As We Wait

It took Luann John more than ten years to realise her dream of becoming a published author, with the publishing part taking just about 14 days. She recently launched her devotional book, As We Wait, which was self-published on Amazon.

"I’m glad I was born in the age of technology,” she told WMN. "I can’t believe how easy it was to self-publish on Amazon. It's free and it didn’t take very long at all. About two weeks at most. Teaching myself the process really stretched me, but I was so happy for it. I can’t forget the moment that Amazon prompted me with ‘would you like to publish your book?’ and I clicked ‘yes’ and just like that I became an author and had a published book.”

The first time author is not new to the communications field. She teaches radio broadcasting and public speaking through her company, Increase Media.

“Radio has always been a passion of mine. As soon as I completed A Levels I overheard a broadcasting course being offered and I asked my mum to help me get it done, which she did. I knew this was the path for me.” But she doesn’t plan to stop there. “Later this year I will be exploring television, which is another item on my bucket list," she told WMN.

John grew up in Rio Claro and witnessed the joys of a committed relationship in the 40-plus years of her parents' marriage. Being married to the right person is very important to her and the book was the result of years of journal entries about her wait for her soul mate.

"This book came out of personal experience. I was doing my journal, during my single years, while praying for a mate. I wrote about the good, bad and ugly parts, not thinking that it would become a book. When I turned 38 and I was still single, I felt led to gather my entries and present it in the form of a devotional because I knew so many women were faced with similar unfulfilled longings," she said.

But the mother of one did not just sit around writing in a journal about the man she hoped to meet and marry. A lot of that time was spent in the UK, travelling to different parts of Europe, studying and more importantly, praying. And, while, she said being single meant she could focus on achieving all her set accomplishments, it did have its rough moments as she had expected to be married long before 38. She chose to write on this topic, to encourage women, "during their waiting period", which does not have to be a sad or depressing time.

"In fact it’s a gift to us. A time to work on us, a time to travel the world and meet new people and gain life changing experiences. To fulfil ambitions, dreams and to even set and fulfil a bucket list. When I was single at 24, I migrated to London and spent close to ten years there, studying, working visiting different parts of Europe, it’s an experience I would never trade. As a ‘singleton’ I definitely encourage travel as part of your single ‘to do list’." John is currently planning for a year-end wedding with her fiancé, Gabriel Dieffenthaller, who she met just a few months after completing her book.

As We Wait is a 30-day devotional that also deals with various topics like depression, heartbreak and divorce and remarriage. "It takes the reader through a month of concentrated prayer... It also encourages a lot of introspection, many times there are areas we need to fix in our lives before we are ready for a mate, attitudes and behaviours that need changing. I ask a challenging question in one of the days and that’s ‘am I single because of me?’ I had to consider this question as the years rolled on by and I continued to remain single. It urged me to look within and deal with some of the issues that were holding me back."

John, though, didn't just end her journey with the click of Amazon's "publish" button. She has been networking with wedding attire and accessories supplier, Brides 'N' Grooms, which will showcase her book on its Facebook page. Direct Home Furnishers and Felmine Financial have also partnered with the new author to make the book available to their customers. Additionally, John has formed the As We Wait group, established to encourage singles during their waiting period and to highlight events for singles.

Credits:

Photography: charlesparrisstudios

Makeup: @makeup_by_lisawinks

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"As We Wait"

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