From Edie: Join Eva Marie Everson and discover why writing progress can feel painful—and why it’s worth it. From drafting to editing, learn how growth, perseverance, and faith shape better books and stronger writers. And don't miss her newest book, Miss Beth Bettencourt. I'm in love with it in some many ways!
Dipping the Quill Deeper: The Pain & The Glory of an Author's New Book
by Eva Marie Everson @EversonAuthor
I attended the Pinnacle Christian Writers Conference this past weekend as a faculty member. Part of that role was to take part of a Q&A panel. For a stretch of time, I sat on stage with Christian literary greats James Scott Bell, Angela Hunt, DiAnn Mills, and Chris Fabry (how did I get there?).
One of the questions asked by the audience made me smile.
Book Babies
Often, we refer to our newly released books as “book babies.” As authors, we have “given birth” to a collection of anywhere from 30,000 to 100,000 words. Sometimes more. Sometimes ess. Every page, paragraph, sentence, and word came through what felt like proverbial blood, sweat, and tears. And, we hope, by the time we have written “THE END,” we have grown—we have progressed—as writers.
As the microphone was passed to me for my answer, I had a remembrance. I am in a room—sterile and bright. There are nurses buzzing around me; a doctor in front of me. They are covered in “surgical garb.” Through a window at the top of a door, I can see my husband, his eyes wide. My best friend is at my side, holding my hand. She is smiling. “I have to push,” I say to the medical team. The doctor says, “All right.” The pain is indescribable. Every bone in my body is crying out, every muscle is straining. And then . . . “It’s a girl!”
Within minutes, I have forgotten the pain; a baby rests in my arms, her eyes on mine, her mouth open like a tiny bird’s.
My Answer
“I’ve given birth to a great number of books, each one hopefully better than the last. I’ve also given birth to a human being. Yes, progress is painful.”
Growth is painful. Those of us who write say, “Books are not written; they’re edited.” Editing is also painful. Those words we worked so hard to push onto the page are now being eliminated. A hundred thousand words, cut by 10,000. Favorite passages are sliced. Scenes we thought important, diced. Pain, pain, pain. But, in the end, we have a better product. A beautiful book baby.
While Gone, I Gave Birth
I received a phone call from my husband while at “Pinnacle.”
“Two boxes of books were delivered here today.”
“My book baby,” I exclaimed, a little sad I wasn’t home to take part in the opening of the box.
“Want me to send a picture?” he asked.
“Please!”
And he did. Afterward, I walked around showing off my new baby, Miss Beth Bettencourt. “Isn’t she beautiful?” I asked. Everyone agreed; she is.
As fabulous and wonderful these moments had been, I knew something they didn’t know—my laptop waited in my hotel room. Next to it, a stack of edits for my next contracted novel, The Girl from Apple Tree Lane. Although tired after a day of teaching and meetings, I had work to do. After I returned home to Florida, completely exhausted, I put in two twelve-hour days to complete the task on schedule. Thousands of words lay scattered on my office floor.
So to speak.
Is progress painful? You bet it is.
Is it worth it? One hundred percent.
TWEETABLE
Will an unlikely romance tear down Beth’s walls of indifference?
It's 1962 in Bynum, Georgia, and Beth Bettencourt's world is turned upside down when she wakes to a man snoring in the guest bedroom.
She's home alone; her parents are traveling abroad, grieving her twin sister's unexpected death. Instead of accompanying them, Beth stayed in Bynum to tend to her kindergarten and closely guard her own heart.
A beautiful and beloved member of the community, Beth is an unusual specimen for her time as she nears thirty and remains unmarried. She holds deep-seated unforgiveness toward her twin, Elise, who ran off with Beth's beau. To make matters worse, Elise took their grandmother's ring, which had been promised to Beth.
But now a stranger enters her home and her world. David Patrick Martin seems ready to break down her walls of indifference and find the core of Miss Beth Bettencourt. But can he be trusted with Beth's past, her present, and more importantly, her future?
Eva Marie Everson’s newest novel, Miss Beth Bettencourt, releases May 12, 2026 from Kregel Publication. Eva Marie is the CEO of Word Weavers International, the Director of Florida Christian Writers Conference, and the Director of The Selah & The Foundation Awards for Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference.
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