Author Interview ~ Sally John

Sally grew up in Moline, Illinois, and married her high school honey Tim 32 years ago. They now live in southern California. A former teacher, she writes inspirational contemporary women's fiction. She has two grown children, a daughter in Chicago and a son who lives in Oregon with his wife and two daughters.










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


THE BEACH HOUSE, first in a series by the same name, was released last month (January 2006) by Harvest House. It’s the story of four women, old friends from childhood, who reunite after twelve years at a San Diego beach house and celebrate their 40th birthdays.









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.

In 1987-88 I took a writing class; we covered how to get published, magazine articles, and fiction. I fell in love with the fiction. One assignment led to writing the first three chapters of a sweet romance novel and its synopsis and sending it all off to a literary agent in Los Angeles.

This woman took me on and encouraged me through the writing of two books and entering a Romance Writers of America contest (my unpublished work was a finalist – just the boost to keep me going for awhile). However she wasn’t able to sell anything for me.

Published authors told me the average wait for that first contract was eight years. Eight! I gave up. I sold some magazine articles, again, the boost to keep me from completely quitting. A friend pointed out that Christian fiction was becoming popular. I rewrote my stories, giving voice to the characters’ faith. I memorized the Christian Writers Market Guide and sent sample chapters off to every fiction publisher.

Crossway Books showed the most interest and eventually sent me a letter saying they wanted to discuss a contract. We lived out in the country at the time; my husband drove home with the mail (the box was a mile from the house). I met him in the garage, noticed the Crossway return address, opened it right then and there, and screamed. If we’d had neighbors they would have come running. It was really, really hard to believe. Some days it still is. A dream come true. This was in December 1986…eight years after I began seriously writing fiction.

Do you still experience self-doubts regarding your work?

Oh man! Yes! I turned in Book 2, my twelfth novel, for the above series a couple of weeks ago and just the other day said to my husband something along the lines of AARRGHH!! What if nobody likes it? They probably won’t!

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

Write, write, write…and then rewrite. Don’t end a writing session at the end of a scene. Carry around index cards, jot down ideas/words/anything you might use in a story when it comes to mind. And don’t give up on getting published.

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

That I do have a voice in decision making and that I should have asked a lot more questions along the way.

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

Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “Earth’s crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God; But only he who sees, takes off his shoes, The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries…” God is everywhere; He’s in my every breath. It keeps astounding me and I so want to recognize the burning bushes.

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

On writing:

Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott
The Writing Life (?), Annie Dillard
Story, Robert McKee

Other:

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
Ramona, Helen Jackson
John Lescroart thrillers
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Annie Dillard

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

The Good Witch. I want my work to transform readers, to grant them their deepest desire which is – whether recognized or not – to know for the first or for the umpteenth time that God loves them and that fact makes all the difference in their life.

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

IN A HEARTBEAT I think is my most serious work to date. I took the heroine to the very bottom of a pit and watched her find her way to trusting in God in a deeper way than ever before in her life.

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

When competition enters the picture. Authors are usually the most giving bunch of people, always ready to help others along their writing journey.

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

I get to my desk between 8 and 9 a.m.; do email; ask my Father to give me the words that will speak His truth to readers’ hearts; and then I get to work. Depending on where I am in a story, I write (this includes research, outlining, editing, etc.) anywhere from four to ten hours, four to six days a week.

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

Angela Hunt’s speed of writing.

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

To make the New York Times bestseller list. It doesn’t have to be number one. I would love to someday write a nonfiction book or two about my personal faith experiences.


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

Favorite: the whole process of writing. Least: having to give one thought to the business aspect of it. My writing teacher taught in her very first class “Writing is a business” and repeated the phrase every class. It is, necessarily so.


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

I’m not sure how to measure it. I do what I can, especially in connecting with readers via email, signings, speaking, mailings. Marketing is like a black hole to me, though. Mysterious, not easily understood, questionable as to why it even exits. I think it was Peggy Noonan who said, “I know the Digger of the black holes.” That encourages me. I try to balance my own efforts with the letting go aspect, with the thought that God has the final say. Balance is especially important when I get bent out of shape because my book isn’t on a shelf where I think it should be.

Parting words?

None of us live this life alone. I am so grateful for teachers, friends, family, agents, editors, and publishers who have a part in my writing journey.