Author Interview ~ Robin Jones Gunn

Robin Jones Gunn is a God-lover who has been telling stories all her life and writing them down for publication the past twenty years. A world traveler and mom of a grown son and daughter, Robin confesses she’s still crazy about her husband after twenty-nine years of doing life together.






What new book or project would you like to tell us about?

I’m very excited about a new Sisterchicks devotional titled, “Take Flight!” (www.sisterchicks.com). This nouveau devo releases in October and I’m really happy with how it turned out. The idea for this book was simmering for a long time. One of my Sisterchicks, Cindy Hannan, agreed to work on the project with me and voila! We combined a collection of personal life/grace stories along with Cindy’s expert addition of discussion points and questions, whimsical quotes and lots of Scripture references for further study. The book has a true Sisterchicks feel and will work wonderfully as a personal devo or as a group Bible Study book. Cindy and I have been praying that many, many Sisterchicks will be uplifted by this book. Uplifted and ready to “take flight” into all the adventures God has dreamed up for them!

Tell us about your publishing journey. How long had you been writing before you got a contract? How did you find out and what went through your mind?

I started writing 22 years ago when our two kids were babies. I didn’t really set out to be a published writer or dream about someday writing a book. I think my motivation was probably to satisfy a storytelling instinct I didn’t even realize I had. Or maybe I didn’t understand how “bad” I had it!

My first series of six books for toddlers was released in 1985. It took two years and I think 10 or 11 rejection letters. I was ready to give up but one of my friends kept encouraging me to continue sending out the book proposal. Determined friends can be such a gift! They believe for you long after you’re ready to give up.

The day the letter arrived I remember standing by the mailbox, holding the envelope from Concordia Publishers, wondering if I could stand one more “no”. This time the answer was “yes”. I stood there at the top of our driveway for a long time. I didn’t know how to process a “yes”. I knew what to do with “no”, but I didn’t know what to do with “yes”. I started shaking and then I dashed to the phone and called my husband. He said some wonderful, affirming things and then I kept making phone calls. I must have read the letter out loud to two dozen people that day. Miraculously, the words on the paper didn’t evaporate or turn into a “no” during the night. The next morning the letter was still a “yes”. I think that’s when I finally began to believe it was true – I was a writer and I needed to stir up that gift.

The publishing journey with the Christy Miller series started with a distinct moment in a tent. My husband was a youth pastor for over 20 years. While on a camping trip at the beach with our youth group, some of the 13-year-old girls were sitting in their tent reading books rather than going out to the beach and hanging around with everybody else. I asked if I could read three of their favorite books out of the stack of probably 20 books they'd brought from the library. I got in the tent with them, read their books and soon said, “You know what? I don’t want you reading these books. This is not what I want you putting into your young hearts. Do your mothers know this is what you’re reading?” The girls shrugged and said, “What else is there to read?” This was 1986 and the selection of Christian fiction was quite limited.

The girl challenged me to write a book for them. They said, “How hard can it be? We'll even tell you what to write!" And they did. It took two years and those teenage girls brutally critiqued every word I wrote. They changed the book into the kind of story they cared about. It was the best writer’s training course I could have ever taken. If you want to find out if your work rings true or not, read out loud to your potential audience and believe me, you’ll know.

That first YA novel, Summer Promise, released in 1988 and grew into a series of books, followed by the twelve-book Sierra Jensen series, followed by three books in The College Years. Christy and Sierra have been re-released this year in hardback with three books in each of the four volumes. (www.christymillerandfriends.com)

The novels for teens are translated into six languages and every week I hear from girls all over the world who have given their life to Christ after reading these stories. What God has done with these books is really amazing. I’m continually in awe of Him. In November I’m going to Brazil to teach at Litt-World, an International Writers’ Conference (www.littworld.org) and also speak at several youth gatherings. The youth events are being set up by the publisher in Brazil that translated Christy and Sierra into Portuguese. The publisher said the books are having a strong effect on Brazilian teens in bringing them to the Lord! I can’t wait for that trip!

To finish a summary of the writing journey, (since that was the question, right?) After writing the teen novels I wrote eight gentle love stories in the Glenbrooke series, then three gifts books. I wrote “Gardenias for Breakfast” two years ago as a Women of Faith novel and I’m still working on the Sisterchicks novels. (www.sisterchicks.com) So far we have six novels in the Sisterchicks series. In each book two midlife best friends experience an adventure in some part of the world and come home changed because they discover that God is much bigger than they originally thought He was. I guess you could say the theme of the Sisterchicks novels about sums up my writing journey!

Do you still have self-doubts about your writing?

I don’t doubt that God has asked me to tell stories. I don’t doubt that He has uniquely gifted me to shape words the way He might gift another artist to shape a vase out of a lump of clay. What I have self-doubts over is if what I’ve written makes sense. Does it communicate the same thing I’m hearing in my head as I write? Does the scene or the dialog express the thought clearly? I’m always so close to the story that I’m not able to discern how it’s coming across. That’s why I’m still dependent on honest critiquers. I also depend on my amazing friend, editor and agent, Janet Grant. She has edited every book I’ve written since 1988. Janet knows my heart. She knows what I’m trying to say and she coaches me along when I get stuck or off track. Writing isn’t as solitary as some may say. We need an inner circle of truth-speakers.

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

Of course. But that wave of fatigue or frustration always recedes and I go back to work. If my objective in writing was to make myself look good or gain something like recognition or approval or lots of money, I think I would have dropped out long ago. My objective keeps coming back around to this singular, obedient notion that I’ve been asked to use the gift God infused into my life for the purpose of furthering His kingdom. I can obey or not obey. Whenever I’ve tried the “not obey” option it’s led to a dead end. Life happens inside the obedience. For me, for now, obedience means showing up every day at the computer and “talking story” as the Hawaiians say.

What mistakes did you make while seeking a publisher or agent?

I’ve been doing this so long I don’t know that I made any obvious mistakes because the procedures for contacting a publisher weren’t as defined as they are now. I only recently signed with Janet Grant at Books ‘n Such Agency after over a decade of working with the same few publishers and doing everything on my own.

What’s the best writing advice you’ve heard?

Show up.

Was there ever a difficult set back that you went through in your writing career?

I was invited a number of years ago to work on a large project with another author. I considered it, wrestled with it, evaluated it to the limits. I think in my heart of hearts I knew it wasn’t a good match and the project didn’t ring true to my calling. But I was willing to consider the project and we needed the money. I was floundering as to what to write next and somehow I felt pressured to push forward and be more noticed or something. Maybe not more noticed but more involved in projects that were at a higher level of visibility on the market. Does that make sense? I was being told from outsiders that at this point in my “career” I should be accomplishing more and at a greater level of visibility. Something like that.

So, I verbally said, “yes”, I would pursue the project. Then all the wheels fell off before it came down to signing the contracts. At that moment I felt free and knew that I had been listening to people who were outside my close inner circle of true friends. It was a season of about a year of deep over-analyzing. I expended so much energy trying to convince myself I was supposed to be something I wasn’t.

When I came up for air, we refinanced the house and I knew that the stories I wanted to tell were stories about the value of loyal friends who speak truth into your life even when you don’t want to hear it. That became the theme of the Sisterchicks novels and that’s what I wrote next. Against all odds, that first one, “Sisterchicks on the Loose!” sold over 100,000 copies. Most importantly, I was free to just tell the stories God was impressing on my heart and life.

What are a few of your favorite books?

Bible by God (seriously! I’ve been reading The Message lately and this paraphrase by Eugene Peterson is so refreshing!)

Perelandra by C.S. Lewis

Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ by Madame Jean Guyon

Any book on Hawaiian history. I have an entire bookshelf filled with them. Lingering over one of these treasures with a cup of strong tea softened by cream and sugar is my hobby. When I get to heaven I want to speak Hawaiian. Strange, but true! He Akua hemolele.

Do you have a scripture or quote that has spoken to you lately in regards to your writing?

These two have been on my desk for several months and I keep going back to them whenever I show up to write. After I read them I say, “Okay. What’s next, Papa?”

“But my life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus -- the work of telling others the Good News about God's wonderful kindness and love.” Acts 20:24 New Living Translation

“Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin.”
Zechariah 4:10a New Living Translation

Do you have any parting words of advice?

I keep coming back to the basics. This is what Jesus told us to do:
“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” Luke 10:26

If we bend our hearts towards this one command, everything else comes.