-       April 2013: I had always wanted to be a missionary and so I attended YWAM. I anticipated going on the three-month mission phase eagerly as I had my heart set on going to Africa. However, after praying about it, my leaders felt I needed to go to Cambodia instead. I trusted their lead and went to Cambodia, where I was captivated and heartbroken over the genocide that had occurred a mere forty years before.

-       August 2013: I returned home to KY and began pursuing a BA in Creative Writing and English.

-       April 2014: A family friend asked if I’d be interested in writing a book based on his Cambodian friends “incredible life story.” I flew to Florida to meet and interview this friend named Rindy. During the interview I was absolutely captivated by the memories he recalled. I eagerly said “yes,” to writing a book based on his life, but I had no idea what I was saying “yes,” too.

-       May 2014: my at-the-time boyfriend, named Steven, proposed and I went headlong into wedding planning while balancing work and school. We got married four months later.

-       August 2017: I finished my BA in creative Writing and English, the same day I went into labor with our first child—a beautiful baby girl we named Adelaide.

-       October 2017: I thought, “now I’m a stay at home mom and have nothing but time to write this book!” I chuckle now at my naivety. I did, however, begin the very daunting and difficult task of writing Rindy’s story.

-       January 2019: I finished the first draft of my book and sent it to Rindy, hoping to gain his approval. I waited with baited-breath. Would he like it? Months went by with no word. Did he hate it and not know how to tell me? Had I just waisted a year of my life writing this book? Upon inquiring, I received the reply: “It’s good, but hard for me to relive the memories.” I told him I understood and that there was no pressure if he did not want to proceed. More waiting.

-       May 2019: I asked the mutual friend to check in on Rindy to make sure he was okay and did indeed want to proceed with the book. I had no desire to pursue publication if it would cost Rindy his mental health. It turns out, Rindy did want to proceed. He pressed through on reading the manuscript to its end and had had some insightful suggestions and additions. 

-       September 2019: After months of researching how to break into the traditional publishing world, I sent my first query letter to my “dream agent,” entering what is infamously known as the “query trenches.” This is where months of waiting happens amidst sending out batches of query letters to prospective agents.

-       January 2020: I received my first “full request,” from a literary agent—the thing every writer longs to receive. It means that an agent wants to read the “full” manuscript, rather than the first few pages. They wanted more! I was elated, after frantically wondering if it was good enough, I sent it off. More waiting.

-       February 2020: Right before welcoming our second baby girl, who we named Elsie, into the world, I received a phone call from a literary agent. She said she was “very interested” in my book and we had a two-hour phone call, in which she requested my manuscript. With an excitement and trepidation I can’t hardly put into words, I sent her my manuscript and waited some more. Weeks went by, then months. Had she hated it? Had it not been what she expected?

-       March, 2021. While folding laundry during nap time, in a uncontrollable fit of curiosity, I spontaneously called her. She informed me she was going through a nasty divorce and left agenting. I had my answer; hope deferred.

-       October, 2021. After months of querying more agents and hearing no responses or polite “no thank you’s,” as a last-ditch effort, I sent a query to a small-press publisher who did not require a literary agent. After only a few days of waiting, I received an offer of representation. To say I was elated was an understatement! With some trepidation over the contract, I signed, because I felt that beggars could not be choosers. My book was scheduled to be released in September of 2023.

-       April 2022: At the invitation of my publisher, I wrote a Christmas novella which was published with a collection of others to serve as a marketing tool for my debut novel.

-       August 2022: Our third child, a boy we named Alec, entered our lives. I also began homeschooling Adelaide, our oldest.

-       April 2023: I received a sudden and unexpected email, informing me that my small-press publisher was “canceling my contract" for my novel. I was devastated and had so many unanswerable questions. 

-       May 2023: I decided to self-publish my book in order to “just be done.” I planned to keep the September release date I had been marketing for two years towards because I just couldn’t imagine having to hold this “baby in” any longer.

-       June 2023: I found a developmental editor that I thought would be the “perfect fit” and sent her my manuscript. After more waiting, I received her feedback. For a lack of better words, she shredded my manuscript. Whatever thread of confidence I had as a writer or even a person was absolutely scorched. It left me completely demoralized, questioning every shred of research I had done and even the validity of Rindy’s memories. There was no way I could confidently release my book when I had hoped. I do not exaggerate when I say I never wanted to write anything ever again. However, I still believed that Rindy's story was worthy of being told and that I owed it to him to finish what I had started.

-       July 2023: After reading and digesting what I could from the developmental edit I received, I talked to Rindy. I shared some of the feedback and his response surprised me: “this woman does not understand Cambodia."       October 2023: After taking a break for my own mental health and to hear from the Lord, I decided that I would rewrite my novel. I knew it could be better: Rindy’s character needed to be tweaked, the timeline needed to be tightened and the arc needed to be clarified. This meant I would need to get up at 5am every morning in order to write before my three young children would wake up and we would begin homeschool and daily life.

-       April 2024: I finished the rewrite. It took everything I had in me, and more. I sent it to Rindy to read and approve, which he did. I looked toward a September release date.

-    June 2024: I had wonderful beta's read it and offer feedback. I did three more rounds of edits. Then a copy-edit and a proofread.

-    July 2024: I learned how to format and style my novel, discovering that it would be over 400 pages.

-    August 2024: I thought I had found all the typos and formatting errors, but some of my lovely ARC readers found more, so I did another round of edits. Not confident I had everything "just right" I did one, last round of edits before submitting the FINAL manuscript for publication.