Morning, readers. Karen Watson, associate publisher of fiction, on the blog today. I wanted to share with you my prayer as we begin this new year together.
“There will be enough.”
That assurance came from my longtime, very wise friend as we shared lunch and life together early last year. And in that moment, it was as if God himself had spoken into my ear and added a comforting squeeze to drive the point home. As 2014 unfolded, it would require muscles of trust and bravery that had grown flabby. But that word had taken root in my heart and I forged ahead. Looking back, I am stunned at how much enough God delivered this year.
Too many people don’t have a wise friend who will sit across the table and speak truth into their ears. The noise of life can make it hard to hear good news. But a great novel can enter that chaos and pull a reader into a quieter space. What a gift to be reminded or to know for the very first time that Your marriage is worth the struggle, or The world is scary, but God is in control, or Love is the power that heals, or God really can forgive you!
At Tyndale Fiction we get to help a fabulous group of writers become that wise, truth-speaking friend. Not in a didactic, formulaic, condescending, or simplistic way.
Ain’t nobody got time for that!
But stories with beautiful craft and honesty, with words of empathy and true-to-life characters that can echo in a heart long after the book is closed.
It is a running inside joke and a truth that I say to my team often:
Publishing is hard.
Kind of like Water runs downhill or Bread falls butter side down. But knowing that publishing is hard is counterbalanced by an equally powerful reality: Well-told story is life-giving. And that’s what keeps me coming back to the office every day. That’s what keeps me and my team reading and editing and looking for new ways to tell people about the books we believe in.
I am looking into 2015 with more hope and enthusiasm and peace than I have had in a long time. I pray the same for you.
