A Sweet Writing Journey’s Detour
A Sweet Writing Journey’s Detour
Jo Huddleston
I’m a product of the American South. I grew up soaking in the mannerisms, favorite foods, and slang words of the Southerners around me. My parents taught me to respect myself, those around me, my country, and God.
As I grew, each school year’s conclusion of junior high school, high school, and college brought the excitement of yearbooks. Recently, in cleaning out cabinets, I found a stack of those yearbooks and spent an afternoon reading classmates’ signings and their feelings about school and me. Wisdom gained through the years led me to home in on the one thing most of the signings mentioned about me—many of my classmates had used the word sweet when describing me: you’re the sweetest friend; a sweet girl; stay as sweet as you are now, and you’ll go far.
Merriam-Webster dictionary lists sweet as: pleasing to the mind or feelings; marked by gentle good humor or kindliness; very good or appealing; much loved.
It’s true, I don’t usually break rules. I’m not an agitator but rather a mediator. If I can’t say something good, I say nothing at all. I strive to always be positive in my thinking and speech. I’ve realized that these traits Merriam-Webster uses to describe sweet also appear in my writing.
When I began writing, I kept it to myself. Many people describe writers as introverts. That was me—indeed, a closet writer. My inspiration came solely from God. Then I met Karen Ball—author, editor, and literary agent—and she was and still is a great inspiration. My writing journey as a published author began with my writing devotionals and short inspirational stories for Christian periodicals. Tyndale House published my first book—actually, two companion prayer books: Amen and Good Morning, God, and Amen and Good Night, God. Yes, they’re sweet prayers.
I’m amazed and humbled by readers who tell me my nonfiction writing has connected with them. All their comments seem to boil down to one basic theme: “I didn’t know anybody else felt this way; thank you for your books and articles.” One reader said that my nonfiction offers “spiritual tonic and hope.”
Then, I faced a life-threatening brain disease that rendered me unable to write. My penmanship deteriorated to that of a preschooler, unreadable sometimes even by me. I couldn’t hold my fingers steady enough on the computer keys to write my stories there. My speech became slurred, preventing me from using speech-to-text apps. Eventually, I couldn’t care for myself and heard neurologists say I might live up to ten years.
I’m delighted to say I’m now, for the most part, in remission from my disease. Occasionally, I have an episode with brain fog and imbalance that lasts for a few days, which I spend in complete rest. But I’m back at the keyboard, typing as fast as possible to get ideas onto the screen.
As I regained my writing abilities, I turned to novels set mainly in the 1950s, where my tagline is “Sweet Southern Romance” There’s that word again: sweet. And that tagline certainly holds true for my latest series: Emotions of the Heart. I’m currently writing book #3 in the series. At the center of this series is the law firm of Colbert & Colbert, where many of the characters work, taking care of everyday business and where relationships develop. Of course, as one blogger wrote, the stories include “some sweet romantic moments.”
As winding as my writing journey’s path has been, ultimately, it has brought me to penning stories of Christian romances with happily-ever-afters. My hope is to continue writing these stories to inspire and entertain readers.
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Award-winning and bestselling author Jo Huddleston writes sweet Southern mid-20th-century romances. Visit Jo’s website at www.johuddleston.com, where you can read the first chapter of her novels and novellas and receive a free eBook copy of Jo’s short stories when you sign up for her newsletter.
Category: On Writing
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