"Are you proud to put your name on this?" - guest post with author Christy Kyser Truitt and a giveaway!

“Are you proud to put your name on this?”

I stood in the kitchen, holding my breath and out my hope as the hubby glanced over what I considered a rather juicy passage in my first manuscript. He read in silence except for a few, “hmmphs” along the way. I couldn’t stand the wait any longer. “What do you think?”

His eyes, a very particular blue which stole my heart almost thirteen years ago, looked at me hard and asked, “Are you proud to put your name on this?”

I wanted to grab the pages and run, embarrassed that he didn’t prostrate in awe over my literary prowess. What did he know? His reading consisted of eBay ads and Craigslist deals of the day. I tried to soothe my feelings with superiority when reality slipped under the door.

He was right.

In this corner of time, I had allowed the influences of the world to slither into the gift God had graced me for the Kingdom. Nothing about the manuscript glorified His name or advanced His word.

I had chosen provocative over provision. The kind of sustainable provision for which this dying world groans.

I immediately rewrote the manuscript from page one, threading a Biblical message of hope and redemption, the sweet taste of grace which drips from His Holy Word. Sure, life happens in my work. My characters are hot messes, I assure you, sinners from page one. Yet the saving power of Jesus Christ introduces each to a life unimagined before His presence.

The fun read is watching them resist Him…and ultimately surrender.

Like me.

People build careers over helping others achieve a purpose in life. I think the concept is simple. Use whatever you have to glorify His name. Whether that’s a stay-at-home mom, a high-powered attorney, a novelist, or a garbage collector, find a way to spread the Kingdom.

That, my loves, is something to which you can affix your name with pride.

"Justice for All is like a John Grisham novel slathered with a Southern woman's warmth, a dot of humor, and a side of romance." - Amazon Review

You can purchase Justice for All here!

Christy will be giving away one copy of her short story, Cracked Door, to a commenter today! If you wish to be entered into the draw, please leave your email address in the comments. The winner will be announced in the Weekend Edition!

Christy Kyser Truitt is an award-winning writer in the United States, settled in a particularly hot pocket of the world – Alabama. She lives in Auburn with her husband and three children and works full-time as a mortgage lender. Christy has also been a feature writer and copy editor for East Alabama Living magazine for 10 years. Her first book, Where the River Bends, won an award while her second novel, Justice for All, was released to five-star reviews in the fall of 2013.Christy’s newest novel, The First Drop of Rain, will be released fall 2014. Her Facebook Blog, The Write Purpose, is seen by more than 10,000 a week in nine different countries.

To learn more about Christy and how the hot claws of a Southern summer affect her brain with humor and self-effectuation, visit www.christytruitt.com, or sign up for her weekly newsletter.