Hello everyone! A pleasure to be here. My name is John, and I like to write (why does that sound like something I would say to a support group?
). Between late 2000 and 2004 I wrote nearly 100 technical articles that were published in a few different journals, but as for fiction writing, that is a whole other issue.In high school and college I did a lot of pleasure writing, and then stopped for a few years. After a time I started writing fiction stories again and publishing them online. I had a few people following them, and felt it was going well.
However, at some point my wife told me that I really should be using this gift that God gave me for His glory, and not just merely for myself. I didn't really listen at the time. Also, the stuff I was writing (and a lot of the reading I was doing at that time) was not God-honoring. My wife asked me somewhere along the way how I would feel if my kids were to find the stuff I was reading and writing, and what they would say. I simply rationalized my behavior and continued on.
Then about four years ago the Holy Spirit convicted me. It was a rather brutal wake-up call. At that time, I radically altered my reading (and viewing) habits, and also decided to stop writing completely. I haven't written since.
It seems God wasn't done with me though. Every year in January our church encourages a journey of fasting and praying. This year I participated to the level that I felt I was being called to and the Holy Spirit began working on me. Every year during the last several days of the journey, our church has a conference where they invite other speakers and worship leaders to minister to us.
The first night of the conference was a concert by Jason Upton. Towards the end of that evening, we were being encouraged that we could make a big difference for God. As I thought about it, my flesh was telling me that my work in computers wasn't going to really reach much of anything. But then, the Holy Spirit reminded me of the encouragement of my wife to use my writing gift for God, and I could tell that it was time for me to re-enter the world of fiction.
My primary concern though was to surround myself with like-minded Christians during my writing journey, which is how I found my way here. I hope that I will be able to help others, and slowly build back up my skills that I have let deteriorate these past four years.
I look forward to working with, and getting to know, you all!
Regards,
John
Even if we're all a bit crazy (but thankfully I'm only crazy here, as my family would wonder what's wrong with me 
Welcome, Jo-*bonk