How long have you been writing?
I have been writing stories and poems
since seventh grade. I recall writing a story about a race horse winning a
race, even with a broken leg. Only in fiction, my sweet teacher informed me! My
writing grew naturally out of my great love of reading. As a child I was a
voracious reader first of childhood fairy tales, then other fiction, like Black
Beauty, Flicka, and Nancy Drew Mysteries. Later, I loved Charles Dickens,
Nathaniel Hawthorne, Emily Dickinson, and Poe. I’ve actually written dozens of
poems myself, some of which were published in college anthologies. My most
beloved book today, however, better than any fiction or poetry, is the Bible. I
love studying it, teaching it, and confessing its great promises.
What was your most embarrassing moment as a writer?
Some years ago Charisma Magazine sent me to Virginia
Beach to interview the Revs. John and Anne Gimenez for the magazine’s Most
Outstanding Churches in America series. I invited a sweet elderly church lady
to drive up with me. She turned out to be a nervous talker, and I overshot an exit
to Virginia Beach, and ended up 60 miles out of the way. When we finally
arrived at the church member’s house late, where we were to spend the night, I
had a black headache and nausea. I barely said hello to the family and went
straight to their bathroom and threw up. Wonder what they thought of the wonder
woman Charisma sent to interview
their pastors?
What spurred you to write this novel?
I fell in love with an historic, romantic,
southern plantation I toured in Charleston, South Carolina--Boone Hall. I also discovered some old newspaper clippings about a famous
coastal drug investigation in the 1980’s organized by a U.S. Attorney, Henry
McMaster. Those clippings led to the suspense plot in Summer of Deception.
Henry McMaster, by the way, is the new Governor of South Carolina. Do I plan to send him copy of the book? In good southern vernacular: Yessirree.
What has been your most difficult challenge as an author?
Learning to write constantly in
deep POV and showing, not telling. The two are definitely connected.
How do you process the rejections and/or negative reviews?
Summer of Deception was rejected 26 times by editors and agents
before I received a contract offer. I
learned from each rejection, kept polishing my craft, and refused TO GIVE UP! Pastor Steven Furtick says it best: “Rejection
is just a sign of a new direction.” I call myself a rewriter.
What do you feel is the best success so far in your writing career?
Receiving a contract on my first
inspirational novel, Summer of Deception,
and justifying to my wonderful husband all this time I spend at the computer
and paying for writers’ conferences. ( :
What would be your top three pieces of advice to newer, up and coming
authors?
1) Determine you will never give
up or quit writing, revising, polishing, submitting, and praying over your writing.
2) Network
with other writers, groups, and attend writing conferences. Writer friends and critiques are so important.
3) Learn how to choose and submit well to
editors and agents by studying their sites and submission guidelines.
As a Christian author, what would you like your legacy to be?
I am not writing inspirational
novels just to give someone an exciting,
satisfactory read, although that is certainly a goal. Never would I go through
all this toil and effort for great sales either, although that is definitely a
goal. My greatest desire is to impart some nugget of God’s truth that might
help someone come to know Christ as Lord and Savior, or find a closer walk with
Him, or a deeper faith in God’s blessing and power available to us, and do it
through story, rather than preaching.
What is your current work in progress?
I am currently working on Book 2
in an historical series set in the 1700’s. Book 1, In a Pirate’s Debt, will be released by Lighthouse Publishers of
the Carolinas (LPC) in May, 2017. (The photo is one of my sample covers I sent to the publisher.)
I also have a cozy mystery simmering on the
back burner. (Hope it doesn’t boil dry before I get to it.)
So glad you dropped by. Have you another question for me? Do leave a comment and it will be so appreciated if you click on the social media buttons below to share this blog.
Blessings on your day,
Elva
