Are Writers Born or Made? Guest Post by Jan Drexler

Welcome to The Amish Nanny’s Sweetheart blog tour and giveaway,

hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

I am delighted to welcome Jan to my humble little blog today. I can relate to her post because I know that for me, as a writer, I had to wait for the right season. Thank you, Jan for sharing your heart. – Melony Teague

Are Writers Born or Made?

by Jan Drexler

I didn’t start out to be a writer.

As a child, I was a terrible student because I only wanted to read. I hated handwriting practice. Math stumped me all the way through high school. And those “answer the question with a complete sentence” exercises? Forget it!

My favorite days in school were standardized test days. I was able to work on my test pages at my own pace, and when I finished I could read until the other students finished theirs. I was in heaven! Why couldn’t all days be like this?

If I couldn’t read, I’d stare out the window, lost in my imagination. The stories that swirled around in my head pulled me out of reality. My imaginary dog slept by my desk and my imaginary horse stood by the playground fence, waiting patiently for school to let out. But I didn’t start out to be a writer.
I was going to be a veterinarian until I flunked Chemistry. I was going to be a musician until my brother went into that field. Then I studied writing in college…and ended up lost in a world of literary elitists. I knew I didn’t belong there. I knew I wasn’t meant to be a writer.

I married my college sweetheart and we started a family. We moved all around the Midwest, we homeschooled, I was involved in Bible Study Fellowship. But writing wasn’t on the agenda.
Oh, once in a while I’d start a story or two, but God would say, “not yet.”

The children grew older, we moved a couple more times… and then it happened: my youngest son was quickly approaching his last year of high school. I was about to be unemployed.
With my homeschooling career nearly over, I thought about going back to college to get my teaching degree. I thought about nursing school. I thought about seminary. I ignored the idea of writing.

Are writers born or made?
I think writers are born with an overwhelming passion for storytelling. The stories go through an endless series of metamorphoses in our minds until they struggle to emerge, full-blown, with a life of their own. So in that way, writers are born. But we are made through our life experiences. God leads us through the twists and turns that we tuck close to our hearts, each experience building on the others until God has constructed His writer. So in that way, writers are made.

A writer emerges…
My dear husband knows me so well. He knows my dreams – even the ones I never, ever talk about.
About the time our youngest son was reaching the end of his high school years, my husband bought a computer as a gift for me for Christmas. As I opened that box, God whispered, “now.”
And I knew.
I was always meant to be a writer.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: The Amish Nanny’s Sweetheart
Author: Jan Drexler

PURCHASE A COPY: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | CBD | Book Depository

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jan grew up surrounded by books and storytellers. With Pastors and Teachers populating both sides of her extended family, we aren’t surprised that she wanted to be a first-class storyteller herself.

Born and raised in Michigan, Jan is the descendant of Amish, Mennonite and Brethren immigrants who settled in Berks, Somerset and Lancaster Counties in Pennsylvania in the mid-1700s. The descendants of these immigrants pioneered in Maryland, Ohio, and finally Elkhart and LaGrange Counties in Northern Indiana in the 1850s.

During the years when Jan was raising and homeschooling their children, she and her husband moved nine times in thirty years, finally landing in South Dakota where they enjoy the incredibly Michigan-like weather. A northerner is always a northerner!

The ideas for Jan’s books come from the stories told by her parents and grandparents, seasoned with a lot of research and imagination.

CONNECT WITH AUTHOR: Website | Facebook | Twitter

GIVEAWAY

Jan Drexler is giving away a print copy of The Amish Nanny’s Sweetheart and a $10 Amazon Gift Card to one winner! Open internationally, as long as the winner can receive books from Book Depository and accept an egift card from US Amazon. Void where prohibited by law. Enter via the Rafflecopter below. Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

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