I spent the past few days with a wonderful group in an inspiring setting. Many of the artists from Reclaim Management gathered in Fulton, Kentucky for a retreat at Storybook Farm, home of Reclaim co-owner Rebeca Seitz and her husband Charles.The event included a delightful mix of interaction, writing, food, and rest. My favorite part of the retreat was the time spent with other writers. I love hearing about their call to write and listening to the stories God has placed on their hearts. Here at home, my heart overflows with prayers for fellow wordsmiths. I witnessed their desire to use their words to make a difference. I saw their passion for stories that matter. So I post this prayer in honor of the Reclaim family and all the other artists of words whose work breathes life and truth. Holy God, I praise You for Your amazing creativity. Thank You for making a world filled with color, shape, form, and design. Thank You for giving us the tools of words and language, for moving us to craft messages and more. Thank You for sharing truth via words in the Book that matters most. And thank You, Father, for writing Your story through us. Thank You for the different ways you have shaped and molded us as a community of artists. Thank You for urging to share unique elements of Your work. Thank you for the times of joy and sorrow that shape not only our lives but our words. I lift up my fellow writers today as I ask you to draw near. Whisper the words that remind them of Your love. Replace their fears with faith. Help them through the hard places and smooth out the rough spots—in their lives and their manuscripts. Remind them to take every thought captive and to allow their words to reflect Your truth. Use Your Word to inspire them and Your Spirit to encourage them. Fill them with a bubbling fountain of ideas. Speak to them of secret things and open doors for them that no one can shut. And Lord, please keep them from the evil one. I know he wants to kill their creative desires, steal their joy in their work, and destroy everything their words build. I also know You have the victory so I ask You to keep these precious ones in Your name—the mighty name in which I pray today. Amen. Are you a writer with a specific prayer request? Feel free to share it by leaving a comment or send an email to marti (at) martipieper (dot) com. Blessings on your work and your...

It began with a whisper. “Set up an appointment. Have a conversation.” I noticed her the year before at the Florida Christian Writers Conference. In fact, I attended a panel on which she served. I liked her direct manner, her easy laugh, her knowledge of the industry. But her role as a publicist didn’t mesh with mine as ghost- or collaborative writer. She’s also an author, so I spoke to her briefly about how much I enjoyed her books. A quick connection. A new Facebook friend. No genuine relationship. That spring, I was pushing. Many of my writer and author friends felt I needed an agent, someone to advocate on my behalf and handle the business side of my writing career. It sounded like a smart move (although I’ve learned a lot, I’m driven more by heart than business savvy), and I wanted to heed wise counsel. So I looked. And set up appointments with agents. And pushed. And in the end, nothing happened. Oh, one agent offered to sign me. I respected that individual, but it wasn’t a good fit. And after the conference, I sensed God’s direction to stop pushing and wait on Him. So I did. Over the next few months, I taught at two conferences but had no agent appointments or agent-seeking conversations. God kept bringing work. I stayed busy. I navigated a few more business deals. “I can do this,” I thought. “I don’t like it, but I can do it. God will give me the strength.” And He did. But in March 2011, at the same Florida conference, it began with a whisper. “Have a conversation,” He said. And, as you can guess, I did. In the space of fifteen minutes, God did amazing things. No, I didn’t leave the conference as an agented author. But I had an engaging conversation with a fellow industry professional—the same one I’d admired the year before. I knew she and a partner had combined talents to produce a distinctive new management company. We discovered some names and projects in common. And she agreed that I needed representation—although she wasn’t sure who should fill that role. “I’ll know in a week,” she told me. Publishing time reminds me of God’s time, where one day is as a thousand years. Before all the questions and conversations came together, July had all but ended. And that’s when I gained a new family at Reclaim Management, headed by the creative team of Steve Feldman (producer, director, and Renaissance man) and Rebeca Seitz (publicist, author, and all-around miracle worker). Reclaim’s commitment to produce “stories that matter” matches my own. I’m not (so far) a novelist, but I have an artist’s eye,...