My Guilty Pleasure Is…

...writing my book: Novena.

I’ve mentioned this in past posts, and it continues to be a constant source of joy and healing for me. Novena is a sci-fi/fantasy thriller trilogy, one I’ve been writing since high school. But it wasn’t until around 2017, while I was living in Germany, that I began to develop it seriously as an adult. I was alone, overwhelmed by trauma and culture shock, with no one to talk to. But God, in His gentle way, began to awaken something in me.

I remember sitting alone in my apartment, listening to “Mars” by Gustav Holst—one of the old songs I used to play in Wind Symphony. And that’s when it came back to me: this story that lived inside me since girlhood. Somehow, it had survived all those years. I picked up a notebook and started writing what I could remember. One notebook became two. Then binders. Now I have five handwritten binders filled with notes, dated chapter outlines, and dreams. It’s taken years, but I love every moment of it.

Writing became a healing process. It helped me understand myself, God, and the beauty of storytelling. My main character, Faith Royal, has been with me since the beginning. He was “born” in those early writing days, and everything revolves around him. I’ve put so much love into his journey—and in doing so, I found pieces of my own.

Writing gives me an escape. A safe space. A place of creative release. But more than that—it gives me understanding. I think about God, the Master Storyteller. I think of The NeverEnding Story, by Michael Ende, and how the Empress recognized not only Bastian, the reader, but us—the ones reading about him. It’s as if she knew we were there, just as God knows we are here.

Just like I’m writing Novena with Faith Royal, God is writing me.

“And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.” — Revelation 20:12

He’s writing you. Every scene, every season—carefully, purposefully, lovingly.

“Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” -Psalm 139:16

How beautiful is that? God has already written the book of our lives, and yet He gives us space to grow, choose, and co-create with Him.

Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us:
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

So maybe, this story I’ve been writing for years—maybe it’s not just for entertainment or comfort or even for publication one day. Maybe God gave me this story so I could understand Him. So I could feel the weight of love in authorship. So I could reflect on how much care goes into the crafting of a character, a world, a heart.

And if that’s true—then maybe writing isn’t just my guilty pleasure:
Maybe it’s my way of glimpsing what it means to be made in the image of the Creator.

And, somehow, hope to make God a part of this little story too (the center).

I hope to publish and share it with you all one day.

See ya.

I pray many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many many blessings over you!

xo forever

Rosalyn Rose