Category: Writing My Book

I Wrote a Book

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On March 28, 2026

In Writing My Book

I wrote a book, you guys. I didn’t know if I could actually do it, but I did. I just turned in a manuscript to my publisher, and it’s 65,000 words–around 250 pages–divided into ten chapters. Technically it’s still a draft of a book, so there are many months of editing ahead of me, but it feels like clearing a giant hurdle–hopefully the hardest part.

For the last six months, working on this book has consumed almost all of my free time. My job is full-time (and it’s been busy!), so that meant that I had to squeeze writing into all the extra spaces. I didn’t send out Christmas cards or make Christmas goodies for neighbors and teachers. I missed out on most of the family movies. I reluctantly decided not to attend Urbana.  I watched none of the winter Olympics. I went to fewer of Josiah and Johnny’s soccer games. And I didn’t blog. 

But finding the time wasn’t the biggest obstacle. The hardest part was all the thinking. So much thinking. It filled up my brain to overflowing, as I frantically scribbled down ideas during stoplights or running out of the bathroom before they left my head and were lost forever. I was always, always thinking. I didn’t know that my brain could actually hurt from exertion until I wrote this book. One night after a day that included several hours of writing, I had a dream when it felt like a million voices were trying to talk to me all at once, and the strain of trying to process them all woke me up. 

And then there was the mental battle. So many times, I’d carve out the time to write and then stare at an empty screen, no idea how to start that chapter or that section. I’d have a bunch of notes and a bunch of thoughts, but my perfectionism wouldn’t let me get something out that wasn’t amazing. “Don’t be afraid to write a terrible first draft,” was advice I read once, and it became my mantra. I’d repeat it ad nauseam until I forced myself just to start typing something. After an hour I’d read it back to myself and usually discover that it wasn’t as terrible as I first assumed.

That doesn’t mean it was all great at first. There were two chapters in particular that I struggled with and many times, considered scrapping altogether. I had to constantly fight against thoughts of This is so stupid. Everyone will hate this. No one will want to read it, while mentally writing negative Amazon reviews instead of writing my book. But I wouldn’t let myself give up, and I’d keep praying and thinking and discussing with Gil (who was always so patient and long-suffering) until I got it right. And let me tell you–there have been very few times in my life that have matched the euphoria I felt when I finished a chapter. 

I’ve dreamed about becoming an author for almost my entire life, and I’ve thought seriously about this book for the past three years. I’ve still got a lot more work to do and several more months of waiting, but I can’t wait to share it with you. I wouldn’t have gotten this far without your support and encouragement, my dear readers. Thank you for your part in this too. 

I’m hoping that I’ll have more time in my life and in my head (even with all the editing) to write more in this space again. So please keep coming back! 

Related: I Signed a Book Contract

If you’re curious what my book is about, this post from 2016 is what planted the seed.

I Signed a Book Contract!

By

On August 29, 2025

In Liberian Childhood, Writing My Book

In fourth grade, I listed my life’s ambitions in a book titled My Cabbage Patch Kid and Me. I also listed out my Cabbage Patch Kid’s ambitions, which included “sun-bather” and “firefighter.” Don’t ask me how I made those predictions about my yellow-haired doll, but my own list turned out to be pretty accurate:

I had Mother and Teacher covered in my 30s. Sadly, as much as I liked to draw as a child, I will never be any kind of artist. My Cabbage Patch Kid never became a firefighter either, so we don’t always get what we want. 

However, as of today, August 29, 2025, at the age of 48, my childhood dream of becoming a “book writer” is actually happening. I signed a book contract with Gospel-Centered Discipleship, which means I am officially writing a real book that will actually be published. 

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So I’m Writing a Book

By

On October 27, 2024

In Writing My Book

I didn’t want to tell you, actually. Actually, what I wanted to do was just surprise you at the end when my book was all perfect and published and everything. Because, if I tell you now, well, it may never be perfect or never be published and then I’ll feel dumb.

But I read somewhere that when you want to write a book, you should tell people because otherwise, you might never write it. Still, it’s taken me a while to tell you. I’ve been thinking about writing this book for three years and started writing it seven months ago. It took me that much time to work up the courage to talk about it with this corner of my world. 

So if you’ve been wondering why I haven’t been posting as much here, that’s why. I don’t have a ton of time for writing, and when I do, most of it is going towards my book. Not just writing it but figuring out how to write it. I had no clue how to write a 6000-word chapter that made sense or that anyone would want to read. So much of what I’ve been doing is reading and researching how to write a book. And then, reading and researching even more about how to get that book published. 

Let me tell you something, loyal fans, I’m not particularly optimistic about that part. A friend said to me, “Maybe your book will pay for your kids’ college education,” and I laughed way too hard. Over 95% of published books sell less than 2000 copies. In all my research, one thing is abundantly clear: there is no money in writing books. In fact, it’s more likely that it could cost me to get my book out into the world. 

I found one Christian literary agent who looked like a promising option until I read on his website that if I didn’t have at least 20,000 social media followers, I shouldn’t even bother sending in a proposal. I’m only short 18,000 (give or take a few). The hard truth is that there are just too many books published every year and not enough people who read books anymore. I’ve noticed that Amazon book searches now take me straight to the audiobook version. Podcasts and Netflix and Tiktok are what people want. 

This is why I have questioned myself only a bazillion times in the last seven months when I sit there staring at a blinking cursor and thinking about all the other things I could be doing with my time. I’m sure you are wondering the same thing by now. 

So why am I doing this? I suppose it comes down to the reason why any writer tries to write a book: I have something to say and it’s time to say it and even if no one reads it but my family, I want to try. I do feel like God is leading me to do this, but I don’t feel like He’s giving me some sort of guarantee that this book will be successful. Maybe He will just use this project to help me become a better writer or to change the perspective of just a few people. Maybe it will just end up as a 60-part blog series. 

After all, the topic I am writing about started out as a blog post. Back in 2016, a few months before the election, I wrote a post on a whim, with very little editing, one evening after my kids were in bed. American Christians, You Might Need to Start Living Like Missionaries shocked the daylights out of me when it suddenly started getting hundreds of shares and tens of thousands of hits. I think it’s just about my most popular post ever (other than the ones I’ve written on Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes, which still get tons of traffic but do not make me popular, so they don’t count).

But that post 8 years ago got me started in contemplating the ideas that are now becoming my book: Living as a missionary in Africa taught me how to live as a Christian in America. How do I live as one who is not home yet? My book will be filled with stories of my life overseas and how those experiences gave me a blueprint for living as one who is “longing for a better country” (Hebrews 11:16), even in America.

My book is only about 30% done (and I hope to finish it by next year), but I’ve learned that this is the point when I should start sending out proposals to agents or publishers, so here I go. Thanks to all of you for being my biggest cheerleaders. I would never have even attempted this without your encouragement. 

My home in Liberia
My home in Tanzania


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