Category — Author Interviews

If you like Christian fiction featuring Amish characters, you just might want to look for first-time author Amy Clipston’s book, A Gift of Grace. I’ve read a few stories featuring Amish characters, which I’ve enjoyed, but what intrigued me about the premise of this book was the idea of two teenage girls from the “English” world who, after the death of their parents, come to live with their aunt and uncle in the Amish community. Instead of a budding romance that grows, this book is about a marriage tested to its limits. The cultural conflicts are just as strong, but this time they are coupled with the story of a family coming to terms with the death of someone they love, while at the same time two motherless teenage girls also struggle to come of age in a community that is steeped in tradition and completely foreign to their experiences in the modern world. 

For the girls’ Amish aunt, Rebecca, who wanted more than anything to have children of her own, the struggle to be a good mother to her nieces while being a good wife to her husband makes her feel “as if her world is being torn apart by two different cultures, leaving her to question her place in the Amish community, her marriage, and her faith in God.”

Interview with Amy:

How did you get involved in writing?
Writing is like breathing for me.  I was writing silly stories and sharing them with friends in elementary school.  In junior and high school, I turned to writing fan fiction.  After college, my fan fiction transformed into sweet romance novels.  Later, I felt the calling to turn to inspirational, and that was when I found my niche.

Where did you get the idea for A Gift of Grace?
I’m half-German, and my father immigrated to the United States with his parents and siblings in 1929.  He once told me the Amish speak the same dialect as our relatives, so I feel a connection to them.  I’ve always had a great respect and fascination with their faith and simple lives.  I began reading other Amish authors, and I was moved to create my own series.

What do you enjoy most about the writing process?
Brainstorming and plotting are the most fun.  I love getting to know my characters and playing around with storylines.

What is the most difficult aspect of the writing process?
I would say rewrites are the most difficult.  While the end result is always much better than the first draft, reworking the story forces the writer to sometimes start over and also reach deeper into his/her soul to find the story. [Read more →]

When a tragic drowning accident leaves fifteen-year-old Jacob in a coma, the faith of his family and community is shaken to its foundation. Told from a mother’s perspective, Parting the Waters, by Jeanne Damoff, is a poignant tale of unexpected beauty found in brokenness. Without sugar-coating the realities of pain and suffering, Parting the Waters presents the heart-warming, true story of what can happen when a community rallies around one wounded family. While Jacob’s parents struggle to preserve their faith and family, the prayers and innovative efforts of community members result in Jacob’s gradual awakening. Each dramatic milestone in Jacob’s recovery creates a new ripple, touching and changing many lives forever.

Tell me a little bit about your background and your family.
I was born and raised in Dallas, TX. Graduated from Stephen F Austin State University in Dec., 1981. Double majored in social work and sociology, minored in English, and took secondary teacher’s certification in sociology and English. Married George Damoff May 5, 1979. Jacob was born May 10, 1981; Grace followed June 30, 1983; and Luke completed our family on April 18, 1985.

What do you like to do in your spare time, do you have any hobbies?
My hobbies and work overlap. I’m a writer, speaker, choreographer, musician, and photographer, and I love all of it!

How did you get involved in writing?
I’ve been writing since childhood and always felt like I was breathing my native air in English classes. I also loved teaching creative writing as an English teacher. Though I didn’t seriously pursue widespread publication before 2003, for most of my adult life I’ve been stocking a mental character file. Whenever I’d meet a quirky, obnoxious, funny, or bizarre person, I’d take mental notes. Three of those people inspired minor characters in my first (as-yet-unpublished) novel. I highly recommend the practice to everyone, even if you don’t write. It transforms otherwise unpleasant situations into fascinating encounters.

How do you find time to write?
I really admire people who work full-time day jobs and still manage to crank out books. At this point, everything I do is freelance, so I set my own schedule. If I’m in the middle of a writing project, I can devote as much time to it as necessary.

What did you enjoy most about the writing process?
Hard to say, but I do love the dance with words—knowing what I want to say and finding the perfect way to say it. The right metaphor, a certain cadence to the language, wrapping words around the ache the beauty stirs inside me. For me, language matters as much as story.

What was the most difficult aspect of the writing process?
I actually enjoy all the parts—plotting, writing the initial draft, editing. Probably the hardest thing is getting focused to plunge in, no matter where I am in the process. I’m far-too easily distracted.

[Read more →]

I’m back to writing and books for this blog post, and I don’t know about you, but there have definitely been times in my life when I would have loved a second chance to make a first impression.

In a sense that’s what happens in Trish Perry’s Beach Dreams, when Tiffany LeBoeuf meets the charming Brit Jeremy Beckett for the second time. Tiffany, once a bit of a selfish diva who wielded her cutting sense of humor at the expense of others, has changed, but her attraction to Jeremy hasn’t, even though he still remembers the old Tiffany. After the death of her mother and the loss of her job, Tiffany seeks rest for her body and soul at a cozy beach house in San Diego. A scheduling mix-up causes a double booking, and Tiffany ends up sharing the house with a woman named Eve. And who is Eve’s boyfriend? Jeremy, of course. He arrives to surprise Eve and settles in at the beach house next door. What happens after that surprises them all.

I’m always curious about a writer’s childhood, because I think that influences the stories we choose to tell–or maybe the stories that choose us. So tll me a little bit about your background and your family.

I’m the middle child; middle girl. I was raised as one of five kids by my British mum and my WWII Air Force vet dad. I lived in Newfoundland (Canada), California, Colorado, and finally Virginia, which I’ve called home for the greater part of my life. I love it here. Most of my family still resides in Virginia, which is a bonus.

My late sister lived a rough lifetime of medical problems, which had a distinct bearing on our family lifestyle and our sensibilities toward the hardships of others. Her eventual death may have been a blessed relief for her, but it was a huge loss for us. The loss is what brought me to the Lord.

Both of my children are believers, which brings me such peace. I have a 29-year-old daughter, who is one of the coolest, smartest, most intuitive women I know. She’s blessed me with a remarkable grandson, now five. And my 16-year-old son is brilliant and funny, and he tells me daily that I’m weird (but I can hear the “I love you” in there when he says it).

So when you were a child, did you want to be a writer when you grew up, or did that dream come later?

I think I probably wanted to be an actor when I was a child. I memorized dialogue, imagined scenes, and studied actresses I admired. But I never went out for Drama in school. I was horribly shy and couldn’t imagine auditioning for anything. Still, I was well served by my obsession with dialogue and the visual exercises of creating scenes in my mind. Sometimes I still come up with my scenes and dialogue by simply visualizing them on screen or acting them out with imaginary characters. I try to keep these antics private, of course. I’d be in big trouble on one of those Big Brother type of reality shows.

I dabbled with writing on and off when I was a kid, but I didn’t feel the great calling I hear other novelists describe. I didn’t get the itch until I went back to school as an adult. I planned to become a psychological counselor, but my English professors kept giving me wonderful feedback on the writing exercises I did for them, and I realized I liked opening up that right hemisphere and pouring out the ideas. By the time I got my B.A., I decided to skip the doctorate program and focus on writing and getting published.

What would you say is the most difficult part of the writing process for you?

Being disciplined enough, especially at the beginning of a project, to just sit here at the computer and do it. I’m always amazed, once I’ve put something up there, how easy it is to make it better. If you have something to work with, you’re halfway there. So I’m trying to be better about the beginning of a project-not to over think it before I start.

What part of the writing process do you enjoy the most?

I love writing dialogue. What a control freak’s dream, to have control over what everyone says, including the antagonist. If only life were that easy, LOL! But truly, sometimes a scene simply shapes itself right before my eyes when the characters are engaged in dialogue. I don’t know quite what will be expressed sometimes, and I love it when it flows even faster than I seem to be able to think it.

Here’s the age-old question. Do you plan things out ahead of time, or do you write where the story takes you? Do your characters surprise you?

I was just talking with my editor about that the other day, the fact that the initial summary I write might change a bit as events unfold around my protagonist. I think that’s happened with every book I’ve written. I typically write a summary, which tells me generally where the story will go, and then I write a sentence or two per chapter idea, and then I start hammering away on Chapter One. As I write actual chapters, the events between “Once upon a time” and “The End” evolve in more significant ways than I expected in the first place. It’s an exciting process!

Everyone who’s written or considered writing a book wants to know how others get published. Tell me about your road to publication.

I didn’t know what kind of writing I wanted to pursue when I first started to write seriously. So I read Writer’s Digest and The Writer magazines and joined the Writer’s Digest Book Club. I bought a ridiculous number of books about writing and poured over them. I took creative writing courses while I worked on my Psych degree-the workshopping alone was excellent training for skin thickening. I joined a local writing organization and hung out with other writers. I started submitting poetry and personal essays to small publications. I experienced plenty of rejection and kept trying. I wrote several short stories and eventually realized I wanted to write a novel. So I read several books about novel writing. And I read a lot of novels! While I worked on my first novel, I continued to submit to smaller pieces, and I started publishing. I joined a small critique group.

The above actions took me years, and I still hadn’t submitted a novel for publication (or rejection). This is a long road, but it’s best to just put one foot in front of the other and not worry about the length of the journey.

I entered writing contests, and one of them led to my finding representation by my fantastic agent, Tamela Hancock Murray. Mind you, this was representation for my second novel. Once Tamela started representing me, it was a matter of months before she got me a two-book contract. The contract did not include my first manuscript-that baby still sits at home and may never see publication. But it was all part of the journey. 

I certainly understand those books that sit at home never to see the light of day. LOL I found out Beach Dreams is actually part of a series begun by author Sally John, who wrote The Beach House and Castles in the Sand. Was it difficult to write a book in a series, following someone else?

It was a new challenge, but Harvest House was clear with me that I had significant leeway in my approach. We didn’t want the book to disappoint Sally John’s readers by being wildly different from her style, but we also wanted to maintain a style my readers had come to expect. I think we accomplished a happy medium.

Thanks so much, Trish!

Trish’s Website and Blog

Beach Dreams on Amazon

Read an excerpt

List of all participating bloggers

What kind of story do you get when you have a cover featuring red stiletto heels, a microphone, and the backside of a pig complete with curly tail? And equally interesting (at least in my opinion), is what kind of creative mind is behind it.

This is a “fish out of water” story if there ever was one, and it’s tailor made for humor. Just ask my mother-in-law (who moved from San Luis Obispo, CA to a cattle ranch in the middle of Nowhere, New Mexico) to share some stories from early in her marriage. But back to Act Two. Opera diva Sadie Maddox, a New Yorker through and through, is bordering on “has been” status, so for her second act she takes a professorship at a small liberal arts college in rural Iowa. When she arrives, she is horrified to discover that she will be living with a family on their pig farm!

That’s a great setup to a great story, Kimberly. Very unusual. So, since this book features such an interesting contrast in lifestyles, I have to ask–where did the idea come from?

I can’t possibly reveal that to the blogosphere, and I say that only partly because I’ve always wanted to use the word blogosphere. The other reason is that this one percolated for awhile. There was no lightning bolt moment. But I will say that I’m always interested in putting quirky characters in situations that make them woefully uncomfortable and allow the reader to laugh with gusto both at and with the character. A New York opera diva on a farm seemed like a situation that might work for that purpose.

You’re definitely right on that score! So what kind of research did you do?

It was intense. Lots of dangerous, Indiana Jones-type adventures, plenty of nights under the stars and without food or running water. Actually, I traveled to New York and was shuttled around by dear friends who love their city and were infectious in their excitement. I loved my time there and still wish I could drop off my laundry for someone else to do, begging out of the chore because my building just didn’t have a washer and dryer. The laundry, the insane number of fantastic restaurants, the ability to wallow in theater, dance, live jazz, high fashion—if I could only afford half of a studio apartment, I’d drag my family for an extended stay. As for research on Iowa…

The trip to New York must have been great fun. Having someone else do my laundry sounds like heaven right now! LOL So, if you don’t mind me asking, what kinds of struggles do you have with the writing process? Because every writer is different, we all seem to struggle with different parts of the process.

*Making myself sit down each day and crank out new material, especially on days when I’m feeling about as creative as a paint tarp.
*Pushing through the middle of a novel, when the characters have lost their initial intrigue and it’d be so much more fun to daydream about the NEXT story to write.
*Getting out of the way of the story. That is, allowing the story to flesh itself out without coercion on my part.
*Being able to, as Stephen King writes, “crucify my darlings,” to part with the elements, characters, plot movements that do not serve the story, no matter how fond I am of them.

Yeah, all those are definitely true for me, too. Love the paint tarp comment. I’ve certainly had a few of those days in my life! So what part do you enjoy the most? For me it’s the characters as they come to life.

Without question, hearing from readers who connect with, cry about, laugh because of the stories I write and then take the time and effort to let me know. Unbelievable and lovely.

What’s your schedule like? What do you do to make time to write?

For every writer asked this question, I’m sure you’d get as many answers. At this time in my life and the life of my family, I write in the afternoons when my daughter is at preschool and my son is napping. This is unfortunate for two reasons: One, my toilets become gross because the time I used to devote to being Martha Stewart is now devoted to being Kimberly Stuart, a woman with far fewer housekeeping ambition and far more dust bunnies. Two, afternoons are not my most creative time, mostly because I’d rather be napping. So I’ve had to force my mind and my body into thinking one o’clock is Do or Die and that by the time Mitchell’s awake and Ana is home from school, I’d better have a new scene or I don’t get any chocolate for dessert. (Okay, that last bit is a stretch of the truth. Self-denial is overrated.)

So, are you a “plotter” or a “pantser”? I generally know where I’m headed, but I still find that characters take detours and surprise me. How about you?

I begin a novel with barely more detail than that which I’ve pitched to the publishing house. I have a feel for the main character, the overall arc of the story, the central conflict. But the ancillary characters, the chapter-by-chapter breakdown, how my protagonist changes and what takes her there, those all flesh themselves out in the course of writing the book. My genre, comedic fiction, allows for this kind of approach but I’m sure a mystery wouldn’t be as forgiving. One can hardly decide whodunit as an afterthought. So, yes, I’m often surprised by what happens in my books, how some characters become unlikely heroes or heroines, how others reveal secrets I hadn’t anticipated. All in all, it’s quite the entertaining way to write.

As for characters, I always find that my characters contain interesting pieces of me. Sadie’s an opera singer. Do you sing?

I do. When I was a child, I wanted to be a “seener” (singer). Mostly, I wanted to be Amy Grant. That’s right, people: I was into STRAIGHT UP AMY GRANT. The hard stuff, the early years, like “My Father’s Eyes,” and “El Shaddai.” I rocked out (with choreography) in our basement, next to a record player roughly the size of an Escalade and was wholeheartedly convinced of my musical and entertaining genius. I studied voice through college, sang in the St. Olaf Choir (um ya ya), and continue to sing in church. My mom is a professional violinist, so we were cheerily forced into playing one stringed instrument and piano, for starters. Sadie, the protagonist in Act Two, took her love for music straight into a career, which was a step I did not take. But it was a riot entering her world and watching her both succeed and squirm.

Last, what’s your advice to someone who wants to become a published author?

Hone your craft. There are lots of fancy stories about getting one’s foot in the door to a publisher, how to get an agent, how to market oneself and one’s story. But the best way to ensure you’ll be ready to take on the publishing mayhem is to work your tail off at writing. Become your toughest critic (short of paralysis, of course), get up the guts to share your work with someone smarter and more well-read than you, spend the hours good writing requires. Most of a writer’s life is very quiet, unromantic, and isolating. Unless you’re ready to devote yourself to the less glamorous parts of writing a good story, you’ll be spinning your wheels for the time when a good break comes.

Great advice, Kimberly. Thanks!

Links:

Kimberly’s Website

Act Two: A Novel in Perfect Pitch on Amazon.com

Download a Sample at the Publisher’s Website

Here are the other blogs featuring Kimberly during our June 30-July 11 tour.
A Christain Romance Writer’s Journey
Behind the Mountain
Blog Tour Spot
Book Nook Club
Book Room Reviews
Canadian Prairie Writer
Chatter Matters
FictionaryFootprints in the Sand
Gatorskunz and Mudcats
His Reading List
I Don’t Wanna Blog
In the Dailies
Life with Missy
Lighthouse Academy
Musings on This, That, and the Other
Net’s Notes
Real Women Scrap
Refresh My Soul
See Ya On the Net
Sips ‘N Cups Cafe
So Many Books. . . So Little Time
Sumballo
The Friendly Book Nook
The Law, Books and Life
The Surrendered Scribe
Toni V. Lee
Write by Faith
Writing on the Edge