Monday, March 26, 2012

Joining us today is...


Thank you for joining me on Homeschool Authors.  Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Thanks for having me, Sarah!  First and foremost I am a Christian.  As believers are called upon to be salt and light in the world, I hope that everything I do and everything I write reflects my beliefs in some way, even when my novels do not carry a blatant “message.”  I am also a book-lover from a book-loving family.  My sister began writing before me and I, being a typical younger sibling, wanted to follow in her footsteps.  So I suppose I must credit my writing to her and to my own jealousy.

What was your favorite subject in homeschool?

I’ve enjoyed many if not most subjects, but I would have to say that history has always been my favorite.  Fact is truly stranger than fiction, and there is so much in the annals of history to both thrill and amaze.  Oddly enough I was never fond of literature, merely because I dislike having to analyze the life out of classic works; and as for English, although I love the language itself, it was hardly an exciting subject!

What inspired you to write The Soldier’s Cross?

People frequently ask this question, but unfortunately I find it a difficult one to answer.  The idea came not so much from a subject or a theme as it did from one initial image: a girl with a cross pendant.  The only things I knew at that point were that she was in France and was herself English, and that the time period was the Hundred Years’ War.  After that, the story grew by degrees until it was ready to be written.

What was your journey to getting it published?

I wrote most of The Soldier’s Cross for National Novel Writing Month in 2009; my total at the end of that November was 62,000 words, and in the following six months I completed the story and edited it.  After that I began the business of querying.  Thankfully the mind blocks out pain and I don’t remember much of how difficult it was.  But the result was that in 2010 I was accepted by Ambassador-Emerald Intl., a Belfast-based publisher of Christian works.  Interestingly enough, my sister, Jennifer Freitag, was also accepted by them without the publishers knowing that we are related, so we were able to be published at the same time.

What has been the most rewarding moment as a writer?

Being a writer brings with it so many rewarding moments, it would be difficult to pick a single one and call it the best.  It is rewarding to be accepted by a publisher.  But it is also rewarding to finish a novel; to fall in love with a character; to work out a difficult scene so that it finally feels right.  Writing certainly has its trials, but I for one wouldn’t trade it for any other career.

Where can people get your book?

The Soldier’s Cross is available just about wherever books are sold: Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com, Christian booksellers like Christianbook.com, and your local bookstore.

When will your next book come out?

My second novel, Wordcrafter, is currently in the querying stage.  I hope for it to be my next published work, but you will have to stay tuned!

Do have any final thoughts? 

Simply that I would encourage aspiring authors not to worry overmuch about getting published.  Often times I feel that writers are driving themselves toward that goal with the thought that if they can only get accepted by a publisher, their writing will have worth.  This is by no means the case.  While it is good to reach a stage where you are ready to pursue publication, it should never be the justification for your writing itself.

Again, thanks for the interview, Sarah!  I enjoyed answering these questions.

2 comments:

  1. I enjoyed reading the interview! I too started writing after my older sister did... and I still think she can write me hollow! ;)

    The Soldier's Cross sounds really intriguing. I'm a huge fan of history, though I've never written historical fiction myself! And I must say that the title Wordcrafter totally grabs my attention!

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  2. Thanks for hosting me, Sarah! These were great questions to answer. Also, I would just like to add that The Soldier's Cross has recently been published in Dutch by De Banier Publishing, under the title Kruis van Vrede. That means it's newly available in the Netherlands.

    Gillian, I feel the same way about Jenny. Our styles are so drastically different comparisons don't really work, but I still feel that she writes better than I do!

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