Hi Friend!
A sad and embarrassing life...
In the midst of everything that was October, I received my very first anonymous, hate-filled email. The person who sent it to me questioned my parenting, my faith, my support for all my kids and my support for LGBTQ folks in general. This person only had a vague understanding of who I was and am, the faith that I hold and the life that I have lived. They felt that hitting me over the head with scripture passages (that I have studied) would convince me of my sinfulness. They only wanted to bully and shame me.
They ended the note with the line. "What a sad and embarrassing life you have."
And I've been thinking about that life a lot lately. While I don't often share all my personal things in this newsletter, October was a big month for me, personally and professionally.
So, here is my sad and embarrassing life (be sure to notice all the shame on my face):
This month I...
- Watched precious kids--and held brand new babies.
- Celebrated 27 hard-won years of marriage.
- Visited my son (and his fiance, Emily) for homecoming at Baylor in Texas. A Highlight: hanging out in his apartment with him and his roommates. And feeding them chili.
- The two boxes are gluten free cupcakes that were given to me. To me, that picture is a celebration of all that is going well in my professional world. As a youth leader, the work isn't always easy--but right now, it is a delight. Real connections and conversations with students about their lives, interests, faiths and future...it is the good stuff of working with students.
My life is full of beauty and goodness and challenge and grace and love and joy and struggle. It is anything but sad and embarrassing. It is a testament to the goodness of God. Each and every day.
What about you? What are you celebrating from October? I would love to hear from you so we can celebrate our beautiful and meaningful lives together! (Hit reply to send me a note letting me know!)
Stories in people's hands...
October was exciting for storytelling.
First, I put stories into people's hands...more on that below.
Second, a sci-fi story I wrote on my favorite parable, will be published later this month in Parabolic Orbits. This is a collection, edited by Ben Avery, of re-told parables and will be available on November 17th. If you want to get on a mailing list for the latest news, you can do that here: benavery.com/orbits. Also, soon there will be ordering information on my website: sammybeuker.com.
My story is called "The Delivery" and is one of 14 different stories retelling the parables of Jesus (mine is from the book of Luke). Just like Jesus told stories to relate truths, we authors attempt to retell his stories as science fiction or fantasy. Parabolic Orbits is the first in a planned trilogy of anthologies. (Parabolic Worlds and Parabolic Realms are coming in following months.)
The first person who guesses what my favorite parable is wins a free copy of the book!! (More clues will be coming in future weeks!) Reply to this email to cast your vote.
My Journey to Publication
Well, I'm back on the road toward publication.
After some tough months trying to edit Rules of Survival, I finally put manuscripts into readers hands. And the first feedback is coming in strong:
"I am in love with all the "feeling" vocab! I feel like I am right with Lily and she is feeling stressed or comfort. I can hear the comforting noises too. It's amazing."
-Elizabeth
"Chapter One is SOLID. Pulls me in. Hints at what is to come. Makes me understand and lean in curiously to Lily."
-Jen
My readers have another week or two to get their comments back to me. But then, it's on to final revisions, a stop with a copy editor and on to query-ing. (For those who don't know, to query is to send letters and samples of writings to agents in the hopes that they will request full manuscripts to then represent you as a writer to the publishing houses.)
Tough news is that Middle Grade as a category is super hard to sell. In the first half of 2025, only 124 fiction deals were reported. That is NOT MANY. But, this is a great story (I'm sure all the authors say that) and I'm truly hopeful that this one finds into way into the larger market.
This is the fun and nerve-wracking part of the journey: getting real feedback, finalizing drafts, creating lists of agents to query, crafting letters and pitches and summaries. I can't wait to share the journey with you!
Thanks for reading! I am eager to hear from you!!
Blessings,
S