Author Interview ~ Hope Lyda

Hope Lyda has worked in publishing for eight years and is the author of the One-Minute Prayers series in addition to several gift books, including Everything I Know I Learned from Home Improvement. When not journaling or aspiring to write and travel, Hope enjoys her work as an editor helping others reach for and achieve their dreams.




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

Altar Call—the follow up to my first novel, Hip to Be Square--will release in March 2006. This novel features one of four friends getting married and the other three dealing with the emotions this big life change triggers. For the main character, Mari, it causes a season of evaluating what God is leading her to do in her life, in love, and in her work/passion. This is a favorite theme of mine—which will be quite evident to readers, I’m sure! Let’s just say it is cheap therapy as I personally seek God’s leading.

Tell us about your journey to publication. How long had you been writing before you got the call you had a contract, how you heard and what went through your head.

My publisher recently asked me how I was finding time to write on top of a full-time job. Truth is—I have always been writing on the side. Most often it is my journal writing and reflective/observation writing filling that time, but in other seasons I dabble with screenplays or story outlines for future writing (read: procrastination), and even some full fiction pieces. Now that I am writing the fiction with contracted deadlines, that consumes those hours, and then some.

I make my living by writing and editing for Harvest House Publishers. So I had an “in” when I decided (and was convinced by friends) to submit a proposal for a chick-lit book. Although I mostly read non-fiction…I always have story ideas in my head for fiction. I’ve also been known to be sarcastic and play with my words from time to time, so the idea of writing Christian fiction with a humorous bent was very appealing.

Let me add here that it took me some time to submit the proposal because I saw my writing path as going in a different direction. So I resisted it and procrastinated because my story wasn’t unfolding the way I would have designed it. Hmmm. But after some time and some careful, prayerful consideration, I saw how enjoyable the fiction could/would be to do.

Thankfully, Harvest House was very interested in releasing books in this genre, they really liked my title Hip to Be Square and my storyline and initial chapters. And they were gracious enough to believe in me. So it began. And I’m thankful it happened this way.

Do you still experience self-doubts regarding your work?

Yes. I just turned in Altar Call and I have all these misgivings about it. My stomach hurts. I am scared to re-read any bits of it for fear I will despise it. But I had those feelings about Hip as well…yet, when I go back and read that, I find myself enjoying it when I have had some distance.

Self-doubt is all about the fear. And I probably have more than my share of that. There are some kinds of projects I want to write, I long to write…but I have held off because of fear. But the time will come when the fear subsides, when the very arrogant/party-pooper editor that is my mind stops shouting “You’ll nevah nevah be able to do this.” And it will happen when it is supposed to.

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

Something about getting up early and writing before your work day begins.

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

I’m sure it was something about getting up early and writing before your work day begins.

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

My path into publishing was a fortunate one. However, even with my situation, I waited for years. Some of it was God timing. Some of it was that party-pooper editor in my head that wouldn’t let me try anything…or FINISH anything. So, I wish I had known a very simple fact: It can happen. I (you) can do this.

This might be true for a lot of writers…we think through what the other party in the possible contract will or will not do. Before we have a chapter out of us, we are doubting that there is a publisher or a market for what we have to say or share.

What we are neglecting to focus on is our own end of the deal. Our covenant should be with God and ourselves to push forward and actually do the writing. To create. The other stuff doesn’t matter. Not initially. And when the other stuff takes priority in our thinking….that is when we freeze and the blank page becomes the barrier instead of the opportunity. This is a topic I would love to write about…believe me, my journals are full of me evaluating me and my writing/non-writing times of life.

Do you have a scripture or quote that has been speaking to you lately?

I have James 4:13-17 on my computer desk top. I know it reads a bit harsh or even depressing initially. But the philosophy…the life and faith perspective is actually freeing. I, of course, am not quite there, but this verse really speaks to me and I must say, it brings about some conviction.

When I start worrying too much about this or that…I remember that I am a “mist” and that what happens is in God’s hands. My worrying, my plotting, and my planning are responsible acts in a worldly way…but they are not what ultimately matter. God wants to use me in ways that I cannot foresee…who am I to tell Him what my life will and should look like!? This helps me breathe more easily and not get so caught up in my self or those many plans.


Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast and brag….


What are a few of your favorite books? (Not written by you.)

Since I love non-fiction…the books about writing are the ones I return to the most…Bird by Bird Anne Lamott; Writing Down the Bones Natalie Goldberg (actually all her non-fiction books are on my shelf); Escaping Into the Open Elizabeth Berg; Walking On Water Madeleine L’Engle; and books about women’s experiences… Journal of a Solitude May Sarton, Blue Jay’s Dance Louise Erdrich, A Year by the Sea Joan Anderson; Underfoot in Show Business Helene Hanff; Daybook Anne Truitt. Any great book about a woman traveling…like Without Reservations Alice Steinbach, Nothing to Declare Mary Morris.

(I could go on and on because these are the kinds of books that I immerse myself in and fancy I will be writing some day.)

In the Christian marketplace, I’m loving what Lauren Winner, Kim Thomas, Cindy Crosby, Don Miller, and others are doing with non-fiction. The writings of Margaret Becker and Carolyn Arends are fantastic. Luci Swindoll’s I Married Adventure is inspiring. I read Phyllis Tickle’s Divine Hours series (books of prayer) throughout each year and I love her memoir The Shaping of a Life. My favorite theme in any market or genre is that of women’s discoveries of faith and self.

I pray that this is what I bring to my fiction…through the humorous situations and fictional life moments I write about, I hope a relatable tale of a woman’s journey of belief and wonder is evident and meaningful.

There is fiction I love too…but the non-fiction feeds me and encourages me and fuels my desire to write fiction, non-fiction, my journaling, whatever.

If your authorial self was a character from The Wizard of Oz, which one would you be and why?

Well, when I start a project, I am Dorothy…following the path and hoping to make it home, to complete the journey. Fear, hope, and courage accompany me.
When I am facing deadlines…I morph into the wicked witch. My husband and cats would probably agree (but they would say it really quietly and ask that it be “off the record.”)

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

I feel good about Hip to Be Square because it represents the point when I finally shut up about writing for publication and finally just did it. It isn’t going to rock the world, nor is it literary and something I want to say represents who I am as a writer. But it does represent a change in my attitude. Everything didn’t line up the way I wanted it to for me to START writing. Believe me, I waited for it all to be perfect. I just knew the right time meant that I’d be working less, I’d have the ideal office, I’d have three months off to devote to perfecting the final draft, and did I mention I’d have a house in Italy or Mexico in which to perfect the final draft? etc.

So I watched for these things so that I would know it was time for me to follow my heart. Turns out…you have to follow first. Maybe the other things will take place, maybe not. It is such a lesson in faith.


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

I think it has been difficult for the essay and memoir niche to find a place in the Christian market. It is exciting to see Don Miller’s books doing so well (Blue Like Jazz, Searching for God Knows What). Unfortunately there have been other wonderful writers who have not had that success because publishers or retailers or even readers were not sure how to categorize it (that is my theory). I pray this changes because I think this rich, reflective and insightful narrative is important to have in the Christian marketplace just as it is in the general market.

Fiction is experiencing growth and depth in the Christian industry and I hope this translates into more diverse fiction and non-fiction possibilities in the near future. I have faith it will happen.

Can you give us a view into a typical day of your writing life?

I dream about that “getting up early and writing for a couple hours before work begins” scenario. But that hasn’t happened. The dreaming has…but not the getting up. So for now it is evenings and weekends when I plop down on my couch with my lap top and write. I usually have movies playing or music going in the background. Coffee is usually near-by if it is morning. My cats curl up next to me because the lap top gives off a lot of heat. When you see typos in my work…it could be because they stretched their paws across the keyboard at the wrong moment. (The “cat typed my homework” defense.)

I go through periods when I stay up really late. This also involves plugging in movies and having them playing in the background while I write. Next thing I know, it is 2:00 and I am still not tired. Of course, these manic bouts are followed by days when I can barely get myself out of bed because I am making up for lost sleep. I didn’t call this healthy/functional behavior, you will notice. But it does seem to be part of my creative cycle.

I had a doctor explain that our bodies rev up at night because they are restoring themselves during that time. Our organs actually need this time and energy when we should be sleeping. BUT we creative types think “oh, goody…look at me being artistic and clever late at night with all this energy. I must be a genius. I am invincible. Look at me laughing at the clock with its little hand on the 3.” When actually we are disturbing this restoration process in our bodies and using the energy for our own purposes rather than the God-intended one of health. I found the doctor’s information/advice to ease up fascinating…and promptly ignored it, of course. But I am getting better about it.

If you could choose to have one strength of another writer, what would it be and from whom?


Any writer who is doing the work of writing what is on his/her heart in a way that is simple and meaningful or clever and joyful. The strength of faith. Faith that it is okay to put the words down on paper. Faith that what you have to say matters. Faith that even if it doesn’t find a reader…it was meant to be written.

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

I want to include non-fiction in my future. I want to have the guts to pursue this because it is my heart, my nature, and I think ultimately it is what I have to offer. I have some concepts that have been on my heart for over 4 years. But it will be about timing and opportunity. I don’t want to rush it and destroy it with my own ambition or my need to be on an imagined time table.

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

My official career is just beginning (God willing) but there have been times in my LIFE that I have considered quitting. I could never stop writing completely…but I have considered not writing to publish. You should see the years and years of email communication between me and my sister, Dawn, who is a writer. We share the same angst, highs and lows, and also that secret inside that we KNOW we are meant to write.

It is in us and part of us and it might not take the shape we want it to always…but we never doubt that this part of us exists. We deny it or push it aside different times…but we also return to it, grateful it is on our hearts and part of our purpose.

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

Getting past that arrogant/mean self-editor. All the writers-on-writing (Anne Lamott, Natalie Goldberg, etc) have names for this self-editor. I call her all sorts of things. There are days just getting past her uses up all the energy I have. But the next day might be wonderful because the meany is out buying a new thesaurus (so she can find more words that mean “stupid” and “lousy” and “failure”) and I have time to write without my self-doubts getting in the way.

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

Very little/None.

I work with my publisher to do anything I can to support their efforts…but I am just learning the ways of doing my own stuff.

In March 06 I will have a website www.HopeLyda.com so I see that as my big effort for now. I will feel validated and official and legitimate in a very superficial way when that is up and running!

One of my goals for this year is to do more marketing and to connect more with the writing/publishing community. I would say that self-marketing is and always will be a personal least favorite part of writing for publication for me. It isn’t my nature. I love emailing readers and talking to them…but I am actually shy and a bit of a hermit. I’m sure I probably just made some publishers (mine included) say “she is just what we are NOT looking for.”

But I imagine lots of writers are more solitary souls than extroverts. I hope I am not alone in my alone-ness! I will find a way to connect more, however. I think all writers should take this part seriously because it goes with the privilege of writing. It is part of the process. Most important, I think every writer needs to find the balance and the style of marketing that suits them and does not betray who they are at the core. I worked in publicity/marketing in the industry for 5 years so I at least have a base understanding of that world and what it requires.

Parting words?

If I start getting up early and writing before the work day begins…I will email you all and let you know how that’s goin’.