Patricia Bradley, an award-winning author who writes page-turning suspense, was my first Novelists Unwind guest…way back in August 2017! We’ve been friends since before either of us were published. Her newest novel, Standoff, is the first book in the Natchez Trace Park Rangers Series. During our chat, Patricia reveals her favorite way to kill a character!
Suzanne Woods Fisher, best known for her award-winning Amish fiction, returns to Novelists Unwind to talk about her shift to contemporary romance. The second book in her Three Sisters Island Series, On a Coastal Breeze, released earlier this year. Among other topics, we chatted about the name of her male protagonist, Rick O’Shea, which has a fun insight to his character. (Say the name three times fast.)
Linda Shenton Matchett writes stories about “ordinary people who did extraordinary things in days gone by.” Her primary interest is World War II history, but she also writes novels set in other eras. In one of my favorite Novelists Unwind moments ever, Linda shows us a notebook her parents gave her when she was eight or nine years old with instructions to write stories and amuse herself.
The next Novelists Unwind Giveaway will be announced on Saturday, July 4, 2020 at http://www.johnnie-alexander.com/. Be sure to enter for your chance to win an inspirational novel.
Jolina Petersheim is the bestselling author of How the Light Gets In, The Alliance, The Midwife, and The Outcast, which Library Journal called “outstanding . . . fresh and inspirational” in a starred review and named one of the best books of 2013. That book also became an ECPA, CBA, and Amazon bestseller and was featured in Huffington Post’s Fall Picks, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and the Tennessean. CBA Retailers + Resources called her second book, The Midwife, “an excellent read [that] will be hard to put down,” and Romantic Times declared, “Petersheim is an amazing new author.” Her third book, The Alliance, was selected as one of Booklist’s Top 10 Inspirational Fiction titles of 2016. Jolina’s nonfiction writing has been featured in Reader’s Digest, Writer’s Digest, and Today’s Christian Woman. She and her husband share the same unique Amish and Mennonite heritage that originated in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, but they now live in the mountains of Tennessee with their three young daughters. She blogs regularly at jolinapetersheim.com
Can you share a
little about your recent book?
My newest novel, How
the Light Gets In, is a contemporary spin on Ruth set on a cranberry farm
in a Wisconsin Mennonite community.
Why do you write? Do
you have a theme, message, or goal for your books?
I write to understand my own heart, and from that
understanding, to draw closer to the heart of God. My themes change as my
personal journey changes. I’ve explored the devastation of family secrets (The Outcast), motherhood (The Midwife), the divide between trust
and action (The Alliance series), and
marriage during the young parenting years (How
the Light Gets In).
How long have you
been writing?
I’ve been “writing” since before I could read. My father was
a carpenter by trade and a songwriter in his spare time. Therefore, I grew up
being immersed in music and language. This, combined with always having my nose
in a book, made me want to be a writer.
And how long did it take you to get your first major book
contract? Or are you published non-traditionally? How did that come about?
I got my first book contract for my debut, The Outcast, when I was twenty-five. My
eldest daughter, now seven, was only twelve weeks old. The Outcast was my third “novel,” but the first I ever submitted to
an agent. I met my agent at an author reading for our mutual friend because we
both have distinctly Pennsylvania Dutch last names, which aren’t often heard
around Nashville. He asked what I was working on, and the rest, as they say, is
history. He’s been my agent for the past seven years. I admire how he treats
everyone with respect and kindness.
How long does it take
you to write a book?
Well, my pace has slowed with each child (my husband and I now have three girls).
I wrote The Outcast in six months; How the Light Gets In took two years.
The beauty of the writing/life journey is that even though I’m a slower writer,
my children are teaching me how to live.
What’s your writing
work schedule like?
Right now, I wake at 5, write until 6:30, get my firstborn
daughter off to school, and then write again at 2, which is nap time/quiet time
for my two younger daughters. I try to wrap everything up when my eldest
daughter gets home at 3:15. That’s certainly not a lot of time to work on a
manuscript, but I have found that slow and steady helps me reach The End. Of course, my writing schedule
often changes due to sickness (like this week, when we’ve been passing around a
respiratory virus), field trips, and book signings, but the key is to jump
right back in when I’m able. I love having a creative outlet that works around
my family’s life.
Do you have an
interesting writing quirk? If so, what is it?
Well, for years I’ve been writing at the kitchen table
(which is where I am now). The kitchen table is our family’s hub, and I like to
be in the center of everything, so my family doesn’t feel like I’m choosing my
art over them. Plus, who knows what my children would get into while I was in a
closed room.
What has been your
greatest joy(s) in your writing career?
Yesterday, a reader at a book signing showed me a dog-eared
section of How the Light Gets In,
where Mabel is giving marital advice to Ruth. Another friend rewrote one of
Ruth’s letters and sent it to her husband, which served as a medium to help them
reconnect. Another friend told me her parents listened to the audiobook version
of Ruth’s story while on their way to the beach, and their marriage—at one
point—had been severely strained. I love using stories to bring connection and
clarity to relationships.
What was your darkest
moment(s)?
At the end of 2014, my husband had emergency brain surgery
to remove a benign (non-cancerous) tumor. My darkest moment didn’t happen the
night before his surgery but the two weeks after it. He was still not well, our
children were sick, and the snow was piled up outside our little Wisconsin
farmhouse. I remember standing at the window and staring out at that snow. I prayed,
and I prayed, and then I walked into the playroom and stretched myself across
the guest bed, too tired to cry. That night, our entire household slept, which is
no small feat with a newborn and a two-and-a-half-year-old with croup. Looking
back, I see that moment as a pivotal shift in my relationship with God. He went
from this distant paternal figure to someone who came close to me when I called
His name.
Which of your books
is your favorite?
Right now, I would have to say How the Light Gets In, but that might be because it most closely
reflects my stage of life while trying to juggle marriage, motherhood, and
creativity.
Who is your favorite
author to read?
Ah! That is always hard for me to answer. I read widely, so
I love discovering new authors—or at least authors who are new to me. I
recently read and thoroughly enjoyed a forthcoming novel called Call Your Daughter home by a debut
author named Deb Spera. I met Deb when we sat beside each other at a book
signing in Atlanta. She said her novel was about the “ferocity of motherhood,”
so I told her I needed to read it! Call
Your Daughter home has beautiful language, an electric atmosphere, and a
thread of justice that pulls everything bowstring tight. I loved it.
What advice can you
give aspiring writers that you wished you had gotten, or that you wished you
would have listened too?
I would tell aspiring writers that no part of the
process—writing process and life
process—is ever wasted. Not the rejection slips filed in a recipe box. Not the
manuscript on a thumb drive that will never see the light of day. I had a goal
to be published by twenty-five. I received my first book contract at
twenty-five, and though I am extremely grateful for getting an early start, I
would tell myself to relax a little more and to enjoy the journey.
How many times in
your career have you experienced rejection? How did they shape you?
I’ve experienced rejection more times than I can count.
However, I believe we really find out who we are in those moments. Are we going
to be the kind of person who just wallows in bed with a piece of dark chocolate
(though chocolate is never a bad idea), or are we going to pull ourselves up by
our muck boots and get back out there? I do believe it’s important to
acknowledge pain, whether large or small, process that pain, and then leave it
once it’s processed. Rejection is part of life. Pain is part of life. But it
doesn’t have to define you.
Do you have a
favorite character or scene in one of your books?
I love tucking my personal experiences into my fiction. When
I was seventeen, I did a short-term outreach at an orphanage in Bogotá,
Colombia, with my future husband and his family (though he wasn’t even my
boyfriend at the time). We visited this beautiful stone house while we were
there with an orange roof. It had a large round table with a circular skylight
above. I remember joking that I wanted to come there for my honeymoon one day.
Well, in How the Light Gets In, I
placed my characters Ruth and Chandler there for their honeymoon. There’s this
one scene where the two of them dance on the table and kiss beneath that
circular piece of sky. It was as if my husband and I got to go back there, if only
for a moment.
Where do you get your
ideas?
My ideas take time to percolate. For instance, I’d been
thinking about writing a contemporary spin on Ruth since I took a snowy
Wisconsin walk with my firstborn daughter, who was only a baby. I imagined a
woman coming there after having lost almost everything. Later, when I put my
daughter down for a nap, I had the idea of Ruth. It only took me six years to publish
it!
What are common
mistakes you see aspiring writer’s make?
Well, I won’t call out anyone else’s mistakes, but I will share
mine. Comparison is one of the greatest downfalls in the business. It is easy
to get our identity in our book’s success (or lack thereof), and either success
or failure can be debilitating if this is our foremost goal. However, when we
keep our eyes focused on the ultimate Author and His unconditional love for His
fellow creatives, everything else clicks into place.
Where/How do you recommend writers try to break into the market?
Social media is always a great way to connect, but there is
truly nothing like face to face interaction. Any creative pursuit requires us
to consistently step outside of our comfort zones. Even the most embarrassing
experiences can later be turned into funny stories. So, go for it!
Jolina’s books can be
found at Barnes and Noble, Books a Million, Powell’s, IndieBound.org, Amazon,
Christianbook.com, Target.com, Walmart.com.
