Author Interview with Marlo Schalesky: Part 2

Read Part 1 of this interview here.

Who has helped you along The Writing Road?
My husband, Bryan, has been a huge help along the writing road. Besides being wonderful with support and encouragement, he’s also my first reader for everything I write, watches the kids regularly to give me writing time, and continues to believe that God has asked me to do this writing thing, even when everything doesn’t go as I hope.


Other than that, Ken Petersen (who used to be at Tyndale and is now at Waterbrook-Multnomah) was the first editor to believe in me and my work. My agent, Steve Laube, has been a great source of encouragement and support as well.


And then, of course, there are my writing friends, like Tricia Goyer and Cindy Martinusen, who have been with me (and me with them) through the long process of trying to get published, hoping, dreaming, etc. Back before any of us were published, we used to read each other’s manuscripts and give encouragement, critique, and advice.



What keeps you motivated to move along The Writing Road?
Those moments when I know, without a doubt, that writing is really partnering with God in the creative process. Those moments when it feels like I’m listening in on his musings. That’s what keeps me motivated.


And I’m finding that there are times in every book when I see something, when I write something, that I did not plan, did not expect, and didn’t realize the story had been leading up to. That’s when I feel the touch of God, I sense His pleasure, and it’s like getting a glimpse of heaven. I love those those flashes when I know that this is what God has been doing, and the story impacts my heart and life in some new and wondrous way.


Of course, don’t ask me about those other times – when I’m staring at the blank screen, the clock is ticking, and I can’t think of a single thing to write that doesn’t sound like the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. There are plenty of those times too.


But I gotta say, those times when I glimpse God’s vision for a story are worth all the others when I don’t. And those are the moments that this Writing Road is the just where God wants me to be.



What's coming up for you next along The Writing Road?
I’m writing 3 contemporary novels for Waterbrook-Multnomah (a division of Random House). All of them are “Love Stories with a Twist!,” a new type of story that I think will knock readers’ socks off. These stories combine the poignancy of a Nicholas Sparks-type love story with a jaw-dropping M. Night Shymalan-type ending twist.
The first, Beyond the Night, was just released. You can read more about it here.

Author Interview with Marlo Schalesky: Part 1

What got you started along The Writing Road?

When I was thirteen years old, I wrote a poem on the bus on the way to school. It was about an old tree, forlorn and desolate, standing alone in a field. I read that poem at every recess, tweaked it, polished it, and for the first time, felt the thrill of how the written word can convey profound beauty. That day, I fell in love with writing.

Shortly after that, I told my mother (with all the angst of a newly-turned teenager), “I will just die if I don’t write!” So naturally when I grew up I decided to get my degree in Chemistry. And, oddly enough, I didn’t die. I enjoyed chemistry. But always that desire to write was with me, in the back of my mind, saying “Someday, someday.”

Someday finally came. I started writing articles for various magazines and putting out proposals for book projects. I thought it would be easy to get my first book published, but alas, it took years of writing and honing my craft (6 years, in fact). And more than that, it took giving up my dream entirely. For me, I had to come to a place in my heart where I didn’t have to write to be content. I had to let go of that strong desire born at thirteen years old and embrace God’s will for me whether that will included writing or not. Only then, only when my dream had given way to God’s, was I offered a contract by Crossway Books for my first published book, Cry Freedom, in 1999.

What are some obstacles for you along The Writing Road?

Early on my Writing Road, my biggest obstacle was wanting it too badly. Our culture tells us to pursue our dreams, reach for the sky, dream big, nothing’s impossible if only you try hard enough. Sounds good. But for me, that philosophy was deadly. I needed to completely surrender my dreams in order to live God’s. It was like ripping out part of my soul. But it was worth it. Now, when I write, it can be an act of worship and obedience, instead of something that’s all about me and my dreams.

And yet, these days, I find that self-doubt is my biggest obstacle. Every time I start a new book, I find myself muttering “What was I thinking?!!? I can’t write this book! Why did I ever think I could do this?” Right now I’m at the beginning of a new book, so of course all those doubts are raging. But this time I’m reminding myself that this always happens. I just need to push through, do my best, trust God, and the story will come.

To Be Continued!

Interview with Author Dianne Butts

One of the best things about traveling along The Writing Road is the people you'll meet along the way. I met Dianne Butts at a Colorado Christian Writers Conference a few years ago--and we've been friends ever since! We've kept up with one another's writing careers--sharing e-mails and crossing paths at conferences and a local writer's group. And one of these days, I'm going to get a ride on her bike!!

After 9/11, Dianne wrote Dear America: A Letter of Comfort and Hope to a Grieving Nation. She has an excellent Web site for writers where you can sign up to receive her newsletter "About Writing."


What got you started along the Writing Road?
I’m not one of those writers who knew she wanted to be a writer when she was three years old. I didn’t read a lot when I was younger. I wasn’t a library-aholic. I didn’t know any writers. There weren’t any poets in my family. And yet…there was God (even when I didn’t know it).

Do you think He knew I was going to be a writer when in high school He put me in Mrs. Hodges’ English class? I wrote some corny teenaged poem and did something I never thought I’d do. I showed it to her. Her response was to take me down to the school library and introduce me to the Writer’s Market. She told me how to format my manuscript, explained I’d need to enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE), and helped me find three markets to send it to. You mean we’re going to send it to a real magazine? To be published?! I thought, amazed. Does this mean she thinks it’s good?

We got two rejections. We never heard back from the third place. I remember one of the rejection letters said, “This sounds like a Hallmark card.” I took that as a compliment, though it wasn’t intended that way.

Fast forward a decade. Married. Moved to a new town. Gone from the old friends; making new friends. Came to know Christ. Didn’t know how to share my faith, and suddenly thought, “Hey, if I could write an article maybe I could get it published.” Because of Mrs. Hodges I knew what to do. I knew where to find Writer’s Market in the library and I was off and running.

About that same time (1989) I heard an interview on Christian radio about an upcoming Christian Writer’s Conference. My husband agreed I should go. I signed up, took the time off work, and drove the two hundred miles to attend. There, I sat in on a continuing session for beginners taught by Marlene Bagnull. The rest is history. Marlene made me believe I could actually get published. I wrote a few short articles and sent them off. All came back rejected. I wrote an opinion piece about the first Gulf War and sent it off to The Lookout, doubtful they would accept it. Their response came in the form of a check and my first published article appeared in December, 1991!

Since then I’ve placed more than 200 pieces for publication including contributions to fifteen books and produced my own book, Dear America: A Letter of Comfort and Hope to a Grieving Nation after 9/11 through Marlene’s Ampelos Press.

What are your greatest obstacles to progressing along The Writing Road?
I think there are two kinds of roadblocks I run into:

The first is…oh, I don’t know. Maybe it could be called a lack of confidence. I want to write about what I have learned about Jesus and the Bible. However, since I have no seminary degree I wonder if this will be a roadblock for me to publish the books I wish to write. With no formal education in my credentials, will publishers allow me to “teach” or write on how I understand the Bible? I have laid groundwork by publishing articles. Now I wish to move into books. If anyone thinks I don’t have the education to write in these areas I hope they will see me as the Sanhedrin saw these two uneducated, ordinary men who told them about the Lord: “When they saw the courage of Peter and John a nd realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13, NIV). I will write what is the burden of my heart to write. Beyond that, I will depend on the Lord to open the doors.

The other roadblock might be too many ideas! In articles you can quickly jump from idea to idea, but in books? Well, they just take longer. Too many ideas can be stifling. In the last couple years I have really had to decide which book projects are priority to me, zero in on them, and then work on one at a time. Get my thoughts on paper. Get it outlined. Gather what I need for the proposal. Write the proposal. Get it circulating. Start on the next project. All the while trying to keep articles circulating. I may work more slowly than other writers, but I’m like the tortoise in the story of “The Tortiose and the Hare.” I just keep plodding along, making progress at my pace.

What keeps you motivated to move along The Writing Road?
The more I learn about the Lord, the more I want to share what I’ve learned about Him and the more I have to write about. I’ve had my bouts with discouragement. I’ve had a big project that I put my heart and soul and tons of hours into fall through. Things like that cause me to wonder if I should hang it up and go get a job that actually pays me for my work. The Devil really uses those discouraging events in our lives to try to run us off the road. But when I consider the source, why would I let the decision someone else made stall me out? Besides, when I really think about it, I don’t know what else I would do. I have too much invested in this career to quit now. And I have too much to say. I will spend my life telling people about the Lord. If, for some reason, I couldn’t do it through writing, I’d find another way.

What's coming up for you next along The Writing Road?
I just signed with an agent who liked my nonfiction book proposal. While she takes care of business with that, I’m working on my next nonfiction proposal. And each morning I spend about an hour researching for the nonfiction book after that. This project has grown out of my Bible study and has morphed from one book to two (one out of the Old Testament, followed by one out of the New Testament.) I have more nonfiction ideas to follow after that, but I’ve always wanted to write fiction and I have several projects in mind. I want to teach what I know about the story of the Bible through fiction, with possibly some nonfiction projects to go along with those. (Did I mention something about too many ideas?)

These are the projects that I want to write the most, but I’m still developing my fiction-writing skills and paving a way for myself to write books. In the last year, I have sold two short fiction stories to Sunday school take-home papers, so those are my first fiction sales and I’m thrilled! I hope to do more of that as time allows. I also publish two free e-zines each month (one for concerned citizens and the other for aspiring writers) and I started blogging at http://www.buttsaboutit.blogspot.com/.