Author Interview ~ Kim Sawyer

Wife, mother, grandmother, teacher, author, speaker...
Kim Sawyer wears many hats. Some hats, such as mom to a special-needs child and long-time sufferer of chronic pain, have been oftimes worn with frustration. Hats she's found the courage to discard are the coverings of fear and shame brought about by abuse and welfare reliance. God's miraculous hand of healing in Kim's physical and emotional life is a source of inspiration which she would like to share.










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

Waiting for Summer's Return, my first full-length historical with Bethany House, will come out in late May/early June of this year. Summer's story simmered in my heart since 1981, when I stumbled upon a tiny central Kansas cemetery and a row of graves--all members of one family. The mother wasn't there, and I wondered what happened to her...? Waiting for Summer's Return is my imaginative answer to that question. It's set in a little German-Mennonite community, so I worked in my own family's heritage, using Plaut Deutsch (a German dialect unique to Mennonites), and had a great time taking Summer through a journey of acceptance.


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.

I have always been a writer (I told my kindergarten teacher that someday people would check my books out in libraries!), but I didn't actively seek publication until the mid-1990's. After a crushing rejection from Zondervan (after several positive communications), I decided I wasn't meant to published, so I quit submitting. But I couldn't quit writing!

I started submitting again in 2002 at my dad's encouragement. My agent (Tamela Hancock Murray with Hartline) took over the submission process in 2003. March 17, 2005, in the middle of Parent/Teacher Conferences, I got an email from Tracie Peterson telling me Dear John had been accepted for the Heartsong line. It was pretty hard to stay focused on conferences after that!

Then, just two weeks later, my agent called to tell me Summer's story plus a second one were being purchased by Bethany House. I nearly passed out on that one! Between March and November of 2005, I signed contracts for three Heartsongs, four full-length historicals with Bethany House, and three full-length contemporary women's fiction with Barbour. After years of waiting, the floodgates opened. It's been a wild ride!


Do you still experience self-doubts regarding your work?

Nearly every day. I am always concerned about being "good enough." But what really helps is to have my Bible reading and prayer time before I open my documents to write. Being in tune with my heavenly Father puts my focus where it belongs--on pleasing Him with the words that come out of the end of my fingertips.


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

Deb Raney told me that getting published is both talent and perseverance. That kept me submitting even when I was tempted to throw in the towel. The second piece of advice is one everyone has heard a hundred times, but it bears repeating--write your heart. God gives us different voices for different reasons, so sing your own song.

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

First, publishing is a waiting game. It is not for impatient people. lol! Second, writing the story isn't the end of your responsibility. I just assumed once a story was purchased, I was done with it. Not so! There's copy editing, and rewriting, and cutting words (major ouch!!!), and book signings and speaking and marketing.... It really is a business, not just a creative outlet. That kind of took me by surprise.


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

Colossians 3:23-24 "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance." This verse really brought me back into perspective recently.

I've been working on my third historical for Bethany House. It has a real emotional meaning to me since it involves orphan train children, and my dear step-grandmother was an orphan train rider. In my head, I began writing this story for Tantie, and suddenly the flow was gone. Words would not come out. I was extremely frustrated, and writing bogged down.

Then, in studying for my Sunday school lesson, I encountered those verses in Colossians, and the light bulb flashed over my head. Instead of writing the story for Tantie, I needed to be writing the story for the One who put me in this chair. Once I asked God to forgive me for my skewed focus, things got back on track, and the flow returned. So those verses are on a little card above my computer, keeping my focus where it needs to be.

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

At the 2004 ACFW conference, an editor told me that "gentle stories of hope" were out of date. If I wanted to be published, I needed to write catchy, suspenseful stories. It absolutely crushed me. That isn't my voice at all. I wondered if I was wasting my time and my agent's time... I came very close to just quitting. Why continue to set yourself up for rejection?

But if you're a writer, you write. And that advice that's been stated a hundred times...write your heart...kept coming back to me. I decided that even if I never got published, God gave me these particular stories and He had a reason for doing so. If my own personal growth and edification was all I got from them, then that was enough. I found my peace with that.


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

Some that I have read over and over and never tire of are To Kill a Mockingbird, Christy, and any of C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia. The Heirs of Anton series by Susan Warren and Susan Downs are recent favorites, as well as Tricia Goyer's WWII stories. I love the historical accuracy of these series. Plus I'm just a history nut--I love traveling back in time in my imagination.

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

I would definitely be the Cowardly Lion, although God and I are working on my tendency for timidity! I was a very bashful child, and it still plagues me as an adult. Being around writers, who are likeminded and encouraging, has helped bring me out of my shell.


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

I guess I'm proud of a little self-published novel called A Seeking Heart. From a literary viewpoint, it would never win awards. It was written before I knew any of the writing rules of staying in one POV or using -ly words sparingly or being cautious about "was," yet that story poured straight from my heart. Samantha's story of growth and change became my story of growth and change, and the limited readership has commented on the tenderness and sweetness, so I know my heart came through. It was the first thing I was brave enough to share with a larger audience, and I'm proud of this "Cowardly Lion" for finding the courage to follow through on God's prompting and allow it be "out there."


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

Well, with a husband who is in and out, two cats and a dog which demand attention, and three teenage girls in the house, I'm not sure I have a typical day! lol But my planned routine is get up, get the kids out the door to school, have my devotions and prayer time, then open the file and write until noon. Sometimes, after everyone is in bed, I will reopen the file and write some more, but now that I'm home pretty much full-time, I am less likely to do that.


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

Well, she isn't a published writer (yet!), but I would love to borrow Ramona Cecil's gift for word-painting. With a few selected words she can put me directly into the center of a scene and make me fully acquainted with her characters. Her writing is alive and vivid, and being a very visual person, I really admire that.


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

Of course, this is all up to God, but it would not bother me a bit to do this for the rest of my life--allow the characters and stories that fill my brain to appear on a computer screen and eventually between the pages of a book. God took me out of my fifth grade classroom--a place I dearly loved--and put me in this office chair, and I'm as happy as can be. So I know if He takes me out of this office chair and puts me somewhere else, it'll be all good. But for now, just writing and writing and writing is my dream.


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

Many times I thought of quitting submitting for publication, but quit writing? No. I can't ever remember a time in my life that I wasn't working on a story--first scribbled in steno pads, then typed on my dad's amazingly slow portable typewriter, and finally on computer... Writing is what I do. Even if the publishing stopped tomorrow, I would still write. I can't not write.


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

Least favorite... Writing is a very solitary activity. I taught for years--was around lots of people and noise and confusion--and this being alone in my office is sometimes quite lonely. I know there are others only an email away, and I make use of that probably more than is wise some days!, but I miss the connections with other people.

And favorite... Writing is a creative outlet, but also an emotional outlet. I love being able to take all the thoughts and feelings and experiences of my 40(*ahem*)+ years of life and put them into other characters who grow and change and become the people God designed them to be. It is, in a very small way, like being a part of creation. Every day is a new experience, and it's exciting!


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

I have a website, although I'm not a real computer techie, and I have a quarterly newsletter for those who wish to receive it. When I self-published A Seeking Heart, I sent letters to every Christian bookstore and public library in the states of Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Nebraska, and Minnesota. I also do speaking events, something I would never have imagined!, and that gives me a venue for sharing my writing as well.

Frankly, I would prefer not to market because that really isn't a comfortable arena for me, but it is part of the publishing world.


Parting words?

If God called you to write...write. Even when it's hard and you think you're getting nowhere...write. He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it in His timing. There are no wasted steps on the writing journey, so walk with joy!
God bless~

To learn about Kim's current and upcoming works, visit www.KimVogelSawyer.com

"...We are the clay, you are the potter, we are all the work of your hand" (Is. 64:8b).