"I Hid From My Kids to Finish this Book"
A Refreshing Update
My favorite reader review of Some Wandered in the Desert used to be the one my mom gave it, “I didn’t like it, but I’m sure you will.” My poor mom, having to slog her way through a story about an international aid worker getting kidnapped in North Africa…while I was still an international aid worker traveling precariously through North Africa. And then she had to find a way to answer my, “well, but what did you think?” in a supportive way. 😝
However, in the ten years since writing Some Wandered, I have not only changed jobs and locations, while still giving my mother plenteous and varied other opportunities to pray for me, but I’ve also welcomed my own bundle of Joy. Therefore, my new favorite review is the one in the title of this email. I, too, have hidden from my child to finish a book, so this review resonates deeply. 🤣
Please accept this sad little <cough> “monthly” email and allow me to share the news that I’m re-releasing Some Wandered today. I’m doing this for a couple reasons—it was ten years old and benefited greatly from a heavy editorial refresh and smashing new cover, and I have high hopes of releasing the sequels Some Dwelt in Darkness and Some Suffered Bitter Labor next year.
Some Dwelt has been completely written and Some Suffered half written for several years, but as we were keeping our head quite low to the ground in those days, I never did anything with them. And in honor of a promise made to my mother-in-law when she twisted my arm into releasing the juice that Some Dwelt ends with a glorious cliffhanger…😉 I’m preparing to release both within a short window, so stay tuned!
Meanwhile, for those of you interested in the inner-workings of Jodi, inc (as Tim and I jokingly refer to my books business), we’ve been producing new bilingual language combinations of Joy’s World at a decent clip. It’s now available in English/Turkish, Spanish/Turkish, German/Turkish, French/Turkish, Norwegian/Turkish, Russian/Turkish and Uzbek/Turkish! More combos coming soon…
The second Joy’s World, Snow Day, is nearing completion, as is a coloring book featuring one of our family’s favorite Turkish traditions—Turkish breakfast! If you have a little who loves to learn about new languages and cultures, or if you have a bilingual little, I would highly recommend you take a look at this series! 🤪
As well as introducing children to Turkey and the Turkish language, my heart is to help bilingual, third-culture kids not feel so alone. So we’re working and praying and hoping for the future of our little project—and waiting to see what God has planned.
I’ve got a few other projects cooking over here, but it’s time to run pick up my Joy-bundle... Thanks for letting me into your inbox! And don’t forget to order Some Wandered in the Desert if you, too, want to hide from your kids!