DIVINE CONNECTIONS

“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”

Sniff … that line from my all-time favorite book, Gone With the Wind, all but ripped my heart out at the tender age of twelve. So much so that I immediately sat down at an antiquated manual typewriter and pecked out 150 single-spaced pages of what would become, forty years later, my debut novel, A Passion Most Pure. Now what was it, you may ask, in Margaret Mitchell’s novel that inspired a gangly pre-teen to spend sultry summer days banging away on a typewriter?

TWO WORDS: Divine Connections.

Rhett & Scarlett, Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy, Holly Golightly and Paul Varjak and Faith O’Connor and Collin McGuire (sorry, I couldn’t resist!). Each of these couples exemplify that amazing spark of divine destiny when two people meet who are ordained to have a profound effect on each other’s lives.

As writers, most of us love the “divine connections” in romance, but it’s the divine connections in real life that God uses to shape and mold us into the people and authors that He wants us to be. For instance, when I first started to write my book, I knew absolutely NO ONE in the writing industry … not authors, not bloggers, not writers on the path to publication. And definitely not any editors or agents. In fact, the most I knew about agents was what I learned from the movie Jerry McGuire—“Show me the money!” Money? Gosh, all I wanted was for someone to “show me the ropes.”

Enter Divine Connection #1—Tracey Bateman at the first ACFW Conference I ever attended. I had signed up for a paid critique, and God used that woman to give me His first nod of approval that I was on the right track. I honestly had NO idea if what I had written was good or not. I liked it, sure, but would anybody else? Tracey’s kindness and encouragement that day (and, yes, her wise lessons on POV, which I had never heard of before that) boosted me from the ground to the first rung of the ladder. Thank you, Tracey, for the impact you had on my life.

Another divine connection came at the same ACFW Conference when I met my good friend, Diana Brandmeyer. Some of you have already read my Seeker blog entitled “The Hardest Contest”

(http://seekerville.blogspot.com/search/label/Julie%20Lessman)

about how writers’ conferences can wring every drop of confidence out of you and leave you drained. I had a divine connection with Diana that God used to fill me back up with His love and confidence when I was emotionally depleted. He seems to send those “connections” when we need them the most—have you noticed that?

Of course, not all divine connections are dramatic events—some come as inconspicuously as an e-mail, like the one I got from my dear friend and former crit partner, Kelly Mortimer. We were fellow writers who were strangers on the FHL loop (Faith, Hope & Love, the Christian chapter of RWA), and she was looking for a historical crit partner. Boom! We connected instantly. The same thing happened with simple e-mails I sent to other ACFW writers I didn’t know at the time—Seeker buds Ruth Logan Herne and Pam Hillman. Today, I count these women and the help they have given me among God’s greatest blessings.

Of course, not all divine connections are with one person—sometimes it’s a group, like when I met fellow Seekers and GH Inspy Finalists Janet Dean, Myra Johnson and Tina Russo. Overnight we bonded like epoxy and formed our own little loop called The Golden Girls, which provided each of us with incredible support for months leading up to the 2005 RWA Conference.

On the heels of that association came another “group” divine connection known as The Seekers—when clever Ruth Logan Herne got tired of butting heads in contests with the same finalists and decided to “pool the power.” Thus the genesis of The Seekers—fifteen contest-rockin' hot mamas, cast as "contest divas" online, who joined forces to form their own private "journey to publication" loop. Their goal: Pray each other into publication, no matter how long, or how far the journey. Their motto: We shall leave no woman behind. Now I ask you, is that a “divine connection” or what?

I still remember the shiver that traveled my spine the night one of my prayer partners prayed for a “divine connection” for me to get published. At the time those two words struck me so hard because they pierced straight through to my spirit. A “divine connection,” indeed, ordained by a divine God who loves each of us to the depth of our being. And He sent mine in the form of an innocuous e-mail received late one night from someone named Natasha Kern.

As a GH Finalist, I had been encouraged to “make hay while the sun shines” and send out tons of queries to both agents and editors, which I did. Out of the twenty-five agent queries I sent, most required the typical three chapters and a synopsis. Only one requested five pages and a synopsis … and only one responded favorably. When I saw the e-mail addy of top agent Natasha Kern in my inbox, my heart sank. Dear God, no … another rejection! And when I saw that she wanted me to express-mail my bulky manuscript to her in Portland, Oregon so she could “read it on a plane,” my heart sank even lower. Even I knew that agents come from New York, not Oregon! And how could one person request a manuscript after reading only five pages when twenty-four others had said “no” after three chapters? And who, for the love of God, would ever want to drag a 500-page stack of paper with them on a trip??? There was no other explanation—it had to be a hoax. But it wasn’t—it was simply what I have come to recognize in my life as another “divine connection,” masterminded by the #1 “Agent” of all time.

So keep your eye out for those “connections” we all take so for granted—crit partners, fellow loop members, bloggers who become like family, writers and nonwriters who touch you through a comment or a post, etc.—and whisper a prayer for them and a prayer of thanks for God’s touch in your life. Then get out there and connect some more—by sending an e-mail to someone who requested prayer on a loop, posting an encouraging comment on someone’s blog, or just letting another writer know when their words have blessed your life. Because His “divine connection” is there in every heart you touch and every kindness you bestow. And someday soon, God willing, those simple “connections” may lead you along a path toward one “divine connection” where all your dreams come true.