COVID-19 To-Do List: Write and Publish Your First Book

The coronavirus quarantine sparked many to use their newfound time to pursue a passion. For Abigail Blain, a Cedarville University junior majoring in early childhood education with a fourth- and fifth-grade endorsement and a women’s ministry minor, she decided to write and publish her first book, “Daily Abiding: Starting a Quiet Time Journey.” It is now available as an eBook on Amazon.

Blain, of Tampa, Florida, describes her book as a tool to encourage and equip teenagers in their personal quiet times with the Lord. The devotional explains the Bible and how to study it, talks about why quiet time is important and offers tips on how to establish a daily quiet time routine.

“Ministry wise, I love middle school and high school girls,” said Blain. “I think it's such a vulnerable age that needs older people to speak into their lives and to point them back to Christ.”

— Abigail Blain

Blain first decided she wanted to write some kind of book in June 2019 when she helped at the Student Leadership University conference in San Antonio, Texas. The conference, which was dedicated to teaching middle and high school students to dream, think and lead through biblical values, motivated Blain, and she anticipated writing a book about abstinence before marriage and set a goal of publishing before she turned 20 on June 1, 2020.

But as the spring arrived, little to no progress had been made, and the date was getting closer and closer. With the sudden unexpected shift to online learning because of COVID-19, Blain suddenly had a lot more time on her hands.

“If I hadn’t written my book by my birthday, I would have looked back on all the time I wasted watching Netflix and been disappointed in myself,” she explained.

When online classes at Cedarville ended in May, Blain began writing her book. However, the topic shifted from waiting for marriage to making and sustaining a quiet time with the Lord.

“Coming home for quarantine, I realized one of the ways I have grown the most at Cedarville was through my quiet time,” Blain said. ”The Lord put it on my heart to write about that instead.”

In a month’s time, the book was finished, sent to Amazon and scheduled for release on her 20th birthday.

“Middle school and high school are such crazy times,” said Blain. “I want to see girls in a quiet time with sticky notes and color pens, pouring over the Bible and growing in their walk with the Lord.”

Located in southwest Ohio, Cedarville University is an accredited, Christ-centered, Baptist institution with an enrollment of 4,380 undergraduate, graduate and online students in more than 150 areas of study. Founded in 1887, Cedarville is recognized nationally for its authentic Christian community, rigorous academic programs, including its Bachelor of Arts in early childhood education program, strong graduation and retention rates, accredited professional and health science offerings and high student engagement ranking. For more information about Cedarville University, visit www.cedarville.edu.