Story Journey: Author Interview and Free Book Drawing!

Readers, forgot to mention ... leave a post and you'll be entered in a drawing for a free book! This is definitely one you want on your bookshelves!

To me, Christina Berry is friend, writing colleague, inspiration and treasure. We met for the first time six years ago at a Starbucks coffee shop. I was pregnant with my daughter. Christina was enjoying a newly-restored marriage. Much has changed in our lives from that "divine appointment" to this day. Through it all, I have been blessed to watch Christina grow as woman and writer into the calling the Lord has given her.

Thanks for visiting my blog, Christina. Let's talk about your debut novel, The Familiar Stranger. I know it is a fast read. Tight writing brimming with interesting characters who struggle with real life problems.

Tell us about it.

The Familiar Stranger is about a couple going through a really rough patch in their marriage. When an accident incapacitates the husband, their relationship must be redefined. Which would be a lot easier to do if BIG secrets from his past didn’t raise their ugly heads. Despite the upheaval, the choices they make involving forgiveness and trust might allow a new beginning.

Or … they might not.

You can see the back cover copy and what other authors have said about The Familiar Stranger by going to http://www.christinaberry.net/books.aspx

Sounds intriguing. How did you come up with the story?
In the summer of 2006, two stories appeared in the newspaper. One was a huge, national story; the other a smaller, local-interest item. I wondered what it might look like if those two stories conceived a child. Boom! I had the entire plot for The Familiar Stranger. It will be interesting to see if readers can figure out which stories inspired the book.

Hmm. Don't worry, no hints here. Let's talk about your writing process. What kind of planning goes into it?
My previous writing has been heavily plotted and I’ve known almost everything about the characters before diving into the story. Writing with a co-author, Mom and I both need to know exactly how a character looked and his or her history. We wrote out each scene’s main plot point and point of view character on index cards and posted them on a large corkboard. We also found catalogue models that looked like our characters, made collages of the pictures, and slipped our character interview in the back of the plastic sleeves.

With The Familiar Stranger, the first scene came to me like a movie. Once the first chapter was written, I took a few hours to write down how I saw the story progressing. Then I numbered each main point and called it a chapter. All told, I had just over one page of plotting. To keep everything straight, I made notes about the characters as I went along. A very different experience to write by the seat of my pants, but I’m working through my current book in the same way.

Based on the great reviews for The Familiar Stranger, I would guess that method works well for you. What about takeaway value? What do you hope readers receive after reading your novel?

The recent changes in my life—losing my husband, facing finding a “real” job, selling my home—have done nothing but solidify what I hope to be the theme of the book and my life: Live Transparently—Forgive Extravagantly. If reading The Familiar Stranger makes even one man or woman be more honest with his or her spouse or delve into trust issues in a healthy way, I’ll consider it a success. Maybe there’s a hurting heart that can find a new path to forgiveness because of the story.

Knowing, then, that the story mirrors some of your own experience, what was the most difficult part to write?
I was in the middle of revisions when my marriage fell apart. God orchestrated it so that I was beefing up a "struggle with forgiveness" scene in those first few weeks of singleness. While aspects of that were hard to deal with, the very words I thought would help someone else ministered to me.

It's a beautiful picture of how He works all things together for good, though the things themselves may not be so good. How has the writing journey changed your Christian walk?
I see writing as one of the tools He uses to form me into His image—a tool to teach me patience, self-control, determination, reliance on Him, and other life lessons. I also see writing as a gift that brings me hope, fulfillment, and purpose when the rest of life is not so nice. The journey has sharpened me, yet also softened me.

So how long have you been on this journey? How many years from its inception to publication?

My mother, Sherrie Ashcraft, and I began writing in the summer of ’99. We figured the accountability of having a co-writer would make us actually do what we’d always dreamed of but never put action to. It took a long road of learning how much we didn’t know, tons of re-writing, brooding over rejections, making connections, pitching at conferences, and directional prayer to make our writing salable.

In the summer of 2007, when Mom was busy caring for her dying mother-in-law, I got the itch of a new story idea. Undiscovered was written by February 2008, edited by June, won second place in the ACFW Genesis Contemporary category, and was renamed The Familiar Stranger and contracted by Moody Publishers in October.

One decade from naïve first scribbles to debut novel!

Congratulations! Honestly, it gives me hope. Tell us five things you love about writing.

1) Emptying my brain. Quieter with the voices out.

2) Months later, rereading what was drivel when I wrote it, but somehow it's become beautiful.
3) Being with other writers, like my awesome critique group.

4) Co-laboring with Christ in the creative process.

5) Being paid money for things I make up.

Five things you wish you knew about writing way back in the beginning.

1) Starting (sitting down, opening the doc, and typing the first word) is at LEAST 90% of the battle.

2) I wish I knew how little actually I knew then. I would have started going to conferences and reading craft books sooner.

3) God knows exactly when and where you will be published or not published.

4) Each rejection is one step closer to acceptance.

5) It's okay to move on from your first project. This means only that you're learning; not that you've failed.

Do you have any other advice for writers?
~Read craft books (I have a list of my favorites on the sidebar of my blog http://www.authorchristinaberry.blogspot.com/)
~Write consistently
~Join a critique group
~Attend writing conferences~By open to criticism. One always has room to grow!

How can readers purchase your book?