Most of you don't know this, but I started writing my big hit, A Lady in Defiance in 2000.
Twenty-three years ago. Holy. Cow.
I lost the first version when my computer crashed. I didn't come back to the story again until 2007. In 2008, I went to my first writers conference and actually had several publishers ask to read it.
They all rejected it.
But, I didn't quit. Something about this story kept pulling me on and on...
I rewrote it and rewrote it. Finally, in 2012 as it was winding its way through a major publishing house, I self-published it as a fundraiser for my Relay for Life team. I wanted to sell 200 copies.
It sold 8000 copies that year. The publishing company passed on it. They said my sales were tapped out.
But A Lady in Defiance kept going, eventually selling 50,000 copies, and now over 120,000 copies.
A Lady in Defiance was optioned for a movie in 2018, and then again in 2019. Color me thrilled to death.
It didn't sell.
In 2021, I had another offer for an option from a MAJOR production company. Discussions dragged on for months and when I finally got the actual offer...it wasn't what had been initially stated. Not by a long shot.
I walked away.
That may have been the lowest point in my career. I could feel my dream dying. I didn't think I could take the highs and the lows of chasing it anymore. The wind had been knocked out of me.
One morning not long after, though, I was making my coffee and clearly heard the Lord say, "I'm not done with Defiance." I was taken aback by the clarity of the impression.
But the Lord wasn't playing around. The next day my former agent contacted me and said a female production company was interested in Defiance.
That company turned out to be Beautifully Flawed Productions, helmed by actress/director/producer Shari Rigby (in the photo above). She is a mover and a shaker in the faith film industry and she and her production team LOVE Defiance. They want to see it become a TV series. They believe in it.
And they aren't playing around, either. They've been working hard to pull a sharp pitch together. And they are making their first run at producers THIS WEEK at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in Orlando. This is a big deal. The event is attended by the Who's Who in the faith communications industry.
And so, here I am, climbing the mountain again, chasing my dream, praying, and reaching higher.
It can be a long way to fall. But one of these days, I'll make it. I'll grasp the dream in my fingers and thank the Lord for his goodness...even if I question his timing.
Just don't ever stop dreaming, sisters. We weren't made to stagnate. That doesn't honor the Lord.
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If you have a dream in your heart, I encourage you to go after it. I'd love to hear about it!