April 4, 2007
Five years ago a teen sent me a story for my book, Real Teens, Real Stories, Real Life. Her name was Bekka. She was a talented writer with a powerful story.
For the past few years we’ve kept in touch. She’s no longer a teenager. She’s a college student. She’s engaged. She’s still writing. And she’s still talented.
I met her for the first time this past week at a writer’s conference at Mount Her
mon, California. This is a picture of her with one of my favorite authors, Jenn Doucette.
mon, California. This is a picture of her with one of my favorite authors, Jenn Doucette. Bekka looked exactly like I thought she would. She was eager to learn, and I was excited to introduce her to author friends like Sharon Hinck, Camy Tang, and lots of other amazing believers who love to write books for teens and adults.
On Sunday I saw her walking across the beautiful campus set in the midst of the Redwood Forest and I shouted out for her to join us. We were trying to find a way to get to Santa Cruz, just 20 minutes away, to eat fresh seafood and walk along the ocean, and to catch a glimpse of the seals playing in the ocean.
She willingly jumped in the car designed to fit 3.5 people. There were 7 of us, and one author guy (see him in the pic?) was stuck in the small hatch designed for a couple of grocery bags. We were on our way.
It was so much fun. We laughed. We held on for dear life as author Cyndy Salzmann drove (she drives like she writes, which is a mystery!).
As I watched Bekka (her writing name is BJ) I realized how powerful it is that I get to meet and hang out with teen writers just like you. I get to watch God take your talent and mature it, and see where he takes you. How cool is that?
Who knows? One day we might meet. One day I might get to read YOUR book. This week good things happened for BJ at Mount Hermon’s Christian writer’s conference.
She’s on her way. She really, really is.
So, keep writing. Keep telling your story. And thanks for telling it here.
Suzie
Filed under: T. Suzanne Eller
Posted by T. Suzanne Eller @ 10:59 am
Camy Tang says:
It was great to meet BJ! We had a ton of fun going to dinner, didn’t we? Especially with BJ and Jenn Doucette ducking every time we passed a police car so they wouldn’t see all seven people crammed into our little car! LOL
Camy
BJ says:
Suz! I had sooooo much fun hanging out with you guys! Oh my gosh, I hadn’t laughed that hard in a long time. Thanks for a really awesome week and… can you believe it, I waited 5 years to meet you and then forgot to have our picture taken together? I now have no earthly proof that we’ve met!