Interview with Sara DuBose

Sara DuBose is a motivational speaker and author. Sara is also author of Conquering Anxiety, published by the PresbyterianChurch in America. She currently travels as aspeaker for seminars, festivals, civic clubs, schools and churches and may be contacted at www.saradubose.com. Sara and her husband live in Montgomery, Alabama. She is the mother of two daughters.

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

A Promise for Tomorrow is a 50’s journey with a little girl who longs for adventure but soon finds herself in a life-threatening situation. What seems like a harmless trespass on Mr. Boyd’s property turns into a grip around the waist, a knife to her throat and Boyd’s breath, a smell like spoiled cabbage laced with tobacco and licorice.

Soon Flea unearths secrets regarding other Sugar Hill residents. She discovers the mystery behind Boyd’s locked upstairs room and, eventually, places herself in danger to rescue a soul more helpless than she.

My purpose? I want parents, child advocates, counselors, teachers, or anyone who suffers with alcohol or drug dependence to find help within these pages. I also hope single adults and widows will discover new avenues of purpose and meaning.


Tell us about your journey to publication. How long had you been writing before you got the call you had a contract?

I published fillers, features, personal experience and devotional pieces before I attempted a novel. In fact, my first book was a devotional Bible study written on assignment for my denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America. After this, I decided to take a correspondence course in fiction writing and began my first novel while taking this course. Several rejections later, I was offered my first contract.

What theme do you hope the reader grasps in this story?

Situations and people disappoint us, but nothing is beyond hope. A broken life can be redeemed.

What character do you have the greatest affinity for in A Promise for Tomorrow?

Only one? If so, I must choose Flea, the protagonist, because her simple desire for adventure turns into the complicated issue of staying alive and providing a future for her friend. If you offer a second and third choice I will pick Carl, the fun-living uncle, and then the cranky and pessimistic Velma Breedlove who has never learned how to live, but is finally offered a promise for tomorrow.

What’s something you wish you’d known earlier that might have saved you some time/frustration in the publishing business?

Excellence, or quality, never arrives without editing. We tend to think our ideas will flow into a beautiful story. Yes, this can happen, but even a Christian story needs to be cultivated, pruned, and examined by a proficient editor, and our master gardener, the Holy Spirit.

Is there a particularly difficult set back that you’ve gone through in your writing career you are willing to share?

Yes, I sometimes suffer with joint and muscle pain. I went through a period of discouragement and almost decided to give up my writing career. At this point, another Christian writer gave me a nudge. I then committed it to prayer and moved on.

What are a few of your favorite books?

For secular books I would choose, To Kill a Mockingbird, My Dog Skip, My Last Days as Roy Rogers and To Dance With the White Dog. The Bible, of course, tops the non-fiction list and then Knowing God by J.I Packer and anything written by the late D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones.

What piece of writing have you done that you’re particularly proud of and why?

I’ve written four novels and am particularly drawn to the second and fourth. The second novel, Where Love Grows, shows how God can, and does, bless a young couple who are determine to put Christ first, both before and after marriage. No, they are far from perfect, but they are committed to purity and fidelity. The theme of the book would be the old, but true, adage, “We reap what we sow.” Another character in this novel has a different destiny, and yet, God redeems and uses her mistakes and provides a future.

This fourth novel, A Promise for Tomorrow, shows God’s grace and provision for two frightened children, an anxious woman, a dying man, and a father and daughter who need a Savior to walk them through a complex maze: his drug addition and her . . . Sorry. I need to leave a little suspense.

What type of character do you most enjoy creating?

When I was a child I had a neighbor who brought laughter and sunshine into my life. Coming from a no-nonsense type of family, this man added a needed dimension. My favorite activities included relating my day’s miss-adventures to him, or listening to his more exciting tales from the front porch swing. Naturally, I later gravitated to those individuals who could laugh at themselves, play a practical joke, or encourage others to lighten up and enjoy life.

I also like to create characters who can demonstrate courage in the midst of difficult situations and who “stay the course” no matter what. I place a high value on determination, or persistence. Although I’m sure to fall short of it, I’d like to be able to say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (1 Tim. 4:7).

Take us through your process of writing A Promise for Tomorrow--concept to revision.

Like the characters Rand and Flea in A Promise for Tomorrow, my husband and I once ignored a No Trespassing sign and explored some intriguing country property. We came upon a spooky house and thought we saw an old woman rocking in an upstairs window. This image stuck with me and later became a major element in the story. Again, one of the children in Promise is modeled after a favorite childhood playmate. As other writers have said, God wastes nothing in our lives.

Some characters in the story are composites of people I’ve known while others are figments of my imaginations. I enjoy taking my story people on a type of hide and seek or scavenger hunt and am always surprised when we find unexpected treasures to sort, polish, arrange and re-arrange until the story flows. I often put the work aside for a while or ask a friend to evaluate. Then, after giving it to a line editor, it’s time to submit and wait for the publisher’s response.

Do you have a dream for the future of your writing, something you would love to accomplish?

Yes, I have two dreams. Lord willing, I want to continue teaching courses for aspiring writers because I’ve found it’s an excellent way to share my faith. At this point, I’ve developed a seminar I call How to Write a Page-Turning Novel. A second course is in the works for beginning writers.

The second dream is to either offer a sequel to A Promise for Tomorrow or another novel with a contemporary setting.

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

Speaking for seminars, civic clubs, churches, schools, and festivals provides the best marketing opportunities. People like to see the author face to face and seem to appreciate Q & A sessions. Newspapers and radio interviews also offer good exposure and provide excellent coverage for events.

Have you received a particularly memorable reader response?

Negative remarks may be spoken behind our backs, but generally, people are very kind to writers. I suppose the most encouraging response came from a mother who called to say my novel had given her the courage to support her daughter and future son-in-law in their decision to marry. Young, pregnant, and afraid, this couple had decided to make a commitment to each other and to God. She said their decision may not be the right for everyone (sometimes adoption is best) but she felt my stories Where Hearts Live and Where Love Grows would help these two as they sought to build a Christ-centered home.

What project do you hope to conquer next?

Right now, I’m involved with speaking engagements for A Promise for Tomorrow and the writing seminar. But, knowing me, another novel will probably be on the horizon.