It started with a shift in my own reading life.
As a teenager, I gravitated toward light-hearted books that kept things easy. Even as an adult, I still leaned that way—after all, life is hard enough, right? Why would anyone choose to read about the heavy stuff?
But as I grew in both faith and life experience, I realized something: the hard things I’d been through—the scars I carried—were part of what shaped me into who I am today. And if that was true for me, it needed to be true for my characters too.
Why My Characters Need Valleys
When I write, my characters’ struggles, heartbreaks, and triumphs aren’t just for drama. They’re the very things that shape them into the strongest, truest versions of themselves.
I often feel the guiding hand of the Holy Spirit while I write. He leads me to put my heroes and heroines into situations I never would have imagined on my own. Some of those scenes—especially ones involving abuse—are hard to write. But they’re part of the story He’s given me to tell.
Writing What I Haven’t Lived
I’ve been blessed with a good man who loves me deeply and would never harm me. I was raised by wonderful parents. I’ve never known what it means to be an abused orphan. And yet, when I write those scenes, I can feel the weight of them as if I’ve lived them.
That, I believe, is a gift from God—the ability to empathize so deeply that I can step into someone else’s shoes and tell their story with compassion and truth.
Drawing from My Own Scars
Of course, I have my own wounds to draw from. I lost my beloved biological father when I was fifteen. I’ve had family members endure years of abuse in silence, and the helplessness and anger I felt drove me to my knees. I’ve been hurt by people—and, much to my shame, I’ve hurt others too. 💔
Those moments leave marks. And those marks show up in my writing, woven into the struggles and victories of my characters.
The View from the Valley
It took maturity—and a whole lot of Jesus—to realize that the valleys make the mountaintops even more beautiful. If all we ever knew were mountaintops, we’d take them for granted.
But in the valley? That’s where God plants the flowers. That’s where we learn how much we need Him.
Why It Matters
My characters need valleys because I need valleys.
It’s in those low places that God shapes us, molds us, and gives us stories worth telling. And in my books, as in life, the heart of every journey is finding Him there—right where we need Him most.
Which kind of story do you connect with most — the ones that stay light and sweet, or the ones that walk through the hard places to find hope on the other side?