A Young Writer’s Story -By Erin Hylands
The Lord called me to be a writer.
I don’t know when, honestly. When I was seven and in third grade (yes, I was a year ahead), I said I wanted to be an author. But over the years that dream faded into the background. It wasn’t until January 2023, when I participated in a week long writing competition called Crazy Writing Week, that I discovered my words had value and my dream could happen.
My dream is to use my words for the Lord because He alone deserves the glory. I believe that I can do that by writing stories that, even if they don’t explicitly go out and say “Jesus is Lord”, are good, pure, and edifying. Have you ever walked down the teen section at a bookstore? It’s scary how many books with black covers there are. My calling is to change that, one book at a time.
Will you join me on this revolution to add books to the world that we can feel good about reading?
Even if you’re not a writer like me, you can do this. Consider doing a readathon in your community. Set a specific amount of time—same, 30 days—where you will read as many books as possible and write a summary on it and what you liked and disliked (this is proof that you did it;). Before this starts, gather pledges. Perhaps a dollar a book, perhaps fifty cents a book, perhaps a set donation. Then, after the end of the month, you collect the pledges and use that to buy books for your local library’s teen section. You can support young authors by buying their books as well!
I am in the works of preparing something very special for my email list! It’s 50 YA Fantasy Books You Need to Read. I’m not quite done with it yet but I’m almost there! You can sign up to my email list to be guaranteed to receive it once it is complete.
When she’s not reading, Erin Hylands can be found dreaming up her next story in spite of the notebooks full of half-finished ideas. She seeks to write for the One who created words because He alone deserves the glory. If you visit her, you might have a hard time getting a word in edgewise with her nine younger siblings following you. You can connect with Erin online on her blog that she shares with young author Cari Legere, https://twofriendsonepen.wixsite.com/twofriendsonepen, or her email list, https://erinhylands-author.eo.page/f4bw9,or on the publishing company she founded with Adeline Charlotte and Rachel M. Adams, https://skillfulpenpress.wixsite.com/psalm45-