Most authors say they always dreamed of becoming a writer. For me it came as a big surprise. I was simply living my life as a wife and mother of three children, the youngest of which was in high school, when one Sunday in church our guest pastor said: "The Lord would have you write down everything He gives you." I was thrilled. I was certain this pertained to my work in the church and my job teaching in a Christian school. That is until a sentence came into my mind a few weeks later that had nothing to do with either of those activities. It was about a woman holding onto the sideboard of a wagon. I ignored it. But the Lord is gracious—and persistent. The sentence didn’t go away. Finally, one day during my free period at school, I wrote it down. That act of obedience opened a floodgate. Words poured into my mind. When I’d filled a few pages of my notebook I realized I was writing a story. I was dumbfounded. So much so I told no one, not even my husband, what was happening. New Books About The Author Historicals Contemporary Contact Dorothy

I titled the story Unexpected Love and continued writing in secret. A few months later the Lord impressed upon me He wanted the title of the story changed to Beauty for Ashes. Having learned my lesson, I immediately scratched out the old title and wrote in the new one. A few weeks later a woman, who had spent her most of her life as a missionary to India, came to speak at our church. When the service was over she came to me, took hold of my hands and said: "Did the Lord not say He would give you beauty for ashes?" She went on to say she didn’t know why, but the Lord was telling her to pray for a creative miracle for me. My secret had been exposed.

The path to the completion of that first story was not a smooth one. There were many things that interfered with my writing, including a physical problem that took me to death’s door. But I persevered. When Beauty for Ashes, a historical romance, was finished, the Lord impressed upon me that I was to write a contemporary story based on a book of the Bible. I again received a sentence in my mind. I wrote it down, the words flowed, and that story became Hosea’s Bride.

When the two books were completed I had no idea what to do with them. I knew nothing of the publishing business. But the Lord knew. He led me step by step, from person to person, and those two stories became my first two published books.