April McGowan has been a member of Oregon Christian Writers since 2006 and a member of American Christian Fiction Writers since 2010. Her novels focus on finding Biblical truths in times of personal trials, touching on issues of faith, trust, forgiveness, and God’s desire to bring us into a personal relationship with Him.
Although April spent many years making up stories and imagining different outcomes to books and movies she’d seen, she studied fine arts in college. She completed her Interior Design degree and went on to work in the commercial and then residential field. Not long after she and her husband had their first child, and after a lot of prayer, they decided it was best for April to be a stay-at-home-mom. It was then that her passion for writing ignited. It took a few years to finish her first book (which now resides peacefully in her filing cabinet). Since then, she’s written two more novels and numerous short stories. Sadly, she’s still searching for the right fit at a publishing house—so you’ll have to sample her short stories as you wait with her!
April and her husband home school their two children. She’s often asked how she fits writing into her schedule of schooling and carting her kids around to different activities. Her answer? She just does. Some writers find working early in the morning works best. Not so with April, a tried and true night owl. Her writing time is often late in the evening, when the kids are in bed and peace descends on the household.
In the past few years, life has become more challenging for their family. Three years ago, her son was diagnosed with A-Typical Celiac disease and allergic gastritis. At that time, the whole family was tested for food allergies and found they all needed to avoid gluten, eggs, and dairy. Cutting out all those ingredients is more than difficult—and they miss eating out as a family (which they can no longer do because of cross-contamination issues in kitchens). But, they’ve adjusted and found some really good solutions. Another challenge came last year when April was diagnosed with CVID (Common Variable Immunodeficiency). Having been ill for the better part of her life, it was both a blessing and a bit scary to finally know why. This illness makes it very hard to fight off colds and infections and comes with tremendous fatigue. About 1 in every 50k people have this disease. As of now, there is no cure, but there is treatment through ongoing infusion of immunoglobulin.
Through all of life’s challenges, she’s come to rely more and more on God and has experienced a tremendous growth in her faith. April values sharing these struggles and triumphs on her blog—and hopes you find encouragement here, too.
You can contact April here:
A lovely story. You took a prompt that many of us thought was banal and made a story that touches the heart of those in assisted living. You developed Alexia as though you knew her. The ending was lovely as it tells us that the story will continue, life doesn’t end at 95 and that a gift isn’t something you hold in your hand.
By: Ann on 05/27/2010
at 8:36 AM
Thanks for your comments on my short story, The Gift. The prompt seemed like something an older person would feel–and having spent time in retirement and care facilities, it was a good fit in my mind. I’m glad you enjoyed reading it.
By: amcgowan on 06/23/2010
at 7:22 AM