Meet Cydnie

My Writing Journey

My dad lovingly recounts how, when I was a very tiny human, people would ask my English-speaking parents what language I spoke. Apparently, I uttered sounds and inflections in sentences and paragraphs, not random excited baby babbling. He claims I was a communicator from the very start. 

At age seven, I penned songs, short stories, and film scripts. In my teen years, I refined these skills through competitions and school assignments, placing in international competitions for poetry, essay-writing, and short film production. Despite these apparent ‘green lights,’ I never saw myself pursuing a career in writing. Rather, my plan was to attend a fancy university, attain a prestigious degree, and do something ‘smart’ for the rest of my life.

During my teens, my faith in Jesus Christ (a journey that I was blessed to start at age 5) blossomed into my day-to-day life. The LORD directed my eyes and steps to surrendering my life (talents and career included) to Him, walking with Him above all else. As the Lord opened and closed doors, my-recent-high-school-graduate-self suddenly had time she simply hadn’t with my ‘prestigious university’ course load. In this season of rest and borderline boredom, my inner bookworm struggled to find books in my preferred genre and worldview. I remember comparing the numbers of books by genre on Christianbook.com, where most sub-genres of romance held more books than the thrillers…and in my building frustration and indignation, I announced to my family I’d try my own hand at novel-writing, armed with the logic that, even if if only improved my writing skills, proved that I could accomplish such a feat, and gave me something fun to do, it would be worth it.

And now, somehow, I’m now writing a series about ex-assassins, while also designing journals and using social media to shed light in the dark corners of the internet–that is, when I’m not chasing my own tiny humans around. There is no prestigious school or degree (at least, not at this time), but there is a passion for writing and spreading the good news of Jesus that I’d overlooked so many times before. This isn’t the life I’d set out for, nor expected, but living for Jesus is certainly an adventure.

What I believe

In a world flooded with books and creative works about less-than-stellar things, I hold and write from a foundation of beliefs about God, humanity, and salvation.

• I believe God exists perfectly and eternally as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and yes, while that can be confusing, it is a mystery that simply proves how great God is, and how small we humans are.

• I also believe that God cares very deeply for us, having created us in His image. That love drove the Father to send His Son, Jesus, to be our only means of salvation. Such salvation is necessary because we all have sinned and have sinful natures, condemning us to an eternity separated from our holy, sinless God. Jesus lived—fully human and fully God—died and rose again in the early 1^st century. It is by grace we are saved.

• With His grace and redemption, He gives us a ‘Helper’ and ‘Comforter’ while we live here on earth—the Holy Spirit, who indwells us and ‘walks with us,’ guiding us as we serve our Lord Jesus.

• God is very real, and very active in His creation, often using those who love Him to accomplish His plans here on earth. He has also given us Scripture to equip us for this work.

• I believe Jesus gives life to those who love and trust in Him, and that life is better than indulging our sinful desires. That life exists both here on earth and someday in Heaven.

It is from this foundation of understanding that I write my novels. While other theological issues and perspectives about the world will sneak into my writing, these are considered non-negotiables, filtering how and what I write.