Christy Award Winner Tracy Groot ~ Interviewed

Tracy Groot is a part-time writer, a full-time mom, and co-owner of JP’s Coffee and Espresso Bar, in Holland, Michigan. She loves reading, writing, backpacking, family time, Thai food, scandalous amounts of coffee and equally scandalous amounts of sweets, and Great Britain.

Plug time. What new book or project do you have coming out?

I’m writing a historical fiction novel about Jonah. I’m in preliminary research mode right now, and I don’t have a contract yet, so I don’t know when it will be out. Hopefully, late 2008.

How did you come up with this story? Was there a specific ‘what if’ moment?

Actually, I didn’t come up with the story this time. A reader of Madman sent in a suggestion to write a story about Jonah from the perspective of those he sailed with. At the time the idea didn’t resonate. Then, a few months ago, it came roaring to the forefront and I thought, “Jonah! From the perspective of the sailors! Brilliant!” (Like it was my idea all along.)

NJ: Madman is Tracy's Christy winning book. To read a review, click here and scroll down.

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’d been writing seriously for about two years before I got a contract. It came after I pitched an idea for a YA novel to Crossway Books at the Calvin College Festival of Faith and Writing in ’94. After a few months, the acquisitions editor called me on the phone to offer the contract. What went through my mind? If you listen carefully, you can still hear it bouncing around in space somewhere, likely unintelligible.

Do you ever struggle with writer’s block? If so, how do you overcome it?

Everyone occasionally struggles with writer’s block, and the first thing to understand it is that it is not to be feared—it’s part and parcel of the writing biz. For me, it’s usually an indication that I haven’t done my homework with characterization. Knowing your characters will usually keep that storyline humming, because you know how your people will act or react. 95% of my own bouts send me back to work on characterization. The other 5% is that nasty anomaly called I Have No Idea. Then, your options are wide open.

What is the most difficult part of writing for you?

The most difficult part is finding courage when things get tough. One day everything you write is brilliant. The next, you wonder who turned out the lights, where did God go, why did you ever buy into this myth that you were a writer in the first place, who would pay money to read this crap. Problems with plot, POV, and characterization will do that to a person.

How did (or do) you overcome it?

First, I throw a royal pity party—I serve chocolate, unlimited carbs, and provide ample means of escapist entertainment through books and movies. This can last anywhere from five minutes to five days, depending on how mad I am. If I’m really angry, it will last only five minutes.

Then I’m on the hunt for courage. Courage will turn difficulties first into a stare-down—you have to sit with the problem face to face, and that means pain. It means maybe you didn’t do your homework, maybe you didn’t build a proper foundation for the frame. Sit with the problem long enough, and you’ll figure out what it is.

Next, you figure out what you’re going to do with the problem. That’s what courage does, too. It first makes you identify it, then it makes you figure out the best way to fix it. Courage also gives you what it takes to fix it. Handy thing, courage. I keep a ready supply in my pocket at all times. It goes missing now and then, and I hunt until I recover it.

Where do you write? Do you have a dedicated office or a corner or a nook in a room?

The early years were in a hallway at a desk. Next came coffee shops. Now it’s a combination of coffee shops, the kitchen table, and my office.

What does a typical day look like for you?

I have no typical days. One day I might get in an hour of writing, the next five, and then four long arid days without. That’s life with kids and a household. I’ve learned not to resent non-writing days. (It’s not an easy thing to learn—I remind myself that they are my day job, and I can’t quit my day job; if pressed, I’d admit I wouldn’t want to; the little buggers grown on you.) When the kids are in school, I try to schedule my writing time to 5-6 hours, four days a week. That’s subject to change if I’m hot in the middle of a project and need more time.

Take us through your process of writing a novel briefly—from conception to revision.

I get an idea and start jotting notes. If the novel is historical fiction, I am careful not to start the book until I’ve laid the groundwork of research; many things happen in the process of research, adding to the storyline—I don’t want to start the book and get hooked on it when it’s not the right start to get hooked on. Typically, I don’t start officially writing the story until I have about 3/4ths of the research done.

Then it’s a combination of researching and writing as I go. Once I finish, I give it a good once over and make a few copies. I give those copies to a few Ideal Readers (as Stephen King calls them) and wait see what they have to say about it. I consider their suggestions, and if they resonate, I will implement them in some form. Then it’s a final polish, and off to the editor.

What are some of your favorite books (not written by you)?

A Tale of Two Cities, East of Eden, Jane Eyre, Ender’s Game, To Kill a Mockingbird, Ben Hur, The Robe, A Wrinkle in Time, Anne of Green Gables, Pride and Prejudice…I could go on and on.

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

“Never give up the ship.” It’s what my grandpa said when I asked him how he managed to finish a complicated 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle. Puzzles, writing…it’s all the same thing.

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?

Honestly, and I’m not trying to be a smart aleck—I wouldn’t change anything. Wasted time and frustration is all part of the biz. I’m not sure my writing would be stronger today if I hadn’t made some grand old whopper mistakes in my writing—and in publishing. The age-old principal stands for me: you live, you learn. It’s in the active living out of writing that you get strong.

How much marketing do you do? What have you found that particularly works well for you?

Confession: I hate marketing. I once emailed Francine Rivers when I was feeling guilty about it. I asked, “What do you do to market your books?” She responded heroically: “I write the best book I can. Nothing will substitute for word-of-mouth in marketing.” She spoke luminescent words that day, words to anchor the conviction I already had in my heart.

Do you have any parting words of advice?

This business takes courage. Any creative work takes courage. There will be times when you are tempted to thwart your own desires by hesitating when you should be gunning, questioning when you should be doing —bogged down with endless revision when you should bag all notions of doing it perfectly and just, for God’s sake, do it; like Admiral Lord Nelson said: “Forget maneuvers and go straight at ‘em.” You want to write? Then write.