Tina Pinson here, and I thought we'd take a look at my writer's mind and give you a look at where some of my stories come from and the processes my mind goes through to put them on the page. Seems like a daunting subject at best, but, hopefully, we can navigate together.
I started writing in elementary school. Did some poetry, songs, shorts stories and a little story called Cross of the Sultan, which is still going through metamorphosis even now. In my twenties, I started a book called When Shadows Fall that takes the characters from the shadows of the Civil War on the trail to Oregon. I got the desire to write it after reading a story where the author spent all of two chapters, if that, on the trail. I wanted to take the whole journey.
As the story began to unfold in my mind and dreams, I began to write. Some 900 pages later, I deposited my characters in Oregon and set out to find a publisher.
Seems the story was too long for a house to accept from a newbie. So I set in to finish the other three stories I had started to write. Yep three; In the Manor of the Ghost, To Carry her Cross, and Winds Across the Rockies. I will not try to explain the process my mind goes through while bouncing between three stories. Doubt I could. I do know that when I work on a story, that story takes precedence and my mind and emotions are invested. If my mind and emotions move to another story, I follow and write there for a time.
Eventually those three stories were done, but there were still no publishers pounding down my door. Go Figure. Didn't they know I was the next great author?
So I started more stories, just because my mind was already writing them out and they were taking over my dreams as well. Touched by Mercy, Trail of the Sandpiper, and From Hell to Eternity.
About that time the World Trade Center was attacked and my thoughts and emotions took another side tour. Questions abounded in my mind. I knew where I was when the attack happened, but where was I spiritually? Where was the nation? Why did it happen? Where was God? Why didn't he stop it? Would it happen again? What would I do if it happened to someone I loved? To me? What if I was one of the survivors, while others had died? We're praying now, looking for God, what were we doing before the tragedy? Do we only seek God in the hard times?
Sorting through the questions and fears floating around in my head, a story began to take shape. It was so vivid I had to get it down. Then There Was Grace was born. At first I called it Losing Grace, but that seemed rather hopeless, and I wanted people to see the Grace waiting for them even when life seemed dark.
Then There Was Grace is story of Adam Christenson, whose wife, Grace, is caught a tragic 9/11 style event.. He was about to leave Grace for someone else and when Grace dies he is left to care for his twin daughters, Hope and Faith. This forces Adam to take a closer look at himself. Filled with guilt, and growing remorse, Adam begins to uncover the story of the wife he was going to leave and realizes the truth of her love for him. It's the story of his return to Grace.
But the story doesn't end there. I felt God wanted me to address something even deeper. Then There Was Grace is also the story of mankind and in a way to perhaps answer the questions that people have after such an event. It is my attempt to remind people that even in such awful circumstances, God doesn't leave us. Even when we walk away from God, he is still there waiting to love us and pour his Grace out.
So there is a look into my writer's mind. I will get back to my other stories, but let me Thank you for spending time with me.
Please leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of Then There Was Grace. If you can, answer the question… Where were you (emotionally, physically, spiritually) on September 11, when the World Trade Center was attacked?
Tina Pinson resides in Mesa, Arizona with her husband of thirty plus years, Danny. They are blessed to have three sons, and seven grandchildren. Look for Christmas in Shades of Gray an offbeat contemporary Dickens type Christmas tale in December. This Shadowed Land (Shadow Series Book 4) the continuing story of Matthew and Rebekah on the Oregon Trail releases early 2014
Twitter:@Tina_Pinson
Facebook-- https://www.facebook.com/TinaEPinsonAuthor
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Purchase my books at:
Desert Breeze Bookstore.
Amazon:
Barnes & Noble:
To Carry Her Cross
Christian Books.com:
To Carry Her Cross
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