One reluctant author’s quest to get loud…

About five years ago, I was falling asleep when a brand new fictional friend appeared in my imagination. She arrived fully formed, with a complicated story to tell and an incessant desire to be heard. Her name is Avery and she felt so real that I was certain she was standing beside my bed.

Like any normal creative person, I attempted to banish her from my room with a polite but firm reminder that I’d get back to her some other day.

And by some other day, I meant never.

Because her story is intense. Frankly, I was scared. I felt inadequate. This creative journey would require deep emotional work. Sharing our art requires vulnerability. It’s a huge risk to plumb the depths of our personal heartache and give the world a window into not only our creative process, but the passion that drives us to write an entire book.

So I procrastinated. I cried. I refused to write this story. Then I found myself at writers’ conferences getting super wound up while telling my friends about this story that I couldn’t possibly write. Every single friend listened politely then calmly told me to get busy writing this novel. One wise friend said that I should write it for no other reason than to “get it out” and onto the page.

I eventually started writing the story, then stopped. Jumped into other projects and had other books published and used my life circumstances (I’m so busy! I have 3 kids!) as valid excuses to avoid finishing this manuscript. I’ve pitched the premise to editors, only to sigh with relief when they didn’t offer a contract. To be honest, a rejection gave me an excuse to keep procrastinating. It’s a tricky business, this writing life. 

Then one day I heard a podcast interview with Scott Harrison, who is the founder and CEO of the non-profit Charity: Water. At the time, Scott was promoting his new book Thirst and describing his journey toward finding his mission, which is bringing clean water to the world. While I am not Scott Harrison, and my path is not at all similar to his, he spoke four words that hit me like a sledgehammer: “Not on my watch.”

He was (and probably still is) so deeply impacted by the stark realization that humans don’t have access to clean water, that he decided to do something about it. ‘Not on my watch’ became his mantra and he has devoted his life to bringing clean water to the world.

I knew in that moment, listening to Scott’s interview, that I couldn’t keep running from Avery, this imaginary friend who refused to leave. This book must be written. More importantly, it needs to be whole. Complete. It’s that easy and that excruciating.

Five years later, I’m still wrestling with Avery’s story. The good news is, I’ve drafted a proposal and given it to my agent and she’s pitched it to my publisher. My current draft is respectable. I still feel called to cross the finish line and type ‘the end’. Lord willing, Avery’s story will find a publishing home soon.

Today is July 30th, a day dedicated to raising awareness about human trafficking worldwide. A portion of Avery’s story highlights human trafficking and while I’m embarrassed that this day has rolled around again and I still haven’t finished the manuscript, I am choosing to keep moving forward. To keep honoring the calling to write.

Ending human trafficking is my “not on my watch” passion project. I can’t look away. I can’t pretend that I don’t know this is happening. I can’t ignore the fact that modern day slavery impacts men, women and children every single day. If I believe what the Bible says, and I do, then the Lord has made his expectations clear regarding what he expects of His followers:

Definition of human trafficking: 

Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age;

Or the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery. A victim need not be physically transported from one location to another for the crime to fall within this definition.

Source: The 2020 Trafficking in Persons Report

Additional resources:

• International Justice Mission
• The Blue Heart Campaign 
• Salvation Army
• The National Human Trafficking Hotline is a national anti-trafficking hotline serving victims and survivors of human trafficking and the anti-trafficking community in the United States. The toll-free hotline is available to answer calls from anywhere in the country, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year in more than 200 languages. Call 1-888-373-7888 or text BeFree to 233733

Your Turn:

Have you read any books about human trafficking you’d like to recommend? Watched an incredible, can’t-miss documentary on modern day slavery?

Leave a comment and let me know. I’m always on the lookout for more opportunities to learn and grow.

Blessings!