About Grace Gidman

Why I wrote Willomina Tip

Dear Reader,

I was only eight years old when I first believed I could write a book. I think God dropped the idea in my head because it’s just been a part of me since. Little did I know it would take another 21 years for that dream to become a reality.

The two decades in between were a roller coaster of highs and lows. One of those lows included a time of depression when I was lost, and I believed I would never become a writer. I heard all the lies: “It’s just a pipe dream,” “Who ya foolin’, kid?” “You might as well quit now.”

The funny thing was, I had started writing at eight and hadn’t stopped—poems, songs, short stories, plays, letters, ideas, blog posts—millions of words had flowed from my pen, but a writer who writes books? Nah.

Thankfully, God got me back on track with a story. Just after high school graduation, I mustered the courage to write a Sleeping Beauty retelling about a very broken person loved by someone she was entirely unworthy of, someone strong enough to break a curse she had chosen.

Boom—light came pouring in, and I remembered myself. What had been wrong with me….of course, I was a writer!

But that’s the power of a good story, right? It’s always been that way. For all of human history, we have been inspired, taught, and remembered through stories. That story can unfold on a screen, a page, or around a campfire; we are magnetically attracted to the journey of a character facing darkness and obstacles to reach the light.

Willomina Tip has been in the making for my whole life, although I just met her a few years ago. As a character, she represents all of us. She’s not a superhuman genius warrior. She’s not rich or famous. She’s just a normal person trying to make her way through a dark and scary world, and she gets lost along the way.

But you know how she finds her way through? By remembering who she is and who she belongs to. See, that’s what I have discovered is the secret to this adventure called life. You can’t stop people from making bad choices that hurt you, or keep obstacles from landing on your path. But you can hold onto who you are and who you belong to. True identity gives us the courage and the perseverance to overcome all the odds.

Willomina finds her way because she knows who she is and who she belongs to. And so have I.

God’s call to me as a writer hasn’t just been about telling stories; He has also used it to reveal to me how He is completely committed and delighted to be creating my own personal story with me. Father to Daughter, we are weaving it together.

It’s from that place of love that Willomina Tip was born. She is a beacon of light and truth in a very dark world.

I hope that my little book inspires you the way my favorite stories have inspired me. We are here for a reason, and God has special adventures planned just for us. It might be scary, and yes, it will be hard, but if we remember who we are and who we belong to, we will find our way.

Fly well, friends.