how I began to write

I hope you enjoy reading this account. It is nothing short of a miracle! On August 7, 2001, I found myself in the Barnes & Noble bookstore in Pueblo, Colorado. I had plenty of time as I was waiting for my wife and daughter. So, I decided to go into the kids section, which I had never been in before. When I made the choice to go to that part of the store, before I started to move, a voice said to me. "You don't need to go in there. There is nothing in there that would interest you." I didn't even give the voice a second thought. (I didn't give the voice a second thought for several months later when I realized "Hey! That was really something!!" I strongly believe that if I would have wondered about the voice at the time, the entire upcoming conversation would have never taken place. The only thing I felt compelled to do was to answer the voice, which I did by saying. "You are probably right. I can't argue with you about that. At this point, I pulled out my pocket watch to see how much time I had before needing to be back to the car. I had close to an hour. Putting my watch away, I said to myself again, "I have never been back there. I am going back and look around." So, I headed for the kids section of the store.

At the time and even now, I have a horrid problem with Harry Potter! In the summer of 2001, the books were very popular and the first movie was about to come out. Harry Potter was far from my thoughts that hot August afternoon. But, of course, since I was going into the children's section, I was about to run into-Harry Potter! There were books, games, dolls and all kinds of Harry Potter stuff, which made me stop dead in my tracks. I closed my eyes tightly and thought in the back of my mind: this is going to ruin my entire day. I reopened my eyes and said to myself, "Why did I have to run into this 'stuff' the very first thing?"

As soon as I had said this, I heard the voice again. He asked, "why can't there be a young person that is so in tune with God that He works miracles through them like is recorded in the scriptures?" The words 'young person' are very significant.

With a great deal of puzzlement on my face, I answered back. 'Hey! that is a great idea. I see no reason why that can't be. A young boy about Harry Potter's age would be just perfect."

The voice responded quickly. "What about a girl?" My answer. "That's fine with me. I have no problem with it."

I hadn't been so excited in years! My mind was racing! The voice asked me another question. "How is this going to be presented?" I answered quickly. "In a book." The next question he asked. "Who is going to write it?" A few months earlier I had the opportunity to meet and get to know Jerry Jenkins. So, my response was, "Jerry Jenkins."

Up to this point, all my answers had been silent. But the next answer wasn't silent after the voice made this statement in a much deeper more determined manner. "No! You are going to write it!" Immediately, I said aloud, "Yeah-right!"

He didn't hesitate and came back firm but not demanding and said again. "You are going to write it." "Hey! Come on! I don't know anything about writing. I know very little about basic punctuation and grammar. I don't even spell very well." I replied back silently. The voice responded a third time saying. "You are going to write it!"

At this point , I knew for sure he was not going to take no for an answer. I stood still and concentrated harder than I ever had in my life before I answered. I don't have any idea how long I stood and thought about it. I lost all track of time. During those incredible moments, I didn't even know where I was. I didn't even care! Finally I responded. "Okay! I'll give it a lot of thought. If I do decide to try it and it doesn't work out, I can always go and see Jerry Jenkins." This is the only time I expected the voice to say something to me. I stood and waited for a reasonable time, but I have never heard the voice again to this day.

And that is how Pixie Howard: Her Adventures in Faith came to be. And that is how I began to write. Please let me know what you think and please pray for me. Thanks and may God bless you. James