God and my predecessors

This month’s posting is another brief one, but the subject matter is rather heavy and very dear to me. Thanks for reading…

As authors we love all the accolades we receive from our readers. We love it when they marvel over the way our mind works, how many books we give them to enjoy throughout the year and all those fantastic characters that we bring to life with the flow of our sentences- the brilliance of our word usage. Lately, I’ve been thinking about the accolades I receive from my readers and I’ve been worrying that in my responses I haven’t appropriately given credit where credit is due. Although my work is basically classified as romance (and some pretty steamy romance at that) I know that any…abilities that result in the works that have garnered such approval are a direct result of the blessings I receive from my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

When responding to reader emails, I don’t include that part. Whether I should or shouldn’t really isn’t the purpose of this blog post. Rather, I’m using this blog post as an opportunity to give all the honor and glory for any ‘gift’ that I may have, to Him. Quite simply, I could do NONE of this without Him.

I would be remiss in my efforts if I did not round out this posting by thanking God for those who came before me. The greats in literature- African American literature- who paved the way for so many of us. Zora Neale Hurston, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, Phillis Wheatley and so many, many others. These giants, these bold brave souls, crafted such masterful works and saw them published in times when books by African Americans were in short supply.

So to my beloved readers, thanks so much for your emails and applause. They make this author feel so loved and oh so very motivated. Please know; that although I don’t always relay in my replies that I give all the Glory to God, I do. I wholeheartedly do. I thank him for all that He does and continues to do. I thank Him for my predecessors who He sent to help clear my path.

“God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone, but on trees and flowers and clouds and stars.” 
― Martin Luther