Debut Author Miralee Ferrell ~ Interview

Miralee lives in the Pacific N.W., has been married for 35 years, and has two wonderful children, Marnee and Steven. She's active at her small church, serving on staff with a ministerial license and working with women in a counseling/ministering capacity. She and her husband are looking forward to full retirement soon and taking off for a few months at a time on their 51' sailboat, where her writing will take on an entirely new creativity.

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

My premiere novel is The Other Daughter—the story of David and Susanne Carson, a couple with an already fragile marriage that’s rocked to its foundation when a young teenaged girl appears at the door….here’s a brief summary:

The girl standing at the door took a deep breath, pulling her suitcase a little closer to her trembling legs. "My mama's dead. He's my daddy."Susanne Carson knew that she could trust the love of her life—her husband, David—until she discovered a strange, unkempt young girl on their doorstep, claiming to be David's daughter.Not that their marriage had ever been perfect—David's decision to embrace the Christian faith had strained their relationship. Susanne may not have agreed with his beliefs, but at least she trusted him. Had David been hiding this not-so-little secret from his past? He wanted Susanne to believe in his God, but believing hadn't done much to keep David out of another woman's arms.As David confronts the truth of his past, Susanne must face her own moment of truth as her marriage is taken to the breaking point and the life of one young girl is left in her hands. It’s women’s contemporary fiction that’s set in the North West, and is being published by Kregel Publications, a well known Christian publishing house.

NJ: To read a review of The Other Daughter, click here.

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

An editor friend and I were brainstorming about what I could do for my first book, and she suggested using something I knew, possibly from my own life. That triggered the idea of using an episode from me and my hubby’s personal life—we received a letter from an 18 year old girl a number of years ago, claiming to be my husband’s daughter. After investigating and meeting Trisha, we accepted her into our lives and hearts, and have continued a relationship with her. The basis for the book came from that episode, but the balance of the book is fiction, other than the setting—I live in the Pacific N.W., in the area where the book takes place.

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 seriously about a year before getting the call from Tamela, my agent. I’d been published in magazines, but only finished this novel a few months earlier and quite frankly, the contract offer was rather unexpected. Tamela had submitted the manuscript to five different houses, then a few weeks later, I requested that she ask each publisher to wait on completing their review, as I’d decided to make several major changes to the first few chapters. Four of the houses replied affirmatively, but we didn’t hear from Kregel. We assumed they hadn’t started reviewing it yet, and I moved forward with my revisions.

Just as I was finalizing up, the publisher from Kregel contacted my agent and made the offer. I know it sounds strange and I should’ve been bouncing around the house, but my first thought was, Oh no! They read the old version and I’ve made all these changes! I knew the new version was stronger, so I prayed, and my agent asked Dennis, my soon to be publisher, if they’d take a look at the new version. They did, and extended the offer to the new book. THEN reality set in and the explosion of joy and incredulity hit me. It took several weeks before I really took in that it was sold.

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

Funny you should ask that right now, LOL! I’m in the final ¼ of my second book, Past Shadows, and have been staring at a blank screen the last two times I’ve sat down to write. In this particular case, I’ll skip ahead and start writing what I DO know is going to happen, then I’ll come back and link the old and new together. Writer’s block rarely happens to me, but when it does, I’ve found that if I can just get writing again, even if it’s several chapters ahead, the rest will come in time. Sometimes I simply need to step away for awhile and not push too hard. Prayer is also a key…ask the Lord to unlock the block and stir up a new creativity in your heart and mind.

What is the most difficult part of writing for you?

I think it was understanding two very important concepts that are critical in writing…staying within one person’s point of view within each scene, and letting my writing show what was happening within the scene, rather than me, the author, telling the reader. It was a struggle for me to be able to grasp the showing vs telling at first, but I had a couple of wonderful mentors who were faithful to point out when I slid into that trap.

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

I’m very blessed that I have two areas to write, depending on the noise and traffic level. We just completed building our new home and moved in early July. I have my lap top in the kitchen area on a desk for easy access when I want to jot a few notes, do some marketing, check email, etc. When I want to do serious writing and close a door, I go to my new office/library to work. It has a wonderful view of the woods out any of the four windows, and a spacious work area, so is very conducive to writing.

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

I’m afraid I’m not that organized. I have to work my writing into my very busy life, and often find myself writing late at night. If I’m behind schedule, I’ll push myself to stay put till I’ve written a few thousand words to catch up on a couple of lost days, but it’s rare that I get to write every day. Since my first book is nearing release, I’m also spending quite a bit of time on marketing, and of course, just got all the edits, revisions and proofreading behind me.

What does a typical day look like for you?

There really is no typical with my hubby and myself. He’s semi-retired, but still involved in a large project/invention that’s going to market soon, so he’s in and out a lot. I’m involved at our church, but much less than I used to be, and also involved with family. This past few months was taken up with finishing the interior trim in our new home, putting in flower beds, packing and moving, keeping up on the yard work on the old house that hasn’t sold yet, and fitting in writing and marketing when I’m able. Thankfully, I’m not under a strict deadline with the second book.

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


I’m more of a seat-of-the-pants writer…I get an idea, decide who the main characters are and start writing. I don’t follow a lot of rules, and tend to get better acquainted with my characters as I go. I have a basic overview of the story line in very simple outline form…I’m talking, a few sentences that might fill one page, at most, with very few details.

It does make it a bit more time intensive, in that I probably have more revisions than an organized writer, but I’ve found I can be more creative if everything isn’t mapped out along the way. My characters have more room to grow, change, and make some of their own decisions…I’ve had things happen in my story line that weren’t planned, but that fit beautifully and strengthened the plot. After writing the rough draft, I’ll submit it to my crit group a few chapters at a time, as well as having an editor I trust review the first third to half of the book for plot holes and inconsistencies, then start revising and editing.

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

I enjoy a wide range of genres. As a kid I loved reading Zane Grey, the old Nancy Drew books, Sue Barton nurse books, and as an older teen really got into the Gene Stratton Porter books (Freckles and Girl of the Limberlost, etc), as well as Harold Bell Wright, who is an amazing author. I still enjoy his work, and have added many Christian fiction writers to the list. I can’t begin to list them all, but to name just a few, Jan Karon, Francine Rivers, Linda Chaikin, Brandilynn Collins, Beverly Lewis, Tracie Peterson, Robin Lee Hatcher, and Alton Gansky, just to name a very few. As you can see, there’s historical, mystery, suspense, and women’s fiction all mixed in there.

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

Join a good writer’s group, and if at all possible, an online or local critique group. I’ve learned so much from both in the past two years. My current book has been helped and gently corrected by my crit group and we four gals have a wonderful working relationship. Each has our own set of strengths that we bring, and each has things that needs strengthening, that we gain from the others. Never be too proud to ask for help, and by all means, don’t take a critique as personal criticism. You can only grow when you’re willing to hear the suggestions of others.

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?

This is a hard one, as I’m still very early in my writing career, having only started writing seriously just over two years ago. I’m growing and learning constantly, and in all honesty, I haven’t had a lot of frustrating times since beginning this journey. I’d have to say that the issue of timing probably stands out more than most other things.


I was in too big of a hurry, at first, to send my ‘baby’ out into the world when it wasn’t ready. Had I taken the advice of an author/editor friend on some of the changes she gave me that would have strengthened my book, and not been so sure it was fine the way it was, I probably wouldn’t have had some of my early rejections. Of course, rejections are part of the growing process, and I learned valuable lessons there, too.

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

I’m one of those rarities in the writing world who actually enjoys the marketing part of writing. A lot of authors I know prefer to hole up in their office and write and not mess with promotion and marketing…not me. I love it. In fact, I probably spend too much time on it, and not enough on writing.


Currently, I have a blog, web site, ShoutLife profile and moderate a marriage group there, as my book deals with marriage issues, a My Space site, a 60 second book trailer on God Tube and My Tube, an email campaign, free book drawings, and try to stay active on a couple different writer’s groups.

Do you have anything else in the works besides the book that’s releasing soon?

Yes…and I’m hoping to get the final word on this soon. A major motion picture studio with a family movie division is reviewing my book as a possible family movie. I’m very excited about it, but have been trying to step back emotionally and give it to the Lord, as it’s not something I sought out. They saw a brief review of my book posted by my agent, and contacted her for the full manuscript.

Besides the sequel to The Other Daughter, I’m working on a historical romance set in Washington state in the 1880’s on a horse ranch, and have two other contemporary books in mind, that I’m hoping to start after Past Shadows, the sequel to The Other Daughter, is on my editor’s desk.

Do you have any parting words of advice?

Keep your priorities in order…God first, family next, ministry and others (including your writing) third. Write for the Lord, and yourself, rather than to be published. It will cut way down on the disappointment and frustration level, and bring a deep sense of joy and accomplishment.