Author Archives: minnesotagirl

This is an extraordinary summer for me. I’m excited. I’m overjoyed. I’m overwhelmed. I’m scared. I’ve been sitting on two completed novels for a full year. Yeah, it’s crazy, I know. My novels have been proof-read, edited, shared amongst close family and friends…and then tucked away in my closet. I’ve dreamt of sharing them further. I’ve wanted so badly for my words to reach people’s hearts. But I’ve been scared. What will people say about my stories? My novels reveal my heart, my soul, my inner longings and dreams. Will people think I’m crazy?

My novels don’t fit the mold most publishing companies have set. Agents and publishers of romantic fiction require specific guidelines regarding plot, characterization, and romantic development between characters. I researched story regulations, and my heart grew sad. I cannot revolutionize my stories to fit this mold. The joy and individuality of my writing would be lost. Instead, I found a proofreader. I worked closely with him to edit and analyze my manuscripts so they could be as concise and powerful as possible. I submitted to a couple agents and publishing companies… and got rejected.

So I self published my stories! I uploaded my manuscripts to Lulu.com, a user-friendly, self-publishing website. I designed basic covers for my novels and made copies available on demand for myself to buy and distribute.

Then life got busy. Really busy. In May 2021, I met someone special. I was swept off my feet. Need I say more? All my thoughts, hopes, and dreams revolved around this person. He became my life. But now, he is so far from me that his face, his voice, can only be memories. That is a story for another day.

Fast forward to May 2022. With my heart broken and my world turned inside out, I returned to my stories. Once again, I read through both my finished novels: Reckless Love and Forbidden Love. The characters drew me in. I emphasized with their motivations, struggles, and determination to love at all costs. I cried at their heartbreaks. I cheered their successes. I decided these are stories that need to be shared. I had no great interest in submitting to agents and cutting my novels to fit a standard mold. I wanted to share them as is.

My goal for the future is to work with a professional illustrator to update my cover designs. My covers right now are very simple, very basic. But the stories are finished. They beg to be shared. So, this spring, I took a leap of faith. I began sharing my stories again with friends and acquaintances. People were intrigued. I was giving my books away, but many people expressed a desire to buy my stories. I ordered dozens of my books, finding dozens more people to distribute to.

I believe God is at work in this. I learned I truly can share my faith and my heart with people through my writing. This spring, friends from my parents’ church in Nevis, MN, asked me to set up a writing stand at a church summer picnic. They want me to sell my stories to the entire church, whoever is willing to buy. I am amazed and excited. I’m brainstorming further ways to share my writing this summer.

Overall, I’m praying earnestly that God will bless the work of my hands and the words from my heart. My goals for the coming weeks and months are to make my stories available to as many people as I can. I plan to upload a link for others to purchase my novels on Lulu.com and on this website. I hope to eventually do a facelift on the covers of my novels. Also, I’m excited to kick off this blog to share my writing Journey with you. I’m new at all this, and it’s rather intimidating. But I know God is with me. He will never leave me or forsake me. I want to commit this journey to him. I pray and trust in God’s promise from Proverbs 16:3, “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” May we all learn lots along the way!

Two years ago, in the summer of 2018, I had the urge to write a novel. For years I’d been playing with two particular characters in my mind, giving them names and personalities and creating a backstory for how they would meet. Nick and Annie–these characters were complete opposites in every way. Young, innocent Annie had a strong faith in the Lord and a burning desire to go to college and embark on a career to help people. Nick was embittered by the hard lot life had dealt him and held out no hopes for a bright future. He lived for today, not caring anything about tomorrow. The two would meet at McDonald’s, of all places, Nick rescuing Annie from the wrath of an irate customer.

Two summers ago, I really wanted to write this novel. However, I was heading into my second year of college and had absolutely no time to write. So instead of writing, all throughout my sophomore year I absorbed and catalogued experiences from my life and the lives of students around me. I made further plans for my novel. Mentally I gave it a beginning, a middle, and an end. This would be a college story, and it would take place in the same town and at the same college I attended: Northland Community and Technical College in Thief River Falls, MN. The most realistic stories, I decided, could contain elements of an author’s own life and experiences.

In the spring of 2019, I graduated from college. That summer I began my career as a licensed physical therapist assistant, relocating south to the town of Alexandria, MN. And there, free from the constant pressure to study for exams and craft research papers, I began my writing journey. Reckless Love was born.

I wanted this story to be very real-life. It does not have a fairytale plot or a happily-ever-after ending. My goal is that readers feel what my characters are feeling and that they envision themselves in Nick and Annie’s situation. Nick and Annie’s is a subtle romance. As their relationship begins, they start out hating each other. Half the fun of the story is seeing Nick and Annie’s hostility toward one another develop into a plucky friendship. The reader can see that my characters have formed an inseparable bond of affection before even Nick and Annie realize how much they mean to each other!

In a way, I wrote myself into Annie’s story. In Reckless Love, Annie is faced with many tough decisions which come as a result of life circumstances beyond her control. As I crafted this novel, I asked myself: If I were Annie, how would I react if every dream and hope I had worked toward was suddenly taken from me? How would I feel if the man I loved was willing to sacrifice everything to take care of me? And what would I do if this same man did not share my faith and values or my love for God?

I have completed my novel. My characters are so real to me that sometimes I long to meet them. I believe this story is meant to be shared, and I am working hard to reach my goal of getting this novel published. Ultimately, I believe that my life and my story are in God’s hands. All of us are in God’s hands. Our lives may be uncertain, but God’s reckless love will never leave us or forsake us.

My name is Emily Shannon Omberg. I live in Alexandria, MN; I’m twenty-two years old; and I work with senior adults as a physical therapist assistant. I love spending time outdoors with family, listening to 1920s Jazz, and researching American history. In my free time, I escape from the world with my imagination and my computer, and I write stories. So many stories…

God has given me a passion for the written word. I’ve been writing stories since I was four years old. I remember watching General Hospital with my mom as a child and becoming so fascinated with the plotlines and characters that I started my own “General Hospital Newspaper.” I would ride my bike around the block delivering newspapers to my neighbors. Shortly after this, I began concocting and writing down my own stories and selling them at garage sales and in my father’s work office. For as long as I can remember, I’ve dreamed about becoming a published author.

I’ve always been an avid reader, devouring Christian fiction romance novels by the dozens. I have stayed up all night just to finish a book in one sitting! Bodie Thoene, Julie Klassen, Sarah Sundin, Elizabeth Camden, Francine Rivers–these wonderful authors filled my imagination with stories of love and longing and made me yearn to craft my own novel.

I made a promise to myself that if and when I wrote a novel, it would be a love story. I subconsciously set three goals for any story I would write. One, my story would be believable. It would have to be something that could happen in real life, something that could happen in my life. Two, my story would have to have a purpose. I wanted to share the message of God’s great love for people and the unique way God can work in human lives. Three, my story would be something I would love to read–a subtle romance with memorable characters who would not leave my thoughts and a plot that would fulfill all my secret hopes and expectations.

My purpose in starting this blog is to connect with other aspiring authors and avid readers who, like me, are fascinated by the wonderful realm of Christian romantic fiction and who wish to have a voice in the Christian fiction world. I am currently working on completing and polishing manuscripts of two novels–which is very exciting for me!! I am new to the world of networking with fellow writers, readers, agents, and publishers, so I am learning everyday and expect to be humbled and enlightened along the way! With God’s help, I intend to begin this journey with a promise from His Word:

Proverbs 16:3 “Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.”

I will be posting more updates on my writing journey.

God bless you!

Emily Shannon Omberg

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus your own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus your own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus your own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.