Martha Pope Gorris

I married Fred three days after he graduated from the U. S. Naval Academy. We had one of those storybook weddings in the majestic chapel, the crossed arch of swords, the reception at the Officer’s Club. Thus began our military life together. Two moves later, we were driving across country from Seattle to Norfolk, Va. I’d picked up a book to read on the trip and somewhere in South Dakota, I repeated a prayer in the back of the book inviting  Jesus Christ to be my Lord and Savior.

Isn’t it just like God that I found Him through a book and now He has me writing them?

Books have always shaped my life, the most important one being the Bible. When I discovered it as the Word of God, it was an “Aha!” event. At last, a bottom line of how to live. No more situational ethics for me.

I wasn’t born with the desire to write, so it was odd when I discovered an old high school term paper saying I wanted to be a writer when I grew up. How did I get started? My husband was a student at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. It was our first shore duty in ten years of marriage and I had to be down with a bad back.  A ruptured disk in my lower back put me in Ft. Ord Army hospital for three weeks, then surgery in another hospital in Carmel, CA.  Anyway, after my surgery, a friend sent a Christmas card and wrote, “Gee, Martha, you could write a book about your experiences.” Those words flashed like a neon urgent-care billboard.

A few months later, I found myself at the Mt. Herman Christian Writer’s Conference. The year was 1983. I’d been told attending would either get me very excited about writing or I’d say, “Nah, this isn’t for me.” Well, excited was an understatement. I was charged, ignited, ready to blast off.

At Mt. Hermon I met editor Judy Couchman who bought my very first article. My literary career was on its way.

During change of duty stations, I didn’t write. I was too busy making a house a home and often being mom and dad to our two daughters. Moving, transitioning served as percolation time for me, adding to my repertoire of life’s experiences. On a tour to Washington, D. C. I completed my degree in English/Creative Writing at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.

They say to write what you know, so I wrote my first novel about a Navy marriage and it’s struggles. I landed an agent but he was unable to sell Navy Blues. Everyone said to put it in a drawer and start the next book. So I did. And I did, and I did. In between writing four novels, I wrote articles, many of them published. Then I did my first nonfiction book, Held Captive by Futile Thoughts? Break Free! published in 2000, now out of print.

A story about intimacy through letter writing was picked up by Chicken Soup for the Military Wife’s Soul. Several other tales were placed in other compilation books.

At the Glorieta Christian Writer’s Conference, I pitched a parenting book to Judy Perry of Beacon Hill Press. She liked it, said to send it along. I did and they published Parenting 20-Something Kids: Recognizing Your Role as They Find Their Way in 2005. Since then, it’s been printed in the Afrikaans language.

When I was touring in Pamukkale, Turkey in 2008, I met a woman from South Africa and mentioned my book was recently translated into Afrikaans. She asked the title. When I told her, her eyes got big. She said, “I just reviewed your book for my newspaper and people loved it.” Made this writer smile. Talk about small world!

In addition to writing, I love watercolor painting and have been in a Monday afternoon class for many years now. Travels to Mont St. Michel (France), St. Petersburg (Russia), and Riatea (French Polynesia) and the Hagia Sophia (Istanbul, Turkey) are bucket-list travels I’ve completed. French, sailing, making jewelry and creating memory books are also things I love. Oh, don’t forget lunch with friends and chocolate. Preferably Godiva.

As I write this, I am working on a trilogy of novels. The first, War of Whispers, is complete. The second, Inheritance, is about done. These fictional tales deal with healing and reveal heavenly influences, angels as well as demonic interlopers. These stories demonstrate our important part in our own health and well-being.

I’m on the board of the San Diego Christian Writer’s Guild www.sandiegocwg.org and host a monthly critique group. I’m also an active participant in a local healing and deliverance ministry. My now retired Navy Captain husband, Fred, and I live in southern California. We have two beautiful, successful married daughters, two sons-in-law and one granddaughter.

My philosophy is this: regardless of the “success” of my writing, the process is a way to worship God, to glorify Him and live out the creativity He so freely shares with me.

Martha’s bio in the San Diego Christian Writer’s Newsletter, The Royalty Note, February 2011 issue.