Guest Author, Ann Harrison

 

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.