Throughout our lives we have to make choices. The choices we make may determine a good or bad outcome in our lives. As an author, I get to make choices for my characters, in their back stories and in their present circumstances. Some of my characters have made bad choices in the past, and now they have to live with the results of their bad choices. Since I write romances, thankfully, that means in the end the choices my characters make lead to a happy ending. I love to lead my characters down a path of choices that result in a happy ending. Sometimes there are a few detours along the way, but then they make that ONE choice the propels them toward that happy ending. I love happy endings. Don’t you?
Since I not only write romance, but Christian romance, a spiritual element may go into the choices my characters make. Often my characters wrestle with a choice that is pleasing to themselves or to God. As a Christian, I know which choice will lead to the best outcome, even though my characters may not see it at the time. How often have you looked back on your life and realized that following God’s path was the right choice, or circumstances that you thought could never lead to a happy ending, do just that because of the work of God?
Currently, I have a book on sale for 99 cents. The hero and heroine of Annie’s Hope have made bad choices. When the story starts, the hero has turned his life around and has been leading an upstanding and sober life for several years, but the heroine has just started her journey to a better life.
Here’s what one Amazon reviewer has to say. “Merrillee Whren has a magical way of telling dramatic stories about women, faith, forgiveness, and family.”
You can find the ebook on sale at these vendors.
Here are all the books in The Village of Hope series. I hope you’ll look for all of them.
Have you ever wondered what your life would be like if you had made a different choice somewhere along the line? What choice did you make that you believe made a significant difference in your life?
I will give away and ebook copy of A Love to Call Mine, a story about hard choices to one person who leaves a comment. I will draw the winning name on March 30 at 9PM MST.
“Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.”
Merrillee Whren is an award-winning author who writes inspirational romance. She is the winner of the 2003 Golden Heart Award for best inspirational romance manuscript presented by Romance Writers of America. She has also been the recipient of the RT Reviewers’ Choice Award and the Maggie Award for Excellence. She is married to her own personal hero, her husband of thirty plus years, and has two grown daughters. She has lived in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Chicago and Florida but now makes her home in the Arizona desert. When she’s not writing, she spends her free time playing tennis or walking while she does the plotting for her novels.
Wow, Annie’s Hope is exactly the kind of book I love to read most! Off to Kobo to grab a copy. :-)
If I had made a difference choice, I wouldn’t have been Mom’s caregiver the last 9 years of her life, and I’d have missed out on my biggest blessing. It was my privilege to be able to be with her, and I can happily say I have no regrets!
I often think about my past choices. I think that a different choice could have given me more difficult times than what I had. The situation could have been better, but it could have been worse. God has been good to me.
Hi Trudy,
I know exactly how you feel. I was my mom’s caregiver for the last five years of her life. She had Alzheimer’s and was difficult occasionally, but I wouldn’t change a thing. She was such a blessing.
Hi Milla,
Thanks so much. I hope you enjoy it.
I think about choices I made when I was a young adult, about education and work – I think my life could have taken a very different path if I’d made different choices then. But it’s hard to really judge – I have a good life I’m happy with, so perhaps those were the right choices in a way? I think I just have to trust in God that I’m where he wants me to be!
I have read Annie’s Hope and really enjoyed it, I will look out for the others in the series.
Hi Trudy,
Helping someone else is usually a choice that we don’t regret. You got to spend those wonderful years caring for your mother. What a blessing!
Hi Bonnie,
That is so wonderful you were able to care for your mother.
Hi Kathleen,
We can often look back on our choices and see how God has been there for us.
Hi Ruthie,
I think that’s a good way to look at the choices we have made–that God has us where He wants us to be. My husband and I have often looked at it this way when we had a choice to move with a certain job, whether to take the job or not. God can use us where we are if we let Him.
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I think back to when I was making career choices of allowing my father to pressure me to go into a field I did not want to be in. Had I not listened to him I would not have lost those credits and I could have not had to cram more classes into my senior to catch up sinced I switched to a different field.
Yes, I have thought about if I had made a different choice. After much time, I have found that the past is the past. We cannot change it. The Lord has told us not to dwell in the past or the future, but in the here and now. Thank you for sharing. God bless you.
Hi Cherie,
Sometimes other people can make our choices harder.
Hi Debra,
I think that is what my characters learn. They have to leave the past in the past and look to the future. The future God has given them.
If I had made other decisions, I would not be where I am now… I think that at each stage of my life I simply decided what I thought was best at that moment.
And well this is a good place.