The Sword That Pierced My Soul was written with God's guidance
I am not a writer and never intended to be but as God told me, "I know the plans I have for you."
It all started in Sept. of 2007. My pastor and I were discussing a theme for the upcoming Bible Study. She said she wanted to study women of the Bible and I suggested we start with the Virgin Mary as Christmas was around the corner. She thought that was a great idea and asked me to conduct the study, a six week course. So I began to write out little skits for each session that I read to the group then we would discussed them. The group commented how much they liked the study and suggested I write a novel of it. I shrugged it of as I was working for a manufactor as a graphic designer doing ads and brochures for them. It wasn't until March of 2008 my job was eliminated. Having turned 60 that January, being hard of hearing and no job experience other than in graphic design, I was finding it difficult to find another job so I began writing the story of Jesus through the eyes of his mother. I stayed true to the Bible but when it came to Jesus' younger years very little of it is mentioned so that became the fictional part by putting myself into Mary's place and what she may have had to face. When I got to the time of his ministry I used parts of the Bible and found it amazing that I knew instantly what parts to use and where to find them. In October of 2008 I had the first draft completed and emailed a pdf to the publisher that the Lord led me to, Tate Publishing. I had forgotten about the book and went on with my life searching for a job. Two weeks before Christmas I got a call from Tate saying they wanted to publish the book. I was flabbergasted and extremely excited. Me having a book published!
Now the Lord proves that his hand were on this book for in January of 2009 shortly after signing the contract I had a mild stroke. It was like being on a merry-go-round doing 90 miles and hour. At first the doctors thought I had vertgo but after a cat scan and a MRI they learned I had a stroke plus they found I had a small brain aneurysm so I was scheduled to go to Iowa City Hospitals to have the aneurysm analized.
The day before my appointment at Iowa City Hospitals a women from our sister church died of a brain aneurysm no one knew about. This really shook up my husband but I was calm for I didn't think mine was big enough to where it could burst at anytime but Iowa City Hospitals told me different. After they analyzed my test they said it needed to be fixed as it was the size of a smal pea (7mm). They gave us two procedures to choose from. One was where they cut you open and place a clamp below the aneurysm which they said was too risky at my age. The other was a fairly new procedure where they go up your vein and place a wire coil into the aneurysm to help clot the blook. My husband said there was no way they were cutting me open so we selected the newer procedure. Keeping my trust and faith in the Lord, the hospital and I began to prepare for the procedure. It was then I learned that the doctor who would be performing this procedure was one of the best in the world for he was the one who invented it and had just returned from China where he taught them how to do it.
I knew then the Lord wanted this book published as there was still much work for me to do as I had to rewrite it for the publisher. I had originally done it in the Quark application and it needed to be done in Microsoft Word. Since I knew of no way to transfer what I had done in Quark into Word, I had to retype it. After my surgery I began to retype the book. The second draft was emailed to the publisher only to learn that I needed to cut 55,000 words. At first I thought it wouldn't be too difficult, but later it dawned on me how much I had to eleminate in such a short time. So I prayed to the Lord and he helped me cut the parts that were not necessary. After rereading it, I found it to be a much better story. The third draft was then emailed back to the publisher and they had very little more to cut. After that the production of the book began to roll and in March of 2011 the books were in my hands.
The first batch of books sold well and everyone who read it said the loved it. Some even said it would make a great movie! Some said it was so good they couldn't put it down. I am please at how well the readers have liked it and their comments is just another way God has shown me that his hands were on this book. I give all my thanks and praises to the Lord!
Barbara Hodgson
It all started in Sept. of 2007. My pastor and I were discussing a theme for the upcoming Bible Study. She said she wanted to study women of the Bible and I suggested we start with the Virgin Mary as Christmas was around the corner. She thought that was a great idea and asked me to conduct the study, a six week course. So I began to write out little skits for each session that I read to the group then we would discussed them. The group commented how much they liked the study and suggested I write a novel of it. I shrugged it of as I was working for a manufactor as a graphic designer doing ads and brochures for them. It wasn't until March of 2008 my job was eliminated. Having turned 60 that January, being hard of hearing and no job experience other than in graphic design, I was finding it difficult to find another job so I began writing the story of Jesus through the eyes of his mother. I stayed true to the Bible but when it came to Jesus' younger years very little of it is mentioned so that became the fictional part by putting myself into Mary's place and what she may have had to face. When I got to the time of his ministry I used parts of the Bible and found it amazing that I knew instantly what parts to use and where to find them. In October of 2008 I had the first draft completed and emailed a pdf to the publisher that the Lord led me to, Tate Publishing. I had forgotten about the book and went on with my life searching for a job. Two weeks before Christmas I got a call from Tate saying they wanted to publish the book. I was flabbergasted and extremely excited. Me having a book published!
Now the Lord proves that his hand were on this book for in January of 2009 shortly after signing the contract I had a mild stroke. It was like being on a merry-go-round doing 90 miles and hour. At first the doctors thought I had vertgo but after a cat scan and a MRI they learned I had a stroke plus they found I had a small brain aneurysm so I was scheduled to go to Iowa City Hospitals to have the aneurysm analized.
The day before my appointment at Iowa City Hospitals a women from our sister church died of a brain aneurysm no one knew about. This really shook up my husband but I was calm for I didn't think mine was big enough to where it could burst at anytime but Iowa City Hospitals told me different. After they analyzed my test they said it needed to be fixed as it was the size of a smal pea (7mm). They gave us two procedures to choose from. One was where they cut you open and place a clamp below the aneurysm which they said was too risky at my age. The other was a fairly new procedure where they go up your vein and place a wire coil into the aneurysm to help clot the blook. My husband said there was no way they were cutting me open so we selected the newer procedure. Keeping my trust and faith in the Lord, the hospital and I began to prepare for the procedure. It was then I learned that the doctor who would be performing this procedure was one of the best in the world for he was the one who invented it and had just returned from China where he taught them how to do it.
I knew then the Lord wanted this book published as there was still much work for me to do as I had to rewrite it for the publisher. I had originally done it in the Quark application and it needed to be done in Microsoft Word. Since I knew of no way to transfer what I had done in Quark into Word, I had to retype it. After my surgery I began to retype the book. The second draft was emailed to the publisher only to learn that I needed to cut 55,000 words. At first I thought it wouldn't be too difficult, but later it dawned on me how much I had to eleminate in such a short time. So I prayed to the Lord and he helped me cut the parts that were not necessary. After rereading it, I found it to be a much better story. The third draft was then emailed back to the publisher and they had very little more to cut. After that the production of the book began to roll and in March of 2011 the books were in my hands.
The first batch of books sold well and everyone who read it said the loved it. Some even said it would make a great movie! Some said it was so good they couldn't put it down. I am please at how well the readers have liked it and their comments is just another way God has shown me that his hands were on this book. I give all my thanks and praises to the Lord!
Barbara Hodgson