Today, I am pleased to publish this guest post by Dr. Jay D. Roberts, a medical doctor and author of  Break The Chains, a memoir.  If you have ever read any of my blog posts, you know that I’m always encouraging writers, and myself, never to give up on your dreams. Here, Dr. Roberts shows us how he eventually overcame his fears and moved past rejection to achieve his dream.

Enjoy!

It started two decades ago in Palm Springs with my some of my friends – Harold Robbins knew some of my story and told me to write a book. I didn’t. A few years later, Sonny Bono told me I needed to tell my story. I didn’t. That same year, Sidney Sheldon echoed their sentiments. I still didn’t.

How could I? I can’t write. English was my least favorite subject in school.

Years later, for some strange reason I thought of my friends years ago encouraging me to write. I’d like to think they were screaming at me from heaven.

So I wrote, a memoir. It was awful. Read like an emotionless scientific paper.

So I stopped.

A couple of years later I thought about writing again. But this time a light bulb had gone off in my head- to become a doctor I had studied hard. To write I needed to do the same.

So I bought books on the craft of writing, lots of them, and read each one, several times.

I wrote and dug deep for the core of my story, as I had learned from my studying.

What I unburied was too painful. So I stopped writing for several months, maybe a year.

I prayed and began to attend writing conferences. At The Taos Summer Writing Conference, God sent me my first writing angel, Minrose. He knew I needed more help, so he blessed me with Julie. I listened to my mentors and applied myself. Wrote and re-wrote. I had entered the world of revisions.

I read a diverse collection of books to see how other authors had applied the art of writing in their stories.

I traveled, went back to the Philippines for forty days and nights (no intent to relate to Moses), to revitalize my senses and enrich my story.

More revisions followed- oh, the torture and necessity of revisions! But nothing compared to the rejections of my queries.

I became numb to being told- “Great story, but not a fit for us at this time.”

But I did not expect two cruel rejections.

One was from a senior editor at a major publishing house in NYC who had asked me to bring my manuscript. I can still remember her words, “I will not even touch your manuscript. Even if you could write, which you can’t because you are a doctor, nobody will buy your book because you are a nobody.”

The other was from an agent at a Christian Writing Conference who wanted to represent me. Her words ripped into my heart. “I’m sorry. I really love your story, but I can’t represent you. I didn’t realize that you were Catholic. The publishers I deal with will not work with Catholics.”

God wasn’t through yet. He sent me my third angel, Joan.

More revisions.

Prayers blanketed me from family and friends.

Then one miraculous day, Joan found my book a home with Tate Publishing.

God bless Dr. Richard Tate for believing in my story and all of the staff at Tate for their help in making my book a reality.

I am now learning the necessity of patience during the production process.

I look forward to the day this year that my book will be set out into the world. I pray that all can be set free.

So, here’s to all the “nobody writers.” Keep your dreams alive, write, rewrite, submit and resubmit. Let no one dowse your flame. Believe and you shall receive!

 Break the Chains can be purchased at

AMAZON / B&N / TATE PUBLISHING

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• Break The Chains by Dr. Jay D Roberts, MD
• Guest Post: My Writing Adventure by Jay D. Roberts, MD

While on my walk this morning, I came across a couple staring at something on a tree branch. As I drew nearer, the woman pointed to the tree and said, “Isn’t it amazing how God puts so much detail into everything?” I peered at the tree to see what she was talking about, and there was a huge spider caught in a big web. I agreed with her that God is a God of details. Then I saw she had her phone out. “Did you get him?” I asked. “I sure did,” she replied. So I got out my phone and took two shots. See one of them here.

As I walked away, the word “details” kept popping into my mind. I immediately thought of my writing. As fiction writers, it can be very easy for us to focus on getting our plot just right; working out the conflicts, all the little twists and turns and surprises, while ignoring the details. But its these little details that make the story come alive and make the reader feel she is in the story, not looking in from the outside.  Let’s look at the paragraph below from The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George:

Warmth. Wind. Dancing blue waters and the sound of waves. I see, hear, feel them all still. I even taste the sting of the salt on my lips, where the fine, misty spray coats them. And closer even than that, the lulling, drowsy smell of my mother’s skin by my nose, where she holds me against her bosom …

Do you see, hear, feel and taste the details? That’s the kind of sensory experience you want to give your readers. This is not the same as clutter, which adds nothing to the story. If it feels cumbersome, it must go. But if everything fits into place, like the markings on a spider’s leg, then you are on to something. Like any craft, it takes practice, but eventually, you should get it just right.

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I will be taking my book Women For All Seasons on a virtual book tour from October 7 – 18.  I will also be giving away a copy of the book and downloadable excerpts to readers who visit the blogs and leave a comment. I will post all the details as the time draws nearer. Meanwhile, if you wish to jump ahead you can purchase a copy on Amazon from the link on your right, or from Smashwords at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/34069

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• How to Write About a Place You’ve Never Been

I couldn’t resist. I had a few quirky things lined up for my weekly post, but after watching Nik Wallenda walk a tightrope across the Niagara and into the pages of history, I decided to shelve the items I had compiled to write about something, someone, far more entertaining and far more inspiring. As I – and the rest of the world – watched Nik take step after death-defying step on a wet, unsteady tightrope from the US to Canada, I saw more than just a man who set out to follow his dreams. I also saw a man who

1. Honors his family legacy so much that he decides to follow in their footsteps. Nik Wallenda comes from a long line of death-defying, daredevil, entertaining Wallendas dating back to the 1700s. Most of them defied death to entertain and inspire others. Only three of them didn’t make it, including Nik’s great-grandfather who fell to his death in 1978.

2. Has confidence in God and in himself. While I held my breath and prayed many times during the walk, Nik seemed calm and confident, although we could hear him praying and thanking God during the most challenging times. Blinding mist, wrap-around winds and rushing waters could have easily caused him to lose his focus and his balance. At one point, when his father asked him how he was doing, Nik said, “I feel my hands getting numb, my body feels weak.” But he kept his eyes on the prize.

3. Perseveres despite the odds. Nik said it took him twenty years to get to this moment of success. For two of those years he sought permission from US and Canadian government agencies, who all rejected the idea. Sounds familiar? But Nik was not about to give up, and he reaped the reward.

4. Has the support of his family. Nik seemed so small and alone on that wire suspended 200 feet above the cascading, pounding waters of the Falls, but he knew that on the other side his wife, children and his dad were eagerly awaiting his safe return. His father even spoke to him during the walk.

5. Celebrates his victory. Nik is a born entertainer. When he dropped to his knees and blew a kiss to the crowd just a few feet from the tower, I thought, here’s a man who knows how to celebrate. We’ve seen athletes and entertainers cry after a big event, but not Nik. He celebrates with joy. One of the reporters said that Nik usually calls his wife from his cell phone, but he didn’t do it this time.

As Nik handed his passport to Canadian immigration officials, he was asked what was the purpose of his walk. He replied, “To inspire people around the world.” He inspired me, and I’m sure, a lot of people. As writers, we can emulate Nik’s example. There will always be challenges, but if we trust God, have the support of family and friends, and do not give up, we too will one day be able to celebrate our victory.

One of the most effective ways an author can receive exposure for his/her book is to have an internet book launch. Pastor Bobby Keating is having an internet book launch for his new book  Apply Wisdom to Life’s Circumstances. The launch date is March 15, 2011, and if you purchase the book on that date, you will receive a number of freebies.

Here is what Pastor Bobby has to say about his new book:

It is my sincere belief that God not only wants each believer to succeed but He has also given us the instruction on how we can be successful. The Holy Bible (God’s Holy Word) is filled with exhortations and positive directions for our success. If you study the Holy Bible with an open mind, an open heart and a desire to understand, you can easily see that throughout the history of God’s relationship with man His desire for His believers is that they live life with abundance, that they succeed in their endeavors and that they draw closer to Him.

Apply Wisdom to Life’s Circumstances is a guide to applying the Wisdom given to us through King Solomon‘s Proverbs. This book shows in detail how to apply this wisdom to daily life now to help every Christian to succeed in relationships, business, finances and more. 

When you purchase  a copy of the book you will help Pastor Bobby fund his prison, addiction and evangelism ministries. Visit The Success Book or Amazon. com and help push Pastor Bobby’s book to the top.

Purchase for $14.95 at Amazon.com

Have you ever wondered why some people win and most lose?  These Success Books hold the answer to this and many other questions!

Cutting through all of the hype and double talk, the Success Book presents life principles that really work and their application to daily life. If you are fed up, frustrated and confused, this book holds the key to your success in every area of life.