The Writing Journey of The Spider and The Butterfly

Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought my book would take five years to complete, especially since it’s a children’s story! But no matter how long the road, no matter what challenges I have faced, I made the best decision for my dream to come true… I chose to never give up. And neither should you!

As mentioned in my very first blog, dated 23 November 2018, the inspiration for my story came to me in October 2012 and I only started putting ideas to paper in 2013. From there it took me four long years to complete my first draft manuscript which I submitted to publishers in September 2017. I really doubt it will take you nearly as many years, but if your story takes this long, or even longer, don’t let anything scare you off. The most important part of writing is to simply start, and with diligence, the rest will follow.

So what took me so long? For me there were many reasons, but I think the biggest challenge is that I had to follow my dream on a part time basis, using only weekends and holiday time to write. I have a full time career in the logistics and supply chain environment, which is a very demanding job. After coming home from a long hard day’s work I was mentally exhausted, and it is not always easy to put on your creative hat and just start writing.  Exhaustion is not conducive to creativity so most of my writing was limited to weekends, and as a result the core of the book was only completed at the end of 2015. In October 2015, at the age of forty three, I took a massive leap of faith and resigned from a very secure job as Key Accounts Manager at a global freight forwarding company. After receiving answers to prayer, I decided to join a dynamic company called Cornerstone as an independent contractor on a commission only basis, which is high risk and required a lot of dedication and commitment. I was still in the same industry, but this was a whole new challenge because I had to start from the beginning and learn an entirely new way of working.

My writing happened very rarely during this time because my focus was ensuring I succeed in my new role. Then there are loads of other challenges life throws at you; busy schedules, emotional drawbacks, financial setbacks, and sometimes, a lack of drive. But then there are also happy occasions. For me, it was planning my wedding on 29 April 2016. It was one of the best days of my life, but it did require a lot of my time, and I had to juggle many different balls in between my busy work schedule as well. My writing sadly took a back seat to my many obligations, but it never left the front seat of my dreams. As long as you keep your goals in the forefront of your mind you will head in the right direction, but make no mistake… reaching your goals does require action!

After my honeymoon in December 2016 I decided to set a goal for completing my book— that I would complete writing it in seven months. The goal was set for the end of July 2017. On 31 January 2017, I was in the Johannesburg Airport and I spotted this beautiful little leather bound Bible.  While reading the Bible on the plane, and speaking with a Pastor in the seat next to me, I decided to set another goal.  I wanted to read this little Bible cover to cover—starting at Genesis and finishing at Revelation. By a supernatural miracle I achieved this goal on 7 July 2017—less than six months later! I read the Bible whenever I got the opportunity, in the morning before work, in between meeting breaks, at the traffic department, whenever and wherever I could. The Bible was small enough to fit into my handbag so it literally never left my side, and reading it every day helped me tremendously to finish my book. I immersed myself into the living word of God as much as possible and it was the best decision I made because it catapulted my focus in the right direction, and against all odds, after many late nights and weekend sacrifices, I finally completed my first manuscript on my target date of end July 2017. This being the same month I finished reading my Bible cover to cover. This weaving of events always brings a smile to my face.

The actual Bible I bought on 31 January 2017:

The next step was to send my book to publishers, and I did not have clue where to begin.  Never having written a book before, publishing was an entirely new avenue I was about to venture into. My friend Sarah Scott, from sarahscottdesign, had helped a few of her clients to design their book covers and she was very kind to guide me with regards what I needed to get the ball rolling. Sarah’s support meant a great deal to me and her encouragement really boosted my morale and kept me going. Sarah was the person to help me to get my first draft manuscript sent to publishers in September 2017. Thank you Sarah darling!

My manuscript was complete, but I knew in my heart the book needed more work. In my lack of knowledge I supposed the publishers would have editors to assist me, but alas, this is not the case. By November 2017 I had not heard back from any publishers, but I had also not stopped praying for my book. “God, please help me. I want my book to be published but I need help, send the right people to help me.” This prayer was ongoing, and then one day while visiting a client, I was speaking with the operations manager, Terry Watt, and I asked him about a colleague we work with, Hilton Rahme, and what he did outside of contracting to the company. To my surprise, Terry replied that Hilton was a ghost writer. “A ghost writer?” I asked him curiously.

“Yes, he assists authors with writing their books. He only works with Christian material though, and he also works in Children’s’ ministry.” Oh my goodness, I thought, as my eyes lit up with excitement!  Hilton sounded like the perfect fit for my book. Terry then said, “Let me call him, and arrange that he come and chat to you”. I believe this meeting was divine intervention and that Terry and Hilton were God sent. Thank you Lord for hearing my cries for help, and I cannot thank Terry enough for introducing me to Hilton. Thank you so much Terry!

Meeting Hilton has been absolutely life changing for my book! I admitted to Hilton that I had already submitted my first manuscript, but that I had never written a book before and knew I needed professional guidance. I also mentioned I had been praying for help and that my story was a children’s Christian story, which is perfectly suited to Hilton’s experience.  Hilton agreed to have a look at my work, and after reading my first manuscript told me that he would be very interested to work with me because he believed the story would be a great evangelical tool to reach kids, but was very direct in saying there is no way publishers would accept my work as is, because it required a lot more professional editing and creative input.  Well, the rest is history. On 29 January 2018, I signed with Hilton to polish and enhance my manuscript to meet publishing requirements. Hilton works with his brothers Brad, at Uberwriters, and Grant, at Ghostwriter Grant, who did second checks and edits on the manuscript with regard to formatting, writing style, sentence structure, creative input, and everything that makes for a gripping story.

Hilton, Grant, and Brad were most certainly an answer to prayer, and I have learned so very much from them.  Their calling is to expertly assist authors to write their books, website content, ministry blogs, articles, and much more, in all the excellence that honours God. If you have a book idea and don’t know where to start, I highly recommend you contact Hilton and the team at Uberwriters or Ghostwriter Grant. Their professional guidance and input is invaluable and you will never look back! I am already thinking about my second book, and you know who will be my editing team.

On 16 May 2018, while I was working with Hilton, I received the one and only reply from the first manuscript I had submitted, and of course it was declined.  This was no surprise to me, and provided sound confirmation that I had chosen the right path to sign with Hilton.

As a first time writer, I required a lot of guidance and support. Hilton assisted me tremendously, and my book would not have been publishing ready without him or the assistance from his brothers, Brad and Grant. Hilton and I worked exceptionally well together, we set target dates to get the final manuscript complete, I had homework on weekends and we would Skype every Monday night, this after a long day’s work at my current job, to discuss any suggested changes and editing. Once the manuscript was complete, Hilton also assisted me with my Publishing Proposal.  Every manuscript needs a professional Publishers Proposal to submit to publishers, and again, the team of brothers are professional and understand all the intricate publishers’ requirements. If I had not met Hilton, The Spider and The Butterfly would not have found wings, and I feel so grateful and blessed. I am very proud of the end result, and now I can comfortably say the book is ready, but I would not have been able to accomplish this without Hilton, Brad, and Grant.

I told Hilton I would like to submit the manuscript to the publishers on 29 November 2018 because this date is significant to me. Ten years before, on 29 November 2008, I completed an inspiring and life changing course at the Harvest Christian Church in Port Elizabeth called Positioned For Blessing, written by Drummond and Lindah Robinson. I highly recommend this course from Family Transformation International.

To my sheer delight, the timing worked out perfectly and I was in fact able to meet this target date, exactly ten years after completing the course. I submitted my completed, professionally edited manuscript to four top Christian publishers on the very day, at 7h00 on 29 November 2018. This date means so much to me, and I have faith that The Spider and The Butterfly is being positioned to bless many lives.

This is a picture of the actual rock I received on the last day of The Positioned For Blessing Course.  This rock is always with me in my office, and I keep it as a reminder of a blessing that transformed me and changed the course of my life for the better:

The Publishers Proposal, containing sample chapters of the manuscript, was submitted on 29 November 2018, with a lot of prayer of course. It can take up to six months to hear if publishers will accept your manuscript for publication. Getting a book published is certainly not easy, JK Rowling was turned down over 12 times and I am no JK Rowling, but I do believe in my story and I have a lot of faith. I was heartened to receive an acknowledgement of receipt from two of the publishing houses within two weeks of sending the Publishers Proposal.  I leave the book in God’s hands and pray God will find the right publisher for it, even if He sends me along the self-publishing route. For now, I feel grateful to have reached this stage in the process and continue to pray for God’s will to be done.

As I look back at this journey, the part I am most proud of is that I actually finished what I set out to do. That can’t be taken from me, and you shouldn’t allow your dreams and goals to be taken from you. So don’t give up when you feel alone. Don’t quit when you feel you are not good enough. Don’t abandon your dream when no-one seems to be encouraging you to carry on. Choose to get up and try again, choose to keep going, and no matter what, NEVER GIVE UP!

Do you have a dream or goal you are pursuing? I would love to hear about the future aspirations and dreams you hold in your heart.  Please leave a comment to share with me.

Take care and God bless you endlessly.