Lynne Stringer – Author & Editor

Lesley TurnerToday my guest blogger is Lesley Turner. Lesley is a single-again mother of two children with six grandchildren. She is actively involved at her local church as a volunteer administration assistant. Lesley has had two biographies published and co-leads a writing support group at her church. She is an avid reader and loves to help other writers by encouraging, editing, reviewing or using her experiences to assist where she can. Her current WIP is another biography and she has plans to begin work on a devotional in the near future.

 

Thank you Lynne, for the opportunity to tell my story of how I became a published author.

I started writing through a series of amazing events in 1998 at the age of 52. I’ve been an avid reader all of my life, courtesy of encouraging parents, but had never entertained the idea of actually writing a book myself. From a small child I’d appreciated what writers could do with ideas, plots, piecing together stories that I could immerse myself into, taking me to places I could only dream of, whether real or imagined. It was like another world that I could slip into when the mood took me or when I had the time to hide away somewhere with my latest birthday or Christmas gift, or a story carefully chosen from the library.

In 1998 a cousin by marriage came to stay in our house. His daughter was murdered in 1993 and the court proceedings ended with an acquittal of the accused. Ken was looking into taking the perpetrator to civil court much like the OJ Simpson case. I was asked to help by formulating letters to lawyers, judges, politicians, etc. I also assisted with research into legal matters. One day, while out walking, he asked me to write his book. I was taken aback to say the least but he suggested I think and pray about it.

To make a long story short, it was God who showed me that it was His plan for me to write. I was clueless as to how to start such a project. I had no computer, was not even slightly computer literate so had to trust God to not only provide the physical means, but also copies of the many documents I would need to research the whole story properly. Six years later Halfway to Justice was accepted by New Holland Publishers in Sydney and was released in March 2005.

Ken had forgiven the perpetrator publicly and although we didn’t hide the forgiveness angle, we didn’t labour the point in this book. A Christian book store (Koorong) wanted to stock it but because of some of the content, they couldn’t. So it was decided to write a Christian version focussing more on forgiveness. The Power of Forgiveness became a reality and was released in February 2009 by the same publisher. There was no fairy tale ending to Halfway to Justice and while writing of The Power of Forgiveness I was having a real struggle about how to end the book. Again it was provided by a final twist in the tale. God knew how this book would end and it gave Ken some closure.The Power of Forgiveness

Writing books has opened many other doors for me. I am an editor (with ‘L’ plates), a reviewer when I get the chance (still learning what to do on Goodreads), a proof reader when asked, and I actively encourage writers whenever I can. God has given me a special gift, entrusting me to use it wisely and well. I love to assist others and co-lead a writing support group at my church. It is a pleasure to pass on what God has taught me over my journey and I delight in seeing others getting published.

 

 

 

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10 Responses

    1. Thanks Jenny and it was my pleasure. The entire journey was a fascinating experience. Learned such a lot about trusting God for everything and of course the big word ‘forgiveness’.

  1. Thanks for sharing your story Lesley. It’s amazing how God can open up opportunities we can’t even imagine. I’m sure your obedience in following through on the task He assigned you has led to blessings for many people and will continue to do so through this story.

    1. Thanks Nola. God has His own way of getting us to obey. I had so many doubts about being able to write this story. While I had complete co-operation from Ken, I still needed to be brought into submission by God. He was very gentle with me when I think about the excuses I gave Him about why I couldn’t do what He was asking so these days I tend to just say – Okay – let’s do it – meaning let us do this together. It’s a lot easier to be obedient when you decide to co-operate I’ve found.

  2. It was lovely hearing more of your story Lesley. Bless you for the encouragement you are to many writers including myself. Your story is fascinating and it’s awesome how God used you to write your cousin’s story. A powerful story. May God continue to use it to touch many lives. Bless you for the way you follow God and encourage many of us. Giving thanks to God for your life, your testimony and your calling.

    1. Thanks Anusha. This writing gift is an awesome responsibility that God has placed in our hands isn’t it? I’m so thankful to Him for what He’s done in my life and the lives of the many writers I have come to meet since taking on this challenge. It is such a pleasure to pass on what He teaches me too.

  3. I have ‘The Power of Forgiveness’ on my shelf. It is an extremely compelling and powerful story indeed. Back then, I was thinking the amount of research and work must have been phenomenal. Knowing now that you didn’t even have a computer at the time makes it more amazing.

    1. Thanks Paula. You are quite right – the amount of research needed for this project was phenomenal. I started researching without a computer and it became clear that I had to get one so purchased one quickly. Learned how to use it on the job so to speak. By the way I had to develop a liking for research pretty quickly too. It was intense at times – but God came through beautifully with everything I needed. There were documents that we should never have gotten copies of that miraculously became available. Just one example: we wrote to the Attorney General who was not known to be co-operative but he gave us permission to get copies of anything we needed from the courts AND waived the cost. There were many other examples that only proved to me that God was my provider – I only had to ask and trust.

      I wrote Halfway to Justice in first person so I had to ‘crawl around inside Ken’s head’ – to step into his shoes – to be able to write it that way. The Power of Forgiveness was written in ‘two persons’. The actual story was taken from the first book (in other words, Ken’s voice) but comments about what was going on and explanations about how and why he did what he did, together with what forgiveness means were ‘my voice’.

  4. What an inspiring story, Lesley. Thank you so much for sharing (and Lynne for hosting 🙂 ). Those God journeys never fail to move me. So pleased you shared this part of yours.

    1. Thanks Adele. The whole journey over 10 years or more has been an incredible learning curve for me both spiritually and as a writer. I also love to hear about what God is doing in other peoples lives and I’m continually inspired by them.