Author Interview ~ Stephanie Grace Whitson

Stephanie Grace Whitson began what she calls "playing with imaginary friends" (writing fiction) when, as a result of teaching her four homeschooled children Nebraska history, she was personally encouraged and challenged by the lives of pioneer women in the West. Since her first book, Walks the Fire, was published in 1995, Stephanie's fiction titles have appeared on the ECPA bestseller list and been finalists for the Christy Award, the Inspirational Reader's Choice Award, and ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year. In addition to serving in her local church and keeping up with two married children, two college students, and a high school senior, Stephanie enjoys motorcycle trips with her family and church friends. Visit her website at www.stephaniegracewhitson.com

What new book or project would you like to tell us about?
The "no image available" has been added for those who want to pre-order Stephanie's book. NJ

“Life, death. . . and a poodle named Rambo” is my tag line for Jacob’s List, releasing in the summer of 2007. Jacob’s family “has issues”, as Rambo says in the prolog. When Jacob is unable to complete what he called “The Xtreme Ten of Two Good Men,” his estranged parents decide to do it – mostly because Jacob’s best friend was counting on the documentary he was making of “the list” to get him into film school. In the aftermath of that decision, they learn that Jacob’s list included a surprise event honoring Jacob’s mother, a breast cancer survivor. The message of the book is that extreme living is about a lot more than white-water rafting and base jumping. Sometimes extreme living means dying to self and extending forgiveness to people who don’t deserve it.

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 am proof that God can overcome any obstacle when it is His time and His plan and purpose to do so.

I have always written. Long letters home, poetry, research papers (I was the weird student who actually liked those assignments), editorials for a women’s newsletter, etc. When I was teaching state history to my home schooled children, I became fascinated by the pioneer era in Nebraska. At some point in the history lessons, I began “playing with an imaginary friend” – a pioneer woman in Nebraska. For my own entertainment I wrote little snippets of a fictional life based on women’s diaries and reminiscences I had found in our local library.

At the same time, our home-based business began experiencing explosive growth and I couldn’t justify the writing unless it would contribute to the family budget. Since I knew enough about writing to know that rejections were the way it worked, I looked up three Christian book publishers in the Writers Market at the library and sent off three letters, expecting that I would get a rejection and that would be God’s way of saying “put that away and finish it someday for your grandchildren.” But then one publisher wanted sample chapters. Still expecting the rejection letter, I was surprised when the next contact requested the entire manuscript – which I didn’t have, because I didn’t have TIME to write a book.

On the advice of a friend who had written magazine articles, I told the publisher that I could finish the book in about six weeks and would send it then. But six weeks later I still only had 2/3 of a book. I was home schooling four children and running the home-based business that had grown from a few gift products in a local store to a gift line featured in a nation-wide catalog and sold in over six hundred Christian book stores. Yikes.

Once again, knowing that rejection was inevitable, I sent off the manuscript as it was, which meant that the editor read a few chapters and then got to a page that said, “this hasn’t been written yet – but here’s what happens.” To my amazement, I came home one day to a phone message from Lonnie Hull Dupont who was with Thomas Nelson at the time.

When I returned the call I was offered a three-book contract which became Walks the Fire, Soaring Eagle, and Red Bird. I was terrified. I hadn’t even written ONE book yet. . . how could I possibly write three? There was a hurried “board meeting” with the “corporate officers” (my children), who happily said good-bye to the gift company so Mom could write books.

In retrospect, I realize that God was miraculously providing for me and the children’s future. My husband died of cancer in 2001 and if I hadn’t had six books in the marketplace I would have not been able to remain at home while the children were young – something that was very important to Bob and me. After being at home for over fifteen years I really didn’t have any marketable skills – except writing.

I sometimes wonder when I share this story if it is discouraging to writers who have worked so hard and who have a pile of rejections for all their effort. I hope they’ll look at it another way – as an encouragement to be faithful. As I said, I am proof that God can overcome any obstacle when it is His time and His plan and purpose to do so.

Do you still have self-doubts about your writing?

Every single day. Self-doubt is especially strong about thirty seconds after I push “send” to submit a manuscript.

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

Yes. There have been times when there has been no joy in the work, and at those times punching a time clock for someone else has looked very very attractive. But then I realized how much I would miss the glamorous life of a writer (smile).

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

As I said earlier, when seeking a publisher I didn’t have a finished product. That was a mistake of ignorance. Agents were not a “given” in the industry back then. I didn’t have an agent (I had never heard of agents for writers), but remember: I was not thinking in terms of career. Not having an agent worked out well back in 1994 but the publishing world is different now and I would consider not having an agent a mistake today. Both of my agents have been blessings God dropped in my lap – the right people at the right time.

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

That the most important part of your writing space is a door you are willing to close. That’s my paraphrase from Stephen King’s book On Writing.

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

I’ve been very blessed. I can’t think of anything really awful. I’ve been part of conversations on marketing and promotion where things were suggested that wouldn’t be right for me personally, but it wasn’t bad advice. It just wasn’t right for me.

Do you have a pet peeve having to do with this biz?

The false notion that there is some secret formula to getting a book on a best seller list and that if the publisher “will only promote more,” stellar sales are guaranteed.

What do you wish you’d known early in your career that might have saved you some time and/or frustration in writing? In publishing?

I wish I had known to “just ask” my publisher what is and is not a good way to make contact with them when I had questions about the varying parts of book production. I wish publishers would provide their writers with specific “contact etiquette” so their writers know who and how to ask questions. By the way, my current publisher is fabulous at this sort of thing, but I know from talking to other writers that communication with a publishing house and the varied aspects of production can be a maze for the new writer. And by “new” I don’t mean new to publishing – I mean new to a given house.

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

I wouldn’t call it a set-back, but transitioning from historical fiction to contemporary fiction has been scary for me. I’ve read craft books that say that changing genre in mid-career is a good way to kill a career. Ouch. I have seen that I am back to working to earn an audience to replace readers who are very genre specific in what they will read and who just don’t want to read contemporary fiction. I hear from them all the time: “let me know when you write another historical.” That’s more than a little unsettling in terms of trying to build a career.

What are a few of your favorite books?

This is hard to answer because I am a voracious and very eclectic reader. So. . . here’s a stream of consciousness answer. . . The Attributes of God by Arthur Pink. Safely Home by Randy Alcorn. From the Corner of His Eye by Dean Koontz. The Winds of War by Herman Wouk, Kingsblood Royal by Sinclair Lewis, Time Lottery by Nancy Moser, The Lieutenant’s Lady by Bess Streeter Aldrich, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, War and Peace by Tolstoy, Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell.

What work have you done that you’re especially proud of and why?

The work of being a good wife to Robert Whitson for nearly 28 years, the work of raising four children to adulthood and seeing them become followers of Christ, the work of being a good wife to Daniel Higgins for almost three years now and learning to love my almost-adult step-son (whom I would rather call my son but society seems to want that “step” that creates space between us).

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

I was on my way to a brainstorming retreat with two writer friends not long ago and on the way there I popped in an old Stephen Curtis Chapman CD. God used “We will abandon it all, for the sake of the call”. . .that’s not the title but that’s the phrase. . . to challenge me. “What have you abandoned for the sake of my call to you to write, Stephanie?”

I was humbled by the question because in the recent past I hadn’t abandoned much of anything and I was whining about all the things I’d rather do with my time than write. God used the song to renew my understanding of writing as a call and something for which I would have to abandon other things. God use SCC to lead me into a few moments of sincere and teary repentance and renewal.

Can you give us a look into a typical day for you?

Not really because there just isn’t a typical day. On Monday’s I can write all day – but there are dust bunnies to trap and meals to plan and dishes and laundry and recovery from the weekend to figure out.

On Tuesday mornings I volunteer at church and try to get my errand running for the week done. If I’m going to have lunch with a friend, I try to schedule on Tuesday. My husband works on Tuesday evenings, so I can write later in the day on Tuesdays. Wednesday & Thursday I can write all day. But there is quilting to do and cleaning and gardening and e-mail and fan mail & etc.

Fridays I often volunteer at the International Quilt Study Center. If my husband works on Saturday mornings (he teaches college as an extra job) I try to get some writing done while he is gone. In other words. . . my life is a work in progress and it’s a constant battle of self-discipline for me to simply put my back-side in a chair, face the blank screen, and fill it up ! See what I mean by “abandon it all for the sake of the call” and why I needed to hear that?

For each book project, I assign a word-count per day but it is a battle to reach the goal – and the battle has nothing to do with whether or not I am “jazzed” about the book. I am one of those people who has so many interests in life that I would never be bored if I didn’t have a paying job.

I have enough quilts I want to make to keep me busy for years. I have enough motorcycle trips I want to take to keep me busy for two-lifetimes. And volunteering. . . . lots of things I like to do in the community. And I’m a virtual newlywed. So – you can see why I needed that tap on the shoulder from God through SCC’s music to remind me to abandon simply “good things” and concentrate on doing the “best thing” for “the sake of the call” to write.

One other challenge for me personally is that I am more naturally creative later in the day. But writing “late in the day” does not always lend itself to family life. This is one of those preferences that I think God has been calling me to “abandon for the sake of the call.” In other words. . “write NOW whether you feel like it or not!”

Do you have a word or page goal you set for each day?

A word count. I count backwards from the due date of a manuscript taking into consideration days away from writing caused by travel, time for re-writing, etc. If I am working on something that isn’t contracted yet, I still choose a “due date” and work towards it. Otherwise, I’ll be cleaning/quilting/cooking/chatting instead of writing. It’s just too easy to procrastinate.

Are you an SOTP (seat of the pants) writer or a plotter?

A complete, unregenerate, SOTP now and forever amen.

What author do you especially admire and why?

Randy Alcorn because he walks the talk. He has had a tremendous impact on my life both through his books and as someone I am privileged to call my friend. Randy’s novel Safely Home is one of about a half dozen books I have on my “this book changed my life” shelf.

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

Favorite: reader mail that shows me how the Lord uses my offering of words.
Least favorite: writing the first draft of anything.

OR:

Favorite: Having written.
Least favorite: Writing.

How much marketing do you do? What's your favorite part of marketing?

I have a web site and answer reader mail personally. I do book signings for a few stores here in my home state of Nebraska who have been great supporters of my books. I do public speaking a couple of times a month on a wide range of topics. Few of these speaking gigs are about writing per se, but there is always a book table and a “meet and greet” at these functions.

Marketing is a stretch for me because I wince at the idea of “self-promotion” Please understand: I am NOT saying that writers who are fabulous marketers are doing anything wrong. I’m saying my personality makes it very difficult for me personally because I am very much aware of how quickly anything that requires me to call attention to me can turn into sinful pride. Please do remember that I am NOT talking about other writers. I am talking about ME and what MY weaknesses are.

A goal for the near future is to send a couple of e-mail newsletters a year just to stay in touch with the readers who have contacted me. I’ve recently come to realize that these are people God has put in my life – individuals who have proven their interest in my work as opposed to the “scattershot” approach my publisher must use in advertising new titles.

This is probably something most writers would file under “Big Red Duh”, but I’m a slow study in areas like this because of my tendency to cross-examine the motive behind the things I do. I am convicted not to make contact based on “what you can do for me.” I think I have found a way to make contact more about ministering to people than selling myself. . . so I’m at least contemplating the possibility. This is a very challenging issue for me.

Do you have any parting words of advice?

Yes. But I stole them from Angela Hunt. “Let God sell your book. Don’t worry about what might appear to be a shrinking market, don’t fret about how you’re going to promote your book, don’t drive yourself to distraction worrying about if your publisher is placing your book in the places that count. Do what you can to be a good steward, do what you feel comfortable doing, and leave the rest alone. Start concentrating on your next book.” (quoted with the author’s permission)