Author Interview ~ T.L. (Tracy) Higley

Tracy Higley started her first novel at the age of eight and has been hooked on writing ever since. After attending Philadelphia Biblical University, she earned a B.A. in English Literature at Rowan University. Tracy spent ten years writing over fifty drama presentations for church ministry. Over 10,000 people have attended drama productions she has written.
A lifelong interest in history and mythology has led Tracy to extensive research into ancient myth systems, and shaped her desire to shine the light of the gospel into the cultures of the past. She is the author of three books: Retrovirus, Marduk’s Tablet and Fallen from Babel. Tracy lives with her husband and four children in Pennsylvania.






What book or project is coming out or has come out that you’d like to tell us about?

My latest title, Fallen from Babel, is a time-travel tale and was such fun to write. If I could choose an out-of-this world ability, it would be the power to time travel. Fallen from Babel is as close as I’ve managed to come! The main character is a professor at a university who thinks he has religion figured out, until he ends up in ancient Babylon, in the center of a circle of magicians and sorcerers, and everything he’s believed gets turned upside down.


Tell us about your journey to publication. How long had you been writing before you got the call you had a contract, how you heard and what went through your head.

Once I decided to make an effort at publication, I turned out a completed manuscript in only a few months. I didn’t have that annoying awareness of my lack of knowledge to slow me down! While I started circulating that manuscript, I began the next. That first manuscript is in hiding on my hard drive now. About a year after I started writing earnestly, I went to my first writers’ conference. That proved to be the best thing for me, as I connected with published writers who gave great feedback and advice. It took about 2 and ½ years from the time I started writing until I was offered a contract. Those years were spent writing, finding an agent, and learning all I possibly could about the craft. When I got that first contract, I was truly shocked that someone wanted to take a chance on me. I still feel that way!

Do you still experience self-doubts regarding your work?

Oh, yes! I’d like to meet the person who doesn’t! Well, maybe I wouldn’t.


What mistakes have you made while seeking publication?

Waiting for things to happen, not working while I wait. I’ve learned that this business takes TIME – time for proposals to circulate, for editors to read manuscripts, for committees to meet and make decisions. Don’t wait for the phone call – get busy writing the next thing, immediately!

What’s the best advice you’ve heard on writing/publication?

Go to writers’ conferences. I resisted this advice at first, because I thought a conference would be all about schmoozing editors, and the prospect made my skin crawl. But conferences are much more about learning, connecting with other writers, getting support. I can still remember sitting around a meal at the first conference I attended, when the topic of conversation shifted to a grammatically annoying billboard we’d all seen. I remember thinking, “I’m home! These people understand me!” There are few places on earth where you can truly feel that.

What’s the worst piece of writing advice you’ve heard?

I was still in college the first time I tried to write a novel. After it was finished, I wrote a sort of “fan” letter to an author I admired, asking for some advice. She offered to read the novel I’d written. I sent it off, full of hope. She read it and promptly sent it back, basically telling me not to bother trying again. I was devastated. It took me ten more YEARS to figure out that my passion to write fiction was part of who God made me, and what I needed was to learn my craft and to practice. I wish she would have helped me see that, instead of shutting me down. The experience taught me to be so careful with less experienced writers whose work I read. If the drive to write is truly in you, soak up every bit of constructive criticism you can get, but let the destructive stuff roll right off you!


What’s something you wish you’d known earlier that might have saved you some time/frustration in the publishing business?

I think it’s that waiting thing again. The wheels of publishing grind slowly. Don’t let that fact slow you down – use it to your advantage to learn and improve while you wait.

Do you have a scripture or quote that has been speaking to you lately?

I’ve been spending some time in John 15 lately, really trying to understand what it means to abide in Christ, to be the branch to his vine. I love the way Jesus pictures this for us, the bearing of fruit in such a natural and unforced way as we abide in him. If my writing is my “fruit,” I believe it’s crucial that I understand the way it needs to be a product of my relationship with Jesus.

What are a few of your favorite books? (Not written by you.)

I am in love with every book written by Stephen Lawhead. The first time I picked up one of his books I felt as though I had fallen through a portal into another, brighter world. His books are a measuring stick for me as I write, always trying to give readers that same experience of being wholly transported.

Can you give us a view into a typical day of your writing life?

I still have little ones at home, so when I want to get writing done it needs to be outside the house. My husband and I run a business from our home, and he is so supportive in allowing me a few mornings each week to escape with my laptop to a local coffee shop. I am waiting for someone there to start asking me to pay rent!
Since I’m usually writing about historical subjects, I spend lots of time in the research phase. I’m also a heavy plotter, so the beginning of a project is usually slow but steady. I don’t set goals for words written unless I’m worried about a deadline.


If you could choose to have one strength of another writer, what would it be and from whom?

I’m fascinated by this unusual time we find ourselves in, teetering between modernism and post-modernism. I think C.S. Lewis had a real grasp of where culture was heading. He had an ability to use rationality and logic to persuade people’s minds of the truth, but also to use beauty and mystery to capture the imagination and make us long for Truth. I would love to be able to accomplish both of these aims in my own writing.


Do you have a dream for the future of your writing, something you would love to accomplish?

I would love to write novels set completely in ancient history. There aren’t enough in the Christian market, in my opinion. But God’s handprints are all over history, and we shouldn’t be afraid to pursue ancient cultures, to see what they can teach us about God’s truth.


Was there ever a time in your writing career you thought of quitting?

Uhh… last week? Yes, definitely. Between every book contract. But only because the works is grueling and full of rejection. Get past that, and you’re fine! Seriously, I’m sure any creative pursuit is always hard, no matter how much success you achieve. But if it’s what you’re made for, it’s also where you find fulfillment.

What is your favorite and least favorite part of being a writer?

Favorite: Research. I love to learn, to dive headlong into books and come up gulping for air, with my fists full of new facts.

Least favorite: Rejection. Have I mentioned that already? I’m working on separating myself a bit from my work, so that if my work is not appreciated it doesn’t send me into a cave of self-pity.

Parting words?

I read something from another favorite writer recently, Frederick Buechner. He said, "The place that God calls us is that place where the world's deep hunger and our deep desire meet."
Find this place, and the rest will take care of itself.