Nikki is offering one copy to one randomly chosen commenter a PDF copy of her novel DANCING SOFTLY, a story of hope and overcoming, of resilience of the human spirit and the touch of a gentle God. The winner will be announced here on Friday, December 13th, between 5-6 PM EST. For convenience, please leave your contact information within your comment. Thanks!
Choosing To Inspire Hope by Nikki Rosen
“Make
up a story.
Tell
us what the world has been to you
in the dark places and in the light.”
Toni
Morrison
April 2008. Something happened that triggered memories of things I never wanted anyone to know; living on the streets, shooting drugs, struggling with an eating disorder, kidnapped, raped.
To get the memories out of my head, I wrote every day, all day and late into the night. I wrote in the third person. I had no intention of publishing a book. I simply wrote to get what was inside, out.
After writing, I went running in the woods, alone - fighting with what I already knew - I had to tell. I had to write the truth...to give hope to even one person...to let them know that nothing is impossible to overcome and that Light can shine where darkness lived.
Alone in the woods - I felt God’s gentle touch and heard Him whisper, “You’re stronger now. It’s time to tell the truth of what happened. Tell your story to give hope to others.”
It took me one year to write what I lived. One year to put it down on paper. One year to remember how far down He had reached to pull me out. One year of fighting within myself to finally come to the place of letting Him use what I lived – so others could find hope too.
December 2009 I
published In the Eye of Deception.
June 2010 it won The Word Guild Award and received an Honourable Mention for
The Grace Irwin Award.
The book began
selling. I’ve received many emails, letters, gifts from people from people
around the world who read my story and told me the book came to them as a
message of hope. Recently someone donated $5000 to put the book into a prison
edition and through Hebron Ministry it will be published and distributed into
women’s prisons.
I’ve discovered
writing is a way for me to have a voice. I’ve written articles, short stories,
even a couple of poems that were picked up and published in anthologies,
magazines, and some even won contests.
I hooked up with other
writers, joined writer’s groups and signed up for classes. Over and over I
heard it said,
check what the publishers want, look for what's hot, what sells. Write about
that. Romance is good, even soft porn and consider fantasy stories that attract
teens.
I got bogged down. Discouraged. None of that excited me. What pumped me and got me sitting for hours at the computer ...tapping out words ...weaving them into stories… are life's drama's...the things that drive people to do what they do.
And I love writing
about finding hope - Hope from trauma. Hope from pain. Hope from failure. Hope
that shows up unexpectedly and becomes, 'the story changed when.' Hope that
shouts never give up because the unexpected can happen....the good...the
happily ever after.
So today...I chose to write the thing that inspires me and which gives hope.
So today...I chose to write the thing that inspires me and which gives hope.
Nikki's Ah-hahs To Tweet:
Author Nikki Rosen on
Everyone’s Story: Light
can shine where darkness lived. (Tweet
This)
Everyone has a story:
Discover how Nikki Rosen made her dark past shine. (Tweet This)
Nikki Rosen: Finding
hope when all seems lost. (Tweet This)
#BookGiveaway of
Nikki Rosen’s DANCING SOFTLY. (Tweet
This)
Author's Bio:
Nikki Rosen writes fiction and non-fiction. She is the author of In the Eye of Deception, winner of the Word Guild Award, Dancing Softly, shortlisted for The Word Guild Award and Twisted Innocence, A True Story.
Find Nikki on the Web:
