Journey of a Novel – Step 4

In Christian circles, we talk about the divine coincidence. This is a moment when everything in the universe centers around a particular event, and we find ourselves in the middle of something wonderful. The divine coincidence is birthed in the heart of God. When it happens, we are reminded once again how much God loves us and desires for us a truly abundant life.

A divine coincidence produced Step 4 of my novel’s journey.

As a member of a writers’ group, I attend monthly meetings. During this particular meeting, the focus of the program was a critique group. So each of us were supposed to bring something the other writers might critique.

Although my novel was finished, I had not found a publisher. In fact, I had almost decided that this particular novel was just for practice. Maybe God never intended it for print. That made me sad, but I resigned my heart to the possibility. Still, I wanted to contribute something to the group discussion, so I printed off my one sheet and took it to the meeting.

The one sheet is a tool that writers use to whet the appetites of editors and publishers. It starts with a killer hook, so that the reader wants more. It describes a bit about the book, how many words, how many chapters, what the topic or the story is about. The one sheet also includes a bio about the author and a bit of marketing information – all on one page. The one sheet is the first step toward getting the proverbial foot in the door and moving ahead with a full-fledged proposal.

So I took my one sheet to the meeting, not even sure if I would have the opportunity to share it. But of course, I didn’t know God had planned a divine coincidence. He and my guardian angel probably chuckled in the back of the room, knowing what would happen.

At my table, I sat next to the acquisitions editor for CrossRiver Media. In some pocket of my brain cells, I remembered that this particular person was an acquisitions editor, but I had not put two plus two together to equal four. I’m a writer; not a mathematician.

Other people at the table shared their manuscripts for the critique and finally it was my turn. I passed out copies of my one sheet to the other people, then read it through – hoping that someone might give me a clue for how to make it better.

I had barely finished the last word when the editor said, “I love it. I want it.”

Stunned, I wondered if I had heard right. Maybe it was just my imagination, spurred from the desire of my heart or maybe it was too much Mexican food the night before. Not enough sleep. Too much salsa.

But the editor was serious. She liked my one sheet and wanted to see the entire proposal. I left the meeting trying to decide if I had just dreamed the sequence or if it had really happened. A publishing opportunity for a first-time novelist, for a writer who never thought she would venture into the fiction realm? A confirmation of the journey God designed from Step 1 when he told me to read a book about writing novels? This was one step closer to a contract, to share my words with the world.

Was that a chuckle I heard from the back of the room? Probably, because Step 4 was the divine coincidence that set up the next step in the journey.

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