You have now published several books, but what inspired
you to write that first book?
Great question. I consider
my official debut into professional writing to be Mercy Will Follow Me,
the first book of the Mercy series. However, I was writing for over a decade
before that book baby saw the light of day. I wrote my first novel when I was
seventeen. I didn’t know it then, but I had so much to learn.
The three novels I wrote
before Mercy were my hobby novels. I snatched pockets of time during my
children’s naptimes as well as late at night. Something in me had to write, but
I never saw it as end-game for me. I wrote because I couldn’t not write, but I
never called myself an author. I was a children’s ministry director and a
homeschool mom who wrote on the side.
My mindset changed when I got sick and those other roles were stripped from
me. Though still a mom of many, I had to send them to school, and I needed help
caring for them. (You can learn a lot about my battle with POTS from my
novel Fall Back and Find Me.) During this season, I couldn’t
function much, so I read. Then I began to write. I emerged from my cocoon as a
writer with stories to tell. Mercy Will Follow Me was the
first, and it took me three years. I wrote only on Saturdays at the library.
The next books came more quickly as I found my footing and grew healthy enough
to attend writers' conferences and grow in the craft.
How did you go about doing research for your dual
timeline stories?
All of my books save Braving
Strange Waters are split-time novels that have dual timelines. The
Mercy Series has two (or in the case of the 3rd book, three) storylines in
present day and one in a historical time period. Awakened to Life has
several contemporary POV characters intertwined with a Biblical fiction
storyline. A Battle Worth Fighting, Fall Back and Find Me,
and Whatever It Takes have contemporary storylines and each
have a historical storyline featuring a secret female Civil War soldier. New
Creations has a 1960s storyline, a 1990s storyline, and a modern day
storyline.Braving Strange Waters is my first actual timeslip or time travel novel
in which a character travels from the contemporary time period to the past.
People confuse the terms split-time, timeslip, and dual timeline all the time
and even different people in the industry define them differently. Most people
don’t mind what each is called, but some do. Way to make things ultra
confusing, huh?
For my part, the same amount of research went into my split-time books as did
my timeslip. It did help that I’d already done a ton of research on Bloody
Kansas for Fall Back and Find Me as well as on steamboats and
slavery for the Mercy series. Researching for me is a love/hate relationship. I
enjoy discovering new things, but I’m always itching to write already, so
holding myself back is the hard part.
I search the library for as many books as I can find on
the subject, utilizing inter-library loans and all of their resources. I try to
get a variety, but I need at least one or two great first-person sources. A
diary, a collection of letters, a journal. Something. Once I get a pile as high
as my house, I go through them and figure out which ones truly include
information that will be useful to my book. I buy those books used on Amazon so
I can write in them and mark them up with highlighters, so the weeding process
is important to avoid bankruptcy. I also utilize documentaries, YouTube videos,
podcasts, etc. I also try to visit historical places whenever possible. When
it’s not possible, I take virtual tours.
As you can imagine, it’s a lot of work, and so much of what I learn never
makes it directly into the book. However, it all comes together to flavor the
work and to give me confidence as I write. Nothing is wasted. It is helpful to
write in the same time period or about the same subject for several books,
though, to get the most bang for my research buck.
How do you decide if a book will be a standalone or a series? Will there be
more in your current series?
I knew from the beginning that the story I wanted to tell in the Mercy
series could not be contained in only one book. Pain that is so complex and
layered must be dealt with delicately lest it appear trite. For Natassa’s
story, this meant I needed to show the ebb and flow of her healing. Otherwise,
I ran the risk of treating victims of sexual assault as if they just needed to
forgive and get over it—not my heart. The Sister in Arms books are considered a
collection, not a series, which means they have a common thread but can be read
as standalones. The second Time Sailor book comes out in January, containing
some of the same beloved characters. I plan to do two more in the series, but a
prequel short story. With these, it will work best to read them in order, but
one won’t have to to enjoy the story.
You've won four Angel Awards for your writing and have been a guest speaker at
their Faith and Fellowship Book Festival. How did you first hear about them?
I’m not positive, but I probably first heard about the Faith and Fellowship
Book Festival from fellow author and ray-of-sunshine Joy Mehlville. She’s an
Angel Award recipient herself and a huge proponent of the festival. I’ve
participated in the festival as a panelist for a few years now and have won
four Angel Book Awards. This year, I’ll moderate the historical fiction panel.
The festival is always an uplifting and encouraging time to connect with other
authors and readers, and it was such an honor to receive the Angel Book Awards.
What’s the best encouragement you’ve had in your writing?
That’s a hard one. I absolutely love hearing testimonies from readers.
Never underestimate the power of writing a review or sending an email to an
author to let them know how a book impacted you. I received a lot of feedback
from readers of my novel Fall Back and Find Me saying they have started putting
into practice what the main character in that book does.In the novel, Amber asks the Lord for a word about her
identity each day and writes it down. It is so exciting to me to get comments
and emails stating readers have started going to Jesus for their identity and
it’s changing the game for them. People who have struggled with their
self-worth are being set free by the power of Jesus’ love! How thrilling that
my little book could play a part in something so life-changing. It makes every
hard writing session worth it.
What do you know now about writing you wished you had known sooner?
That’s a bit of a trick
question. In a way, I kind of wish I would have attended writing conferences
and attended classes/workshops sooner. I was a hobby writer for over a decade
before I started taking myself seriously. But truly, I believe everything happened
as it was supposed to. In the right season, the Lord showed me what I needed to
know and led me to the people I needed to walk with during the journey.What is the best writing advice you’ve received or
could give?
I’d say to just write and
not worry about perfection. Get that first draft down. Worry about making it
pretty later. I can be such a perfectionist and fear of putting something
less-than-stellar on paper can paralyze me. Realizing that even the greats aren’t
great on their first pass helps take the pressure off.
Everyone needs an editor. Every author needs an extra
set of eyes. None of us can do this alone … so I shouldn’t try to. I can ask
for help when I need it. Help brainstorming, help problem-solving, help with
critiquing. That doesn’t make me a weak writer; It makes me a smart one.
Find your people. Writing can be an isolating profession, but it doesn’t
have to be. Seek out community. It’s there. Be intentional to nurture it. And
then … write!
What is the next book coming out? Can you give me a short synopsis?
My next release is a novella that’s part of a Brave Author Books
collection. I’m the founder of Brave Authors and we’re coming out with three
novella collections starting next month. Every Life Treasured features pro-life
stories. Every Captive Freed features stories about human trafficking. And
Every Voice Heard features stories about church hurt and abuse. My novella For
the Love of Truth is part of the third collection releasing in December.
Here's the blurb: Candi loves her role as personal assistant to
megachurch pastor Richard Blake. But when she meets Justice, he exposes the
flaws of her "perfect" church family and she discovers her pastor
isn't who he seems to be. Freedom lies on the other side of truth, if only
she'll allow Justice and the Lord to lead her there.
When you purchase a copy of Every Voice Heard, 10% of all
proceeds go to beEmboldened, a non-profit that exists for the prevention of and
healing from spiritual abuse.
That's all for today's interview. Hope you'll use the links
below to learn more about Sarah's books. If you go to her website, she has links for several freebies with one of them being a free eBook that you see on the left.Amazon: here
You have now published several books, but what inspired
you to write that first book?
Great question. I consider
my official debut into professional writing to be Mercy Will Follow Me,
the first book of the Mercy series. However, I was writing for over a decade
before that book baby saw the light of day. I wrote my first novel when I was
seventeen. I didn’t know it then, but I had so much to learn.
The three novels I wrote
before Mercy were my hobby novels. I snatched pockets of time during my
children’s naptimes as well as late at night. Something in me had to write, but
I never saw it as end-game for me. I wrote because I couldn’t not write, but I
never called myself an author. I was a children’s ministry director and a
homeschool mom who wrote on the side.
My mindset changed when I got sick and those other roles were stripped from
me. Though still a mom of many, I had to send them to school, and I needed help
caring for them. (You can learn a lot about my battle with POTS from my
novel Fall Back and Find Me.) During this season, I couldn’t
function much, so I read. Then I began to write. I emerged from my cocoon as a
writer with stories to tell. Mercy Will Follow Me was the
first, and it took me three years. I wrote only on Saturdays at the library.
The next books came more quickly as I found my footing and grew healthy enough
to attend writers' conferences and grow in the craft.
All of my books save Braving Strange Waters are split-time novels that have dual timelines. The Mercy Series has two (or in the case of the 3rd book, three) storylines in present day and one in a historical time period. Awakened to Life has several contemporary POV characters intertwined with a Biblical fiction storyline. A Battle Worth Fighting, Fall Back and Find Me, and Whatever It Takes have contemporary storylines and each have a historical storyline featuring a secret female Civil War soldier. New Creations has a 1960s storyline, a 1990s storyline, and a modern day storyline.
Braving Strange Waters is my first actual timeslip or time travel novel in which a character travels from the contemporary time period to the past. People confuse the terms split-time, timeslip, and dual timeline all the time and even different people in the industry define them differently. Most people don’t mind what each is called, but some do. Way to make things ultra confusing, huh?
For my part, the same amount of research went into my split-time books as did
my timeslip. It did help that I’d already done a ton of research on Bloody
Kansas for Fall Back and Find Me as well as on steamboats and
slavery for the Mercy series. Researching for me is a love/hate relationship. I
enjoy discovering new things, but I’m always itching to write already, so
holding myself back is the hard part.
As you can imagine, it’s a lot of work, and so much of what I learn never makes it directly into the book. However, it all comes together to flavor the work and to give me confidence as I write. Nothing is wasted. It is helpful to write in the same time period or about the same subject for several books, though, to get the most bang for my research buck.
How do you decide if a book will be a standalone or a series? Will there be more in your current series?
I knew from the beginning that the story I wanted to tell in the Mercy series could not be contained in only one book. Pain that is so complex and layered must be dealt with delicately lest it appear trite. For Natassa’s story, this meant I needed to show the ebb and flow of her healing. Otherwise, I ran the risk of treating victims of sexual assault as if they just needed to forgive and get over it—not my heart. The Sister in Arms books are considered a collection, not a series, which means they have a common thread but can be read as standalones. The second Time Sailor book comes out in January, containing some of the same beloved characters. I plan to do two more in the series, but a prequel short story. With these, it will work best to read them in order, but one won’t have to to enjoy the story.
I’m not positive, but I probably first heard about the Faith and Fellowship Book Festival from fellow author and ray-of-sunshine Joy Mehlville. She’s an Angel Award recipient herself and a huge proponent of the festival. I’ve participated in the festival as a panelist for a few years now and have won four Angel Book Awards. This year, I’ll moderate the historical fiction panel. The festival is always an uplifting and encouraging time to connect with other authors and readers, and it was such an honor to receive the Angel Book Awards.
What’s the best encouragement you’ve had in your writing?
That’s a hard one. I absolutely love hearing testimonies from readers. Never underestimate the power of writing a review or sending an email to an author to let them know how a book impacted you. I received a lot of feedback from readers of my novel Fall Back and Find Me saying they have started putting into practice what the main character in that book does.
In the novel, Amber asks the Lord for a word about her
identity each day and writes it down. It is so exciting to me to get comments
and emails stating readers have started going to Jesus for their identity and
it’s changing the game for them. People who have struggled with their
self-worth are being set free by the power of Jesus’ love! How thrilling that
my little book could play a part in something so life-changing. It makes every
hard writing session worth it.
That’s a bit of a trick question. In a way, I kind of wish I would have attended writing conferences and attended classes/workshops sooner. I was a hobby writer for over a decade before I started taking myself seriously. But truly, I believe everything happened as it was supposed to. In the right season, the Lord showed me what I needed to know and led me to the people I needed to walk with during the journey.
What is the best writing advice you’ve received or
could give?
I’d say to just write and
not worry about perfection. Get that first draft down. Worry about making it
pretty later. I can be such a perfectionist and fear of putting something
less-than-stellar on paper can paralyze me. Realizing that even the greats aren’t
great on their first pass helps take the pressure off.
Everyone needs an editor. Every author needs an extra
set of eyes. None of us can do this alone … so I shouldn’t try to. I can ask
for help when I need it. Help brainstorming, help problem-solving, help with
critiquing. That doesn’t make me a weak writer; It makes me a smart one.
Find your people. Writing can be an isolating profession, but it doesn’t
have to be. Seek out community. It’s there. Be intentional to nurture it. And
then … write!
My next release is a novella that’s part of a Brave Author Books collection. I’m the founder of Brave Authors and we’re coming out with three novella collections starting next month. Every Life Treasured features pro-life stories. Every Captive Freed features stories about human trafficking. And Every Voice Heard features stories about church hurt and abuse. My novella For the Love of Truth is part of the third collection releasing in December.
Here's the blurb: Candi loves her role as personal assistant to megachurch pastor Richard Blake. But when she meets Justice, he exposes the flaws of her "perfect" church family and she discovers her pastor isn't who he seems to be. Freedom lies on the other side of truth, if only she'll allow Justice and the Lord to lead her there.
When you purchase a copy of Every Voice Heard, 10% of all proceeds go to beEmboldened, a non-profit that exists for the prevention of and healing from spiritual abuse.
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