An Interview with Author Laura Jackson

1) When working on a manuscript, what do you do when you get stuck?

I take a break. I don't plot out my novels, so I just take a few days to think and to pray about what should happen next. I also bounce ideas off my mom.

2) Do you ever read your dialog aloud to see how it sounds? Have you ever performed an action you want one of your characters to carry out in order to help you visualize or describe it? Have you ever embarrassed yourself doing this?

I do all this in the privacy of my home. (I embarrass myself enough people watching.) But, it really is helpful to read dialogue aloud and to see if someone can really wrap their arms around their knees and spin—or whatever it is. I didn’t do this until my sister pointed out that I had characters doing things they couldn’t really do.

3) What aspect of being a writer is the most challenging for you? Why is this difficult, and what steps have you taken to overcome this hurdle?

Time management is hard for me. I waste a lot of time (check out my Tuesday post about that), and I feel convicted to limit my online time by setting a timer. I wouldn’t waste time at my day job, so I don’t need to waste the time I’ve set aside for my writing job.

4) Do you read your reviews? Have you ever replied to one? Do you find they influence your writing when you work on subsequent books?

I do read my reviews because I’m new and feel I need to get a feel for what readers think. It stings when someone doesn’t love what I’ve written, but sometimes their critiques are valid and helpful.

I haven’t replied to any other than to thank my advanced readers/influencers for their honest reviews.

5) If you’re a plotter, have you ever tried pantsing it? If you’re a pantser, have you ever given plotting a try? Can you swing both ways, or are you a confirmed devotee of one of these methods?

I want to be a plotter so badly! I want to be organized. I’ve tried even just jotting down main plot points, and then I discover those notes after the book is finished and I forgot major events.

6) Does your best writing flow? Or are you most satisfied with the work that you’ve labored over, sweating and groaning?

It just flows. There’s time for editing later. Just get that first draft out.

7) Do you prefer writing the initial draft, or do you enjoy the revision process more? Do you revise as you write, or do you first produce a big mess that you later have to fix? If your first draft is rough, do you usually have to cut out a lot of dead wood, or add flesh to the bare bones?

Because I am a pantser, I have a lot of extra stuff in the book—too much fluff. So, in my editing, I have to delete chunks that take away from the plot, places I rambled until I got to the next plot point.

I like editing until the third or fourth or tenth time! By the fourth time, I hate all the characters and don’t care what happens to them.

By the time the book releases, I love them again.

Laura Jackson loves books--reading and writing them. A life-long reader, Laura studied English in college and taught 7th grade language arts before earning her Master's degree and becoming a school librarian. Now, she spends her days sharing great books with kids and her evenings writing books about teenage girls discovering God and His plan for their lives.

Find Laura's latest release, Worth the Time, on Amazon.

Connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, or her website/blog.

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Author Laura Jackson: Redeeming the Time

Laura Jackson loves books--reading and writing them. A life-long reader, Laura studied English in college and taught 7th grade language arts before earning her Master's degree and becoming a school librarian. Now, she spends her days sharing great books with kids and her evenings writing books about teenage girls discovering God and His plan for their lives.

When I was writing Worth the Time, one scripture kept coming to mind.

Joel 2:25 (ESV) “I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten….”

It resonated so deeply with me that I had a character in the book share it with the main character, who was distraught over the years she’d missed with her biological father.

God is faithful to restore—even the time we’ve wasted chasing things other than Him, following dreams that weren’t from him, and living in sin.

I spent years crawling out of a pit of sin. I knew it was sin, and the more I desperately clawed my way out of the pit, the deeper I sank.

Until He rescued me.

Psalm 40:2 (KJV) “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock and established my goings.”

So, Jesus has set me free. And not only did He rescue me, He set me upon a rock. So what do I do next?

I’ve felt convicted to spend more time in the Word—reading it, memorizing it, meditating on it, talking about it. When I spend my time wisely on things that will last forever, I’m keeping myself from going back to that pit. I’m walking in the way He’s established because He reveals His will through His word.

And when I’m immersed in His word, I can fully live for Him—sharing the gospel with unbelievers and encouraging my sisters in Christ. Our time on this earth is so very short—a vapor in the scheme of eternity.

I don’t want to waste a moment on things that are not eternally good.

But it’s hard. What are some practical things we can do to spend our time wisely?

Here are a few I’ve thought of. What can you add?

*Get plugged into a church where the truth is spoken and where there is a community of believers who encourage and challenge each other.

*Limit Internet time (Okay, this one may just be for me. I waste SO MUCH time online doing nothing.)

*Keep a journal one day to see what you’re spending your time on. What is a time waster?

*Give back to others. When we volunteer regularly, we see how blessed we are, which often helps us not to take our time/health/etc for granted.

Find Worth the Time on Amazon. 

Connect with Laura on Facebook, Twitter, or her 

Website/blog.

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Overcoming the Failure Inside by Elizabeth Ludwig

Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara

Scarlett O’Hara. Katniss Everdeen. Michael Hosea. Jane Eyre. Do you recognize any of these names? Obviously, they are all characters from books. And yes, they are all heroes. But before they were heroic, they were flawed and fallible. These frail, imperfect, unlikely paragons struggled with weaknesses in their character—like serious flaws—vanity, envy, fear, jealousy, and pride, just to name a few! But instead of turning the reader off, their failings made these characters relatable, and oh, so memorable.

The heroine in my latest novel, Cheryl Cooper, is likewise afflicted (Where Hope Dwells, Guideposts 2015). Instead of being smart, savvy, and self-confident, Cheryl struggles with a less than perfect self-image, and she hides a bitter secret—unforgiveness toward the man who left her standing at the altar. So when circumstances thrust her into an Amish community, in the middle of an investigation into a kidnapping, Cheryl is quite certain she is not the person for the job…or is she?

Very often, the books I write have a theme that coordinates with something I am facing in my personal life. No, I haven’t recently been left standing at the altar. Nor have I ever been the lead investigator into a kidnapping. But I have battled with unforgiveness, and like Cheryl, I could not see the bitterness in myself, yet I readily saw it in the people around me. These two things are what prompted me to tackle the tough issue of forgiveness—both in the church, and outside it in our circle of friends.

Bethany House, 2014

Another example is from my last historical romantic suspense, Tide and Tempest. Like Cheryl, the main character, Tillie McGrath, has developed a sense of unworthiness that stems from personal choices she made as a girl. The consequences of these actions not only led to an unplanned pregnancy, they led to the loss of her child and murder of the man she loved. Thankfully, while these circumstances do not exactly mirror mine, I can say that I understand what it means to lose a child. The grief, guilt, and sorrow that I poured into Tillie sprang from my own experience after the death of my son—as do the healing, strength and victory that she claims by tale’s end.

Isn’t that what makes characters in books so endearing? Don’t we hope that these beloved friends for a time will somehow be better than we are ourselves? We want their circumstances to be different. We want their person to be somehow improved. And we want our own lives to reflect what we have read.

I believe the best books—and the most memorable characters—are the ones that reflect something about ourselves—not just in our ugliness, but in our striving toward godliness. Their story urges us toward victory, and encourages us to believe in the strength of our character and power of our Creator to overcome. Their message is healing and hopeful, even if at first, the words we read remind us of our lack. And they linger in our conscience—these beloved books—the pages dog-eared and wrinkled where something we read touched or challenged us.

My prayer is that the names of my characters will someday be added to the list of those that readers count as memorable. That they will linger…and that they will help someone else overcome the failure inside.

BIO: Elizabeth Ludwig is the bestselling author of Christmas Comes to Bethlehem, Maine and the highly successful Edge of Freedom series from Bethany House Publishers. Her popular literary blog, The Borrowed Book, enjoys a wide readership. Elizabeth is an accomplished speaker and teacher, often attending conferences and seminars where she lectures on editing for fiction writers, crafting effective novel proposals, and conducting successful editor/agent interviews. Along with her husband and children, she makes her home in the great state of Texas. To learn more, visit ElizabethLudwig.com.

Contact Elizabeth: HERE

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Sunday Devotional: More Needful For You

Paul, still speaking of his imprisonment in Rome ...

¹⁹ For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, ²⁰ according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.

 ²¹ For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ²² But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. ²³ For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. ²⁴ Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. ²⁵ And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith, ²⁶ that your rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again. (Philippians 1, NKJV)

Everything we do, everything we endure, is for one thing ... for the sake of the One who came to this earth and gave His life for us.

Every effort we make ... His life, His Spirit, working in us, as we surrender ourselves to Him. And every moment we’re here, it’s another chance to pray, to encourage, to affect others for Him, to bring them closer to Him.

Yet, under the surface of all the work and prayer and concern, we feel a longing for release. For home.

I’ve written of that before, but it’s true. Even Paul, who saw so clearly in his time, felt that tug to step through the veil and be made finally complete. But he as tells us, sometimes our reason for being kept here isn’t so much for our own refining and growth—although that’s part of it too—as it is because we’re still needed by those around us.

I think about this as I’ve watched my mother suffer various medical trials the last few years, things which at any moment could have, and some almost did, take her life. A vibrant, intelligent woman with a deep love for color and art and reading, she spends her days now sitting, waiting, listening ... nearly blind and all but confined to one place. Why? I’ve asked, so many times.

Because her journey isn’t finished yet, I keep hearing.

The prayers she offers for those she loves are invaluable. And she provides a reminder of the fragility of human life and relationships. An opportunity for our family, and others, to learn to minister to those weaker than ourselves.

Sure, sometimes her mind is fuzzy from the medications. And she often asks the same questions over and over, and then gets so busy thinking about the next thing she wants to say/ask that she doesn’t wait for my answer. I miss the woman she used to be ... but she’s still my mom. And I still need her. I need the lessons of love, of humility, of compassion.

However useless I might feel, too, in the throes of whatever trial I happen to be going through, there’s someone who needs me, and the lessons I have to share. Probably several someones, and not only my husband and children.

I am not finished yet. And, I’m willing to bet, neither are you.

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An Interview with Author Liz Tolsma

• How long were you writing before your first publication?  

I wrote for almost ten years before I had my first novella published. 

• How many manuscripts had you written by that time?

Homeschooling and a new adoption took up much of my time in that period, but I had managed to write three manuscripts. 

• Have you published any of your early works since? Do you plan to?

I have not published any of my early works, and I don’t plan to. There was a very good reason that they were never picked up by any publisher! They were tools that taught me how to write.

• What can you tell us about your writing schedule Are you a morning person? A night owl?

I am most definitely more of a morning person than a night owl. My husband and I like to be to bed by 9:30 or 10:00 at the latest. We’re both up by 5 or 5:30, him for work, me for a walk before I have to get my kids up for school. I like to write as soon as I get home from dropping off my daughter. If I can possibly get 2000 words written by noon, I’m feeling very much in the groove. That way, I can be done with my marketing by the time my girls and my husband get home in the afternoon. It leaves me able to enjoy time with my family.

• When working on a manuscript, what do you do when you get stuck?

If I don’t have a deadline looming, I can leave it for a day or two and ponder it. I do my best thinking when I’m walking or cleaning or even trying to fall asleep at night. As I turn the problem over and over, a solution usually begins to appear, and I can get back to the writing.

If I have a deadline, I don’t have the luxury of stepping away from the manuscript for a time. In that case, I have to power through. There have been days where I’ve had to place my hands on the keyboard and force my fingers to move. I pray for the right words, and it’s amazing how God brings them to me.

• Do you ever read your dialog aloud to see how it sounds? Have you ever performed an action you want one of your characters to carry out in order to help you visualize or describe it? Have you ever embarrassed yourself doing this?

I read the entire manuscript aloud right before I send it to the publisher. I like to get the flow of the story, the feel of the dialog, the tempo of the pacing. It’s a good way for me to pick out repeated words, poor grammar and misspellings. 

I do perform some of my characters’ actions in order to be able to describe them or in order to make sure that what I’m describing is physically possible! I don’t often embarrass myself, because I’m usually home alone when I write. That’s a good thing, because in addition to acting things out, I talk to myself. It’s how I think best and sometimes how I’m able to overcome writer’s block.

• If you felt the Holy Spirit urging you to quit writing, would you do it?

If I felt that writing wasn’t what I was meant to do at that point in my life, yes, I would. If the Spirit gave me another task such as caring for my husband, children or parents that made it impossible to write, I would have to give it up. Right now, I believe I’m meant to keep writing. I’ve struggled with this decision in the past few months and wondered if writing was what I was supposed to keep doing. But the Lord keeps bringing me signs that he doesn’t want me to stop – two new writing opportunities, a new recognition of my writing, good reviews of my latest release. I can’t ignore those signs, either.

• If you’re a plotter, have you ever tried pantsing it? If you’re a pantser, have you ever given plotting a try? Can you swing both ways, or are you a confirmed devotee of one of these methods? 

I’m a pantser, and I have tried plotting. It was a disaster. My characters were flat and lifeless, and the story grew complicated. When I focus on plot, my characters suffer. I much prefer to write a character-driven book where the plot flows from who the characters are. Pantsing works well for me. I’ve begun outlining the three major turning points for each of my books, and that has been a help in writing a synopsis and giving me a place to go when I get stuck with the story.

• Does your best writing flow? Or are you most satisfied with the work that you’ve labored over, sweating and groaning?

My best writing will flow. When I’m in the zone and my fingers are flying over the keyboard, the story is strong and the characters are working well. When I labor with my words, the story is stiff and so are the characters. I had been having trouble getting going on my latest novel. One day, however, the words just came. I wrote a chapter in just a few hours. When my critique partner read it, she was able to pick out right away where in the story the words began to really come for me. It shows.

Thank you for taking the time to give us a glimpse into your writing life, Liz!

New York Times best-selling author Liz Tolsma is the author of Remember the Lilies, Daisies are Forever, Snow on the Tulips, and a contributing author of A Log Cabin Christmas. When not busy putting words to paper, Liz enjoys reading, walking, working in her large perennial garden, kayaking, and camping. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband and children, all adopted internationally.

To keep up with Liz Tolsma, visit liztolsma.com, become a fan on Facebook or follow her on Twitter.

Purchase her latest release, Remember the Lilies, on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or ChristianBook.com.

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Author Liz Tolsma

Here at The Borrowed Book blog, we feature authors and look at writing-related subjects. This year, however, we'd like to shift the overall theme to focus on overcoming obstacles.

God allows any number of troubles to touch us, for a variety of good purposes. Today, Liz Tolsma has graciously agreed to share with us a moving account of one such challenge she and her family have dealt with.

In November 2007, my husband and I adopted a five-year-old girl from an orphanage in the Philippines. We had two other children at the time, an 11-year-old son and a 7-year old daughter. We had adopted them as infants.

We knew that bringing an older child into our home would be a challenge. Though we thought we knew what we were getting ourselves into, the experience proved to be much more difficult than either of us could imagine. We knew that Jonalyn had cerebral palsy and that her speech was delayed. The cerebral palsy was something we felt confident we could handle. After all, the report stated that she could climb a few stairs even. We attributed her delays to orphanage living. Our son spent the first five months of his life in an orphanage and couldn’t even hold his head on his own when we first got him. How much more, than, a child who had spent five years in an institution.

I have a background in special education. In those first few hours with Jonalyn, I observed her closely. She was shy with us, but she seemed to have a sense of humor and interacted with her caregivers. She loved the bubbles we brought, but so does every five year old.

In the van on the way back to our hotel, the social worker who came with us for part of the ride gave Jonalyn a piece of paper. Our new daughter took that paper and was fascinated by crumpling it. Later, when we took her to play with the blocks in the playroom, she had no concept of stacking them. My stomach fell. There was something much more seriously wrong with her than orphanage delays.

Two months after we arrived home, our doctor confirmed that Jonalyn had microcephaly (literally small brain), leaving her with moderate to severe cognitive delays. We were told she would likely never live on her own. She also began having seizures during her sleep. Though we didn’t see the seizures, she was always sick afterwards. Caring for her was draining. She didn’t know how to come to us when she was hurt, was afraid of my husband, and couldn’t make decisions for herself.

But God is good and faithful. He upheld us during those very difficult days. He never left us and never forsook us. Slowly, things began to improve. We went to Disney World and took her on all of the rides she was tall enough for. She always went with my husband and during that time, learned that she could trust him, that he would keep her safe and love her. She is now a daddy’s girl through and through. Her seizures were identified and are now well controlled with medication. She has learned to love.

It was a time in my life when I had to learn to depend on God for everything. On my own, I couldn’t care for my daughter. I didn’t know how to help her. We felt rejected and alone. The Lord kept us together and kept us going through each new day. It was only in his strength that we managed to survive – no, we learned to thrive. He has given us a new normal and a daughter that we love more than we ever imagined we could.

Thank you, Liz, for sharing your story!

New York Times best-selling author Liz Tolsma is the author of Remember the Lilies, Daisies are Forever, Snow on the Tulips, and a contributing author of A Log Cabin Christmas. When not busy putting words to paper, Liz enjoys reading, walking, working in her large perennial garden, kayaking, and camping. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband and children, all adopted internationally.

To keep up with Liz, visit liztolsma.com, become a fan on Facebook, or follow her on Twitter.

Purchase her latest release, Rememeber the Lilies, on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or ChristianBook.com.

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Sunday Devotional: Do Not Worry

I grew up hearing, “Worry is a sin.” This is based, of course, on the scripture that tells us, “Do not be anxious for anything,” but ... what exactly is worry?

The dictionary would tell you that one definition of worry is to shake, to snap at or chew on, to rub repeatedly. This describes so perfectly what happens during those moments when we fall prey to our fears.

They pick us up ... shake us to disorient us ... then settle down for the chewing that leaves us shredded and raw.

The thought occurs to me ... maybe worry is not so much something that we do, as something that happens to us. And it’s the giving in to the worry—letting ourselves remain its victim, its prey—that we’re supposed to fight.

I suppose, really, it’s just a matter of semantics here, and “do not be anxious” and “do not give in to worry” are two different ways to say the same thing. Mentally, though, it helps me to think of the fear and worry as something outside myself, trying to get in and devour me.

Maybe it starts as a mere nibble at the edges of my heart. Maybe it’s a sharp snap, a snarl, that initially I recoil from. But it seems once worry gets its teeth into me, there’s a poison that seeps in, paralyzing, making me insensible to the fact that the worry is slowly, surely, shredding my soul and spirit.

How do we get free, then?

By throwing ourselves before the Lord. “...in everything, with all  prayer and supplication, make your requests known to God.” Sometimes it’s as simple as a desperate, God help me! Even that can provide at least the jolt that yanks us free from worry’s jaws.

Pray, we’re told, with every kind of prayer there is. And in everything. Not just the “big” things, but anything which threatens to steal in and nip at us. The more persistent the worry, the more prayer we should pour ourselves into.

And what then? A peace we cannot explain or even fully understand will, as Scripture says, guard us. God’s peace is, itself a force to be reckoned with. And lest we doubt that, do we consider the metaphor of peace “like a river”? We tend to think of peace like a pool, undisturbed, but Scripture says it’s as powerful and relentless as a flowing stream.

Imagine, then, a river sweeping in, and washing all those fears away.

⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4, NKJV)

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