This is the second in a series about the Crossroads Crisis Center. Why have you set the stories about the center?
The Crisis Center seemed like the perfect place to set stories of people in crisis on a physical, emotional and spiritual level. There, you encounter people and situations where all three are present in events and situations that might be different from our own challenges but also are relatable. We can see ourselves fighting these same struggles, and if the characters can confront them and find constructive solutions on all those levels, then we can, too. That’s my hope in setting the stories at Crossroads Crisis Center.
Why did you take on the issue of human trafficking in your new novel, Deadly Ties?
The issue has been on my personal radar for a long time, yet we seldom see stories in the news about it. Many believe that trafficking is solely for the expected purpose, but the truth is twelve percent of the small numbers of cases actually reported are about slavery and forced bondage for servitude. That’s rarely reported. So many believe trafficking only occurs in other countries, but it happens here in America. And the victims are not always people from other countries, but Americans. I wanted to shine a light on this in both regards—it happens here, it happens to Americans, and it happens for other reasons that we collectively agree are unacceptable.
What do you hope your readers can do about human trafficking?
I hope first they become aware of it as a real and growing problem, and one to which they are not immune. It happens here, and it could happen to them, to their children. Awareness can encourage caution, preparation, so that if one feels the danger of becoming a victim, it won’t be ignored. It’ll be reported and stopped. I also hope that readers will see the emotional challenges inflicted on victims and do what they can do to assist those who have been victims. Help them not fall to suicide and drug abuse as so many do, but to find strength in faith and reclaim their lives.
Your characters are strong women of faith. Do you base them on people in your life or yourself?
I can’t imagine facing life much less any crisis without faith. I’m not that courageous or that strong, and frankly, I don’t want to be. We’re all children of God, and to walk with Him is natural and normal. Walking without Him… well, the very idea is just too painful to bear. How hard it must be to face challenges and trials without the certainty of the steady hand of God, His promises, His assurances. His guidance. To deny the spiritual self, is to deny who we are: spiritual beings in a human body. So I guess I write women who are natural to me and my thoughts and beliefs about who we are and our purpose in life.
The strength of the women I write about is a process. They might not be strong, but in the events they encounter, honoring all three aspects of themselves—physical, emotional and spiritual—they become strong, or find strength. Some of that strength comes from them, but some comes through their beliefs and faith. Women in crisis, even ones deemed fragile, struggle and find themselves. They often discover that they are stronger than they thought, wiser for their trials. Some fail their way to success on leaps of faith, through harnessing emotional turmoil and turning it into positive, constructive action, through digging deep for the courage to do what they believe is good and right, even when it’s unpopular. I greatly admire these traits in women, and they’re common. In my eyes, women honoring all aspects of themselves, being willing to seek and open to their self-discoveries, is heroic. It’s the kind of woman I’d like to be and hope to be or become.
In the book acknowledgements, you thank Dr. Samuel Poppell for saving your eye sight. Can you share with us what happened with your eyes?
Many years ago, I was diagnosed with Graves’ Disease. Totally treatable, but for some (particularly women) a secondary challenge can develop that affects the eyes. Simply put, fluid builds behind them and it pushes the eye forward—which means the eye doesn’t close. When it doesn’t, it dries out. That destroys the eye, opens them up to damage and infections. Mine were so bad, my vision was threatened, infections were common and I’d developed allergies to all but one antibiotic. Injuries threatening the eyesight were unfortunately also common. A pillowcase became a weapon, as did protective goggles. Then my vision got worse. I nearly lost my right eye and the left wasn’t in a whole lot better shape. Dr. Poppell did a series of creative surgeries on my eyes and now they’re in fabulous shape. I don’t even need glasses. Without him using his gifts to help me, I would be blind now. He’s a man of faith and he wasn’t certain of the outcome, but because he pushed the envelope, I can see.
You’re an established successful author in the secular market. What made you start thinking about writing specifically for the Christian market?
I’ve always included spiritual elements in my books, though they were more obscure because they were for the secular market. As that market turned darker, I felt less comfortable in it. I want to inspire readers, to encourage them. I write dark stories, but constructive ones. In my discomfort, I got a medical misdiagnosis, and for a stint of time, I thought I was terminal. It made me think. Hard. Was I doing what I should be doing with my life?
For one reason or another test results were delayed, things happened that kept causing odd delays in me getting the final word on my status. And during that time, I did a lot of soul-searching, but it was more than that. I did a lot of thinking about life and purpose and what most matters. When the dust settled and I found my bottom line, it was that in my life I had loved well and I been loved well. Real life doesn’t get much better than that. So, I thought, if it was my time, I’d see God when I got home. If not, I wanted to use the time left here to do His will, not mine.
As soon as I verbalized that in prayer—within fifteen minutes (I was on my way to the doctor’s office)—I learned that there’d been a clerical error. The “bad” tests weren’t mine. Mine were fine. So all those weeks of thinking I was terminal were not my weeks—except they were; they weren’t an accident. God wanted my attention, and He got it. I examined my life and realized what I most wanted to do and why. Hard weeks, but in a very real way, the best of my life.
See, before that prayer and conversation, I had thought about writing Christian fiction. It encourages and inspires, and I so love that. But I didn’t feel good enough, or holy enough, or worthy to do it. The message I got—God sent two Christian editors to get me—was that He knew my every flaw and shortcoming, and while I’ve got a ton of them, He still wanted me to do Christian books. Three years later, I remain awed by that. How involved God is that He’d bother Himself and invest so much in me.
So I kept my word to do His will, and took the leap. I can’t say I wasn’t fearful, but I knew it was right and it would be what He wanted it to be. For me it was a mystery. Was this a lesson in obedience for me? One in which I’d fall flat on my face? Was it a test of whether or not I’d keep my word, put faith into action? Or would He (my most fervent hope) use what He gave me to help inspire and encourage and reassure others? Maybe it’d be a combination of all those things. I just didn’t know. But I leapt.
After having written a few Christian books, I still can’t say I feel good enough or holy enough or worthy enough, but what I realize now that I didn’t then is that I don’t have to be those things. I just have to have a willing heart. If I write with a willing heart and do what I can do, then God will do the rest of what He wants done.
I can also say that I’ve never written a book I didn’t love. But I understand love much better now than before the chain of events that inspired me to take that leap.
Should authors be labeled as “Christian” writers?
What an interesting question. I can see two sides to it, though I have to say that we all wear many labels. If a “Christian” writer label helps readers find authors whose works are apt to contain something they’re seeking, then the label is a good thing. It can help writers and readers connect. But I also see that being labeled “Christian writer” could cause secular readers to avoid works that well might contain the exact something they’re seeking because those readers have specific, individual ideas (that might be accurate or inaccurate) about what kind of book a Christian writer writes. I have to say I’m torn on this. There’s merit and challenges in labels. Yet, as I said at the start, we all wear many labels.
I don’t know that there’s a definitive correct answer to this. I’m sure someone who specializes in marketing would have a far more precise clear answer. The best I can do is to say that I see both sides of this and my position is to trust that those who are supposed to find my books will find them. Some will do so because I’m labeled a Christian writer, and some will do so because I’m not. But most will find them because something speaks to them. That might be the lovely cover art, the back cover copy, an endorsement by some other writer, or the first sentence or paragraph in the book. Books call to us in different ways—in the writing and in the reading.
Do you know how the characters will end up at the beginning of your novels or does the story evolve as you are writing?
Frankly, both. I “think” I know how the characters will end up before I write the first word. But the story and the characters do evolve as I’m writing, and often they take turns I don’t expect them to take.
I do a lot of thinking about the people and all that goes into my mind and makes soup. So I feel as if I’ve got a good grip on the people before starting. But you know how soup is. You start with a tad of this and that and before you know it, you’re adding bits here and there, and next thing you know you’ve got a kettle full. I’ve learned that’s a good thing. We start the stock and as we add, it creates little conflicts or we become aware of missing ingredients. So as we write, those missing ingredients are added to resolve those conflicts before we become fully aware there are conflicts.
Have you ever ended up killing off a character you liked?
Actually, I just did. I loved this character with all my heart. He was a good person, a gentle and sweet, loving soul. I hadn’t planned to kill him. I wanted him to live. But in the writing, he was killed. I cried my eyes out, and that’s the truth. I called a trusted friend and weepingly told her what happened. She was sad, too, as she’d gotten to know him through the reading. We mourned, debated, and in the end, gave in to the fact that we had to trust the process. So my beloved character stayed dead. It broke my heart, but by the end of the book, I understood. I didn’t like it, but I accepted it was necessary.
People die in my books. Not just the bad guys but some very good guys. It’s fair and honest, whether I like it or not. I’ve had characters I’ve killed and not blinked an eye, but that one I had invested in and come to love, and it just plain hurt. But that too is real and honest. It happens in life, and books mirror life.
