Author Elizabeth Maddrey Acts Out — Scenes, That Is

Authors are a funny bunch. I’m not sure if you know that (if you are one, well, you know it. But if you’re mostly a reader, this might be news.) 

One of the things I do (and I know I’m not alone in doing it) when I get stuck trying to figure out the physical actions of my characters is... act it out. Now, as I generally write romance, I usually need a second person for my scenes. Enter my very understanding husband, who is an incredibly good sport.

Usually it goes something like this: we’re hanging out in the evening, each doing our own thing. I’m writing, he’s reading or playing a game. I hit a snag. First, I set the laptop aside and try to figure out how whatever I’m trying to write should work. (Honestly, I have the worst time figuring out if the people are sitting or standing in such a way that they can comfortably hold hands. You’d think that’d be pretty straightforward, but for whatever reason, I struggle.) After a few frustrating minutes, I say, “Hey. Can I borrow you a second?”

He usually shrugs and says, “Sure.”

So I set the scene, going over the dialog leading up to the point and what’s going on. And then there are a million awkward attempts to hold hands reminiscent of first dates in high school. Eventually I figure it out after moving us around and trying out various things (and sometimes he even has some good suggestions – though usually he just rolls his eyes at me.) Then I pick up the laptop and get back to work.

It’s helpful though – and so if you’re a writer, I heartily recommend acting out the scenes that are giving you fits. And sometimes, if you’re having your husband help out, go ahead and act out those kisses, because even if that’s not what’s causing a struggle, it’ll make him less hesitant about helping out the next time.

In my latest release, A Splash of Substance, I didn’t have very many scenes that I needed to act out until after I got my edits back. When Paige and Jackson hang out and watch the fireworks on the 4th of July early on in the book, I had them sitting next to each other on a picnic blanket. And then there was a hip bump. Now, if you think about it, the last time you bumped someone’s hip with yours, you were probably walking. Go ahead, sit next to someone and bump their hip. (That’s now been fixed, so you won’t get to snicker when you read it and wonder what kind of contortionists I’m writing about.)

You can find A Splash of Substance on Amazon. It’s also available for Nook, on iTunes, and Kobo.

Elizabeth Maddrey began writing stories as soon as she could form the letters properly and has never looked back. Though her practical nature and love of math and organization steered her into computer science for college and graduate school, she has always had one or more stories in progress to occupy her free time. When she isn’t writing, Elizabeth is a voracious consumer of books and has mastered the art of reading while undertaking just about any other activity. She loves to write about Christians who struggle through their lives, dealing with sin and receiving God’s grace.

Elizabeth lives in the suburbs of Washington D.C. with her husband and their two incredibly active little boys. She invites you to interact with her at her website www.ElizabethMaddrey.com or on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ElizabethMaddrey

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Author Elizabeth Maddrey Talks About Guilt

One of the things I’ve learned about myself is that I have a tendency to assume guilt, even when there’s no need to do so. Before my husband and I had kids, I mostly had that tendency under control. I’d learned not to take things so personally and to evaluate the truth of things in God’s eyes before taking on guilt.

And then we had kids and “mommy guilt” reared its ugly head. Was I doing everything that I should be doing? Was there more, or less, or different? Yet, at the end of the day, I’ve had to realize that the majority of “mommy guilt” I feel isn’t a worthwhile thing, designed to sharpen and mold me into a better mom, but a lie from the Evil One, seeking to rob me of my joy.

Some days though, even knowing it’s not a voice of Truth, the guilt I feel over silly things like choosing to spend a few minutes cleaning the house instead of continuing to play cars with the kids leaves me breathless. And it’s in those moments that I’m learning to step back, take a deep breath, and turn to God. He’s helping me learn to separate worthwhile guilt that leads me into a deeper, more meaningful relationship with my kids and Him from the rest and restoring the joy that the guilt was leeching out of my life.

In my March release, A Splash of Substance, Paige Jackson struggles with feelings of guilt for wanting to strike out on her own and start a catering company instead of going to work for her dad at his restaurant. As with my own guilt, Paige’s guilt is solely based on her perception of other people’s reactions to her decisions rather than their true feelings – and her relationships lose some of their joy because of it. While it’s not the primary focus of the novel, Paige does make some steps in shaking off guilt and reclaiming joy over the course of the story.

You can find A Splash of Substance on Amazon.

It’s also available for Nook, on iTunes, and Kobo.


Elizabeth Maddrey began writing stories as soon as she could form the letters properly and has never looked back. Though her practical nature and love of math and organization steered her into computer science for college and graduate school, she has always had one or more stories in progress to occupy her free time. When she isn’t writing, Elizabeth is a voracious consumer of books and has mastered the art of reading while undertaking just about any other activity. She loves to write about Christians who struggle through their lives, dealing with sin and receiving God’s grace.

Elizabeth lives in the suburbs of Washington D.C. with her husband and their two incredibly active little boys. She invites you to interact with her at her website www.ElizabethMaddrey.com or on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ElizabethMaddrey

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A Peek at Elizabeth Maddrey's Writing World

Since I was little and realized that there were real people who wrote the books I considered my very best friends, I had a mental image of what the writer’s life was like. It involved a lot of reading, reclining, and of course writing—all while dressed in flowing white dresses. I’m not sure where that image came from, maybe I read too much Anne of Green Gables as a child (though really, can you have too much Anne?) Regardless, my writing life is nothing like that. So, what is my writing life?

I’m a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom. So really, that’s much more my life for the bulk of the day. I’m usually up by 6:30 or 7 when the younger of my sons starts calling out “All done!” from his crib. Mornings are our play time, chore time, errand time, and various group time (swimming lessons, Bible study, co-op, etc.) I try to get a quick post up on my Facebook author page and maybe schedule a few tweets in the midst of all that, but that’s really it for “writing” until after lunch.

Once lunch is handled and the baby’s in bed, it’s school time for my older son. Right now he’s in the first grade, so school doesn’t take all that long, leaving us with some quiet time while the baby finishes his nap. Usually my older boy will read or play and I’ll hop on my computer and write. Because I know the time is limited, I don’t always work on my work-in-progress in the afternoon (unless I’m nearing a deadline). Sometimes I’ll use that time for blog posts or scheduling interviews, doing email, that sort of thing. But if I’m in a groove with my WIP, then I’ll fire it up. It all depends.

When naptime is over, then it’s back to family mode. More playing and chores and what-have-you until after the kids are in bed. Then, usually, I’ll write while my husband plays Xbox or we watch TV (I can do some things while the TV’s going, not always.) We do have at-home date nights two or three nights a week after the kids are in bed and those nights I don’t write and he doesn’t Xbox (that’d be a pretty lame date, wouldn’t it?)

If I just killed your vision of a writer’s life, I apologize. It was a startling revelation to me, too. And as I’ve met more authors, it turns out the folks who get to write for 8 hours a day are few and far between. The majority of us (or at least the majority of the ones I’ve run into) are all pretty much just looking for thirty minutes here and there throughout the day to take the stories in our head and get them down on paper. I know for myself, I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Elizabeth Maddrey began writing stories as soon as she could form the letters properly and has never looked back. Though her practical nature and love of math and organization steered her into computer science for college and graduate school, she has always had one or more stories in progress to occupy her free time. When she isn’t writing, Elizabeth is a voracious consumer of books and has mastered the art of reading while undertaking just about any other activity. She loves to write about Christians who struggle through their lives, dealing with sin and receiving God’s grace.

Elizabeth lives in the suburbs of Washington D.C. with her husband and their two incredibly active little boys. She invites you to interact with her at her website www.ElizabethMaddrey.com or on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ElizabethMaddrey

Social Media:

Website: http://www.ElizabethMaddrey.com

Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/ElizabethMaddrey

Twitter: @elizabethmaddre

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/emaddrey/

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+ElizabethMaddrey/posts

Don't forget to stop by tomorrow, when you can enter to win a free copy of Elizabeth's latest title, Faith Departed!

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Write What You Know by Author Elizabeth Maddrey

Write what you know. That’s what you hear as advice when you’re still in that “aspiring writer” stage and haven’t fully moved into the “yeah, I’m really doing this” phase. But what about when you want to write speculative fiction, or even, romance? Most of us don’t live lives that lend themselves perfectly to fiction. And most of the time, I think we’d all agree that’s a good thing!

With my first three books, I did incorporate the idea of writing what I know—at least somewhat. While the romantic plot came fully from my imagination, a lot of the vocations of my characters and their experiences were things that came from real life. (Maybe not my life, but people I knew or had worked with. I thought it was important to keep an emotional distance between me as an author and my characters.) Then I got the idea for my current series.

My husband and I spent a number of years dealing with infertility. During that time, one of the things I wished for were books that had characters who could identify with my problems. At the same time, I wasn’t sure I wanted to take my own struggles—things that even today are hard at times—and put them into a story, even a fictionalized one.

But the story wouldn’t leave me alone. I kept thinking about how much I had wanted a book that not only had real people and real emotions, but some hope and an understanding of the spiritual struggles that I’d experienced. So I started writing. 

There were times that it was a struggle to stick to the fictionalized version of things that I had mapped out. But I knew, despite wanting to “write what I knew,” that I needed a broader range of experiences in the book. I didn’t want to write a memoir or self-help tome—I wanted a relatable novel that would, hopefully, give women going through infertility a sense that someone understood them. And maybe help people who haven’t had those struggles understand a bit of what it’s like for so many.

Faith Departed is, so far, the hardest book I’ve written, and yet one of the most rewarding. The willingness to risk writing what I know – what I’ve lived and hurt through – has changed me for the better as a writer. So maybe that age-old advice to write what you know isn’t just a cliché after all. Maybe my life doesn’t lend itself directly to fiction, but in the future I’m going to be more willing to explore those pieces that do and weave them in.

Elizabeth lives in the suburbs of Washington D.C. with her husband and their two incredibly active little boys. She invites you to interact with her at her website www.ElizabethMaddrey.com or on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ElizabethMaddrey

Social Media:

Website: http://www.ElizabethMaddrey.com

Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/ElizabethMaddrey

Twitter: @elizabethmaddre

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/emaddrey/

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+ElizabethMaddrey/posts

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The Writing Life, by Elizabeth Maddrey

The Writing Life. It sounds so idyllic, doesn’t it? When I think of “the writing life,” I get an image of someone sitting by a pond with a journal, blissfully scribbling away their thoughts. Or maybe typing because they’d like to be able to read those thoughts again later. And then I think about my “writing life” and I have to laugh.

A typical day in the life for me runs a lot like a typical day for any homeschooling, stay-at-home mom. The baby tends to wake up first. The sounds of him experimenting with language and volume eventually wake up his older brother who then comes in to see if it’s time to get up yet, despite having a clock next to his bed that turns green when it’s okay. It’s usually not green. He just wants to make sure that it didn’t break overnight. (This is his reasoning – he’s a little writer in training.)

So we get up and there’s coffee (glorious, glorious coffee) and breakfast and squabbling about whose waffle is larger (Answer: The machine that stamps out the waffles and freezes them for boxing does not vary in size. No matter how much it looks like your brother’s waffle is different, it isn’t) and who got more butter (Answer: Your brother did. Because I love him better, obviously.) and can I please have some coffee too? (Answer: No.) All during this time, I’m trying to mull over whatever plot point I’m currently stuck on – because I’m always stuck on something. I only seem to get unstuck by making myself keep writing and promising to figure it out later.

Then it’s time for a spin in the idea box – or as most people call it the shower. Honestly, I get the best ideas in the shower. There’s something about all that steam and quiet (oh, the quiet!) that loosens up the old brain (and the sinuses, so bonus there during allergy season.) I quickly scribble down the ideas when I’m out and then wrangle the boys into clothes. And then it’s off to whatever chores/playdate/cleaning marathon is scheduled for the day.  All the while I’m people watching and blatantly eavesdropping on conversations to try and see if there’s something I can use in my next story.

After lunch (same general squabbling as breakfast, but most of the time not with waffles), it’s nap slash quiet time. This is when I actually get to write on my computer. It goes something like this:

Tuck kids in bed, older one with books. Kisses, hugs, lots of love. Sneak downstairs and boot up the computer.

“Moooooommmmmmm.”

Run upstairs. “Shh. You’ll wake your brother.”

“I have to go potty.”

“So go.” Return downstairs and open Word.

“Moooooooommmmmm!”

Run upstairs. “Shh. You’ll wake your brother.”

“I need a drink of water.”

“You have cups in your bathroom. Go get a drink.”

“I can get up for a drink?”

“And the potty.”

Back downstairs. Skim over what I wrote last to try and remember where I am. Look at my ideas from the shower this morning. Realize they don’t work for this story at all, but file them away for something else another time. Wonder if I have any old ideas that might work. Dig around for old scraps of paper, find nothing. Just start typing and promise myself I’ll figure out the issue during editing. Get about 200 words written and realize I’m thirsty. Get a drink. Figure out where I was and keep typing. In a perfect world, I’d get two solid hours of writing here. What usually happens is the phone or the doorbell rings (or, bonus, both at the same time!) Handle the issue, get back to writing.

“Mom, I can’t sleep.”

Realize it’s pretty much the end of quiet time anyway. Save, close the document. Dig out school and do that. Then it’s play time and hubby gets home and then dinner time and bed time. And then, finally, when the boys are in bed, it’s back to the computer with a word count or time deadline firmly fixed in

my mind. Most days I make myself meet that deadline, other days I cave and watch Dr. Who instead.

Don't forget to stop by tomorrow, when you can enter to win a free copy of Elizabeth's latest release, Serenity to Accept.

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Gleaning Plot Ideas by Elizabeth Maddrey

I don’t get a lot of people asking me questions about what it’s like to be a writer. I suspect some of that is because I don’t tend to tell a whole bunch of people that I am one. It’s not that I’m embarrassed; it just never seems to come up…probably because most of the time I’m surrounded by two adorable little boys who steal all my limelight.  Regardless, I have lots of conversations with imaginary people in my head, and sometimes I’ll be at an imaginary book signing and a lovely imaginary person will come up and gush delightedly to me about how much she enjoyed my books and then ask the question that I’m told authors have learned to dread: where do you get your ideas?

For me, my ideas seem to come from life as it happens around me – most often conversations with friends, family, acquaintances, and…random imaginary people. In the case of my first book (Wisdom to Know), the plot idea came from the many women I worked with when I worked and volunteered at a Pregnancy Resource Center. Book 2, Courage to Change, came out of conversations I had with secondary characters while I was writing book 1. But then came book 3…deadline looming and plot ideas fizzling. So I took the night off and we went out to dinner with friends.

We have a good friend who’s thirty and single and would love to find a Godly wife…and he’s struggling. More than that, talking to him as he navigates the dating waters, it’s interesting to hear how quickly he realizes the “mate potential” of his dates – and how he’s trying to ensure that he doesn’t prolong a relationship that has no future. One of these conversations with him got me thinking. I remember growing up our high school youth pastor frequently quoted the idea that “every date is a potential mate.” And like most high schoolers (or at least those that I knew) I remember rolling my eyes. But as I got older, and the idea of finding a mate and settling down started to really root itself in my mind, I realized the essence of wisdom in the cliché. I’m grateful that God brought me together with my husband while we were still in college. But what happens when that doesn’t work out, like with our friend? The gears started to whirl and out of that came the basis for the plot of Serenity to Accept.

In Serenity to Accept (Book 3 of the Grant Us Grace series), we meet Dr. Jason Garcia. He’s a long-time believer who is determined to date only Christian women – but he finds himself attracted to Karin Reid, who starts out somewhat antagonistic to the idea of Christianity. Jason begins to struggle with the lines he’s drawn in his mind – is it okay to date Karin even though he knows he shouldn’t be willing to be unequally yoked? How much does attraction and chemistry factor into a relationship? Karin, on the other end of things, isn’t really sure how to be in a relationship that’s bound by Christian morals. She’s also struggling with understanding how anyone can look at the evil in the world and still believe in God. Both Jason and Karin have to figure out what God’s will is for them – and come to terms with the fact that the other may not be part of that plan.

Though there are a number of spiritual themes in Serenity to Accept, I hope the overarching takeaway—as with my other two novels—is one of grace. God’s grace gets us through the high and low points of our lives and helps us experience Him. 

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