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I write about what matters...to you---
women, wives and moms---
about your family, faith and future.
I write about what's hard, what helps and what heals.
I show you how it's done. And not done.
I hold your hand as you find what matters to the Savior.
And let go of those things that mattered to you, but not to Him.
I write about what matters...to Him.
               Sonya Contreras

Writing Article Index
Click on the article title to read the entire article.

Why I Write

The last several years I’ve felt impressed by God to write. Twenty-some years of Christmas journaling of our family’s adventures prepared me for the writing that God would ask me to do next. I felt as Moses, prepared in Egypt for something.

The seed that took root in my mind began to sprout as I learned of current research that answered Biblical archaeological questions.

Most scholars can verify the Biblical account of Jewish history all the way back to King David. Not that we need to prove the Bible’s truthfulness by other sources, but skeptics remind pastors and seminary students that the truths of the Bible are not substantiated elsewhere before King David. Doubt and unbelief holds the minds of many as to the truthfulness of the early part of the Bible.

 

 

The Face that Shows
I just spent hours setting up Twitter to communicate with people that I don’t know, never met, and probably never will see in person. It seems a paradox that we can find ‘followers’ by just posting a picture and a short description.

I find fulfillment and joy reading to my boys, listening to my husband, cooking for my family, watching my boys’ baseball games and helping with their interests. They are people with faces, personality and heart ties. I do not want to lose that contact with reality—that I am their mom and am needed at home for their hobbies, their support, their activities.

The face on Twitter can be happy, nice and encouraging all the time. The face at home struggles to be happy when I’m listening to my youngest SLOWLY sound out his words as he reads to me, or I discover a prize that our cat left on the floor in the middle of the night, or I’ve told my son to ‘be kind’ for the third time. The faces of ‘what it seems’ and ‘what is’ remind me too often of the disparity between the person needing Christ’s redemptive power now and the image of Christ being conformed in me.

Do You Believe in Yourself?
As an aspiring writer, I read articles on how to build a platform and get my name in the public's eye where being known is important.

I wonder how John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, written in a prison cell, circulated through all time to all people without a platform?

Do I believe in what I write? Absolutely, or I would press the DELETE button before I waste your time with the PUBLISH button.  But does believing in oneself constitute selling oneself to the public? According to the publishers and agents that is what must be done. I am learning not only that I must produce an image but also a following of that image.

I am an old-fashioned believer in the image of the Creator God Who has bestowed on me His image which gives me the worth of who I am. I do not have to DO anything to merit it, in fact, I am unable to do enough to deserve it. The gift is mine. The gift is all the more precious because it is unmerited, undeserved, unearned. The worth comes because of Whose I am, not what I do.

The Publishing Process
MARKETING: One major step toward publishing any book is creating a following so publishers will consider the book capable of earning money for them (they are a business). The marketing of the book lies more in the hands of the author than the publisher---and thus my need to generate a ‘following.’  So this process has delayed publishing. 

Becoming technically savvy is mandatory to achieve this marketing status. The learning curve for me has been exponential. Learning about SEO, twitter, and designing a website have stretched me to learn and grow.  

 

Calling All Reviewers!
What is a reviewer?
Someone who will read I Have Called You By Name and tell others what they think of it.
What do you get?
Legally, I cannot pay for reviews, but I can give you the book free.
If you would like it signed, I would be glad to sign it.
What must you do?
A. 
Read the book.
B. Write at least four sentences about the book.

How Can You Help?

If you have enjoyed I Have Called You by Name, please help me spread the word! You can:
1. Read the book.
2. Post a two sentence review (how you liked it and why) on
    www.amazon.com,
    www.goodreads.com,
3. Tell others about my book on Facebook, Twitter or other social media.
4. Donate your finished book to a church library.
5. Tell your pastor about it.