The Story Behind the Story

I've always been a romantic.

Lacy wedding dresses, first kisses, winks, and secret smiles - they all make my heart swoon!

So it wasn't just natural for me to write stories with some serious romance vibes, it was like breathing - natural and necessary. Honestly, I could write a whole other post about the God-given beauty in romance. Maybe another day... ;-)

While Love, Lace, and Minor Alterations is not an exclusive tell-all, let's just say that there are definitely some themes that were draw from my own experiences in the romance department. And one of the key ingredients to Love, Lace, and Minor Alterations is trust in God, something I excel at. Not.

When I started writing this story, I was very single. I tended to binge-watch Say Yes to the Dress and fret about my lack of love life. And I loved this guy. We'll call him "Luke." And Luke cared about me, too. Had for years. Be we had never pursued a relationship because we went to a small Christian school where dating was a capital offense. The unofficial plan was that we would pursue a relationship once we had both graduated. That day came, went, and many months few from the pages of the calendar. I thought this was God's plan, but nothing was happening. I had a lot of those, "God, come on!" moments. One day I started venting my frustration writing, and Izze, my main character, started chattering in my head. I'd always been obsessed with weddings, and the idea of a single woman in the wedding business who wanted to get married and was fed up with the leading man seemed to be right up my emotional alley.

I started and stopped and rewrote this story many, many times. During one of the "stopped" phases, this guy FINALLY asked me out. But it was really awkward and weird. However, I was still sure this was just a dead squirrel on the path to Happily Ever After.

Three days later, Luke said we should just be friends.

Naturally, I binge-ate a lot of chocolate.

What followed was a particularly confusing and painful season for me. God and I may have exchanged some angry words... Okay, they were my angry words. But the more I turned to God, the more He whispered this message to my heart of hearts: I needed to trust Him.

This was SOOO not easy, especially when Luke started volunteering at the youth group where I was a youth leader, so I had to see him even more. I tried bargaining like, "God, if I trust you, then You need to do this for me." Shocker, but that didn't work out so well. I just needed to trust God and put Him first in my life. He would sort out the details. And He showed me again and again that He was - and is - trustworthy.

Today, that guy and I are married, and we have a beautiful little girl.

 

I don't regret our separation. In fact, I'm actually glad it happened because it taught me to rely on God in a way I never had before those hard days. My husband went through a similar journey with God, and I believe we are stronger together because we learned to trust God when we were apart.

When people read Love, Lace, and Minor Alterations, I hope they laugh a lot and enjoy Izze and Miles' story. But most importantly, I hope they see that they can trust God with their hearts. Because He has the very best in store for them. He loves to give us beauty for ashes.

Isabel “Izze” Vez, bridal consultant extraordinaire, has been helping brides find The Dress for years. She loves nothing more than helping make wedding dreams come true…but sometimes the happy endings grate on her. How many times can a girl discover someone else’s gown without dreaming of the day it’ll be her turn to wear one?

When James Miles Clayton walks into her life, he represents everything Izze can’t handle: change. He’s determined to bring the Ever After Bridal Boutique into the black…and to prove to Izze that she should give him a chance.

But if there’s anything Izze handles worse than change, it’s trust. She may have a few issues—fine, she knows she does. But will they keep getting in the way of any chance of her own Happily Ever After? She wants to trust God to give her those dreams of love and lace, but that’s going to require some…minor alterations.

 

Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Books-A-Million!

  

P.S. My apologies if you've read this story before, as this is an updated post from last year. I wanted to be able to refer and share this story with my amazing bookish people without referring them to a post with an event that has ended. I may be a bit twisted, but I'm not that cruel. ;-)

 

God bless you, my friends!

 

Hugs! <3

 

~V. Joy Palmer

V. Joy Palmer is the author of Love, Lace, and Minor Alterations and a member of American Christian Fiction Writers. She is also an avid blogger and co-founder of Snack Time Devotions. In her spare time, Joy is an unprofessional chocolate connoisseur/binger, and she loves acting crazy and drinking coffee with the teens she mentors. When Joy isn’t urging the elves that live in her computer to write, she’s hanging out with her husband, their adorable baby girl, and their socially awkward pets.