Ann is a lovely new friend. I enjoyed her book. Thank you,
Ann, for sharing with us.
My Devotional Writing Journey
By Ann Harrison
In late January 2025, as I was working on my second poetry
book, God spoke to me during a 540 Writers Community networking session. “I
need you to write a devotional to go along with this poetry book,” He whispered
into my spirit.
“Wait, what?” I asked. “How?”
The foundation for a much larger book was laid out in my
spirit. After journaling about it to make sure I heard what the Holy Spirit
said to me, I put the book together one chapter and one devotion at a time.
I wrote the devotions
for my chapter on the aspects of prayer and communion with God, and other
topics God told me to include in the book that would be entitled Seasons of a
Writer’s Life. I wrote in the flow of the Holy Spirit at times. Yet, there were
times when the words and/or the Bible verses associated with each devotion were
hard to write. The more I struggled with the bigger book, the more I realized
this devotional project was not a one and done book project. Although I thought
after I wrote Seasons of a Writer’s Life, I would get back to my fiction, God
had another plan.
A Prompting from the Holy Spirit to Invest in My Writing
In 2023, God initially told me to join Christian Book Academy, a paid
membership for Christian writers at all stages of the writing process. This
membership provides a platform for me to learn the steps for writing,
publishing and marketing my books. Christian Book Academy is more than an
online training center for aspiring authors, I am a member of a community of
like-minded writers. These people support me in my writing journey. We pray for
each other and hold one another accountable to make sure we finish our books
and hit the publish button as God instructs us to do, instead of being stuck in
our writing. I was unable to join Cristian Book Academy at first, due to
accessibility issues. However, when I received a new computer for my birthday,
I paid for a workshop on how to write a 21-day devotional.
After a few attempts at joining Christian Book Academy with
my JAWS screen reader with no success, God told me to try using NVDA to join. I
gave this a try, and voila! On March 14th, I was able to join for the free
month. Due to my budget limitations, I received a half scholarship before the
free month ended. Since joining Christian Book Academy, I’ve received the
training, support, prayers and accountability I needed to see my debut mini
devotional through, from start to finish and beyond with God’s help.
Breaking the Big Book Down
When I posted the link to my poetry book entitled The Spirit of Creativity:
Inspirational Poems for the Creative at Heart in the forums, it was suggested
to me that I learn how to market this book. As I went through the North portion
of the Marketing compass of the Christian Book Academy member’s area, God told
me to break the big devotional into smaller books. This is how Praying Through The Seasons:
Seven Aspects of Prayer and Communion with God was born.
I copied and pasted all the devotions I had written for the
chapter on prayer and communion with God into a blank Word document. As I
edited and prayed over each small devotion, I added more devotions to bring
Praying Through the Seasons to a publishable word length. God provided the
money for me to hire an editor through an editing client, and a friend of mine
did the formatting and cover design.
I wanted to publish the book early, but God told me to
publish Praying Through the Seasons on July 17,2025 to give time for formatting
issues and the necessary corrections to be made.
Purchase link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FHS3BMWD
Ann Harrison is an author, poet and
freelance editor who is totally blind. Aside from editing and writing, she
loves to crochet while listening to podcasts or music. You can also find her
with her hands in a book, reading on her electronic Braille display.
Her debut devotional is entitled Praying
Through the Seasons: Seven Aspects of Prayer and Communion with God. She
recently self-published a poetry book entitled The Spirit of Creativity:
Inspirational Poems for the Creative at Heart. She is currently working on the
second book in her devotional series entitled Walking With God Through The
Chapters.
Ann has been published in several
anthologies, including a devotional entitled God Things: Hope for the Hurting,
alongside Jen Lowry and fifteen other authors. She is also featured in the
upcoming 540 Writers Community anthology. Aside from her work as a Children’s
book author and poet, Ann is a professional writer and freelance content editor
with Scrivenings Press and Elk Lake Publishing Inc. She currently lives with
her daughter in a tiny house in Rochelle, GA.
To learn more about Ann and her work, visit her website at:
https://www.annharrisonauthor.com.
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