Send to KindleOur interview today is with Faith Blum. Thank You Faith for being here today and for agreeing to do this interview.
Question: What do you think prepared you or qualifies you to write in your chosen genre?
Answer: I love history, especially the Wild West and have read a lot of books about both.
Question: Tell us a little about your “real” (Non-writing) life — family, job, church life. Does it give you inspiration for your writing? Does it get in the way of your writing, or are there times when you get help, from people or circumstances?
Answer: I live at home with my family on a small hobby farm. We have goats, chickens, cats, a dog, ducks, and guinea fowl. I also have a part-time job doing data entry for an accountant. Yes, they do get in the way of my writing at times, but I also get to observe people which will, and is, helpful.
Question: Tell us about things you enjoy — what you do for fun or personal satisfaction?
Answer: For fun, I read, play piano, do crafts, play games with my family, or watch a movie.
Question: Tell us about working with any people who help you create your books — Do you use Beta readers? Hire an editor or proofreader? How do you get your covers?
Answer: I did use beta-readers and found them very helpful. I would never have gotten my book finished without their help. My proofreaders were my two sisters and my mom. My cover was done by Perry Elisabeth. Perry was great to work with and helped me a lot. She designed my book cover, bookmarks, and two desktop wallpapers.
Question: What is the “message” of your writing? (For example, is your purpose to encourage old-fashioned values, encourage romance, or do you have different purposes in different books?)
Answer: The message in my writing is that God can be trusted and He is the only one who can help you through life. Even if I don’t sell many books, as long as even just one person meets Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, my writing, my time, and my money were well spent. I hope to encourage Christians to live like Christ every day of their lives. And for those who aren’t yet Christians, my prayer is that they will see their need for Him.
Question: Tell us one place you want to visit, or person you want to meet, and why.
Answer: Montana or Colorado, particularly in the mountains. I have always wanted to go to the mountains, see them up close, hike (or climb) up them. I’m not sure why, but Montana has always fascinated me. That is one of the reasons my characters ended up there. If I can’t get there myself one day, at least I can be there in spirit with my characters.
Question: What’s the worst trouble you ever had with getting a book written (plots, finding needed information, getting a cover done)?
Answer: Finding information. When writing Historical Fiction, getting accurate information is essential to writing a good, accurate book. Finding that information is just as difficult as it is essential. Anybody know of a good resource?
Question: What’s your next project? Tell us so we can’t wait for it to come out!
Answer: Be Thou My Vision, the sequel to A Mighty Fortress. Here is my short summary: “After learning of her younger brother’s death, an outspoken spinster defies her father and starts going to church, where she begins to care for the widower pastor’s two rambunctious boys who need a mother’s love.”
I have a very, very rough draft kind of finished and am going to start working on rewriting it over Christmas break. I hope to have Be Thou My Vision published sometime in 2014.
Question: What is your current WIP?
Answer: I have two Works in Progress right now. I am working on the sequel to A Mighty Fortress as well as co-authoring a non-fiction book on how to be Christ’s Ambassador.
Question: How many books do you have out?
Answer: A Mighty Fortress is my first and only book published just by me. I do have a few short stories in an anthology called Heralds of Courage.
Reviews:
“The book started a little slow, but the pace definitely picked up once I got further into the book. Full of action and adventure, I never knew what to expect next- not predictable at all! I appreciated the clear gospel presentation in the book, and I will be sure to look for more from this author in the future!”~From Amazon
“Loved it! There were memorable characters, and the authors grasp on life in those times really brought the story to life. Inspiring writing, with a clear gospel message. One problem I have with reading so many books, is that I am able to predict where the story is going and how it is going to end. I still enjoy reading, but generally, I find books to be predictable. I was totally taken by surprise until the tapping of the last virtual page. I challenge you to guess the ending before you get there.”~From Amazon
“In short, this simple yet profound offering is magnificent. I would encourage its use for family reading time. Younger children might find some of the violence disturbing , but I believe it is necessary to the plot and not at all graphic. Most of it will probably go over there heads. Having raced through this book in one sitting, my rating is well deserved five out of five stars.”~From Amazon
“Blum tackles subjects that include forgiveness, the nature of evil and salvation. As part of her Hymns of the West series, ‘A Mighty Fortress’ introduces a perspective on deciding to apply faith in day-to-day life and how that decision can change everything. She also examines the importance of living the life of a Christian witness and how it can touch others.
“‘A Mighty Fortress’ offers a pleasing blend of nail-biting adventure and family values. Christian readers will enjoy it faith based message; non-Christian readers can delight in the feisty protagonists and Western action. Young adult readers can follow two young people on an exciting journey.
“In her author notes, Blum says that she set out to ‘create a clean, fun, and challenging Western story.’ She has accomplished that aim. Her novel can serve as a pleasant fictional diversion or as a basis for an illuminating Bible study. The issues she presents, although shared in an historical context, still face society today.”~From examiner.com
Contact Information:
Faith’s Blog
Hymns of the West
Hymns of the West Facebook Page
Faith’s Twitter Page
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