Based in the Minneapolis area, Joyce and her husband Steve love to travel, and their favorite pastime is sitting by a lake, river, or ocean, reading. They have three grown children and seven fantastically wonderful grandchildren, who provide plenty of joy and laughter in their lives. When Joyce is not writing, speaking, reading, or spending time with family, she enjoys crocheting, knitting, sewing, and other types of crafts.
Author
Though she will always see herself as “first a wife and mother,” she knows God has called her to encourage others through writing. For more than forty-five years Joyce has been writing both fiction and nonfiction articles and books for children and adults, which led to opportunities in speaking, teaching, mentoring fledgling writers, editing, and being a personal encourager to those around her.
Joyce’s interest in writing budded during high-school days at Maplewood-Richmond Heights High School in the St. Louis area. That writing interest began to flower when she and Steve almost lost their first baby shortly after birth—this after a previous miscarriage.
After that life-changing experience, Joyce felt compelled to pass along what she was learning. “I had to grow up in a hurry,” she says, “and I began to see that we can trust God’s promises in the Bible for every situation we find ourselves in.” That story, initially published in Decision magazine , later became part of her first inspirational book for women, Plug Into God’s Rainbow.
After more than twenty years of freelance writing, speaking, and teaching, she started college at age 39, earning a B.A. at the University of Northwestern St. Paul, MN in Bible and in English with a Writing Concentration. Following that, she served as assistant editor for two Christian magazines, The Evangelical Beacon (now EFCA Today), and Pursuit. She now serves as editorial assistant for Prayer Connect magazine.
In addition to hundreds of published magazine (including this one on Kyria.com) and newspaper articles in dozens of Christian publications, Joyce has published more than a dozen fiction and nonfiction books for children and adults. And she has several more in the works.
Speaker
Joyce speaks across the country and internationally for women’s groups, retreats, outreach events, and more. Her greatest joy is encouraging people—especially women—not only to persevere but to triumph through faith in God and to use their gifts for Him. Joyce works with the leadership of groups large and small, tailoring her talks to the needs, interests, and budgets of each group.
Writing Instructor
Not long into her writing career, people in the writing and publishing industry began to encourage Joyce to pass along her insights and writing skills in workshops at writers conferences and seminars. Later, Jerry Jenkins (author of the Left Behind series) invited her to serve as a mentor for the Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers Guild (CWG) correspondence courses. Over the years she has shepherded scores of writers through several of the courses the CWG has offered. “It’s has been a great way for people interested in writing to get started or grow in their writing skills with personal feedback from a seasoned writer assigned to them,” Joyce says.
For more than five years, she served as contributing editor for the Christian Communicator magazine, writing a monthly grammar column called “Your Writing GPS” (Grammar, Punctuation, and Style). She has now compiled those columns along with additional resources, in her newest book, Write With Excellence 201. Get a sample of the original columns free here!
Joyce teaches at writers conferences and seminars across the country and internationally, and also teaches regularly for the Write-to-Publish Conference on the Wheaton College campus (Chicago area) every June. You can download a brochure with more details about Joyce as a writing instructor here.
A number of Joyce’s past seminars are available. Contact Joyce for details and watch for updates here.
For several years, in conjunction with missions trips to Guatemala, Joyce has also been teaching writing seminars to Christian writers in Guatemala City. See the example below:
She has a heart for the Guatemalan people, and she’s using her expertise in writing and editing to help those attending the seminars to write for their own people in their own cultural context. Several past seminar participants have gone on to publish their first books.