Author Talks about Writing, Getting Published, What Editors Want

Inspirational Writer Marion Bond West speaks at Emmanuel College Wednesday, April 2, at 2 p.m. in Taylor Chapel.

This free event is open to the public and is sponsored by EC’s Cultural Awareness Program (CAP).

West will share about her trials as a writer, will give advice on writing stories for publication in magazines, and will share how to write what editors really want. She welcomes questions.

West tried for years to get a story published in Guideposts magazine. “I started out as their most rejected writer,” she says. “Now I publish whole books with Guideposts,” She cites persistence as the key to her success.

Her book Praying for My Life will be available for purchase and an autograph. It also may be purchased at LifeSprings Resources in Franklin Springs.

"As you listen to Marion speak or as you read her books," says EC Librarian Joye Slife, "you will come to know Marion’s heart through the stories she tells about some of the struggles in her life. You realize your problems have been shared by others and God is listening when we pray. It also helps to know she’s a mother, a grandmother, and still is writing and publishing books; so you can realize – I can make it, too!” Slife says.

West has been writing for more than 36 years and is the author of 7 books, including Out Of My Bondage and No Turning Back (Broadman Press, 1976 and 1977), Learning To Lean (Doubleday-Galilee, 1980) and The Nevertheless Principle (Revell, 1986). She also has published many pieces in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, Reader’s Digest, Today’s Christian Woman and The Atlanta Journal & Constitution. She has been a contributing editor and writer for Guideposts since 1979; she’s their most published (and most rejected) writer. She was presented the “Native Citizen Award” by the Elberton Chamber of Commerce in March 2007 as a result of her writing career.

“She’s not your usual church lady,” it’s been said. “She takes off her white gloves and gets down to the nitty-gritty.” She is the mother of four grown children and grandmother of six. Her first husband, Jerry West, died in 1983 of brain cancer. She remarried four years after his death to Guideposts reader Gene Acuff, who telephoned her for comfort after reading her article about grief over losing a mate. He had just lost his wife of 25 years. Four months after that initial conversation, they were married; that was 20 years ago. He was a sociology professor at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. They now live in Watkinsville, Ga., and Dr. Acuff has taught several courses at EC.

West has written honestly about her life and God. Her most recent book, Praying for My Life, is her spiritual memoir recounting the power of prayer and the faithfulness of God in every situation. It recounts her often tumultuous life, which has provided much of the working material for her six previous books and hundreds of articles. Andrew Attaway, a senior editor at Guideposts in New York: "I deal with about 60 writers here at Guideposts, but none of them has that transparency that Marion has and the ability to talk so directly from her experiences…. She gives everything. She writes from an honest place in her heart and she writes with an extraordinary faith." The author characterizes her new book as a story for readers who have almost given up hope—almost, but not quite.

West says pain is the best teacher she has ever had.

Edited by Paula Dixon