I know that romance is the number one selling genre in books, yet I write about just the opposite. I write about pain. Not just any pain, but a pain that comes deep from within my soul.

I used to wonder why I was led to use reality shows as research for the books I write. I knew there was something about these shows resonating with the people who watch them, or else they wouldn’t be so popular. What was connecting the reality show casts members with some of its audience members?

Pain.

Sometimes referred to as “ratchet television,” some of the people on reality shows are acting out because of pain. Their mad is really their sad. Their anger is really their hurt . . . their fears; fear of being hurt. All this pain derives from something–some thing, one thing, some instance, situation, circumstance or consequence that took place in each of their lives. That pain is what I write about; recognizing it, being delivered from it, and the struggle and victory of walking in that deliverance. This gave me a clear understanding about some of my own pain and why I had to go through it. Being transparent about my own life pains and heartaches isn’t a business. No, that part of what I do is my ministry.

When I wrote the last book in my Divas series, Lady of the House, per the intro pages prior to the story beginning, I was writing a book that was a totally different style from all the other books in the series. I knew I was taking a risk in deviating from the painful, intense, drama-filled, sprinkled with a few shenanigans style in which all the other books entailed, to penning a book from an actual lighthearted, mello, happy place. But it was a risk I was willing to take.

Sometimes we get so comfortable with pain that happy becomes foreign. I wanted to be able to finally pull from a happy place in order to pen the very last book in the series. Although the entire series focused on pain, being delivered from pain, and walking in that deliverance, I needed readers to know that in life it’s not about the pain we go through, it’s about the plan we have to get to.

My goal is delivering God’s message through the written word in the form of literary entertainment in order to point the world in the direction of the kingdom. Despite what some may think, not everybody knows God. So first and foremost, I want my overall message to be that God is real and you should really get to know Him and form a relationship with Him. He can alter your life. He can change your life. He can give you life. He can save your life!

Secondly, when a reader completes any one of my books, I want them to know that deliverance is real. All you have to do is walk in that thing. It is easier said than done, as you will read in my books. But it can be done. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” It may not take one year or one book. It may take two books, two years, or a lifetime even. But you better believe He will do it for you. Just hold on!