The Story Behind The Story - Flowers

I never thought that I would be capable of writing a book. 

I am a mother and a wife; I never completed any further education other than year twelve, and, although I had loved the idea of writing, who had the time? Ideas would often float into my head about what I thought would be a good story, and once or twice I tried to write them down. But nothing ever came of it and life got in the way. 

And then, slowly, I found myself feeling like there were other voices in my head - four distinct people and, no, I wasn’t going crazy.  Four women with different opinions, ideas, and values. Some I resonated with and others I didn’t. They had names I didn’t choose and families I didn’t imagine. I didn’t know what to do with this but when I found myself thinking, ‘how would Caroline handle this situation?’ or ‘what would Beth do?’ I did start to feel a little crazy.  I knew they weren’t real but I had to do something.  So one day I started writing and I didn’t stop until I had their story out on paper.

What a relief it was to have them out of my head!  What a joy to hear people say they enjoyed reading the story I had created and that, on occasion, it had helped them in their real life. For a time these girls were gone. In the meantime I wrote a second book that is with my publisher now. 

And then COVID-19 hit the world.

I felt angry at the way our government was handling the situation.  I was, and still am, very concerned for the economy in Australia and worldwide. I felt powerless which is not something I normally feel and panic began to set in - even though my family and I were one of the blessed ones who have not been affected financially. 

And then Beth, Caroline, Joan and Jill, who had been starting to crowd my brain again, came to my rescue.  Their children are older now and have lives of their own.  I wanted to find out what they had been up to in my absence.  So I started writing again.  While being in lockdown in Victoria I am writing like a fiend! The story is spilling out of me and I am powerless to stop it. Will it be any good?  I don’t know.  Will you want to read it?  I hope so.

Shortly, my second novel will be available. It is different to ‘You don’t bring me flowers anymore’, but I hope you will enjoy it. I will keep you informed of the progress with publishing and I would love it if you gave it a chance.  It might surprise you finding out about some of the things happening in the world and the church that you had no idea were taking place.

Stay healthy and have hope.  Through all this God is in control and he wins.

Bec