Writing the Hard Stuff

Guest Amy R. Anguish

Around sixth grade, all the kids in my class were required to read a book. I think the title was Grass & Sky, but don’t hold me to that since I seem to have gotten rid of my copy since then. The author was coming to our area, and we were all going to hear him. I liked the book until the very end. Then, a character died. At the end of the author’s talk, we were permitted to ask questions. I asked him why he had let that character die. He informed me that he had to. I couldn’t understand it, and I swore that if I were ever an author, I would never write something like that.

As I have gained maturity, I’ve changed my mind a bit on letting characters die. After all, Little Women and Anne of Green Gables wouldn’t be the amazing books they are without the deaths. There wouldn’t be that character growth in Jo and Anne. And we wouldn’t remember them as strongly as we do.

Image credit: Pixabay/Fifaliana-joy

I never thought I would write a story based on infertility. For a long while, I didn’t even want to talk about it. When you’re in the middle of something like that, raw and aching in a way that it seems no one else understands, it’s impossible to express to others why it’s so hard for you to be happy. My husband and I struggled with that battle for six and a half years before being blessed with our first pregnancy ... our now four-year-old daughter. We added a son not quite two years later.

As I went through the motions of surviving the day-to-day grief of not being able to have what I wanted most in the world, one thing helped the most. Finding others who had been there before me. As they shared their stories, it was like a light came on in my head. I wasn’t alone. Others understood. Some never even got their “happy endings” like I did. But you know what? Because they had been there before me, they could use what they learned and help me through my own battle.

And the more I thought about that, the more I realized that’s what I needed to do, too. 

Faith & Hope, my newest book, is one of the most personal stories I have ever written. As the title indicates, it’s about two sisters, named Faith and Hope. Faith is the older, and has been struggling with infertility for several years. A lot, though not all, of what she thinks and feels in regards to that is based on myself and a blog I kept back then. It’s not always pretty, but it’s real.

Since going through this myself, I have discovered so many others who also are fighting similar battles. I hope I can be to them what my friends were to me. And I hope that my story can help them fight their battles for a stronger faith even in the darkest valleys.

I reneged on my promise to not write about the hard stuff. I didn’t realize my character would suffer a miscarriage when I started plotting this story, but as I typed the words and bled the emotions onto the page, I knew it needed to happen. Because it’s real. And even though a lot of people read to escape (myself included), we also read to feel and to grow and to learn and to empathize. And if we never see characters going through what we’re going through, then we can’t empathize with them or learn with them or even relate to them sometimes.

Especially as authors who are Christians, it’s our job to not just give our readers fluff. There’s enough mindless entertainment out there already. If we can give people some meat, something that shows the characters struggling and overcoming, able to get through whatever comes their way because God helps them through it, then we’re doing something amazing. We were never promised an easy life, but we were promised that God would walk it with us. Shouldn’t our characters show the same?

The other character in my story, Hope, is dealing with her own struggles and worries. When the two of them are forced to spend a summer together, it’s a toss-up whether or not they can find a way to get along.  Through all the ups and downs of the hottest months in Austin, Texas, the sisters not only have to learn how to tackle their personal battles, but how to help each other with hers as well.

I won’t give away any more of my story. You’ll just have to read it for yourself to find out about the romance and fun.

But I want to hear. Have you tackled a hard topic? Killed any characters? Struggled through a scene you never wanted to relive, but knew you had to?

Today, Amy will be giving away a copy of her new release, Faith and Hope! Please let us know in the comments if you'd like to be entered.

Two sisters. One summer. Multiple problems. 

Younger sister Hope has lost her job, her car, and her boyfriend all in one day. Her well-laid plans for life have gone sideways, as has her hope in God. 

Older sister Faith is finally getting her dream-come-true after years of struggles and prayers. But when her mom talks her into letting Hope move in for the summer, will the stress turn her dream into a nightmare? Is her faith in God strong enough to handle everything? 

For two sisters who haven't gotten along in years, this summer together could be a disaster ... or it could lead them to a closer relationship with each other and God. Can they overcome all life is throwing at them? Or is this going to destroy their relationship for good?

Amy R Anguish grew up a preacher's kid, and in spite of having lived in seven different states that are all south of the Mason Dixon line, she is not a football fan. Currently, she resides in Tennessee with her husband, daughter, and son, and usually a bossy cat or two. Amy has an English degree from Freed-Hardeman University that she intends to use to glorify God, and she wants her stories to show that while Christians face real struggles, it can still work out for good.

Follow her at http://abitofanguish.weebly.com or http://www.facebook.com/amyanguishauthor