Five Reasons Why Writers Should Keep a Journal

By Robin

Blogging last week about the value of keeping a journal has me thinking this week about how important journaling is to the writer. 

It can take lots of forms. It need not be expensive or romantic. You don't need a leather bound volume and a fountain pen, or copious hours to devote to it. Unless you like that sort of thing. Then, by all means, go for it. But a 50 cent spiral notebook from Walmart and a Bic pen work too. Or the envelope of a piece of junk mail, and a broken crayon you found on the floorboard of the car is just as good.

Whatever form it takes, it's a good practice for many reasons.


Here are my top 5.


1. Preservation. If you played video games in the 90's, you saw these words on the screen when you tried to power off the Nintendo: "Everything not saved will be lost." It's true, and don't think for a second that you will remember that perfect line of dialogue that came to you while you were driving, or showering, or grocery shopping. It will be gone, like a dandelion puff, blown away to who-knows-where. You won't even remember that you wanted to remember. Use your smartphone, or keep a pad of paper in your purse, or even a napkin in your glove box. I've been known to utilize them all as makeshift journals. 

Don't let those wonderful bursts of creativity go to waste because you didn't have a way to preserve them until you could sit down at the computer and work them into your MS. You'll thank yourself when you open your journal later and find all sorts of crazy things sticking out of it, on which your creative gems have been saved.

2. Practice. Practice. Practice. Every May my kids bring home a writing journal they've kept since the beginning of the school year, and they always cringe to see their work from last August. "I can't believe I used to write like that!" they cry, embarrassed. And for a while, it will be embarrassing to see the misspellings, the crooked, ill-formed letters, and the terrible grammar, given what they know now. But after some time passes, they will look back on that old, simplistic work, and be fond of it. They will understand more clearly the growth that occurred, and they will appreciate having this artifact from their youth. It's proof of how far they've come, and how hard they worked even before they knew everything there was for a 2nd grader to know. It's proof of their mind, their hand, and their imagination. It becomes a treasure. The same is true for us who write.

3. Precision. Sometimes I don't know what I think until I see my own words on a page in front of me. Last year I decided my MS was ready to query (it wasn't, but that's a topic for another blog post). Nevertheless, I had to do something I'd been dreading: write the blurb. Every writer hates writing blurbs. It's universally painful to condense your 80,000 word baby into a 75 word summary. Staring at that blinking cursor on a blank white page, I panicked. I didn't know what my story was really about. I was so consumed with minute details, character arcs, and plot twists, I couldn't pull my head out of it long enough to say: This is who my MC is, this is what happens to her, and this is what's at stake. So, I did what I do. I clicked the computer off, sat down in my comfy chair, and opened my journal. I wrote about stories I liked, and what I liked about them; political things that had been on my mind; I copied down a bit of commentary I'd read recently which sounded like something my MC's father would say. Basic rambling stuff. Then something amazing happened about 3/4 of the way down the second page. I wrote this:

The church and state had united as a colossal tyrant over [my characters]. Failure to yield meant persecution, imprisonment, and death. Yet they resisted. They endured. This is what my story is about. It's about the child of a people who will not conform, a girl who wonders, "Why not conform? Life is better, easier, more pleasant for those who conform." The reader must ache for her to join her family on the Mayflower, to resist the urge to be a mindless, state-approving, acquiescing drone. The reader must learn, not only about history, but about herself, her place in time. She must come to the conclusion: I will not be coerced into believing what "they" (secular society) say is true. Even if they accuse me of "thoughtcrime." Even if they persecute me. I will rise up in defense of my conscience, my freedom.

Boom. A blurb was born in the pages of my writing journal.

4. Posterity. Most people think what they say today will never matter to anyone years from now. But anyone who's unearthed an old sack of letters, or read a crumbling, fading diary knows that's a lie. My grandmother-in-law, knowing my love of old things, gave me one of my greatest treasures. It's a tiny "Five Year Diary" kept by her grandmother-in-law, a woman named Rose. She wrote in it nearly every day from 1944-1948, mostly in pencil, and mostly about waxing the floors, ironing, attending funerals, and going to town. I love to see her handwriting, the places where she erased or crossed out words, the math problem she did on the corner of one page, and the list on the back page of enlisted Scobee men, and where they were stationed. It's a glimpse into another time, and a look inside this woman's life, but it's only a partial view which sends my imagination screaming down the path of story after story. 

Perhaps my own journals will eventually decompose in a box unread, but perhaps, seventy years from now, a great-great granddaughter will discover the words of this faithful woman who was passionate about story-telling. Perhaps she will read my thoughts as I walked this writing journey, my ups and downs, my frustrations, my prayers, my perseverance, my despondency, and my hope. Perhaps she will love them as much as I love Rose's words. Perhaps it's reason enough to keep a writing journal.

5. Purity. Nothing written for an audience is truly pure. The words we write for others tend to be biased, pompous, and pretentious. They're written to impress, beguile, entertain, and show off. Journaling is different. It's private. Truthful. Raw. It's our guts dumped out and splayed across the page, messy, sloppy, dirty, offensive, maybe even bloody. These are the kinds of pages you want to take out back and burn after you write them (please don't--they won't appear quite so bloody after some time has passed, I promise). It's therapeutic to write this way. It's like setting down a heavy bag you've been carrying a long time. You can stand up a little straighter after the weight of the words is out of you. You can look ahead and see more clearly where you're going, and why you're still following the same thread. 

Writing this way has preserved in me the ability to write the other way, you know, with the pre-planned chapters breaks, contrived obstacles, and lessons learned. That's the writing you edit and revise until your head is about to explode. That writing is for others. It's writing that entertains. For me, one kind of writing begets the other, enables the other, feeds off the other, and that's reason enough to keep a writing journal.

There are a thousand more reasons for writers to keep a writing journal! What are yours? Tell us in the comments.

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4 Fictional Stories: How God Used Them To Teach Me About Himself

We're taking on The Power of a Story this month by choosing a few of those stories which have impacted each of us. Jebraun described hers last week.

When I began to compile a list of the stories that have taught me in the most profound ways, I noticed an interesting trend. Though they are wildly different, evenly split between male and female authors, spanning 131 years between the oldest and most recently published, and each from a different genre, they all did one important thing for me. Whether intentional or not, every one of them elevated my view of God.

1. 1984 by George Orwell. Published in 1949. Political Fiction.

God used this story to show me the beauty of his sovereignty.

I had just joined a new church when I read this book. My new pastor was seriously challenging my notions of God's sovereignty by bringing to light things I'd never considered before and exposing me to scripture I knew, but didn't fully understand.

It's a hard thing to grapple with: Is God really sovereign over everything? Like...even my choices??

I absolutely despised Big Brother, The Party, and the notion of an all-seeing, all-knowing, all-powerful entity watching you, coercing you, accusing you, limiting you, taking away your choices. It forced me to ask myself some difficult questions.

Is The Party just a very warped metaphor for Christianity?

Does orthodoxy really mean unthinking?

Have we been cheated out of something we have a right to? Control over our destiny? The legitimacy of our human emotions?

SPOILER ALERT: When Winston is..."converted," shall we say, that event which should be the pinnacle of the Christian life, it is not a happy ending for him. It is a shock. The kind that makes you want to throw the book across the room and weep for humanity.

While I was reading this mind-bending fiction, my new pastor was simultaneously pointing me to scriptures like:

Romans 9:16-18 "So then [salvation] depends not on human will or exertion, but on God... He has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he will."

Wait...that sounds an awful lot like Big Brother, doesn't it?

Ephesians 1:4 "He chose us in him before the foundation of the world..."

But...what about our autonomy? Our choice? Our control?

Deuteronomy 31:21 "For I know what they are inclined to do even today, before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give."

"No!" my self-loving, self-centered, self-important soul cried out. "I am not Winston! You do not know how my story ends!" My sinful heart wanted to reject that kind of sovereignty.

Friends, the Lord worked on me during that time. I'll never, ever forget how he brushed the scales from my eyes, and used that incredible work of fiction, together with the teaching of my pastor, to show me his glory, his mercy, his boundless love for his people, and above all, the beauty of his all-seeing, all-knowing, all-powerful sovereignty.

Just before Winston gives in, disappointing us readers who rooted for him to resist Big Brother, he has a moment of clarity. He says, "To die hating them, that was freedom." I want to cry, reading that line today (pg. 281 in the Signet Classics Edition) because I know the truth. To die hating the Lord and his church is to perish, eternally separated from the God who pursued you. That is Hell! That is the opposite of freedom. That's why he pursues you! It isn't to coerce you, abuse you, scare you, or make you do anything you don't want to do. Christians aren't put in little rooms, bludgeoned intellectually, and fed propaganda until they go brain dead and give in.

In God's mercy, he does the work in our heart that makes us want his saving grace. We delight in his precepts. We desire his presence. We request a renewed mind. We long to be transformed to his image. 

What God is this? What marvelous, generous, sovereign-over-every-single-thing God is this, who, "being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ... For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God." Ephesians 2:4-8

Have any sweeter words ever been written? Sorry, George. Your story is powerful, but Jesus wins.


2. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. Published in 1985. Speculative, Women's Lit.
God used this story to show me the depravity of humans, and the corresponding depth of his mercy.

I wanted to hate this book. I began the story with my hackles raised, ready pick a fight, and fully prepared to slam the book shut and stew for days. But I found myself instead under Margaret Atwood's brilliantly written spell, aching for Offred, needing to know how her story would end.

It wasn't necessary, as the introduction led me to believe, that a reader be a feminist, or even have feminist leanings, to fully get the horror of Offred's life. It was enough that I am a woman. That I am a human being.

It would have been easy for me to dismiss this story if it was simply an indictment of God or Christianity. Surely that's what most readers are left with. Maybe that was Atwood's intention. I don't know. But I saw a more complex theme emerge halfway through the book, when Offred stumbles through the Lord's Prayer, struggling to make sense of why and how she ended up in this place. She prays, "I don't believe for an instant that what's going on out there is what you want." 

Bravo, Offred. 

God's word is never wrong, though it's often twisted and warped. History has shown us over and over again how power in the hands of men (and women), whether it's put there by the church or the state, corrupts. Atwood's story shows us the pain people are capable of inflicting--have inflicted--justifiably, they think, on their fellow human beings, given enough power. And while this story points the finger at those who would perpetrate evil in the name of a God they misunderstand, it's clear that the root of the evil is in man, not God.

Every dark period of church history has ended when the dawn of good theology has risen to take its place. We have seen, again and again, how God is merciful to allow civilization to right itself after a time.

Praise God for his mercy.


3. The Giver by Lois Lowry. Published in 1993. Young Adult Lit, Dystopian.

God used this story to show me the perfect wisdom of his plan.

This is the only book I've ever read three times. I first read it as a college student for my Young Adult Lit class in 2001. I read it again when I taught it to 8th graders during my first semester as a Language Arts teacher in 2003. I read it again when my kids were old enough to read it too, in 2014.

It never gets old. With every reread, I'm moved even more deeply to make sure my children know this truth: They need never doubt the wisdom of God in giving us a world filled with both good and bad.

They've asked the question of me, "Why would God let the serpent into the garden of Eden and mess everything up? Why didn't he just give us a perfect world to live in now?"

It's a difficult question to answer. I don't presume to know the mind of God. But I can remind them of Jonas; the first time he was cold, the first time he saw war, death, blood, famine, pain. He wanted to know why The Giver was showing him these things. It was hard. Upsetting. Exhausting. Unpleasant. It was awful.

But with those awful things came color, diversity, joy, beauty, creativity...love.

Without darkness there is no light. Things are hidden from us, and we are not better for not knowing. Never experiencing pain does not make us happy. It makes us dull, unknowing, unsympathetic. That's not what God has in mind for us.

This story also teaches us that human beings can never create Utopia on earth. We are too corrupt, too limited in our knowledge of ourselves. I want this story to inspire my children, the world's future adults, to resist the urge of political ideas and personalities that promise Utopia.

The adults in Jonas's world tried, and their intentions were good. They wanted to create for themselves a world where there was no racism, no poverty, no disease, no weakness, no hunger, no death, and no decay. It sounds wonderful, doesn't it? On the surface, they were successful. But in the absence of these things, there was also a tragic absence of compassion.

Lois Lowry skillfully and gently pulls the curtain back, exposing Jonas to the evil required to sustain his "perfect" world. The visceral reaction of readers when they discover what "Release" means is universal. No matter your age, faith background, or political ideology, you are repulsed, and rightly so.

Few books ever written can make such a claim.


4. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo Published in 1862. Historical Drama, Classic.

God is still using this story to teach me about his grace.

Confession: I am still working my way through this massive novel. I've been at it for nearly two years. I'm 800 pages into an 1,100 page behemoth. I pick it up in stops and starts. It's too much to take in at once.

It's epic in scale and encompasses so much about the human life. Social injustice, grief, hopelessness, despair, perseverance, integrity, pity, suffering, faith, providence, war, love, unrequited love, and dozens more. But the theme that impacts me most deeply when I think of this story is God's grace, and how we are to respond to it.

Valjean, like Winston from 1984, is an "Everyman." We see ourselves in him. No matter our gender, our time in history, or our station in life, we were once filled with darkness, like him. We have all been without hope.

"During the years of suffering he reached the conclusion that life was a war in which he was one of the defeated. Hatred was his only weapon, and he resolved to sharpen it in prison and carry it with him when he left."

Valjean did not expect to receive grace from the bishop. He did not go looking for it, or asking for it. He most definitely did not deserve it. But it was given, freely and generously. After he steals the bishop's silver, he is caught by the police and dragged back to face the one from whom he stole.

"So here you are!" [the bishop] cried to Valjean. "I'm delighted to see you. Had you forgotten that I gave you the candlesticks as well? They're silver like the rest, and worth a good two hundred francs. Did you forget to take them?"

Thus, he is not thrown back into prison, as he justly deserves. Not only is he free, but he holds in his hands the means to begin his life anew.

"I was famished when I came in here. Now I scarcely know what I feel. Everything has changed."

Is this your response? You, the recipient of grace so lavish, so sacrificial, so undeserved, you can never repay your debt? 

Everything Valjean does over the next 1,000 pages is a response to this gift of grace. Becoming  a successful business man, fleeing Javert, adopting Cosette, saving Marius. This is his way to "present [his] body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God." Romans 12:1.

This heartrending story of grace has even been preserved in some measure in the many film and theater versions of the story. The producers can't help it. The message of grace is so pervasive, so lovely, so interwoven, there can be no Jean Valjean without the grace of God.

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My Publishing Journey : Part 1

So by now you may be aware that I’ve been offered a publishing contract with Love2ReadLove2Write Publishing. And to say that I’m beyond thrilled would be an understatement.

I’ve been asked by multiple people to explain this process or ‘how did it happen’ so I figured, I better write a blog about it.

You know how they say it's good to network? Well, "they" were right!

So here's my story, I knew my manuscript wasn't completely edited, but I wanted to test the waters. I sent it out to five different publishers, none of which I desperately wanted to represent me. I got rejected by two and three still haven't responded.

I had made friends with a writer (ACFW member) named Michele Harper, through mutual Facebook friends. Little did I know she had been in the process of becoming a traditional publisher for Clean Speculative novels. Not until my friend Amy McNew announced that she was getting published by a small startup publishing company called Love2readLove2write, did I find out that Michele owned this company.

I was like, cool, hmmmm...I'll keep them in mind for after I get rejected by all the BIG publishers. God kept putting that company on my heart, and I kept ignoring it. After all, I *had* to try the big publishers first, right?

A few days before New Years Eve I wrote Michele a personal message on Facebook just to say “Hi”. She asked me if I had found a publisher yet. I told her no. She said she was not accepting submissions at the moment but asked if I would be interested in subbing to her once submissions opened up. I said sure! She asked if I would send her a sample of my manuscript and I did. (I may have gotten carried away with sending three full chapters instead of the regular 5-10 page sample)

Low and behold, a couple days later she wrote me and told me even though she's got enough authors to fill up her 2016, she wants to "squeeze me in", that's how much she liked it! I screamed and cried and was in total disbelief. I hadn't even officially submitted to the company and here she was telling me she's going to publish my book. THIS. YEAR.

It still hasn't fully hit me yet. I'm still in a bit of a daze. I promised her I would get her the full manuscript as soon as I was done implementing my editor’s edits. Soon I was able to get the full MS into her hands and sign the contract a month later. It's all been a crazy whirlwind.

Michele told me that God kept putting my name on her heart but she kept ignoring it because her 2016 was full up. We both kept ignoring God's leading on this. So crazy, and I'm so glad we finally listened! I really feel a peace about this decision now.

Before the contract was signed, I kept thinking, OH NO, now I’ll never know if the BIG publishers would have accepted my manuscript or not. Am I making the right decision? Am I just going with the easiest option since it just-so-happened to fall in my lap quickly? What if a bigger publisher did take on my story? I would get more money and more publicity.

But you know, I learned something about myself that surprised me. I learned that that stuff doesn’t matter to me as much as my sinful little heart thought it would. I learned that I am humbled anyone would want my book at all, and completely blown away at how fast God provided the means to get my book into print. I know so many authors who waited years and years longer. I almost feel guilty. Like I’m somehow cheating the system and getting ahead of myself. But I worked hard on my manuscript and I need to realize God’s timing is different for everyone. Just because he’s fast-tracking my career, doesn’t mean I need to feel guilty when I look at those around me who have been at this far longer than me who haven’t quite ‘arrived’ yet.

Because I know they will.

I know these writers, these authors, these blessed friends who write ten-thousand times better than I could ever care to write will get their moment. It’s coming and I can’t wait to see it. Just because their moment hasn’t come yet, doesn’t mean it won’t. God brought me to this moment and He wants joy for me.

God will bring you your moment too.

Moral of the story is, never forsake the necessary networking. The word networking, to me, is just a fancy way of saying “Make some friends with your peers in your same professional circle.” If I hadn’t known Michele, this whole thing wouldn’t have happened for me. I would just be another name in the gigantic ocean of wanna-be authors. But since I took the time to get to know her she gave me a wonderful opportunity to prove myself. Something that most likely would not have happened had I just been some random person off the streets.

Make the connections. I know you’re probably an introvert, but do it anyway.

You won’t regret it.

Check out Love2ReadLove2Write Publishing on Facebook 

 https://www.facebook.com/L2L2Publishing/

and check out their website

http://www.love2readlove2writepublishing.com/

 *Stay tuned in the months to come for more news as I continue on this publishing journey. 

And don't forget, we love your comments! Comment in the comment section below (I know it's tiny and hard to see, but it's there!).

Our very own WINNER!!

A huge congrats to our very own Jebraun Clifford on her recent WIN of the 2015 First Impressions Contest for ACFW. She won for the Young Adult category.
We are so excited for you and proud of you, Jeb! We wish you all the best in your writing endeavors to come.



Click on the link below to check out the winners!


ACFW - The Voice of Christian Fiction

Lucy Nel chats with Deanna Fugett : Part 4 of 4 Interviews

1. You're a wife and mommy of four. Please describe a day in the life of Deanna Fugett, the wife, mother and writer. 

Chaos. What more need I say? Actually, I think we have it under control for the most part. We do have four very active and needy kids. So we've had to learn to adjust with each passing year. My husband and I are not super strict, so we let the kids 'do their thing' and encourage independence and a helpful attitude around our house. 

I drop kids off at school in the morning, hubby's long gone by then, and go home. I usually throw in a load of laundry, do a load of dishes and then get to my writing. I hate cleaning, and only do it when I have too. Most of my day can be taken up just with dishes, laundry (I'm in charge of SIX people's laundry. It's never-ending!) and writing and just taking care of my family's needs in general. There's always SOMETHING I should be doing. It's just a matter of doing it. 

2. What inspired you to begin with your current WIP?

Well...I'm not sure exactly. Honestly one day I just sat at the computer and said, "I'm going to write a story today," and it just kind of happened. Two months later I had my first rough draft. 

But I can credit my mom for my love of reading which inspired my love of writing, which also comes from my elementary school teachers, Mrs. Bholson and Mrs. Olson. 

Mrs. Bholson fostered a love of writing in me at a young age (I went to a small school, so I had her 1st through 3rd grade) and then in 6th grade Mrs. Olson challenged us to write a book someday. I already knew I loved writing and had been told I was decent at it, so I made a promise to myself that someday I would write that book. And here I am. 

3. Favorite place and time to write? 

Anywhere, anytime. Seriously, whenever I get a free moment, like when my kids are in school. Which only happens Monday and Wednesday, that all four of them are gone. So those are the two main days I focus on writing, or at least attempt too. 

They all know it's important to me, and there are plenty of times I will be typing away with my kids, while my youngest takes a bath, or when my daughter wants me in her room while she plays dolls. I try to not lock myself away and always be available to them, no matter what. It's not always easy. Sometimes if I'm really inspired, it's frustrating to get that "Mommy!" right in the middle of a big scene. But I have to make my family my number one priority and put my work down. They will always come first. 

4. You write Speculative YA fiction, with some of most interesting character names I've seen. What one message do you wish to portray with your current WIP?

My message is simply this. Even in a dark, wicked world we have to put aside our fears and be brave. 

Actually, I have tons of mini messages weaving throughout the entire series, but those you'll have to discover for yourselves. 

5. Name some of the biggest challenges, victories you've faced in your writing journey?

Challenges, PUBLISHING. Holy moly, I had NO idea what I was getting myself into when I decided to write a book. I had my nice little rose colored glasses on, thinking to myself. "Oh gee, this is going to be great. I'll write a best seller, give it to a publisher, they will love it and my life will be great." 

Oh my, how wrong I was. It's so much more complicated and difficult then I ever thought it would be. But I love it. And I'm not going to give up. Ever. I will make this dream happen.

Victories? Well, I guess my victory is the responses I have gotten from my story Ending Fear, which is the first in The Gliding Lands Series. People seem drawn to it. I'm not sure why, but it seems to hit a chord with a lot of folks so far. 

6. If you could have one quality of your main character, Fear, what would it be? 

Probably her ability to be passionate. She's a teen girl with lots of crazy hormones, she's kind of annoying sometimes, and she doesn't always think straight. But she's passionate about things. I never want to loose passion in my life. 

7. Do you have a favorite scripture?

My mom gave my the verse Matthew 5:9, "Blessed are the Peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons and daughters of God," when I was very young. I was a peacemaker growing up. 

I know I've changed a lot since then, and now I like to stir things up a bit. I don't always keep the peace, as it were. Maybe I've become jaded in some aspects. But I'd like to think that I still have the ability and definitely the desire to be a peacemaker. 

You can also add the entire book of Psalms. It's my favorite book of the Bible and any time I am distressed I can always find God's love, promises and beauty within those words.

Thank you Lucy, for the interview, it was a pleasure!  

I have a secret.

I have a secret.

Yes, you heard me right. And here it is. I am not a book nerd.

I hear several gasps out there from many of you. See, people have assumed that because I am a writer that I am also an avid reader. And while I DO love and treasure books, this just isn’t true.

Reason being? I write so much I don’t make time for reading anymore like I should. And I say should because again and again I read on blogs and such, that in order to be a strong writer you need to be a strong reader. And I’m failing in this area, miserably.

I let people on social media see me as a huge book buff because that is what I’m ‘supposed’ to be. But I barely take the time to read. Let me rephrase that. I read constantly. But as far as fiction books go, it’s hard for me to do. There are many reasons why.

One, I’m trying desperately to build my social media platform, which requires me to be on Facebook and Twitter frequently. As writers, we all know, if we want to get traditionally published we have to get our names out there. Networking. We have to be noticed. We have to create a fan base before an agent will even bother to take notice of us. And that takes time, energy and effort. It’s obnoxious and exhausting at times. But it’s also fun. I LOVE commenting on friends posts and interacting.

Another secret (or not-so-secret) I’m an extrovert. 90% of writers are gasping right now, since I’m in the 10% of writers that aren’t introverts. Yeah, I love being around people, and since my job as a SAHM prevents me from doing that, I’m able to connect to others around me through social media. It’s a blessing and a curse.

Here’s the thing about reading. I am reading every day, all the time. It’s just not fiction. And I know this is important, but it always gets put on the back burner. Right now I’m currently reading two books, both of which I started weeks ago. The Gifting by Kate Ganshert, and Wisdom and Folly by Michele Harper. They are both excellent books that I’m enjoying very much, but I’m sooooo slooooow at reading at this point in my life.

It hasn’t always been that way. I used to gobble down books in my youth so fast I couldn’t keep up with myself. It was crazy. I literally fought with my friends in the library about who got to read what first. We LOVED books with a passion. It was a beautiful time in my life. Fiction, fiction everywhere. I would read silly little, easy stories like The Babysitters Club and Sweet Valley Kids/Twins. I would read the classics, The Little Princess and The Secret Garden. Occasionally I would even delve into actual smart literature like Number the Stars by award winning author Louis Lowry and The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyal by award winning author Avi.

Once I hit the teen years, my reading tastes became more…well, not something I’m super proud of. I loved, loved, loved the Flowers in the Attic series. But they were also very naughty at times. (If only mom had known!) I read and reread those over and over. My reading obsession waned the further into my teen years I went. I developed new obsessions. Mainly music, exercise and boys. Yup. I was that girl. *hangs head in shame.

When I got married and started having babies at the sweet young age of eighteen, I quickly dug back into reading. Only this time, it was all non-fiction. I was determined to be the best wife and mommy I could be, and I tore up the pages trying to figure it all out.

This new life left little time for luxury reading (fiction/entertainment books). I read for pure learning purposes. I only briefly gave in to my need for a good entertaining book once in a great while. I remember picking up that first Christian romance. Ooo-la-la. I didn’t even know books like that existed! Then I had my ‘Amish phase’ and read every Beverly Lewis book under the sun. I found an author on a whim at the library who I fell deeply in love with. Right next to the Jane Austin books, Lynn Austin. An amazing Christian fiction writer of historical fiction. I HIGHLY recommend her books. I also found joy in reading about Jesus and Biblical times through Bodie and Brock Theone’s biblical historical books. My husband and I had a period where we whipped though their multiple series, sharing books and competing who could read through them faster.

Then life got busy. And I stopped reading. For a while. Once in a blue moon I would pick up a book and it would light a spark going off in my brain. Oh, I should read you. That would be good. Let’s try that sometime. But a lot of times I left it at that. Now, I have most of my books on my phone kindle. And there are a ton! My TBR list is enormous. And intimidating. And sometimes it’s so big I don’t even want to try. And to top that off, I recently learned that my library sells used YA books for only $0.50! So naturally since I write YA, and I should be taking the time to read YA, I go in frequently and clean out the shelves. It’s awesome. And they sit. In my house, in a pile. Unread. It’s kind of depressing. They sit there, mocking me. Taunting me.

I have another confession on top of that doozy. I didn’t know who Dr. Who was until recently.

Ok, so I write YA Speculative. I’ve immersed myself in “Spekkies” over the last year, trying to infiltrate their awesome world, delving deeper into the land of awesome nerdiness/geek culture. I have never enjoyed hard core Sci-Fi. Never have. Never will. Science bores the snot out of me. But I do enjoy Fantasy, dystopian and the occasional Faerie Tale Retelling. I always thought of myself as a huge nerd. But when I’m ‘around’ all these speculative writers, I realize, my nerdiness factor could use a major boost.

I have always been in love with Narnia. I hate LOTR. (PLEASE don’t hate me!!!) I couldn’t even get through the first few pages because it bored me so much. (My son, on the other hand, has read the entire series four times over, go figure.) I have always loved and adored everything Star Trek, I even had a Star Trek themed birthday party. I have never read Harry Potter (Ok, now you really hate me). I tried the first chapter and it just didn’t suck me in. And of course, I plan on taking my sons to the theater as soon as the new Star Wars movie comes out. But I don’t even know what it’s called.

So I like it all, but I’m not invested. 

I didn’t know who Dr. Who was (literally Dr. Who???), until my husband started watching it. (Sorry to rat you out there, honey!) I will never be a Whovian. It’s ok, and we’re still working through the series. But I’m not into creepy, scary, ugly looking creatures or aliens for that matter. I don’t understand most of it. I like it. But I’m not in love. 

I tried Firefly, the first episode, I had to struggle through the first fifteen minutes. It BORED me to death. I didn’t like it or connect to anything. Then six months later, when I realized I couldn’t possibly be a speculative author without seeing this sacred show, attempted to watch it again. This time, I started on the second episode. And I was hooked. I loved it so much. By the end of watching it on Netflix, I bought the whole season at Walmart. (I AIM TO MISBEHAVE -‘cause you know- Walmart. *hangs head in shame again) And my husband ordered the movie for me. I am now an official browncoat. But this stuff doesn’t come naturally to me. I have to work at it. I want to fit in. But I don’t want to be fake either.

So now you know. The truth is out. This Speculative YA writer is not obsessively shoveling down the books. She is not as big of a nerd as she needs to be to make it in this world of writerly-spekkie-awesomeness. But I’m working on it. One Tardis, one Serenity spaceship at a time. 

-Writer, Deanna Fugett 

Part Two of Four Interviews

This world is a remarkable place. We four writers met through ACFW, which is to say we only know each other electronically. Though our commonalities (the Lord and our passion for writing) brought us together, we are distinct. We live all over the world. Our paths to and through this writing life vary. You're invited to get to know us better as we get to know each other better through a series of four interviews. You can read the first here.

This week Jebraun Clifford is interviewing Robin Scobee.

What inspired your current project?

The group we now call Pilgrims always seemed cartoonish to me. Big black hats with yellow buckles above the round brim. White coifs, stiff collars, Puritan sternness. Only Squanto, with his fish and corn and generosity brought a warmth, a humanness, to this cardboard group of people.

That is, until I read a nonfiction book called The Light and the Glory by Peter Marshall and David Manuel, lent to me by a friend at church. I learned more American history in two days of reading that book than in years of public school and undergrad education.

I learned that these stalwart people were exiled first to Holland before they traveled on the Mayflower. I learned about one of their leaders, William Bradford, whose words are preserved in letters and journals. I read a portion of his letter in which he gave his reasons for leaving Holland in 1620. The hardness of the life they had chosen was so extreme almost none were coming from England to join them. Their labor was debilitating, especially for the aged, who were being so worn down, he feared they might not be able to physically remove when the time came. But most alarming (to me) is what this lifestyle was doing to their children. In Bradford's words, "many were being drawn away by the lures of the world around them." (p. 109)

I read that sentence over and over. How odd, I thought. How...human. That's my struggle as a parent.

What if...  Those wonderful words that are the foundation of all stories danced in my imagination.

What if...a young woman...raised by faithful parents (who were stern to a fault) found herself in Holland, but...but she didn't want to be there? What if she rebelled? What if she found love outside the fold of her faithful community? What would they do? How would she get free from them? What would become of her? Would she miss out on that wonderful destiny of being a Pilgrim?

And a story was born.

I understand your series is about sisters who came to American on the Mayflower. It must be challenging to write about a real event. What kind of research have you done for your novels? And are your characters built on any real person?

Research is difficult. Many traditional reference materials have been written with an anti-Christian bias, and I don't feel they accurately portray who these people were. I seek out materials that quote the journals and letters written by actual Mayflower passengers. There is a surprising archive of primary source writings; much of it accessible for free on the web.


The Smithsonian offers an excellent source of trustworthy information.
This website for the Pilgrim museum in Leiden is my absolute favorite. It is a dream of mine to visit Leiden and meet Dr. Bangs to hear him tell this history he knows so well.


I also like to study works of art painted during that time period. Jan Steen, who was born in 1626 in Leiden, and educated in Leiden University (as well as one of the fictional characters in my novel!) offers a fascinating picture of every day Dutch life. We can see the way people dressed, what they ate, what their musical instruments looked like, how their homes were decorated, what animals they kept as pets. He shows us people praying, sleeping, laughing, "merrymaking," even little boys getting their hands smacked by their schoolmaster. What a treasure! I use so many details from his paintings in the pages of my writing.

"Peasant family at Meal-Time (Grace Before Meat)" 1665

My main characters are not based on real people. I could have given them names of actual Mayflower passengers, but I chose not to out of deference to the estimated 20 million people who claim to be descended from them. My characters are complex, rife with flaws as well as strengths, and it seemed rude to ascribe imaginary flaws to ancestors of living people.

Real people do occasionally make appearances in the story (Bradford, for instance), and I generally try to make them seem flattering based on what I know of their actual character.

Are you a pantser or a plotter?

Definitely a pantser! I have paid for this in whole chapters having to be deleted during revisions, but I can't seem to do it any other way. My characters grow and change and surprise me during the writing, so I let them. Perhaps as I continue to learn about writing, and become more skillful, I may evolve into more of a plotter.

Describe your ideal writing environment (music you listen to, snacks to nibble on, at home? in a cafe? morning? evening? midnight, lol?)

Ideally, I like to have my mini-HP netbook in my lap, sitting in my cushy recliner, feet out, coffee on the bookshelf next to me, blinds raised so I can stare at the goings on outside, as I often do while I write. I can't have food near me. I munch instead of write.

When life is normal, I limit my writing to the quiet hours while my husband is at work and the kids are at school. My husband is in the Army, so he is away from home sometimes for weeks or months at a time. Although my life is better when he's home, I get a lot more writing accomplished when he's away because I can write morning, noon, or night. Or all three. Whatever. My muse is not picky. I have trained my mind to prepare for those quiet hours, whenever they happen to come.

Music is tricky. Sometimes it helps me know a character better. Sometimes it distracts. If I listen to anything, I pick an artist I like and listen to their playlist on Youtube, or their channel on Slacker Radio.

Who's an author who has influenced you?

I have to say Laura Ingalls Wilder. My mom read the "Little House" books to my sister and me when we were young, and I've read them to my daughters. I didn't realize until I was an adult that she lived in a small town not far from where I grew up. I had an opportunity to visit her home last summer when we went back to Missouri for a visit to my family.


I saw her writing desk, Jebraun. A little unassuming thing, probably built by Almanzo, with a tablet of paper and a pencil positioned on it, as if she had been just been there.


She was just a woman, like me, a former teacher, a Midwestern wife and mother, a nobody, who thought it would be a good idea to beginning writing things down. That makes me think maybe I'm not crazy to sit in my cushy chair, with my laptop open in my lap, staring out the window, imagining stories.

You write historical fiction, what's your favourite genre to read? 

I do love historical fiction probably more than any other. I grew up on it. My sister and I devoured historical romance during our teen years. I also tend to seek out literary fiction because I appreciate complexity and brilliance. I learn the most about writing from it.

Favourite scripture and why?

Ecclesiastes 7:13-14 "Accept the way God does things, for who can straighten what he has made crooked? Enjoy prosperity while you can, but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God. Remember that nothing is certain in this life."  I latched onto this verse during a difficult time for our family. My husband had lost his job 10 days before I gave birth to our third baby. A month later he wrecked his car on the way to a job interview. A month later my middle child was hospitalized with pneumonia. It seemed like everything was crooked, and I was weary from trying and failing to straighten things out. I couldn't make sense of the chaos. I found this verse, wrote it on a little white domino, and carried it around with me until that difficult season was past us. It did end, and God showed himself to us in remarkable ways. I still have the domino (it's faded now) displayed on a shelf near my writing chair.

Who are we? Part one of four interviews.

Since this is a brand new blog, we thought it would be fun to interview one another so you can get to know us better. And since we live all over the world and haven’t met one another except over social media and through ACFW, it gave us an opportunity to find out a little more about each other too. Deanna decided to kick things off by asking Jebraun a few questions about writing and life.

What inspired you to start writing? 

The question should be what inspired me to start writing again. After taking an almost twenty year break to raise a family, I thought it was time to rekindle an old passion and start writing again. I enjoyed writing short stories at college but always wanted to latch onto a great idea for a novel. I'm excited about the one I have brewing now. Storytelling is so important. Stories are such an amazing way to entertain, educate, and encourage. And we need that! There's a lot of negativity in this world, and sometimes the best vehicle to counter that is a story full of hope and promise. 

You write Speculative YA, what made you pick that particular genre?

I want to write about a world where anything can happen! I don't want to be limited by history, research, or even physics. And there are so many possibilities with speculative fiction. Steve Laube from Enclave Publishing describes the speculative genre, in particular science fiction and fantasy, as the one genre of all genres in fiction that reflect the creativity of God. Isn't that an amazing concept? And I want to write to a YA audience because that’s the age when we start asking those questions about why we're here, and what it all means. Madeleine L'Engle, probably my favorite author of all time, once said that some of those questions don't have finite answers, but the questions themselves are important. I hope to ask some important questions as well as provide a few possible answers to my readers.

Tell us the name of your WIP, and what is the message behind it?

Well, I entered a contest recently and can't post my title on social media. But the message is simple. My WIP is about family, loyalty, and finding our true identity. And it tackles the difficulties we can have when one or more of these ideas clash with one another. It’s also about staying true to who God created us to be in the face of adversity.

Who is your favorite character in your story and why?

My favorite character is my heroine, Tyrzah. I like her because she wants to do the honorable thing whatever the cost may be. She sees the injustices around her and wants to do something about it. And if someone has to take the hit for making the right decision, she'll accept that responsibility. Plus she has some mean skills with a sword!

Every story has to have a villain/a bad guy/an antagonist. Describe your villain.

Like in our world, the bad guys are behind the scenes. There are people in my story who look like the villains, but they're only pawns in the hands of the evil spiritual powers from my world. My heroine has to learn to wrestle against these powers to set things right.

Now just for fun, where is your favorite place to go on a date with your husband?

We love going to Leonardo's - this seriously amazing Italian restaurant - for our date nights. We take our time, eat, talk, and soak in the atmosphere. I love it! It's vital for couples to take time to recharge their relationship and have fun together. That's definitely one of the secrets for our 22 year marriage.

Check back next time when Jebraun poses a few questions to Robin.

As always, we welcome your comments. And if there's anything else you'd like to find out about Jebraun, ask away!