It’s true! I’m expecting….

…. my first BOOK! (Sorry, no baby… But books are exciting, too, right?)

I’m very, VERY excited to announce that, just last night I signed a contract with Thomas Nelson for my first book, titled Control Girl. I couldn’t be more thrilled!


I’ve learned, over these many months, that planning to write a book is a bit like planning to have a baby. You don’t tell everybody that you’re ‘trying’ because you’re not sure what will happen. But you have this hope inside of you that keeps building and building.

You start picking out names, and dreaming of what the cover might look like. You start reading up on what you’ll need to know. You solicit the help of an expert or two. And then you wait.

Months come and go, and you wonder if your little dream will ever come to be. And then, at long last, you get the news! You’re expecting!

My due date is June 15, which is just under 9 months from now. (Apparently books and babies have similar gestational periods!)

Here’s the proposed ‘back cover’ for the book:

Women struggle with control. They have this insatiable desire to make everything turn out right and are willing to do what it takes to make that happen. But without realizing it, they evolve into controlling women who can make others miserable with their endless ploys and tactics.

That ‘without realizing it’ part is what alarms Shannon Popkin. Because while she tries to keep her inner Control Girl well-cloaked, she knows just how deep her desire is to keep her daughter’s bangs from hanging in her eyes. She knows just how far she will go to keep her husband from snacking in bed and getting crumbs between the sheets. She knows just how intense her emotions are about socks shoved into the couch cushions, muddy boots on the carpet, and nose picking in church. And these are only the small things she wants to control!

But there’s good news. No woman has to be a Control Girl.

With humor, candor, and passionate love for Christ, Shannon will help you mine the stories of seven Control Girls in the Bible for practical guidance on placing your life ‘controller’ back into the big, wise hands of the One who really is in control. Whether you are a ‘Fearful Control Girl’ or an ‘Angry Control Girl’, this book invites you to a path of hopeful surrender—where God is in control and you are free.

I would love to solicit your prayers as I embark on this project. Pray that God will empower, equip, direct, and protect me as I write.

And thanks for sharing in my excitement!

Update: 

Perhaps you heard my sad announcement about “My Cancelled Book on Control“. Through this disappointment, I had ample opportunity to savor all of the lessons I had just learned about control, and truly live what I had been writing about! And now, I’m so pleased to tell you that I have “A New Due Date!”