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| Freelance Editor Kathy Ide with one of her writer clients, holding up his published book. |
Impossible by Kathy Ide
After thirty years of working as an administrative assistant
at various companies, I lost my job due to tendonitis. My wonderful husband saw
this as an opportunity for me to try something completely different. “What
would you do if you could do anything
for a living?” he asked.
“Write,” I replied without a second of hesitation. But we’d
just bought our first house based on my income from that thirty-year career. And
although I’d sold a few magazine articles, play scripts, devotionals, and Sunday
school curriculum, that didn’t pay anywhere near what we needed to cover the
mortgage and other bills.
Undaunted, my hubby asked, “What would your second choice
be?”
After pondering that for a while, I said, “I love what I do
in my critique group. And they’ve told me they really benefit from my
suggestions.”
He recommended that I see if I could somehow turn that into
a career.
Filled with hesitant hope, I asked my workers’ comp coordinator
what she thought about my becoming an editor.
“An editor of what?” she asked, obviously skeptical.
“Of book manuscripts.”
One eyebrow raised. “Well, do you have a degree in creative
writing, journalism, anything like that?”
“I did go to the University of Minnesota for a hockey game
once.”
She did not laugh. Didn’t even crack a smile. “I’m sorry,”
she said, as if she were about to pat me on the head. “But that’s just
impossible.”
The moment I heard her say that word, I almost audibly heard
God say, “You know impossible is my
specialty, right?”
Remembering that a friend from my church ran a manuscript
critique service, I went to her and asked if she could help me figure out how
to get into that business. She handed me a manuscript.
“What do I do with this?” I asked.
“The same thing you do in your critique group.”
Really? I raised one eyebrow, as skeptical as my workers’
comp coordinator had been.
When I finished that manuscript, she gave me another one.
And another and another.
At first I thought this would be a great way to subsidize my
writing habit. But after a while I realized that I enjoyed editing even more
than writing. I loved working with new authors to help them hone their skills
and polish their manuscripts. When my clients told me they’d landed a contract,
published a book, got an agent, or become a best-selling author, I rejoiced
with them, thrilled that God had chosen me to play a small part in making that
happen. And when my clients forwarded to me e-mails they’d received from their
readers, telling how their lives had been changed by the books they read that I
had worked on … I knew I was smack dab in the middle of God’s will for me. And
there’s no better place in the world to be than that.
I’m so glad God loves the word impossible. I’m becoming pretty fond of it myself.
ABOUT AUTHOR KATHY IDE
PURCHASE LINKS FOR KATHY IDE'S BOOKS
Fiction Lover’s Devotionals
21 Days of Grace by Kathy Ide
21 Days of Christmas by Kathy Ide
21 Days of Love by Kathy Ide
Books for Writers
Proofreading Secrets of Best-Selling Authors by Kathy Ide
Typing without Pain Amazon
Christian Drama Publishing Amazon
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