Tell us how much of yourself you write into your characters.
Now that I’m on my sixth novel, there isn’t a lot left of
myself to write into my characters! I put nearly all of myself in my first
novel, and a little less with every book after that. There are always hints
here and there, though, of my preferences in things like food or music. In Composing
Amelia, I took the opportunity to give little shout-outs to some of my
favorite music.
What is the quirkiest thing you have ever done?
Oh gosh, I’m a walking quirk. I’m always a little weird with
how I do things. My mind is always going on something, so it’s hard to devote
all my brain power to a single task, and I end up misinterpreting people’s
meanings in simple things and reacting according to what I thought they said
and not what they really meant. Like when my dad once asked me to hand him the
phone—I took the entire base unit off the wall and gave it to him. He wanted to
make a phone call, but for some reason I thought he wanted to perform surgery
on the electronics!
When did you first discover that you were a writer?
When I was 6, I think. That’s when I started working really
hard on the little stories I had to write for school. It always boggled my mind
that other students didn’t like writing as much as I did, or that they spent so
little time creating their stories when I’d rush through everything else in
order to have as much time as possible to write.
Tell us the range of the kinds of books you enjoy reading.
I love reading books that teach me and challenge me. I am
not a big fan of fluff. Books by writers like Lisa Samson or Jodi Picoult are
almost always a hit with me, as are books that approach a topic from an unusual
standpoint or that present a familiar story from a different perspective.
How do you keep your sanity in our run, run, run world?
I crochet. I LOVE to crochet, and it makes me slow down. I
have a tendency to multitask to a dangerous degree, but it’s not possible (for
me at least!) to do much else besides sit and think, or listen to music or an
audio book, while I’m crocheting.
How do you choose your characters’ names?
Sometimes a name just comes to me and seems to perfectly fit
the character’s personality. Other times I intentionally seek out a name whose
meaning reflects the character’s role in the story, or I’ll use the name of a
Bible character whose traits are similar to the character in my book.
What is the accomplishment that you are most proud of?
I don’t tend to feel proud about my accomplishments—I know
that everything noteworthy I’ve done has been due to the strength and grace of
God and not my own abilities. There isn’t anything I can point to and say, “I
did that” without having to admit that really it was God doing it through me.
That sounds kind of pompous when I read over it, but it’s
true, and I don’t say it to sound all spiritual or anything, really! I can say that I’m incredibly grateful to
have married such a wonderful man, and to have such amazing children, and to
have had the opportunity to write the books God’s given me to write. It’s
humbling to have been chosen to live this life, and I relish every second of
it.
If you were an animal, which one would you be, and why?
Well, if I base it off my personality, then I’d have to say
hummingbird, because I’m constantly going. Even when I’m sitting still, I’m
ruminating and plotting and puzzling things out in my head. Sometimes I dream
about what it would be like to be still—my mind and body don’t understand the
concept!
What is your favorite food?
It’s a toss-up between ice cream and cereal. Real
sophisticated palate I have, eh? Oh—or Edwardo’s spinach stuffed pizza with
mushrooms and Canadian bacon. Mercy. It’s the only thing I really, really miss
from Chicago
What is the problem with writing that was your greatest
roadblock, and how did you overcome it?
Learning not to bend the story to my will, but to let the
story tell itself. Twice now I’ve had to completely strip a book down to the
studs and start over, because I forced my agenda while writing and the result
was a preachy, lame novel that no one in their right mind would ever suffer
through. I apparently didn’t learn the lesson well enough the first time, but
after this second time around I’ve definitely got it. Now when I work on a
novel, I try not to think about what I want the reader to come away with, or
what message I hope to try to get across. I try to just let the story unfold
and let God lead me in the process.
Tell us about the featured book.
Composing Amelia has its roots in my college years. My
roommate/best friend developed bipolar disorder our junior year, and we had a
very difficult time finding information about mental illness that was written
from a Christian perspective and didn’t blame it on the sufferer. I never
expected back then to be a writer, but even so I promised myself someday I’d
write a book about Christians and mental illness.
Fast forward fifteen years and here is that book, though
it’s nothing at all like what I thought it would be. Here’s the back cover
copy:
Newlyweds Amelia and
Marcus Sheffield are recent college grads trying to stay afloat in LA while
searching for their dream jobs. Marcus hopes to become a mega-church pastor.
Amelia has an esteemed music degree and longs to play piano professionally. The
Sheffields are clearly city people.
But when a small town
church offers Marcus a job, the couple’s dedication to their dreams and each
other is tested. After a risky compromise is made, Amelia falls into a dark
emotional place, where she finds skeletons she’d fought hard to deny. In
desperation, she calls out to God. But why can’t she find Him? While Amelia
struggles, Marcus learns news that nearly crushes him. He must lean on his
faith to withstand the pressure… or risk losing his wife forever.
Please give us the first page of the book.
The bus ride to LA Café was a soul-sucking experience.
Amelia Sheffield’s head bounced
with each pothole as she attempted to doze. She’d never been a morning person,
but her boss didn’t seem to care. The shop opened at six, and if she wanted a
paycheck, she needed to be there in time to get the bread baking and the
sandwich fixings organized for the crowd that picked up lunches on the way to
work. Never a big meat eater, she found chicken and shredded turkey and sliced
roast beef even more difficult to handle at five thirty in the morning.
She stepped off the bus at Sunset
and Echo Park
When the manager switched on the
Open sign and unlocked the front door, Amelia gathered her resolve and wiped
the mope off her face. She began to greet the customers as though they were
close personal friends.
“You way
too chipper, chica,” Maria told her.
“Ain’t gonna find a producer in here you, know. They all eat downtown.”
“Touché,”
Amelia admitted. “But either way, I can’t stand the thought of grunting my way
through the day and never actually talking to someone….”
How can readers find you on the Internet?
My website, where I also blog, is www.AlisonStrobel.com . My husband and
I co-write children’s books as well, and our site is www.DanAndAliMorrow.com . I’ve also
got a pretty active group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/178501331615/)
and when I remember to I tweet from @alisonstrobel.Thank you, Alison, for spending this time with us.
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Composing Amelia: A Novel
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