I'm so excited to have Kim Vogel Sawyer as my guest today. Kim and I met when she came to speak at a writer's conference in Colorado. I was too nervous to say much to her--after all I wasn't even close to her league!--but somewhere along the way we became friends. My husband and I stayed at the Bed & Breakfast Kim and her husband used to own. I went back to the B&B with a group of authors from Oklahoma. Kim's kindness and gift for hospitality draws you in. Her book are much the same. You can't help but fall in love with the people she creates.
Fast Five:
1. Coffee or tea? Definitely coffee. I like to add cream, and that works best with coffee. Cream works great with tea, too. Just sayin'.
2. Morning person or night owl? I was a night owl in my younger days. That table has turned. Now I like early to bed and early to rise!
3. Cashews or mixed nuts? The Hubs and I will fight over the last cashew. LOL! Good to know my hubs and I aren't the only ones who engage in that fight.
4. Planner or go-with-the-flow? I like having my ducks in a row, but it isn’t often they behave for me, so I’ve learned to go with the flow. Oh, that's good. I'm going to start saying my ducks won't behave for me from now on!
5. Curling iron or flat iron? That depends on my mood of the day!
But seriously…
1. How did you get into writing? This is kind of a long story, so I’ll give the nutshell version: I always wanted to be a writer (told my kindergarten teacher people would check out my books in libraries someday) and started writing for publication in the early 1980s. Began submitting in the early 1990s, but a series of rejections discouraged me so I quit submitting. But I didn’t stop writing. My health was deteriorating, and my dad was afraid I’d never get to see my dream come true, so in 2001 he took out a significant loan and had 5,000 copies of A SEEKING HEART printed. A copy of that book landed in the hands of an agent, who signed me and began sending out my books. I received my first contract in March of 2005; by November had signed contracts for 10 different books with 3 different publishing lines, and I’ve been writing full-time ever since. I didn't know that your father took out a loan. What a great testament to the power of a father's love. I bet he's still your biggest fan!
2. When you’re ready to throw in the towel, what motivates you to keep writing? Deadlines. LOL You know, I can honestly say I’ve never been tempted to flat-out quit. I’ve been discouraged by certain things, but the desire to write to is too deeply imbedded for me to cast it aside. As long as God holds the writing door open, I intend to continue penning stories of faith and hope. And we will keep reading them!
3. What deadline has been the hardest for you to keep? Why? Each has had its challenges. Life does go on, and sometimes it gets busy! But probably the hardest was 2007 when a close family member faced a very significant health crisis, was hospitalized for weeks, and I was back and forth every day. Really hard to write about make-believe people when the real-life ones in your world are suffering.
4. Where has this writing journey taken you that you never expected? Oh, wow, the connections with people—other writers, readers, librarians, ladies who attend my speaking events… I always imagined myself in a little cubby hanging out with my make-believe friends; I didn’t realize I’d have the chance to get to know real-life people as a result of these characters who live in my head. Totally cool!
5. What have the characters from Beneath a Prairie Moon taught you as you wrote their story? Dear Abigail…oh, such a perfectionist she was. I understood her so well, because I am a recovering perfectionist myself (*ahem*). Seeing her struggle with relationships, so bound up in what she felt she *had* to do to be accepted, opened my eyes anew to the truth that God doesn’t expect us to be perfect. He loves us where we are—needy, imperfect, broken. If I wasn't already anxious to read your story, this answer would have made me rush out to get a copy. That's a lesson I need to learn over and over and over again. (NOTE: click on the picture to pre-order your copy which releases March 20th.)
Around here, we're all about "Love. History." I asked Kim what lesson about love she'd tell her younger self if she could go back in her own history. Her answer applies to more than romantic love. Be sure to sign up for my subscriber newsletter by Friday, March 9 to hear what she has to say.
A big thank you to Kim for taking time out of her busy writing schedule to be my guest today. I don't think I ever told her, but my very first heroine was Marta Vogel. She was named for a neighbor and for Kim. And if I ever create a character who loves purple, it will also be in part because of Kim.
I hope you'll join me next month when my guest will be Tracie Peterson.
In 1966, Kim Vogel Sawyer told her kindergarten teacher that someday people would check out her book in libraries. That little-girl dream came true in 2006 with the release of Waiting for Summer's Return. Since then, Kim has watched God expand her dream beyond her childhood imaginings. With almost 50 titles on library shelves and more than a 1.5 million copies of her books in print worldwide, she enjoys a full-time writing and speaking ministry. Empty-nesters, Kim and her retired military husband, Don, live in small-town Kansas, the setting for many of Kim’s novels. When she isn't writing, Kim stays active serving in her church's women's and music ministries, traveling with "The Hubs," and spoiling her quiverful of granddarlings. You can learn more about Kim's writing at www.KimVogelSawyer.com.