By Jennifer Deibel, @ThisGalsJourney
As you read this, chances are, I’m still staring at the wall, mouth agape, in sheer disbelief at what the last month has held. You see, my debut novel, A Dance in Donegal, just released from Revell on February 2nd.
One of my favorite themes when I read is the slow-burn romance. I just love how the tension builds, along with the chemistry, as the hero and heroine truly get to know one another before they finally realize they’re in love. It adds such depth and richness to a story—as well as an element of reality. You see, most people don’t experience the whirlwind, love-at-first-sight type of romance so celebrated in books and movies. Oh, it makes for an exciting read, to be sure. But it just often lacks the staying power of the slow burn.
I love the slow burn trope when I read, but when it comes to my own dreams? I’ll take immediate gratification, thank you very much. But, my publishing journey has been anything but immediate.
I’ve been writing since I was a kid. Whether it was filling journals, or writing stories on my family’s word processing unit in high school, words have been part of my life for as long as I can remember. I always thought it would be awesome to write a book, but I kept that thought tucked away to myself. In college, a professor urged me to consider pursuing some sort of writing profession, but I wanted something a bit more…lucrative. Or so I thought.
It wasn’t until much later, after our third child was born, that I started really pursuing publication. I’d started writing A Dance in Donegal six years before that, when I was expecting our first baby in 2004. But after she was born, I set it aside and it there it sat while I had our second, we moved back overseas, and then had our third.
But by then, the dream was waking once again. So, I started working on the story again, I started my blog, and began writing for a new parenting blog. I wrote for some magazines off and on, and wrote and edited for one of the largest evangelical non-profit organizations in the world. Those things were highly fulfilling, and I learned more than I could have ever thought possible through them. But, the dream…I finally admitted to myself that my dream was to publish a book.
So, I started to buckle down more, but it would still be almost a decade before I’d even receive a publishing contract—and two more before it would actually hit the shelves.
I wish I could tell you I had complete and utter trust that things would happen the way they were supposed to. That I was never tempted to give up and walk away. I wish I could tell you that. But I can’t.
And I almost did walk away, about a year before I got the offer from Revell. I was convinced I couldn’t do it, and that if I did finish the manuscript, it would be a waste of time because no one would ever want it. But it was through the encouragement of my husband as well as a few other writers who came alongside me, poured into me, and saw in me what I couldn’t see in myself.
Why do I tell you all this? To encourage you, dear writer friend. If you’re in the midst of living a slow-burn dream, I want to implore you not to give up—especially if you believe you’ve been called to write what you’re writing.
I also want to encourage you more seasoned writers out there who’ve reached your dream and are now reaching for new ones: Keep reaching back to those a few steps behind you. Pour into them, invest into them, and keep reaching forward as you do.
The slow burn romance in a story is tantalizing and satisfying. The slow burn dream? It doesn’t feel like it when you’re in it, but it makes the realization of that dream all the sweeter. So, don’t give up. Lean into the slow burn, and use redeem the time you’re given to learn, grow, write, and invest in others.
After the loss of her Irish mother in the summer of 1920, Moira Doherty decides to fulfill her mother’s wish for her to leave Boston and teach in her mother’s home village of Ballymann in Donegal, Ireland. Though a few locals offer a warm welcome, others are distanced by superstition and suspicion. Rumors about a scandalous family reputation abound and threaten not only her new position but also her life.
Moira must rely on the kindness of a handful of unlikely friends including Sean, a handsome thatcher, to help her clear her family name before it’s too late. As she seeks to navigate her new life in Ireland, she may find that this is truly the life she was always meant to live.
Historical romance fans will embrace this lyrical tale of family and relish the cultural nuances, the rich history and the beautiful setting imbedded in the pages of A Dance in Donegal.
Jennifer Deibel is a middle school teacher whose work has appeared on (in)courage, on The Better Mom, in Missions Mosaic magazine, and others. With firsthand immersive experience abroad, Jennifer writes stories that help redefine home through the lens of culture, history, and family. After nearly a decade of living in Ireland and Austria, she now lives in Arizona with her husband and their three children. You can find her online at www.jenniferdeibel.com . Her debut novel, A Dance in Donegal, released Feb. 2, 2021 from Revell and is available wherever books are sold!