WOMEN in the SPOTLIGHT
Inside: Women in the Spotlight is a series of interviews that highlight women in business and ministry, with the goal to inspire, educate, and motivate other women in their personal and professional lives. If you’d like to be featured in this series, email YOUR story to karenferguson@illuminatecommunications.org
Meet Judith McNees, Author of A Heart to Cherish Christian Contemporary Romance Series
What is your background and how did you develop the skills to start your writing career?
I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. I won my first contest when I was in fourth grade and my poem was published in the local newspaper and I got to ride on a Christmas float that was recorded for our local news station. Ever since then I’ve had the writing bug.
I have an AA from Kalamazoo Valley Community College with an emphasis in creative writing and a BA from Western Michigan University with a major in English and a minor in psychology. Since then, I have joined American Christian Fiction Writers and have taken many of their seminars and conferences on writing. I believe it is important to continue to sharpen any skill.
What inspires your work?
First and foremost, Jesus inspires my work. I endeavor to make sure that what I write brings glory to Him. One of the most important factors in deciding to Indie publish was that I wanted to dictate how “Christian” my books were. I have read far too many Christian books that would have been more appropriately labeled “clean” books.
After Him, I would say real life inspires my work. Even though I’m a sweet romance writer, I endeavor to include social issues that I care about in my novels. My debut novel, A Heart to Cherish, features a heroine who spent time in foster care as a child because I was a foster parent. In book 2, which I am currently writing, the hero is a divorced single parent like my husband was when we married, and his heroine struggles with body image issues.
How do you advertise yourself as an author?
The first thing I did to advertise myself as an author was to build a website with a newsletter list. I have also built a following on Instagram (my favorite social media site) and Facebook. I recently started using Goodreads, and I like that platform as well. There are so many different socials that you really have to pick a couple and do them well or you’ll spend all your time marketing instead of writing more books! Authors need to do all of these things, whether they are planning to traditionally publish or Indie publish.
How do you define success, and has that changed over time?
I define success as pleasing God with my words and deeds. This has absolutely changed over time. I used to be much more worried about what people thought of me. I could write secular fiction that might achieve a higher level of commercial success than Christian fiction, but it’s not what I was called to write. If He wants me to write an entire 55k word novel so that one person will read it and get to know Him, then that’s what I do!
How do you stay balanced and healthy in your life and business?
The most important thing I do to stay balanced is to guard my time with God. I take time daily to pray and read the Bible. It is so easy to get caught up in social media and how many likes and shares and followers you have. I’ve had to learn to be intentional to take my eyes off the numbers and keep them on Jesus.
After that, I endeavor to limit my “work” time to the hours my kids are in school, and my husband is at his job and after everyone goes to bed. I don’t always manage to do that 100% if I have a hard deadline, but the wonderful part about being an Indie author is that I can keep my schedule pretty flexible.
Who are your favorite/most influential podcasters/authors/bloggers?
I’d say my top most influential author is Kristina Hall. She’s multi-published, yet she took a lot of time to mentor me and give me tips on my first novel and the cover that I designed for the novel. Next is Joy Avery Melville. She has been one of my top prayer warriors as well as a mentor and friend. After that would be Joy K. Massenburge. I listen to her Psalm 119 videos on Instagram nearly every day. She’s so encouraging and passionate.
Is there any particular process, tactic, app, program, etc. that you use to make your writing career easier?
I’ve been pretty blessed to find several programs that helped make my writing career easier just as I needed them. First of all, I use Canva for all of my design work. It’s important to use a program that issues you a license for any photos and fonts that you use, so if you use another program, make sure you check their terms and conditions.
I also use Novelpad, which is an online writing app where I do all my planning and writing. Next, I use the website diybookcovers.com for free 3D mockups of my novel covers. Finally, I bought Atticus.io for book formatting since I publish via Kindle Direct Publishing, and they do not format novels like the company Draft2Digital would.
If a beginning author came to you for advice on how to make a living writing, what would you say?
Foremost would be to pray. God has ordered my steps as a writer, and if someone is called to write, He will do it for them too. As far as practical steps go, get your website up and running with a newsletter first, and start marketing yourself before you have anything to sell. I believe in the Biblical principle of sowing and reaping. I have built a reputation on socials for reading and reviewing other Indie authors’ books. Give way more than you expect to receive. And ALWAYS be working on your next book. It won’t be easy, but then, most things worth doing aren’t.
What’s your favorite quote and who originally said it?
He must increase, but I must decrease. ~John the Baptist~
***
Contemporary Christian romance author Judith McNees lives in southwestern Michigan with her husband and four of their seven children, along with their three dogs. Her family loves to travel together, but she still believes that her home state is one of the most beautiful states there is. She is a proud stay-at-home mom, stepmom, foster mom, adoptive mom, and grandma, which gives her plenty of fodder for her writing. She holds a B.A. in English from Western Michigan University and is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers. You can connect with her on her website, Facebook, Instagram, Goodreads, and Amazon.
Link to purchase A Heart to Cherish: A Heart to Cherish (A Tranquil Shores Romance Book 1) - Kindle edition by McNees, Judith. Religion & Spirituality Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.
