Devotions for Writers, by Martha Rogers
I met Martha Rogers’ writing several years ago, when I finally joined a writer loop within American Christian Fiction Writers organization. Every week, she posted an encouraging essay for we writers. She spotlighted a Bible verse and expounded on how it spoke to God working in a writer’s life.
Still struggling as a widow and writer to find steady direction, I began to lean on these weekly ‘writer boosts’ to remind me to keep faith in God’s plan for me–to keep going with writing, when much of the time I felt lost, useless, and wordless. It was as if Martha, this woman I had never met, got some sort of word from God to give to me personally about the questions in my heart. She acknowledged the universal doubts of all writers, and how hard it was to keep going in this business, to deal with the agents and publishers, and the yearnings to have our books be read.
Then I learned something quite surprising. Martha was near seventy-five when her first novel was published. She had before that written for years, had published Bible studies and stories and even a novella included in an anthology, but never a novel, which was her heart’s desire. She pressed on toward that goal of a published novel, and after that first one, she went on to publish many more, as well as short stories. When she passed to heaven in her eighties, she was still writing, never missed her monthly goal of written words, and still using her writing ability to support others in both faith and writing.
I am grateful beyond measure to her publisher and family who gathered all these essays into a book that I can keep at hand to encourage me along the faith-filled writer path.
“God calls us to write, we write. Our enemy may step in and try to tell us we’re not good enough, we’re too old, or we’ll never be as good as certain other authors. When we believe those lies, we don’t believe what God can do for us, with us, and through us.” — Martha Rogers, Devotions for Writers
Regarding the photo and quote at the top of this post: One of my most treasured memories is that of most every afternoon my mother and I laying together in her big bed (it was only a double bed, but I was small) and her reading to me. I would ask for “just one more, Mama,” and she very often complied. There were periods when she read aloud Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer to my brother and I at night before sleep. Thus I did the same with my son. It is said if you want a child to be a reader, read to them. Well, my son did not become a reader. Instead he became someone who enjoyed someone reading to him!
I’m excited to report that my new novel, According to Carley Love, will soon have a cover reveal! Moving forward with new writing, I am now embarking on the practice of daily word count. I never in all my writing career did that. Goes to show we are always growing. A writer writes!
Press on, creative people.
Curtiss Ann Matlock 
4 responses to “Currently Reading and Writer Encouragement”
My mom and dad helped me to love reading – even today, my mom and I enjoy reading many of the same books (including yours!) and read devotional / inspirational books together. I’m going to find this book for us to read next!
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What a gift to enjoy reading and sharing books with your mom! My mother and I did the same on occasion, and with the memory comes a smile. I have many of the faith study and Bibles Mama read, and sometimes I come across a sentence underlined, a very straight, ruled line, and I know it is from Mama. 🙂
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Devotions for Writers would be a great gift for a writer. Thanks for sharing.
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So proud of you❣️ I cannot say that to you enough❣️
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