PERSEVERE, REPEAT by Ronda Wells

PERSEVERE, REPEAT by Ronda Wells
Wednesday, April 28, 2021 by Patti Shene

IT IS MY PLEASURE TO WELCOME AUTHOR RONDA WELLS TO THE OVER 50 WRITER. RONDA SHARES HOW TIME, A PROFESSIONAL CAREER, AND FAMILY HISTORY HAVE FUELED HER DETERMINATION TO PURSUE WRITING SUCCESS.

PERSEVERE, REPEAT

Ronda Wells

Everyone says time slips by faster as you age, and it’s true. When my daughter was in preschool, I eagerly sat down and wrote an inspirational romance novel. She turns thirty next week. Gulp. And I remain unpublished.

I actually got “The Call” first time out for my second novel, but then the Big Pause arrived. (LOL not menopause). The rewrite of my medical thriller was rejected. I then had six major surgeries in the next seven years. Followed by a fifteen-year hiatus to care for elderly family members, sometimes three at once. My record was one in the hospital, one recovering in acute rehab and one in the ER.

Hubby and I both worked as physicians, him at a clinic and me from home. (God does see decades ahead – who knew hubby would have to retire, and I would become the pandemic breadwinner?) We had two talented kids in a ton of school activities, and I barely had time to breathe, much less teach Bible school and pray.

But I could not stop writing. Fits and spurts, whatever took my fancy, including taking extensive notes about my mom’s lost childhood growing up an orphan in Appalachia. I didn’t pressure myself to get published. I couldn’t meet a deadline if I wanted to. I attended conferences, met with friends new & old, and tucked those manuscripts away. And helped other ACFW writers with their medical scenes when I could.

Fast forward to age sixty-three, still unpublished but now, I’ve simply nothing to lose! I got real and set up a website (hint: start sooner) and began a medical info for writers blog, Rx For Writers. I rewrote and updated that western contemporary inspy romance, submitted to Hallmark, got rejected, submitted again, got a slow-rejection (still a positive story) and tried a third time. I am now one stroke away. The editor loves it, asked for revisions, and I just sent it back on a wing and definite prayer. The memoir has been entered in a Christian writers’ contest.

My advice? Persevere. Don’t hold back. If you have a memoir/NF in you, do the research even if you can’t write it just yet. That might take twenty years, but when you finally tear into it, your quest to find the truth about your family may turn into a shocking but good memoir.

So now it’s a race to the finish between Harvest of Hope and Troublesome Creek: Deliverance from Darkness. I can’t wait to see if one wins, although secretly, I’m hoping for a photo-finish.

Doctor by day, writer by night—Dr. Ronda Wells is an award-winning author who has written inspirational fiction for over twenty-five years. A lifelong Hoosier, she seeks to write stories that illustrate extraordinary faith among the conflicts of ordinary life, and her favorite place as a child was her grandfather’s farm. When not writing, she loves to travel, scrapbook, research genealogy, and devise methods to chase deer away from her back yard hostas. Contact her at:

email: [email protected]

Website: www.rondawellsbooks.com

Twitter: @rondawellsbooks

Linked In: www.linkedin.com/in/rondawellsbooks

MeWe: www.mewe.com/i/rondawells4

Instagram: @rondawellsbooks

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ronda.wells2

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Comments

Laura Frantz From Kentucky At 5/16/2021 11:10:24 AM

Love this closer look at Ronda. You’ve accomplished so much & helped so many! The writing world is blessed to have you & I’m so glad to call you friend. I’m not far behind you in age & when I feel ‘old’ I remember Laura Ingalls Wilder didn’t start publishing till her later 60’s! Ty for the great in

Reply by: Patti Shene

Hi Laura. Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment. I just read where she is a finalist in a writer's contest. Wishing her the best! Have a blessed Sunday!

Natalya Lakhno From CA At 5/5/2021 2:31:25 PM

Thank you! What an inspiration!

Reply by: Patti Shene

Hi Natalya. Thank you for stopping by and letting us know you were here.

Amre From Idaho At 5/5/2021 8:33:39 AM

Thanks for the encouragement, Dr. Wells! Perseverance produces!! Whether it's the race we're called to run or the books we're meant to write, keep at it!! :)

Reply by: Patti Shene

Hi Amre. Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment for Dr. Wells.

Suzanne Bratcher From Arkansas At 5/2/2021 11:18:10 PM

Thanks for an inspiring story, Ronda. I, too, had to wait for retirement to finish my novel. Now at 72 with three published novels, I’m finding it’s time to persevere again to get the fourth one done. Life interruptions don’t seem to stop after retirement!

Reply by: Patti Shene

Hi Suzanne. You are so right in that life interruptions have no respect for retirement! LOL! Great to see you here. Thank you for stopping by and letting us know you were here.

Becky Van Vleet From Colorado At 4/30/2021 1:18:17 PM

Ronda, your blog encouraged me so much. Your advice to persevere, repeat, and not give up is what I needed to hear. I can only imagine how much you've enjoyed your research. (For anyone else who reads this, Ronda and I discovered via ACFW that we are 3rd or 4th cousins.) A very fun discovery!