Ama et Bemma: Dear Writer, Dream

Preface

Today on Ama et Bemma, we are privileged to continue our "Dear Writers" blog series with a guest post from author and Pastor, Chyrs Cymri. In late February, I will be reading and reviewing Cymri's novel THE DRAGON THRONE, but I was so excited about her and what she is doing that I asked her to submit a post for our series. It is great when a writer can be frank about their craft, and are willing to share that with others. It is also eye opening for other writers to suddenly realize that they are not alone in their feelings, and that others share similar sentiments. Many thanks to Chyrs for allowing us to take a look into the heart of her faith and the heart of her craft.
Dear Writer,

Well, this isn’t where I thought I’d end up, is it? I had thought that the dreams I had as a teenager were dead and buried in my mid thirties. And here I am, going to be 50 next year, and my dreams have been reborn. But they’ve come back in a far different way.

I’ve been writing since I was ten years old. And I had the (misfortune?) of winning a short story contest when I was 17. This was on the weekly Southern California science fiction radio programme called ‘Hour 25.’ The short story became the first chapter of ‘Dragons Can Only Rust,’ and the agent who was one of the judges agreed to represent the book when I finally finished it at the age of 27.

I’ve looked back at my journals from when I finished the novel. I was miserable in my job, working for a national bank in a dysfunctional team. My dreams were to make it big, to write bestsellers and become a full time writer. And when TSR picked up the book, and released it as two books, I thought that this was it. My dreams would come true.

The books came out. They sold… a bit. Then TSR went out of business, and bookstores shipped back their copies. My agent was no longer interested in me. Life was busy, I was in a new job and slightly less miserable, and I stopped writing. I decided that I’d never make it as a writer. My dreams had died.

Then, last year, a friend of mine asked, ‘Why have you stopped writing? Haven’t you seen the reviews for your books on Amazon?’ To my surprise, people had read my novels and loved them. They wrote about the inspiration the books had given them. I’ve also had emails from people to say that they started to write their own novels because of me! My dreams, I realised, had fed the dreams of others.

In the meantime, I have shifted careers, and I am now very happy and fulfilled as a full time Christian minister. And so I now view life differently.

You see, God had a dream. He conceived of a world in which humans would live in love and harmony. He sent his own son, Jesus, into our world to express this dream in human form. Jesus was the ‘man for others’, always seeking to help and to heal other people. He showed the world that God’s dreams were for others--for us.

I’m pulling out those books I filed away on my computer system and I’m now self publishing them. I have regained the rights to my two original books, and they are once again available. And I’m writing again.

I know that my books won’t sell by the thousands. But my dream is now for those who read them. If my book inspires them to write, or just helps them get through a bad day, then I’m happy. I am now following my dreams--a dream which is for others.

What’s holding you back from dreaming for yourself--and others?

~Chrys Cymri