Divine Appointments

By Tracy Crump

One year, when I served on the faculty at a writers conference, an author named Sharon Muse sat at my table for a one-on-one appointment and told me a fantastic tale. As a young lawyer, she’d been abducted by a former client who took her to a remote spot where he planned to rape and kill her. God supernaturally intervened and rescued her.

After he was arrested, Sharon began a seven-year battle against the justice system to get the man put away for life, terrified every day that he would return and kill her as he’d promised. Afraid to even walk down the street, she finally decided she’d had enough. She would kill him before he could kill her. God again intervened and allowed her to forgive.

Two movie companies had already contacted Sharon about telling her story, but she wanted to get the 300-page book she’d written on her experience published first. She asked me what to do next. Nonfiction is my forte, but I’d never published a book. What could I offer her? I gave her what advice I could and pointed her toward others who might be able to help.

When I returned home from the conference, I couldn’t get Sharon’s story off my mind and emailed her with more suggestions. That conversation bloomed into a relationship in which I now think of her as my third daughter-in-law. Through other God-arranged connections, I put her in contact with the country’s top-selling agent, and he took her on as a client. Her book, Kidnapped by a Client, releases this fall.

Sharon and I have talked about the events that brought us together. Or rather the many reasons we shouldn’t have met but did. We can see that God orchestrated our appointment from moment one. But what if she hadn’t sat at my table?

I’ve often mourned the fact that so few writers take advantage of conference appointments with agents and editors. It’s disheartening to see these professionals with so much to offer sitting at empty tables while writers avoid them because they feel intimidated.

Don’t miss an opportunity to speak to the very experts who can help you on your writing journey. If their appointment calendars are full, sit with them at lunch or catch them in the halls. They’ve attended the conference to help writers like you. Don’t let fear or uncertainty stonewall you. And don’t forget the little people like me, writers and mentors who may also have something to offer.

You never know when God is setting a divine appointment.

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Tracy Crump’s devotions and articles have appeared in numerous publications, but she is best known for more than two dozen stories in Chicken Soup for the Soul® and other anthologies. Her course, “How to Write for Chicken Soup for the Soul” is one of Serious Writer Academy’s top sellers, and she teaches workshops and webinars on writing for the series. She speaks at writers conferences, edits a popular newsletter, The Write Life, and has served as registrar for the Mid-South Christian Writers Conference. Visit Tracy at www.TracyCrump.com or www.WriteLifeWorkshops.com. Sharon Muse’s book is set to release November 12, 2019 and is available for preorder now on Amazon.