Stephanie Grace Whitson
www.stephaniewhitson.com

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS:

Q: How long have you been involved in your particular career?

My first book was published in 1995, although I’ve honestly been a
writer all my life.  I was the weird kid in school who LOVED getting assigned research papers.

Q: What prompted your decision to become a writer?

I didn’t really consciously decide to become a writer.  When I was home-schooling my four children and we got to our state history unit, the children were like every other student – bored by the history text.  So, out the door we went to a small pioneer cemetery where we began to learn about what life was like for the people buried there.  The children got interested in Nebraska history and I began “playing with an imaginary friend” – a woman who crossed Nebraska on the Oregon trail and then ended up “stuck” here.  She became the protagonist in my first novel, which I honestly sent off as a query letter because I didn’t have time to finish the book.  We were running a home based business that was growing, and I couldn’t justify writing if it didn’t add to the family income.  So. . . knowing that I would receive a rejection letter, which would give me mental permission to put the book away and finish it some day for my grandchildren. . . . I sent it off to three publishers who were accepting unagented material from unpublished writers.  Much to my amazement, I didn’t get a rejection letter. . . I received a three book contract from Thomas Nelson publishers.

Q: How has your line of work changed during the past ten years?

The reins are tightening.   It’s harder to get published without an agent.  I believe it’s more difficult to get published period – even for established writers.  The publishing houses’ profit margins are slimmer and I have sensed more insistence that ideas be more “high concept” than ever before. 

Q: What aspects of your work do you enjoy the most?

Hearing from readers that the Lord has used something I’ve written to impact their spiritual walk is by far the best part of my work.  Randy Alcorn has impacted me immeasurably with the phrase from one of his book titles. . . “in light of eternity.”    When I’m tempted to get discouraged by temporal things like sales numbers, I go back to my reader mail. The Lord always uses that to get my heart and mind back to focusing on what really matters “in light of eternity.

Q: What are the most challenging problems for writers?

I can’t speak for other writers, but for me the most challenging problem is to simply do the work.  It’s so easy to get distracted.  My office is at home, and I take homemaking very seriously as my FIRST line of work.  It’s difficult for me to walk PAST housework to my office, to close the door on the dust bunnies, put my posterior in the chair, and face the empty screen.

Q: What motivates you?

Knowing without a doubt that God handed me this job – literally on a silver platter as we say.  The idea that He moved to put me in the position to be a published author means He expects me to do the work to the best of my ability.

Q: How did you get your first big break into the writing business?

The Lord literally walked my query letter through the mail to the right person at the right time.  I was in Lonnie Hull Dupont’s “slush pile” when her publisher at the time was deciding to look for historical fiction authors to build their fiction line.  Lonnie was the angel the Lord used to provide my first publishing contract.

Q: For what achievement would you like to be remembered?

I don’t think I’ve ever been asked that in context of writing before, and honestly, the first thing that came to mind wasn’t writing.  I’d like to be remembered as a good mother who continued the legacy of faith into the next generation. And I hope my children have stories that make everyone laugh and smile when they talk about me.

Q: Are there things you haven’t accomplished yet that you still would like to accomplish?

Oh my, yes.  I have a list of “20 things I want to do before I die”.  I want to see a pyramid, visit Hawaii and Tahiti, return to France and Italy several times, make a stunning quilt for each of my children, write a few more books, ride my motorcycle thousands of miles. . . actually, I have MORE than twenty things I really want to do.

Q: If you were not involved in your present work, what would you most likely be doing?

I’d be volunteering more at the International Quilt Study Center here in Lincoln and at the local history museum, helping with cleaning my church and doing other “helps” types of jobs there, participating in more civic organizations, trying more new recipes, making up those hooked rugs kits I bought years ago, making baby quilts for the grand-kids-to-come. . . traveling more. I’d still be writing whether it was my “job” or not.  Oh – and the dust bunnies at home would have a reason to worry.

Q: How keen is competition in your field?

Very.  But I don’t dwell on it, because my Boss doesn’t have to fight competition to put my writing in the hands where He wants it.

Q: What is the secret to having satisfied readers in your business?

There is a professional point where a writer must pay attention to what her readers are saying they appreciate.  LISTENING to your readers is important.  On the other hand, it isn’t hard to speak to the common needs in our lives.  We all want encouragement for tough times, we all ask the same questions about life.  That’s no secret at all.

Q: What trends are currently developing in your profession?

Sorry, but I’m the wrong person to ask about trends.  Every writer has their strengths and weaknesses, and watching the marketplace is NOT one of my strengths.

Q: What is an average workday like for you?

After fifteen published books, I still haven’t figured that one out.  Every once in a while I make a renewed effort to come up with a structured day.  As soon as I do that, something happens to interrupt it.  An average workday, if I’m honest, is dealing with the interruptions and writing anyway.  On Monday-Wednesday-Friday, I write during the day.  I have a daily word count goal rather than a time frame I work with.  On Tuesday and Thursday, since my husband works at night those two days, I sometimes write in the evening.  In other words, my writing schedule is flexible depending on my family’s schedule.  But I do try to stick with the word count that gets me a finished manuscript ON TIME.

Q: What kinds of projects are you currently involved?

I’m writing a contemporary novel that is contracted with Bethany House and will release in 2007.  The working title is Jacob’s List. I also am doing a non-fiction project that’s close to my heart documenting quilts used in sod houses.  It’s intended to be a tribute to our pioneer foremothers.  No publisher/title yet.  I’m also working on a novel that I’ll have to have finished before I want my agent to sell it because it’s a serious genre departure for me – it involves time travel.
Once Jacob’s List is finished, I’ll develop the next book for  Bethany House, since my current contract with them is for two books. I also do public speaking about twice a month on a range of topics from writing to pioneer women and their quilts to how to help grieving friends.

Q: How do you get your characters?

Sometimes a photograph inspires a character.  Usually my characters are rather “vague” in my mind until I flesh them out by putting them through the mill.  What I mean by that is I start with a generic character who grows as I write.  Sometimes this means I have to rewrite early scenes because I learn things about them that changes how they would respond to something. . . but that doesn’t bother me. I’m NOT an outliner.  The one thing I do like to do with each character is to write their auto-biography from birth to the moment they appear in my book.  This ends up being “stream-of-consciousness” writing, but I usually learn a LOT about them in the process and it’s great fun.  I owe this “trick” to Robin Lee Hatcher.  She suggested it once, and the first time I tried it I was hooked.  Which reminds me. . . . I haven’t done that yet for my work-in-progress. . . so now I have something more to do today!  SEE?  I DON’T always have a strict plan I follow.  

Q: Do people in your line of work have much time for families?

Most of the writers I know have a day job as WELL as the writing gig.  I do, too, although my day job doesn’t support my family financially.  As I said, I take my job as a homemaker very seriously.  It really is a career choice for me.  That being said, most of the writers I know have writing PLUS something else they also do full time to feed their families.  So, yes, it’s hard to find time for families in that environment.  I don’t think it’s very different from the struggles everyone else has.  It’s becoming increasingly difficult to feed our children on one income these days.

Q: Do you travel much? 

Not nearly as much as I’d like to.  Paris is my favorite city in the world and if I had the means, I’d make it a yearly “MUST” to spend some time there.  And I have a long list of other places I’d like to see, both in North America and Europe. 

Q: Does your work put pressure on you?

My work is a joy. . . once it’s done.  Like many other people I know, I like best to “have written” rather than “to write.”  Yes – the work puts pressure on me.  I have deadlines I have to meet in order to be a good employee for my publisher.  People depend on me to be professional and to keep my end of the contract, and that is pressure, although it’s a reasonable kind of pressure.

Q: How did you prepare yourself for your career?

I didn’t consciously prepare myself to be a writer, although as I look back I see the Lord’s hand preparing me.  I majored in French in college, which means I love language.  I loved writing research papers in school and God saw to it that I had teachers who were sticklers for grammar.  I minored in English in college and that introduced me to great literature.  As a young person I was an avid reader to the point my Mom sometimes couldn’t FIND me because I was up a tree in the back yard with a book and I was literally in another world mentally.  I’m still an avid reader.  Stephen King says that to be a writer you need to read a lot and write a lot.  So if he knows what he’s talking about, I prepared well for this career.

Q: What type of reading do you like?

I go on binges with a certain author and want to read everything they’ve written.  At the moment I’m into Dean Koontz.  I love Jodi Picoult’s way with words.  She amazes me. I’m not much of a literary fiction reader because personally I want a message of HOPE in what I read, and it’s been my experience that most literary novels are rather bleak.  On the other hand, Peace Like a River is one of my favorites.  I do tend to read secular novels OUT of my genre when I read for pleasure.  

Q: In regard to your profession as a whole, of what are you most critical?

The way we as Christians pick up what is popular in the world and try to “christian-ize” it for our “market.”   We slap fish on a lot of things just to make a sale.  Since our Father is The Creator, it seems to me that believers should be the leaders in creativity in every area of the arts. . . but we aren’t.  We follow trends instead of creating trends. 

Q: What do you do when you need to get away from it all?

Well. . . that depends on how long I can be gone and how far I can go.  If it’s a mini-break. . . climbing on my motorcycle or having coffee with friends or an afternoon quilting or an evening listening to live jazz is very refreshing for me.  My husband and I try to schedule what we call “room service retreats” every so often.  The most recent one was an overnight about 50 miles away that included a David Sanborn/Chris Botti concert. We have a couple of favorite music festivals we try to attend every year – those provide long weekends “away from it all”.  And if I had my “dream get-away” it would be two weeks in an apartment in Paris with plenty of time to wander around the Clignancourt market.

Q: Are there any professional associations that you belong?

No.  Because I started writing when my children were young and I was home-schooling, I never had the time for professional associations.  I hear wonderful things about certain retreats or organizations, but when I look at my schedule and think about more time online or more time at workshops, it feels more like a burden than a joy.  So, for now, I remain a loner when it comes to professional organizations. 

Q: What are your short and long range career goals?

Short range. . . . finish the works-in-progress.  Long range. . . . finish the works in progress.  In other words, I just want to keep writing.  To do that, of course, certain sales figures have to be attained, but I am convinced that the only thing I can do to really affect sales is to keep writing. . . and to write better with each book.  I don’t feel I can impact sales in any other way – at least not in numbers significant enough to make a difference to my publisher.  I don’t agonize over sales figures and long range career plans.  I have a “figure” in mind that I’d like to be paid some day.  But I don’t obsess over it.  I just keep working.

Q: What sort of educational background do you have?

I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in French with minors in English and music.

Q: How do you spend your weekends and off-duty hours?

Volunteering. Reading. Riding the motorcycle. Cooking and cleaning. Quilting. My husband and I recently took ball room dance lessons with several other couples from church. . . so maybe I’ll be dancing my weekends away in the near future.  Since I am by nature a shy person who doesn’t find it easy to try new things. . . and since I see myself as a klutz. . . the dancing was a huge thing.  I’ve always wished I could. . . and always believed I couldn’t.  This was a personal triumph for me, and a tribute to my husband’s love and encouragement that I would even try.  I smile so much when I’m dancing “swing” to Alan Jackson that my face actually hurts.  It’s great to be able at 54 years of age to learn something new that makes you rejoice that you are alive.  I always thought I would dance in heaven.  And I will.  But now I can practice before I get there!