Some stories are just works of your imagination, but others are deeply personal. Writing The Journey turned out to be a little of both, even more so than writing The Crowd. In some moments, it was incredibly fun and other times, it was incredibly difficult.

[image error]

During the past year, as I was finishing the manuscript for The Journey, I had to say goodbye to two great men who helped shape who I am today, and that loss is reflected on the pages of the book. This spring, my grandfather passed away. He was a born storyteller who entertained family and friends around the campfire with songs, poems, and stories for most of his life, and was a spiritual pillar for our entire family. This summer, the pastor from my childhood church also passed away suddenly. Not only did he preach at my church from the earliest days I can remember, he also baptized me as a little girl, and later performed the wedding ceremony for me and my husband. Losing such immense figures in your life forces you to come to grips with your own mortality, and assess what you’re doing with your future.

Much of the book focuses on choosing to take risks, to having adventures, to making your mark with the time and resources you’ve been given, and those passages were – of course – a pleasure to dwell on, to outline, and to write.

[image error]

But The Journey also deals with pain, with fear, and with loss. I experienced a prolonged illness when I was a teenager. There were days when it was difficult for me to get out of bed, days when I didn’t know what the rest of my life would hold. At one point, my parents pulled me out of public high school and I was tutored at home until I had the energy to return my senior year and graduate with my fellow classmates.

Now, looking back, there is little that I would change about that time. The experience – those quiet, empty days – instilled in me a love of reading, writing, music. And I developed a hunger to travel – to meet new people and see new things – that would later carry me to a number of destinations across the world. In many ways, my illness brought me closer to God, to my family, and also revealed my true friends. But it was difficult to relive some of those experiences through Ella’s eyes as she goes on a similar journey of uncertainty and suffering.

The Journey is a story about romance and heartache. It is a story about hope and grace in seasons of victory and – ultimately – bravery in moments of defeat. It was a challenge to write, but it was also a tremendous learning and growing experience.

[image error]

I hope it is encouraging. I hope it is inspiring. I hope it is entertaining. And I hope you enjoy reading The Journey as much as I did writing it.

Best regards,

Alleece

The paperback edition of The Journey will be available from Amazon on August 23rd, and you can preorder your e-book copy now!