Author Profile: Marcia Laycock

Today Marcia Laycock is my guest:

I’ve lived a short distance from the Arctic Circle, in Dawson City Yukon, and two degrees off the equator in Papua New Guinea. But I now make my home in central Alberta Canada where I live with my husband and two rambunctious Golden Retrievers, Jorja and Jaxon.

Tell us about your upbringing and early memories.

I was raised in northern Ontario, mostly on a island in Lake Huron so my early memories are all about water, being in it, on it, beside it. How I ended up in landlocked Alberta I’ll never know! 🙂

Describe what led you to accept God’s gift of salvation. How old were you? 

I was 31 years old when God showed me how much He loved me by giving me the one desire of my heart – a baby girl. The “experts” said it couldn’t happen so she was my first miracle baby. Two more followed. 🙂

When did you first become interested in writing? 

My mom used to say I was born with a pencil in my hand because I was “always scribbling something or other.” When I was 11 years old an aunt gave me a copy of Emily of New Moon by Lucy Maude Montgomery. It was then I discovered I could call myself a writer and was determined that someday that’s what I would be.

How would you define a successful writer? 

One whose work has had a positive affect on someone in some way. If your words have moved a heart you have done your job.

What advice would you give a beginning writer? 

Persevere; don’t get sidetracked with all the marketing hype. Just write, pray, write, pray, write, pray.

Tell us about your current work in progress.

I have a few things on the go, as usual. I just started the Advanced Playwriting Course through Rosebud School of the Arts. I’m also working on the play I wrote last year for the intro. course (at my instructor’s nudging) and hope to have that one ready to send to a production company early in the new year. Book 3 of The Ambassadors, my fantasy series, is in the final edit stage. I also have launched into the realm of publishing with my own company, Small Pond Press. My first release will be a devotional journal for writers, Abundant Rain Journal. I hope to have copies available at InScribe’s conference at the end of this month. Small Pond will be the publishing arm of a mentorship program I hope to start up in the new year to help devotional writers publish their work.

How has being a Christian impacted your life path? 

Becoming a believer in Christ flipped my life around 360 degrees. I truly believe if it hadn’t happened I would have ended up dead. It was the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me and continues to be a stimulating challenge that keeps my heart, mind and soul alive.

What epitaph would you like on your tombstone?

Love Lifted Me.

Marcia is one of the contributors to 7 Essential Habits of Christian Writers. Check out Marcia’s post today on her blog!

If you’d like your own copy of 7 Essential Habits of Christian Writers, you can purchase it at http://mybook.to/ChristianWriters1. Many of the contributing authors are currently participating in a blog hop. I invite you to follow along:

Ruth L. Snyder https://ruthlsnyder.com/blog/ Monday, September 14th
Brenda Wood http://heartfeltdevotionals.com Wednesday, September 16th
Janet Sketchley http://janetsketchley.ca/tenacity-blog/ Friday, September 18th
Jack Popjes http://www.jackpopjes.com/category/blog/ Monday, September 21st
Kimberley Payne http://kimpayne.wordpress.com Wednesday, September 23rd
Marcia Laycock http://www.writer-lee.blogspot.ca/ Friday, September 24th
Steph Nickel https://stephseclecticinterests.wordpress.com Monday, September 28th
Sally Meadows http://sallymeadows.com/blog Wednesday, September 30th
Tracy Krauss http://www.tracykraussexpressionexpress.com Friday, October 2nd
Glynis Belec http://www.glynisbelec.com/blog.html Monday, October 5th