It has taken 57 years to get to this point.
Well, actually it’s only been 13 years since I published my very first book, Living Inside The Testimony. A lot happened since 2009 after I thought I had published my first and only book. A lot more has happened in my 57 years of life, and I am amazed at how God has been ever-present the entire time.
Today, I am releasing the e-Book for the 3rd edition of that first book. So let me get to the main reason for writing this blog post today. I need your help to boost sales so that it reaches Amazon’s #1 bestseller list. Click this link to purchase the e-Book for only $0.99 cents TODAY only: Living Inside The Testimony (3rd edition)
Here’s the book synopsis I compiled from various 5-star reviews:
Betty Collier engulfs readers with heartfelt authenticity and sincerity permeating the pages of her inspirational narratives. The stories are written as if you are sitting at the kitchen table sipping your favorite beverage while listening to Betty recount surprising victories and daily struggles of life. She showcases her unique storytelling ability with humor and unwavering faith that God has orchestrated her life’s path every step of the way. As she shares memories of trauma and triumph, you will discover that blessings are all around us. Learn how to view life from a different perspective of thankfulness whilst acknowledging that God will see you through life’s trials and tribulations.
You will be instantly drawn into Betty’s faith-filled outlook on life as she puts her Christian values on full display in a wonderfully unexpected way. You will be moved as she talks with a refreshing sense of love and exuberance about meeting her future husband in middle school only to face a near-death experience that left her heart shattered a week prior to high school graduation. Her emotional diary to her unborn child, as well as how she accepted and embraced God’s plans for her life as a wife and mother, will tug at your heartstrings.
Discover the faith within you, and be encouraged to share it to inspire others.
So now that you know what the book is about and that I’m writing this post to encourage you to purchase the e-Book for .99 cents TODAY, I would like to leave you with an excerpt taken from an anthology in which I was a featured author. It helps explain this unlikely author-hood journey I have been on from 2009 until now. For more information about the anthology and how you can order an autographed copy from me, please visit my website here. This book was a #1 bestseller in 9 different categories on Amazon when it was released in November, 2021.
The anthology For Such a Time as This is a powerful compilation of stories written by twenty different men and women who decided to defy the odds, move past the mountains of uncertainty and life’s mishaps because they knew God called them to fulfill a greater purpose for their lives
The visionary author who compiled those stories is Paulette Harper. She asked me to be a featured author in her book. My task was to write a one-thousand-word chapter to share my personal story. It could be any topic I felt added to the theme of the book. Some of the stories shared by other co-authors were accounts of bravery, struggles, danger, death, and faith. While their stories most definitely pulled at heartstrings, readers also walked away from the book with a sense of hope that they too could find the courage to begin again, hope again, and live again despite challenges and setbacks.
With an opportunity to share my story with a new audience, I chose to focus on my twelve-year journey as an author from 2009 when I wrote the first edition of this book until 2021 when the anthology was published. I truly believe all of my experiences, both good and bad, have prepared me for such a time as this. Now was the time for me to embark upon new writing challenges and become part of something much bigger than I had ever envisioned. These are the one thousand words I chose to share in that book.
My chapter in Paulette’s #1 bestselling anthology For Such a Time as This was aptly entitled Living Inside the Testimony. It reads thusly:
I was living inside the testimony all along but never realized it until I started writing what I thought would be my first and only book in 2009. Now it’s 2021, and my testimony has taken me places all across America that I never thought I would go. It is beyond my wildest imagination that I am the official storyteller of a series of books featuring the John 3:16 Global Placement Project. This new mission is definitely for such a time as this and brings to fruition in my life an epiphany “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20 KJV).
My goal when I wrote my testimony was simply to bring honor and glory to God. I shared stories of His amazing love and abundant blessings in my life. By taking readers on my journey of inspiration, faith, hope, humor, romance, and love, I discovered I was following the path God had chosen for me before I was ever born.
That first book was aptly entitled Living Inside The Testimony because that is exactly what I had been doing since birth without even knowing it. At age forty-four, I sat at my laptop, opened up a blank word document and typed the first sentence of my book after dreaming about the book cover the night before. Approximately one month later, I was finished and embarked upon the most exciting yet disappointing, fulfilling yet discouraging, God-inspired yet fearful journey of my life. It was time to make the book available worldwide for all eyes to see what I felt God had inspired me to share.
I never thought I would write another book after that. I was satisfied that I had completed the task God had given me. As they say, my life truly was an open book at that point. Anyone could find the book online, and Amazon certainly made it easy for a novice like me.
After being obsessed with urgently writing the book without hesitation because that is what I felt the Lord was leading me to do, I settled back into my nursing profession as a certified case manager. My priorities were still my husband, who is the love of my life, and our two children. They were very busy and active boys at ages fourteen and nine, and nothing brought me as much joy as my family life with them.
I was finished being an author, but God wasn’t through with me yet. About a year later, I found myself engulfed in someone else’s testimony. Lillie Hopkins asked me to write her story that she had kept quiet for thirty-one years. I was chosen to tell her fascinating story of love, compassion, and forgiveness. It was an audacious responsibility to engulf readers in her devastating saga of excruciating sadness and total brokenness. Because of her miraculous angelic encounter, which left her with indescribable peace, my second book, Angel in My Room was born.
I started describing myself as a nurse by profession, author by passion and storyteller by the grace of God. Although I had great insecurities about my writing ability, I consistently received 5-star book reviews, but the biggest surprise was yet to come.
After reading the headlines that tennis star Venus Williams suffered from Sjogren’s syndrome in 2011, I began my quest to share the journey of others battling this chronic, incurable disease. I was compelled to find answers not only for myself but also for the other four million people afflicted with this second most common autoimmune disease that most people had never heard of.
Sjogren’s is pronounced SHOWgrins; hence the title of my third book, SHOWgrins. I released it in 2013, and it became a #1 bestseller and Readers’ Favorite ® Gold Medal International Book Award Winner. At that moment, I felt like I had indeed been called to be a storyteller for such a time as this because the world was looking for inspiration. The headline in my local newspaper was simply “God Leads, Collier Writes.”
Afterwards, I felt God compelling me to convince a friend to write a book about her son, James, who has Down syndrome. I approached Julia Gray about the book idea after being mesmerized with her stories about James on Facebook. She agreed to follow my lead, and The Book about James was the result of my mentoring her throughout the writing process. I helped her to share her enlightening, refreshing, and inspirational story about raising James. Sadly, Julia passed away in 2016, the year after the book was released. However, her twenty-one unique short stories continue to captivate readers with her openness and brutal honesty.
Where would I go from there? I thought I had accomplished a great deal as an author, while still maintaining my full-time position as a nurse case manager. I decided to take a break from writing. God had other plans though. Once I submitted my will to become His will, I was able to hear His voice in my innermost being. No, I never audibly heard it, but in my heart, I knew I had to keep writing.
In 2017, the opportunity presented itself when an artist, Terry Gurley, asked me to write a fictional story about the beautiful sculpture of The Gospel Symbol that he created. I was to introduce that symbol to the world. The end result was an intriguing tale of heartbreak and hope, the first of many books in my new book series. We released The Birthday Gift in the midst of the COVID-19 global pandemic on May 1, 2020, which was truly for such a time as this.
That same gospel symbol became the centerpiece of the John 3:16 Global Placement Project launched in 2021. As such, all books in my series will be part of that mission. Being an unlikely author who is now the storyteller for a global movement to share the gospel around the world is exceeding abundantly above all this nurse could have ever imagined!
P.S.
Please remember to purchase my new e-Book today, LIVING INSIDE THE TESTIMONY, for only $0.99 cents. I really think it’s worth every penny!
