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| Jennifer Beckstrand, author of THE MATCHMAKERS OF HUCKLEBERRY HILL |
1. So, first off, let me say I love the title of your new Amish romance THE MATCHMAKERS OF HUCKLEBERRY HILL. I’m so glad to have this opportunity to interview you, Jennifer, and get a
little better acquainted. As Anna sang in The King And I, how about we jump in
with 'Getting to know you? Getting to know all about you'? Tell us a little – your
family, what you’ve been doing...
For almost 30 years, I have been
married to the same wonderful guy I fell in love with in college. I have six
children. The four oldest are girls with two boys at the end. My three oldest
daughters are married, and I have two grandsons.
I have a degree in mathematics, which
comes in handy when one of my six children needs help with algebra. After
twenty-five years of being a chauffeur, cook, maid, and nurse, I started my
writing career. I love writing Amish Inspirational Romance. I am a member of
Romance Writers of America and American Christian Fiction Writers and am
represented by Mary Sue Seymour of The Seymour Agency.
2. Hey, we’re Seymour
When I was younger, I had no
aspirations to be a professional writer. I had an interest in math and
statistics before starting a family. As a young mother, amidst diaper changes
and soccer games, I discovered my love for writing as I wrote Christmas updates
and PTA newsletters. After my fourth daughter was born, I had trouble sleeping
at night, so I would lie awake and make up stories. I wrote one of those
stories down and loved every minute of it. That’s how my writing career was
born.
3. Oh, that is so fun, so it
was right in the big middle of rearing all those blessings of yours that the
writing bug bit! Tell us about your writing process—are you a plotter or a
pantser?
I am a plotter, but a fairly loose
one. I don’t make extensive charts or character sketches, but I do draw up an
outline of the story and solidify the characters in my head before starting a
book. I try to write 10,000 words a week. A typical writing day involves four
to five hours of intense writing segments. I make an hour-by-hour schedule, set
the timer for one hour at a time, and write as fast as I can. This keeps me
from wandering around the house looking for food or surrendering to a nap. As
long as my fingers are busy, I can usually stay awake. Although even on good
writing days, my son often comes home to find his mother sprawled on the couch
trying to steal a few minutes of sleep. I spend about four hours a day writing,
three or four days a week.
4. It must be wonderful to catch a nap during the
day. I’ve never been able to nap unless I had a fever. Sounds like you’re
pretty dedicated though and focused. Do you ever have writer's block? What do
you do about it?
Even if I am not sure what to write, I
get in that chair and start typing. The most important thing every writer must
know is that writing is hard work. I tell myself that I must go to work whether
I have any inspiration or not.
The ideas usually flow once I put in
the effort to get myself into the chair. I have found that if I ponder and
contemplate and stew, ideas will come (if I am awake) and a great plot or
character will speak to me. The advantage of being a task-oriented, stay-at-home
mother is that many of my daily jobs allow ample time for musing. I ruminate
while puffing on the treadmill or running a vacuum over my carpet. I still do a
lot of brainstorming right before I fall asleep. My best thinking is done in
the shower—I’m notorious for long showers for which I apologize to my dad. (He
had six daughters, and long showers were his pet peeve.)
Food has always been a big distraction
for me. If I can’t think of something to write, I get out of my chair to search
for a Twinkie. Setting the timer on my writing has helped that problem quite a
bit.
5. Wow, I can empathize with
your dad as I’m rearing all boys – four grandsons now. And I had three boys
myself, but God blessed me with one girl in the bunch. Still lots of testosterone to deal with. So you had five sisters,
that’s awesome. Your house must have been so much fun. So how did you meet Mary Sue and
land her as your agent? I know you’re blessed to have her represents your work.
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| First in Jennifer's APPLE LAKE SERIES |
6. I know she goes to lots of
conferences; I met her at one, too. Seems besides being gifted at spotting
talent, she’s great at guiding them(us), too. She told me to write her a
historical Christian romance set in the 1800s and she’d sell it, and she sure did.
Guess she knows what she wants. What about the editing process with your
publisher? How’d that go?
My first editor at
Guideposts Books asked me to rewrite the entire second half of Kate’s Song. I was demoralized because
I’d spent so much time on the first draft and had no idea how I was going to
remake the ending. But the rewrite turned out to be just what that book needed,
and I was extremely grateful to my editor for her feedback and hard work.
Different editors have different styles, but I have appreciated every bit of
feedback I’ve received.
7. So true, it’s amazing,
isn’t it? Any advice you want to offer writers who haven’t landed a contract
yet?
Read. Good writers are good readers. When
I get in a rut with my word choices or characterizations, there is nothing like
a good Orson Scott Card or Julie Garwood to inspire me.
Read about writing. There are lots of
great books on writing out there. Story by Robert McKee is one of my favorites.
Self-editing for Fiction Writers changed my life. There are thousands of blogs
out there about everything from grammar usage to plot development. These can be
extremely helpful.
Get an education. Attend writer’s
conferences and writing workshops. This is a great way to meet other writers
and learn about the craft.
My most important piece of advice: Remember
that writing is HARD WORK. Writing isn’t like cleaning toilets. Cleaning
toilets isn’t fun, but at least you know exactly what you have to do to get the
job done. With writing, I might put in three hours and have a paragraph to show
for it. That’s the nature of the creative process. Even though it can be
painful, it is important to sit in that chair and write even if you can’t think
of anything to write. Even if you know that most of what you write is going to
get deleted. No writer has a book handed to her on a silver platter by the
Muses. Writing is hard. As long as you remember that, you’ll be okay.
8. I so agree, studying writing
is all important. You can learn the craft of penning good creative fiction, but
you have to be a story teller. No one can teach you that, it’s a gift. So tell us
about your newest book, Jennifer.
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| Debuts January 7, 2014 |
My latest
Amish romance series, The Matchmakers of
Huckleberry Hill, follows the escapades of two scheming Amish grandparents
who try to help their grandchildren find suitable mates. What could be more fun
than throwing two young people together to see if sparks ignite?
Huckleberry Hill, the first book of the
series, comes out on January 7, 2014.
In
Huckleberry Hill, Lia Shetler is helping her pretty, spoiled sister Rachel secure
the perfect husband–Moses Zimmerman. But the more Lia sees of Moses’s gently
teasing ways and quiet understanding, the more she wishes he could be hers alone.
Moses
knew his grandparents couldn’t resist trying to find him a wife. But he never
expected it would be the graceful, sensible Lia–a woman who is tall enough to
look him in the eye and honest enough to make him question a promise holding
him to his past. Now both will need the kind of miracles only faith and courage
can bring to finally reach for a lifetime of happiness.
RT Book
Reviews gave Huckleberry Hill 4½ stars. “Beckstrand
has written a sweet romance with a lot of heart…The storyline is feasible, the
characters are well written, with both their strengths and weaknesses on
display. Readers will treasure this series and put the first outing on their
keeper shelf.”
9. Congratulations. That’s
got to be so exciting! I’m thinking you might have some experience in falling
for a guy that a sister likes, especially with five sisters! But I won’t go
there. What did inspire your story?
My mom is the perfect grandmother:
loving, fun, energetic, and convinced that her grandchildren can do no wrong.
When I first developed the concept for the Huckleberry
Hill series, I was enchanted with the idea of a well-meaning Amish mammi who meddled in her grandchildren’s
lives. I have always cherished my strong family ties, and faith and family are
core values of the Amish. What a fun topic for a story!
10. Indeed. I have fourteen
grandsugars and would love it if they’d let me meddle a bit. I love it that
such a godly group of folks have become so popular in novels. Sounds like yours
would make a great movie. I can hardly wait to read it, and it’s only TEN DAYS
from this interview! How long did it take you to write it? Do you adhere to
extensive rewrites?
Huckleberry Hill took
about four months to write. I edit as I go (yes, I realize that this is not a
very efficient way to write a book) so I don’t do extensive rewrites once I’m
done with the first draft.
11. I’ve heard so often that
an author has to market as well. Have you found this true?
Yes! Marketing is
hard work. I have a website and I’m on Facebook. My son is appalled that I have
no idea how to tweet.
12. I’m a singer lady, but
that tweeting is a talent all its own, isn’t it? I’m trying to learn, and my
first historical Christian romance debuts in March, so I have about two months
longer to wait. I might pick your brain a little since you’ve gone before… What
specific marketing ideas worked best for you?
Contests have been a great way for me
to get my message out there, and I think Facebook is a wonderful vehicle for
marketing. I’ll keep you posted on my tweeting experience, if I ever have a
tweeting experience.
13. Oh, I’m certain you’ll
master it, especially with that son to help you. My ten year old is my go-to
when my iPhone confuses me. The younger generation is sure techie-smart! So
Jennifer, what is it that you like to do you like to do when you're not
writing?
Most of my spare time revolves around
my family. I attend lots of tennis matches, soccer games, and choir concerts. I
am an avid reader. If you come to my house and I’m not writing or playing with
grandchildren, I’m probably reading or doing a crossword puzzle. I also love to
sing, direct musicals, and put on Shakespeare plays with my kids. And believe
it or not, I love cleaning my house. (I really appreciate a clean bathroom,
especially when mine is dirty.)
14. Hey, this Grami-mom of
four boys is right there with you appreciating clean bathrooms. O'Pa at least has taught them to always put the seat down! And you’re a
singer? We have that in common, too! So, who is a famous person who has inspired
you?
There are so many!
J.K. Rowling is a particular inspiration to me because she embodies persistence
and determination. She didn’t let less-than-ideal circumstances get in the way
of her writing. She wrote in pubs on napkins—anything she had to do to get her
story down. Then she was rejected several times before landing a contract. That
kind of perseverance encourages me on the days when it’s not so easy.
15. I can’t even imagine
trying to write a book on pub napkins, it’s hard enough on a computer. And to
think how all the authors of yesterday had no such machine. Make a mistake at
the bottom of the page? Type the whole thing again. Yuck. If you could go back
in time, what person would you most like to meet and write their biography?
Well, I truly dislike
research. Would I have to do a lot of research? J Again,
very difficult to narrow it down to one person, but one historical figure I
would love to meet and spend the day with is Abraham Lincoln. I’ve always had a
deep admiration for him.
16. Yes, ma’am, any ‘going
back in time’ definitely requires lots of research because we didn’t live there
or then, and to make the story realistic, you have to dig into history. What
about the people in your life, has your success affected them?
My husband is my greatest support and
cheerleader and checks the reviews and sales numbers way more often than I do.
My kids are proud of my success, and they give me feedback on my stories before
they are published. I don’t think I will have really made it big in my son’s
eyes until I have a Twitter account. It might be a good New Year’s resolution.
Sounds to me like you need to schedule
an hour with him and get you that Twitter account set up and you tweeting! I’m
sure he’s proud of you. And I’m plenty impressed that your children will read
your stories. I resorted to tears to get my firstborn son to read an earlier
book on a plane flight I dropped him off for. He took it and told me later he
really enjoyed it, sounded surprised! Oh the joys!
Jennifer,
thank you so much for sharing this time and your life with me. I’ll be looking
forward to getting to know you better and reading THE MATCHMAKERS OF HUCKLEBERRY
HILL. I love your title by the way. I send blessings from Northeast
Texas and pray that the favor of God will go before you and that
your sales and reviews will be even better than you ever expected. And thank
you, again.
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| See more at Jennifer's website! http://www.jenniferbeckstrand.com |
Hey, I hope y'all have enjoyed meeting Jennifer. If there's anything I missed that you want to know, just ask her in a comment. And Amish novels are enjoying a huge platform these days, what drew y'all to reading the genre?
Blessings from Texas!
