Author Interview ~ Francine Rivers ... and a Redeeming Love Giveaway!

Francine Rivers had a successful writing career in the general market and her books were awarded or nominated for numerous awards and prizes before becoming a born-again Christian in 1986. Francine wrote Redeeming Love as her statement of faith. Since Redeeming Love, she has published numerous novels with Christian themes – all bestsellers-- and she has continued to win both industry acclaim including nominations for the Rita Award, the Christy Award, the ECPA Gold Medallion, and the Holt Medallion in Honor of Outstanding Literary Talent. In 1997 Francine was inducted into the Romance Writers’ of America Hall of Fame. Francine and her husband Rick live in Northern California and enjoy the time spent with their three grown children and every opportunity to spoil their four grandchildren.

(To enter to win one of two hardcover copies of Redeeming Love, leave a comment under Ms. Rivers' interview. Two names will be drawn, and the winners announced in our next Novel Journey newsletter. (Must be subscribed to win).

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

The last of the Sons of Encouragement series, The Scribe (Silas), was released this summer. I’m working on a new full-length novel that will be a mix of contemporary and historical. It will focus on mother-daughter relationships over a period of four generations, and the different ways these generations have looked at God and faith.

Redeeming Love is being re-released. This amazing novel deals with some really dark subjects. Others quote the scripture that we should meditate on that which is good, pure and lovely – arguing that reading a book dealing with rape, abortion, alcoholism, adultery, etc. is not obeying that scripture. How would you respond?

Several things come to mind. First, a text out of context is a pretext. Secondly, we shouldn’t be afraid to look around us and seek ways to bring Christ into everything. Thirdly, we have to think of people, and not generalizations. I try to do this in my writing. I’ve dealt with many serious topics, all of which you mention, but I think in terms of the person (character).

The quest is always to find God’s perspective. Is there any topic not addressed in Scripture? How can we not address serious subjects that are happening around us – as well as in our churches? We live in a fallen world. For too long, Christians removed themselves from areas of our culture that were considered evil; politics and entertainment as primary examples. Now, we wonder why our country is cutting God out of everything!

We are called by God to be salt and light on the hill, not a hidden under a basket or hiding behind the doors of a church. We must live openly for Christ, know what’s happening around us, speak (write) when opportunities arise. All one has to do is read the daily newspapers or watch the news to see how desperately our people need Jesus. Christians should impact society, not the other way around. What holds us back? We have nothing to fear! Our God is a mighty God and He goes before us.

How difficult is it to be transparent in your writing, revealing your own failures, dreams and struggles and how do you overcome the natural inhibitions that make most of us try to sugar-coat them?

It is very difficult. The hardest book I have ever written was The Atonement Child that dealt with my abortion experience, and my mother’s. It took a long time, and a lot of nudging by the Lord, before I was willing to tackle that story because it meant going back and really looking at myself through God’s eyes. And I was afraid. I went through a post abortion class while I was writing the story. Fear almost paralyzed me, but I knew I couldn’t quit. God wouldn’t let me. And friends kept praying and encouraging me. God brought tremendous healing during that year, not just to me, but to others as well. The things I feared would happen did not happen. It was a faith-building experience.

I often begin in darkness, not knowing where I’m going with a story or what the purpose is. All I know is God has brought the question to mind and He is going to teach me something through the story. My job is to get rid of my preconceived ideas and be open to what He has to say, and then be obedient in what I’m called to do.

On your website, you tell the story about how your writing dried up for three years after becoming a Christian. Looking back, what developed in your life as a result? How did the creativity open up again?

I had written for a number of years in the general market before I became a Christian. The first thing that happened after I came to Christ was the end of my ability to write. God knew writing had become an idol in my life. I didn’t know for a long time because I was too busy fighting Him and trying to go on with my life (writing) as I had been. I couldn’t make it work. During that three year “writer’s block”, we started a home Bible study. I prayed the Lord would remove my interest in romance novels and replace it with a passion for His Word. He did. I read the Bible over and over.

When writing ceased to matter, God showed me the depth of His love as we were studying the minor prophets. Hosea transformed my thinking. The prophet’s story tore down all the walls I had put up around myself. How can anyone not fall passionately in love with God after reading Hosea? The Lord nudged me to write again, not the steamy historical romances I had been writing, but a real love story, a story of truth, about God, an allegory like Hosea, using the same “romance” format I had for years. It was my opportunity to write a story for readers who had followed my secular career and show them the difference God had made in my life – and could make in theirs. The result was Redeeming Love.

What advice do you have for other writers who God has placed “on hold”?

If God has put you on hold, there’s a good reason. Don’t fight Him. Seek Him! It may not be clear now why you’re “on hold”, but one day it will be. Wait for Him to give you that nudge. Consider the time precious. Focus your energy on deepening your relationship with Jesus and learning more about Him. He will use it all in what He calls you to write.

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

It was a banner I saw inside a church where a writer’s retreat was held: The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing! Don’t make publication the end-all reason for writing. Write what the Lord calls you to write and then seek His will in what to do.

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

Write for the market.

Would you share some of your secrets of researching historical periods?

Start with the general and move to the specific. Try to find information written closest to the time period. Keep your notes in order so that you will know the sources of your information. A good publisher will always check things out, and ask if they have questions about your research. Be able to back up what you write.

Do you write using any props?

I wouldn’t call it a prop, but on the wall behind my computer, I have a Morgan Weistling print of Jesus praying. Looking at Him makes me remember He is the center of whatever I’m doing. The story is all about Him.

Where do you write and on what type of schedule?

I write in a downstairs office I share with my husband. Rick and I start our morning with devotions and prayer. Then I spend time in study. After that, I start writing. I try to do four pages a day. I don’t always make that quota.


The Last Sin Eater was made into a movie. Were you happy with the results? Which of your other novels would you most like to see on the big screen?

I was very happy with The Last Sin Eater. Michael Landon, Jr. and Brian Bird did a wonderful job. I’m eager to see what they will do in the future. As to other books, Redeeming Love has been optioned for a movie. There has been some progress on the project lately. We will see what God will do in bringing all the necessary pieces together.

What are a few of your favorite books?

Again, this is a very hard question because I enjoy whatever I happen to be reading, and I read all kinds of books.

You mentioned in your TitleTrakk interview that you’d love to write a nature devotional. Have you toyed with writing in other genres that might surprise us?

We’ll see what comes.

Do you have any plans to write a contemporary any time soon?

The novel on which I’m working is a mix of contemporary and historical. It’s a mutli-generational story focusing on family relationships.

What’s your favorite and least favorite part of being a writer?

I love the whole writing process. I start with a question, study Scripture and pray for answers, unleash my imagination to create people to struggle with the question from different angles and see what happens. When the manuscript is “done”, I love the editing process – tearing it down, deleting, adding, reworking. The part I don’t enjoy is trying to make sense of all the little notes I jot in the margins and between lines and making those changes in the computer. I also enjoy the “revision conference” with Tyndale editors. The questions they ask always send my imagination racing. I enjoy brain-storming.

The least favorite parts are the first blank page, and when the project is finished. I never know where I’m going next.

How much marketing/publicity do you do? Any advice in this area?

I leave marketing and publicity to the experts. My job is to write the best book I can possibly write.