Meet Michelle Dykman | Secondary Teacher & Christian Contemporary and YA Romance Author

We had the good fortune of connecting with Michelle Dykman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Michelle, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?

ge in front of a screen and needed a hobby to keep me busy. My husband had recently begun writing a book about his experiences with Depression and this along with the deep desire to help the young people face everyday problems spurred me to begin my own journey as an author. It was with this in mind that My Bethel Private School Series was born.

Book One: You, Me and the Stars,
This book is about a girl facing the challenges of Peer pressure and navigating life changes in highschool.
Book Two: Someone Like You,
This story revolves around a girl who is in her senior year of high school and discovers she is pregnant. Although the book deals with pregnancy is also talk about finding yourself worth in more than circumstances.
Book Three: You Found Me (Will be releasing in April 2023),
In this story we meet two young people facing challenging circumstances; one with alcohol and one with depression
I also write books for Adults.
Her Sanctuary, His Heart was written when I faced my own devastating journey with child loss and wanted to share a fictional story of how this journey impacted my husband and myself.
If Only In My Dreams came from a love of Hallmark Christmas movies and a desire to understand Post Traumatic Stress disorder.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Although I am only a part-time author at the moment, I hope in the future to be a writer full time. I think what sets me apart from other YA/Teen authors is the fact that I am a Christian and a Secondary Teacher with the heart to see Teens live regret free lives. Teenagers go through so many challenges and changes. They make decisions that often shock their parents as well as their teachers. I always strive to provide a safe space for those students in my care. They know they can come talk to me whenever about whatever and they will never be judged. When I set out to write my first Teen novel, I wanted the message that no person is irredeemable from the love of Christ to be clear. With this, I wanted to create an awareness of the impact that peer pressure (friends) have on teens through their growing years. Each day, we read of so many teen suicides on the news and social media. It’s frightening. In writing these books I hoped teens would see their worth, would know they are not alone and the death is not the answer.

Being a writer is not easy. It takes hours of stewing, thinking, planning, rethinking, re-planning, writing, editing, reediting, rewriting, and so on until your editor and publisher agree your book is ready to go. As a part-time writer with a family, a ministry, and a full-time job, it is even more challenging. In the end, though, to read reviews and to learn how my stories have helped someone is a reward that makes all the hard work worthwhile.

What lessons have I learned along the way: Pray, focus, and stay the course. Rome wasn’t built in day and neither will your book be. A first draft is just that, a first draft. It still requires a lot of love and editing.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to give a Shout Out, to my husband for encouraging me to begin my author journey and being with me every step of the way. I would also like to mention my Publisher, Ambassador International, specifically Anna Raats and Katie Smith, who have tirelessly worked with me in production of my books. I would like to thank God for giving me this ministry tool without it I would only be limited to spreading His love to the students I meet in my classroom each day.

Website: https://www.michelledykman.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michelledykmanauthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Michell09579524

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MIchelleDykmansBooks

Image Credits
I have the rights to these pictures and brands used. I have included pictures of my ‘team’ at Ambassador Anna Raats and Katie Smith as well as an individual photo or me. The photos are labeled as such.