Podcast interview where Denise Goosby describes returning to writing after a calling from God, joining Christian Book Academy (CBA), and how CBA’s prayer "war room" and community supported her. Denise published a nonfiction book ("Scarred, like him seeing the beauty and the life you live") which she says was published "last October" and took about seven to eight months from writing start to publication; she then wrote a connected children’s book within days and finished it over a weekend. Central themes: listening to God for next steps, prioritizing sharing/marketing existing books before starting new projects, and spiritual formation through the writing process.
Questions this episode answers
"last October" (as stated in the interview, chunk #1).
About seven to eight months (as stated in the interview, chunk #1).
She started about five days after finishing the first book and finished the children’s book over a weekend (as stated in the interview, chunk #1).
Chapters
We're going to bring Denise Goosby on now. And so, Denise, I'm really excited to also highlight you and share a little bit about your story of joining Christian Book Academy and some of the success that God has brought into your life. So just share a little bit with us about your story.
Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure to be here, and it's an honor to be with all of you ladies tonight. And for me, it was just the CBA came at the right time for me because I was going through some hard things. But I was also very blessed because God gave me a dream of writing, actually a second dream. I had dreams of being a writer as a child, but actually spent most of my working life as a teacher. A couple of years ago, he said, no, I want you to go back to the future, back to your level of writing. And so he allowed me to write a couple of books, one nonfiction book and one children's book. And when I was coming into the CVA, I heard about it from Dr. Sandra Dalton, who was one of my first mentors when I decided, when God called me back into writing. And.
I really enjoyed what I saw when I visited the website, when I saw some of your Facebook lives and your presentations. But I think what really sold it for me was that prayer war room. I mean, I thought, wow, this is God's spirit at work. His spirit at work in these people who love him and who want to share his message through their writing. And that just resonated with me so much, and I just had to be a part of it. And it's just been such a blessing to know that I'm part of a community of writers who love the Lord, who love Jesus, who love creating with him, and who just depend on him and let him ride through him, because that's what it's all about.
Yeah. And it is amazing. Like CJ and I have often said, you know, we go into the war room prayer meeting, and sometimes, you know, you just kind of feel a little bit down or tired or. And we always leave energized. And, like, God shows up every single time. And so we're just so grateful to be able to do that every month inside Christian Book Academy. And, you know, you said that, you know, one of the things that you have really just learned even more since joining Christian Book Academy is just the importance of asking God what to do next. So share a little bit about that.
Yes. Well, as I said, I published a nonfiction book, and this is the book here, it's scarred, like him seeing the beauty and the life you live. And it was published last October. And.
I thought, okay, this is just the first. You know, God had already given me the idea for the sequel to the book. And.
Of course, I'm the type of person I just want to get started. I just want to, you know, get it written, get it done, you know, And God was like, it's okay. I know. I know this happened pretty quickly, which it really did. It only took me several months from start to start to writing it to getting it published, maybe about seven or eight. But God wanted to do something else. He said, now that I've given you this message for this book and also for the children's book, which is also a spin off, actually, of the nonfiction book. Now that I've given them to you, I want you to. To share the message of those books.
Wow.
You know, you need to do that first, and.
And.
And you need to be able to, you know, give them the. The time that they're due, that, you know, and then we'll work on the next books, you know, we. I've given you the ideas. Yes, but it's like a seed, you know, and the seed doesn't grow up over a day. You water it, you nurture it, you put it in good soil, and then it grows. So my priority are these books right now. And then he's already given me ideas for the next one, so I guess it's just kind of getting me prepared and getting my heart prepared for what he wants to write through me for the next one.
Yeah. And I like to say capture those ideas. A lot of times as writers, we're creatives, and so we're going to have ideas galore. And most of you have more than one book, and you. Most of you on this call have already published more than one book, I think all of. Well, except for Heather. But, you know, it's like you have all of these ideas, and yet I love what you said, Denise, of, like, listening to the Lord and saying, okay, take a deep breath. Let's. Let's work on marketing these books first, sharing the message, and then you can move on when the time is right. And I've had so many of those moments in my own life of where the Lord's, like, slowing me down because I'm a. I'm a go go person, too. Like, I'll just dive right in. And so I love that he's just been leading and guiding you all the way. And I also, like, you know, how your book and your children's book, they kind of connect, right? The. The messages and.
They do, yes.
And so you can market those that.
I finished this book on a Monday, and God said, you know, don't stop. I know you're tired. I know you don't think you want to write anything, but do the children's book. So in a couple of days, maybe five days later, I started writing it, and I finished it over a weekend.
Wow.
So, you know, I mean, sometimes God works very quickly and sometimes he works very slowly, but it's still a journey of getting to know God, even in the writing, and a journey of basically being. Being more like Jesus. You know, he uses our writing to refine us. You know, he's a God of many things. We can minister to others, and we can. We can have him minister to us through the process and the journey.
Yeah. And so just like Lauren's books were connected, your books are connected, and so you can actually market them together. And so that's just another tip for those of you watching. Like, I have my book, Broken Crayons Still Color, which is an adult book book study. And then I have a children's book, Broken Crayons Still Color. And so a lot of the women who buy the book may want to buy a children's book for their children or nieces and nephew or whatever. And so that's so awesome. Well, thank you so much for sharing with us today, Denise, and. And being just an encouragement.