fun questions and answers

1. When did you start writing?
About age 7. My Mom said she found me sitting in my Dad's home office with a book about ships and I told her I was writing a story. It was all uphill from there!

2. How many books have you written?
Seven and 1/4! I may be forgetting one! I recieved a contract when I submitted my fifth novel.

3. What genre?
All 7 1/4 books are historical fiction which is my favorite genre to read.

4. What is your writing style?
Intense! I would love to write funny stories like some of the "chick-lit" so popular today but I'm really a very serious person so "intense" is all I get.

5. What kind of writing schedule do you keep?
My favorite time to write is in the mornings but I find myself writing at all hours except 9pm to 5am.

6. What themes emerge in your writing?
I love to write about fathers and daughters. I didn't intentionally set out to do this but found that that was exactly what I'd done in my last two books. I've begun my third in the series and it is once again - surprise! - about a father and his daughter. My first book with Revell is entitled The Frontiersman's Daughter. I'd actually prayed a lot about the title and my publisher couldn't have picked a better one. I have an interesting theory about why I keep returning to this theme (or it keeps returning to me) but I'll save that for another post.

7. What books do you like to read?
There are so many! I will say that Jane Eyre is the only book I've loved enough to read twice other than the Bible. And then there is Catherine Marshall's Christy. Currently I'm James Alexander Thom's biggest fan but I think Liz Curtis Higgs can't be beat for historical fiction. If I named them all this post would be eternal!

8. What's the most surprising thing about writing?
For me, it would have to be the physical aspect. When I write for several hours it feels like I've run a marathon. I am very, very tired. I don't know why this is except that you pour so much mental energy into your work that it exhausts you. I sometimes wonder if other writers feel this way.

9. Favorite writing moment?
You're kidding, right?! Signing that contract!! Knowing the Lord opened the door, not because the publishing world needs another historical fiction novel or a Laura Frantz but because He did it to delight my heart and is willing to use someone like me to tell His story.

10. Any writing dreams?
I think the pinnacle for a writer would be winning the Christy Award. This recognizes some wonderful authors and is named for Catherine Marshall's fictionalized account of her mother's life as a schoolteacher in the Smoky Mountains. Actually my dream is to just keep writing for as long as He calls me to write.