Gillian Marchenko writes

My writing nook in my bedroom. Don’t be fooled, it looks fancy, but everything is either from Craigslist or the thrift store.

I write about stumbling faith, Down syndrome, adoption, depression, motherhood, and lots of grace.

I hold a Bachelors of Arts degree in Communications with an emphasis on writing from Moody Bible Institute.

My writing has appeared in MomSense Magazine, EFCA Today, Four Cornered Universe, The Tri-City Record, Chicago Parent, Story Bleed, Chicago Special Parent, Gifted for Leadership, Charlottesville Family, Connections Magazine, and Today’s Christian Woman.

While maintaining my blog on www.gillianmarchenko.com, I also guest blog for Different Dream Parenting, Dancing With The One You Love, SNAPPIN’ MINISTRIES, WordServe Water Cooler, We are Grafted In, and The Inclusive Church.

I am an agented author with WordServe Literary Agency. I have written a memoir about Motherhood, Down Syndrome, and Surprising Beauty. My memoir about my daughter Polly’s birth and diagnosis of Down syndrome in the former Soviet Union will be published by the end of 2013 by T. S. Poetry Press.

The day I was told my daughter had Down syndrome, I was standing by her crib alone in the former Soviet Union.

The story starts with a mother’s failure; not wanting her child, dulling the pain by drinking wine, and teetering between faith in God and grief over the daughter she expected. With humor and inspiration, spanning two continents, the story ends with a beauty only found in brokenness. The book is about redemptive love both between mother and daughter, and child and God.

My manuscript received a “CERTIFICATE OF MERIT” in the Deep River Books Writer’s Contest and was narrowed to a highly selected group of ten finalists out of over 400 entries.

I also recently won The Ethel Herr Most Promising New Writer Award, sponsored by Kathy Ide’s Christian Editor Network at Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference in Mount Hermon, California.

For more information about my writing, like my author page on Facebook or follow me on Twitter: GillianMarchenk.

My writing has appeared in these publications:

In This Moment, Thriving Family Magazine, Jan/Feb 2013

Double-Fisted Communion, Today’s Christian Woman Magazine, November 2012

Could I love my neighbor who didn’t love me?, Gifted for Leadership, August 2012

How to cope with recurring grief, CHICAGO SPECIAL PARENT, July 2012

Special Siblings, Charlottesville Family, July 2012

Her Mother, Story Bleed Magazine, May 2012

The Wrong Diagnosis, We Are Grafted In, May 2012

Siblings in a special needs family, CHICAGO PARENT, May 2012

Darkness and Light, Different Dream Parenting, April 2012

After-school pick-up, a mother’s reminder of a need for brokenness, SNAPPIN’ MINISTRIES, March 2012