from us.

But wait, it gets better! Through that connection something else has transpired: On November 15th, CPM will move its office, which is currently in our home, in with C.S. Lewis Foundation Headquarters! I know, I can’t believe it either! What a huge blessing and a ginormous reminder that He hears the cries of our heart. We had only begun praying about this a couple months prior and I thought that was something way down the road.

So in between the event, writing, blogging, taking care of little Bryden, I’ve had this mental note: Need to begin studying this C.S. Lewis guy! I don’t mind telling you I am totally ignorant about him! Well, I’ve only gotten to scratch at the surface because of all that life is requiring of me at this point, but I headed to this conference hopeful!

Now, let’s get back to the conference. After Nan’s class about how to pitch an agent, we sat and talked for a bit about her experience with Agent Steve Laube. All of a sudden her eyes pop open and she says, “Steve needs a helper; I didn’t assign him a helper.” She turned and said, “You’re his helper,” and began to rattle off my duties, and then sent me on my way to the next class. He was due in any moment and he would be teaching at 3:30.

At lunch, I asked Nan, “So how does one get an appointment with Steve?” She looked at me as though I had just asked a pretty stupid question: “You make an appointment. You have to sign up!”
I popped up and out of my chair and ran to the registration desk only to find there were no more appointments left! When I told Nan she said don’t worry about it. You’re his helper!

Well, as it turned out, Steve was actually late to class! He had fought the Houston traffic the entire way from the airport, which is an hour and a half away. He came straight to class without checking in, getting water, collecting $200, did not pass go, et cetera! I was immediately at ease as Nan introduced us. His class was about the dos and don’ts of pitching, and he shared some of his experiences with some outlandish pitches. It was kind of like listening to an American Idol version gone bad, you know, those people who think they can sing but can’t hold a tune in a bucket let alone in and out their mouth! Anyway, he was quite engaging and real and I liked him immediately!

Going back to my room Friday night, though I had no scheduled appointment with him, I really did have a peace as the words of Jeremiah 29:11 floated to the surface of my heart and traveled to my mind. I knew if I was supposed to get that time with him, I would; if not, it wasn’t or isn’t my time.
Saturday morning, after our service and before classes began, I was going out to the hallway and ran into him. He was with a couple of other guys but I comfortably stopped to talk with him for a moment, letting him know if he needed anything to let me know. And he said, “Yeah, and we’re supposed to talk sometime today.”

That sometime turned out to be right then. Whew, no time to get nervous; or so one would think. But I did and my nerves hit me all at once like a huge wave that rocked me and left me with cotton mouth. I began somewhat clumsily, and then the rest of it was an out-of-body experience as I sat with him for almost 25 minutes sharing my heart to encourage hearts, one heart at a time. See, an agent is the instrument used to negotiate with a large publishing house that distributes in mass quantity, getting books out on the shelves and into the hands and hearts. It’s not that my work would be over; it just wouldn’t feel like I’m trying to push this gigantic life-sized boulder up a mountain!

Again, there’s so much I could say about that time with him, and the blessing of a couple of other opportunities I had to get to know him, but let me just close this publication update with this: He took my novel, “Back to Single,” and will be reading it to see if I have the kind of writing talent he wants to work with. The fact that he spent that time with me was a blessing in and of itself; that he took my first novel is the cup of hope I will be drinking from as I let go and let God while he reads it and they decide where it goes! I am learning to relax with the gift He has given me, trusting He will use it when, where and how HE chooses. I just need to keep working at my gift.

Who knows what the next publication update holds!

Evinda